Winchester Jr. Sr. P.S.

February Newsletter

February2013

From the Principal's Office: My name is Rita Tsiotsikas, and I am thrilled to be part of the Winchester community. I bring with me a diverse Administrative experience, a strong background in Special Education, and a commitment to building relationships and fostering a sound learning environment. Since arriving on January 7, I have visited classrooms and met a number of parents either at morning entry or after school pick-up. For those parents whom I have not yet had the pleasure of meeting, please feel free to stop in or give us a call 416-393-1270. I am looking forward to meeting everyone at our next School Council Meeting on February 7 beginning at 5:45 p.m. Because effective communication is important, I am working on revising our school website. I hope to launch the new website shortly – also, look for us on twitter (coming soon!).I am looking forward to working with everyone on making "Winchester the Place to Be" the school of AWESOME!

February is African Heritage Month and February is about Fairness

Fairness means playing by the rules and taking turns. Fairness also means recognizing the uniqueness and value of each person within our diverse society.

15 Prospect St., Toronto, Ontario M4X 1C7 Tel: 393-1270 Fax: 393-1277

Library Corner

Hundreds of brand new books have hit the shelves of the Winchester School library in French and English. The latest novels and graphic novels are located right across from the circulation desk. Don’t forget that there are still a few Silver Birch and Red Maple books available for checkout. They are very popular, so come see if the one you want is available before it goes out again! End of Days, Vindico, Testify, The Dark Endeavour, The Dead Kid Detective Agency, and Cat Found don’t last more than a few hours on the shelf, so stop by and put your name on a reservation list. Remember, if you’re finished reading a book, please return it so others can enjoy it as well! Be sure to type a short review of the novel on and let Mr. Smith know what you thought of it so you can vote for the best 2013 Forest of Reading book.

Interested in reading primary books online? Check out BookFLIX under the eBooks icon online at bit.ly/winchesterlibrary. Great books are available online in both book and movie format. You simply need the Login and the password from the teacher librarian to access the BookFLIX library from home.

Here are some book recommendations from students at Winchester:

“I recommend Diary of a Wimpy Kid 1,2,3, 4, 5, 6, and 7. If you likecomedy books these are really funny.” -Nicholas

“I would recommend Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief because it's action packed and it has a little mystery too.” -Aidan

“I would recommend The Fault is in the Stars by John Green.It made me laugh and it made me cry!”

Calendar:

Feb. 7 / Parent Council Meeting, 5:45 pm
RespectED Parent Workshop, 6:30 pm
Feb. 8 / Sister to Sister gr. 8 girls
Montcrest Players for Gr3-8
Feb. 10 / Happy Chinese New Year
Feb. 11 / Term 1 Report Cards go home
Feb. 14 / Happy Valentine’s Day
Feb. 15 / PA Day – Parent/Teacher Interviews - No School
Feb. 18 / Family Day – No School

15 Prospect St., Toronto, Ontario M4X 1C7 Tel: 393-1270 Fax: 393-1277

RespectED

We will be having our final parent workshop on February 7th at 6:30 pm. immediately following the Parent Council Meeting. This session, the last in our set of 3, will bring together parents/caregivers and their children to create a safe space to talk about bullying.This session will focus on awareness and prevention of bullying in our community. Parents are invited to bring their children to participate in this interactive session.

Nurses at Winchester

We have two new student nurses, Rhoda and Irish, from York University who will be joining Ayliathis term. Our student nurses will continue to promote healthy living and bring a variety of programs to our students. They will carry on the “Trade to Try” campaign that was started last term offering students healthy snack options for less healthy ones.

Updates

January was a busy month. Our grade 8s visited a number of High Schools. They had their graduation photos taken. Once again we are proud to be sending six grade 8 students to Central Commerce Collegiate to take two grade 9 credits. They will continue their grade 8 studies in the afternoon at Winchester.

Congratulations

Congratulations to Adrian C. and Shalinee N. Both students have been accepted into the TOPS Program, an enriched Math and Science high school experience.

Congratulations to NatalieR. for creating the winning design in the Winchester Holiday Card Contest.

Snack Program

We take pride in providing our students with a nutritious snack every day.We need your support to keep this program going. Thanks to all the families that have paid for the remainder of the year.If you have not already paid, please send in $30 to cover February to June, please make cheques payable to Winchester Nutrition Program.

Once Upon A Time

The Regent Park Neighbourhood Initiative and Story Telling Toronto have partnered to host an afternoon of Story Telling. This event is free of charge. It will take place on Family Day - February 18th from 1-3 p.m. at Daniels Spectrum, 585 Dundas St. E.-Artscape Lounge, ground floor.

Winchester Daycare:

Let me start by introducing myself, my name is Nenad Brkljaca and I am the new Manager at Winchester Daycare – a great way to start the new year! Over the past several weeks I’ve familiarized myself with our team of Educators, our parents, the school staff, and of course the children. We have a new child that joined us in December – welcome Jaden! Preliminary plans have begun for March Break. We will keep you posted with further details. Thank you and I look forward to many more.

School Council:

In my first 20 days as Winchester’s Principal, I have certainly discovered why it is The Place to Be! The warm, welcoming and community-minded environment is very evident both in the classrooms and in the schoolyard, but most recently on the big screen! The School Council held its first fundraiser of 2013, with Pajama Night at the Movies on January 24. Families enjoyed pizza, baked goods and a movie. Everyone looked very cozy in their PJs!

Thursday, Feb. 7 RespectED Presentation, 6:30 and School Council Meeting at 5:45 pm

Thursday, Feb. 21 6 pm

Thursday, April 18 6 pm

Thursday, May 9 6 pm

Saturday, May 25 School Fun Fair, 11-3pm

15 Prospect St., Toronto, Ontario M4X 1C7 Tel: 393-1270 Fax: 393-1277