March2018
Principal’s Message
Welcome to March!
Centre Peel continues to be an exciting place to learn and grow!
With the leadership of our Centre Peel ECOteam, students and staff continue to work together to reduce, reuse and recycle to become an ECOschool. As a school community, we have the opportunity to become a bronze, silver, gold or platinum ECOschool and are working together to achieve our goal.As you may be aware, Earth Hour takes place on Saturday, March 24, 2018 beginning at 8:30 p.m. As our next ECOschool event, Centre Peel P.S. will be celebrating Earth Hour on Friday, March 23, 2018 from 11:15 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. Be sure to ask your child about how their class celebrated Earth Hour.
Our Junior (Grades 4 – 6) and Intermediate students (Grades 7-8) will complete our Centre Peel Public School Climate Survey prior to March Break. The School Climate survey is an anonymous survey that is completed every two years, allows our School and Board the opportunity to assess the perceptions of safety from students, staff and parents. The data is then used to make informed planning decisions and to determine the effectiveness of programs.
Our students and staff continue to learn more about math with the use of Number Talks in our classrooms. Students have the opportunity to independently solve a given problem, share their solutions while connecting their thinking to mental math strategies that the classroom teacher has introduced. Our teachers have found Number Talks to be an effective instructional strategy as our students continue to demonstrate growth in their confidence, computational accuracy, and math vocabulary. Ask your children about Number Talks to learn more.
March continues to be filled with extra-curricular activities and special events that are organized by our Sports Council, Centre Peel students from across the grades and staff. Thanks to everyone for your leadership and commitment to providing our students with great events!
As always, if you have questions, comments or concerns, please contact me.
Wishing all of our families a wonderful March Break Holiday ….
Rhonda Gingrich
Principal
Pizza/Milk Days
Our pizza and chocolate milk days for March will be on March 7th and 21st. Please make sure you return your order form by March. 2, 2018 at the latest in order to have pizza and milk starting on March 7th, 2018.
Hot Dog Days
Once again, Centre Peel will be having hot dog days in order to raise funds for our end of the year field trips. Hot Dogs will be available on March 28th this month. Order forms are attached to this newsletter and must be returned by March 9th. Orders can also be placed online!
Salad Day
Once again our amazing Food and Friends program and Parent volunteers will be hosting a monthly salad day for our students. There is no cost to students for salad day. This month’s salad day will be onMarch 22, 2018!
Students are reminded to bring their own plates and cutlery as these are no longer available at the school.
Skating
Drayton Arenaskating days will be March 5th and 6th. We are looking for volunteers to assist with this trip, please contact the school if you are able to attend.
Centre Peel Olympics
We are excited about our upcoming Centre Peel Indoor Winter Olympics which will be happening on Thursday, March 8th during the middle and last blocks! Students will be taking part in a variety of eventswith their Spirit Teams, such as Curling and Hockey Shoot-Out. We look forward to celebrating the Olympic spirit together, building friendships and having lots of fun!
Live Free Day
Friday March 2nd, 2018 is Live Free Day. Students and their families are invited to take the challenge of living free of something you take for granted each day (e.g. a cup of coffee). Every day,many children in our community live without basic necessities that many of us take for granted. Often these children arrive at school without the proper nutrition they need to help them focus in class. Put simply, they are too hungry to learn. Can you "live free" for one day to show support for those who live without?Challenge your friends and family! When you live free of something, donate the money you would normally spend to help raise funds for local children who live without.
Every dollar raised by the Live Free Campaign is used to support children and students through the Children's Foundation Food & Friends' 106 student nutrition programs across Dufferin, Wellington and Guelph. Thank you to all of our families who have already donated their toonies
Daylight Savings Time
Sunday March 11th, 2018 marks the time change to Daylight Savings Time. Don’t forget to “spring” your clocks forward an hour!The first day of spring is March 20th, 2018!
Here’s a look at seven things you may not have known about daylight saving time.
- “Spring forward and fall back” is an easy way to remember how to set the clock when daylight saving times begins and ends. Youset your clock forwardone hour at 2 a.m. on March 11. You’ll set it back one hour at 2 a.m. on Nov. 4.
- In Canada, we first observed Daylight Saving Time in 1908.
- Ancient civilizations used a form of daylight saving time, adjusting their timekeeping depending on the sun’s activity.
- Many people call it daylight savings time. The official name is daylight saving time. No‘s’ on ‘saving.’
- Benjamin Franklin came up with an idea to reset clocksin the summer months as a way to conserve energy.
- A standardized system of beginning and ending daylight saving time came in 1966 whenthe Uniform Time Actbecame law. While it was a federal act, states were granted the power to decide if they wanted to remain on standard time year-round.
- Some parts of British Columbia and Saskatchewan, Arizona (except for the Navajo, who do observe daylight saving time on tribal lands), Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands do not observe daylight saving time.
March Break
March break will be from March 12th-16th. If your family will be travelling for an extended time, please notify the school as soon as possible. Enjoy your holiday!
Earth Hour
Earth Hour will take place on Saturday, March 24, 2018 beginning at 8:30 p.m. Centre Peel P.S. will be celebrating Earth Hour on Friday, March 23, 2018 from 11:15 – 12:15 p.m.
Easter Holiday
Friday March 30this Good Friday and Monday April 2nd, is Easter Monday. Students do not attend school on either day.
Centre Peel Needs Volunteers
We are beginning to plan for our year end trips and are in need of volunteers who are willing to attend and assist students. Our primary classes will be travelling to Crawford Lake on March 29th and we will need parent volunteers to attend. If you are available to help with any of our trips please let the school know.
Food and Friends
Thank you to all the volunteers and students who have helped to make our Food & Friends student nutrition program such a success this school year.Your ongoing support says so much about your capacity for compassion and generosity.
Newsletters and Calendars
Just a reminder that all of our newsletters and the monthly calendar can be found on the Centre Peel PS website. Our website has some great and useful information for all of our Centre Peel families.
Report Bullying Tool
This is a reminder that our Report Bullying tool is found on our Centre Peel Public School’s website. We take all incidents of bullying seriously. If your child is the victim of bullying or sees bullying behavior at school, please encourage him/her to speak with someone at school or use our board’s online reporting tool. Report Bullying gives students and parents 24/7 access for reporting bullying. You don’t have to identify yourself – just your school – and your message gets sent directly to the school principal for follow-up.
Cold Weather Reminders
Though there have been some very spring like days lately, it is very important to remind our children that it is necessary to dress appropriately for the weather conditions that may occur during the school day. If they get wet while playing outside it is a good idea to have an extra pair of mittens, socks and pants in their backpack. If your child forgets any of these items at home please remind them it is ok for them to see Mrs. Moore at the office for them. Thank you for ensuring that your children are dressed for our ever changing weather.
Playground Expectations in the Winter/Spring
Since the arrival of our snowy, wet and sometimes muddy weather, students continue to be reminded of the additional playground expectations in the winter so that everyone has the opportunity to play safely and enjoy our winter weather.
Snow Balls: Throwing of snowballs, or ice, or any type of snow is not allowed due to major safety concerns.
Snow Forts: A snow fort is for that recess only – no one owns the snow or a snow fort. We share snow and we are considerate of others’ forts (e.g., we don’t break down what they are building). If someone is not using cooperationin building the fort, try and work it out before involving the teacher. Snow structures may not exceed shoulder height.
Snow Hills:If hills are too slippery or too high, they are out of bounds (and may have a pylon on them). You may slide feet-first down a snow hill only if you are wearing snow pants. People on the bottom of the hill must move away quickly. People at the top of the hill must wait until the bottom is clear.
Ice:Sliding or walking on ice patches is not permitted. All ice patches are out of bounds (and may have a pylon on them).
Mud: Students are reminded to stay away from muddy areas in the school yard. All muddy areas are out of bounds. Parents are reminded that sending a change of clothes in the spring is always a good idea!
Inclement Weather Days
A reminder to parents that on inclement weather daysyou will receive a phone call from our automated telephone system. This call will notify you if buses are cancelled and that our school is closed to students. Information can also be found on the school board’s website.
BUS SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE DELAYS AND CANCELLATIONS
Busses are very important at Centre Peel Public School. At times, busses are delayed and cancelled and it’s important for families to be aware so they can plan accordingly. You are able to subscribe to your child’s bus notices so you have the most current, up to date information. To subscribe go to:
and follow the instructions.
School Cash Online Thank you to our families that are now using School Cash online for their school orders. For those who are unaware,we now offer online payment for your child(s) school activity fees, pizza and milk orders, hot dog days and many other events. All you have to do is register online at ugdsb.schoolcashonline.com andselect “get started today”. Once you have registered your son/daughter you will be able to use a credit card, e-cheque or load up your online wallet and use this to pay for future purchases.
Centre Peel Appreciates Our Many Volunteers!
The staff and students at Centre Peel would like to say thank you to all of our volunteers for the month of February. Our Hot Lunch Committee, Pizza Day Committee, and classroom helpers werevery much appreciated this month. As you all know we couldn’t run these amazing programs without you!
Student Absences
Thank you to our parents who continue to phone us or send a note to let us know when their child(ren) will be absent from school. As part of our Safe Arrival Program, we must have contact with a parent or guardian when a child is absent. Our answering machine is available 24 hours a day for your convenience.
Information from Public Health
March is Nutrition Month! Starting from a young age, inspiring children to shop, cook and prepare food can set them up for a lifetime of healthy eating. A great way to teach kids about food is to let them shop and cook with you. Kids are also much more likely to eat what they make, so cooking at home is a great tip if you have picky eaters.
Here are four tips to get your kids involved in cooking:
- Pick a recipe together: Children need to be part of the plan from the beginning, and it helps if they prepare something that they love to eat. Shop for groceries together too!
- Keep it fun! Imaginative play helps kids get deeply involved. Make a theme night or turn your kitchen into a restaurant or reality cooking show.
- Be a role model: If you’re excited, they will be too. Try a new food, describe the flavour and be adventurous to inspire your eaters to do the same. Get other members of the family involved.
- Be cool about the mess: Spills and accidental messes happen, and it’s important to remain calm about little mishaps. Keep kitchen towels handy for cleaning up spills.
For more information and fun healthy recipes, visit
Monthly environmental activities to help celebrate our planet
March 24th is Earth Hour!
This Earth Hour, help shine a light on climate change
Switch off your light and switch on your social power!
Join the global Movement! Celebrate Earth Hour on March 24that 8:30pm.
Earth Hour’s mission is uniting people to protect the planet by raising awareness of about climate change and encouraging positive action.
Earth Hour is more than an event. It is a movement that has achieved massive environmental impact, including legislation changes by harnessing the power of the crowd.
Ideas for your family to do for Earth Hour!
A simple event can be just turning off all non-essential lights on March 24th from 8:30-9:30 pm. For one hour, focus on your commitment to our planet. To celebrate, you can:
-prepare a candle lit dinner
-talk to your neighbours, or invite people over
-stargaze, or go camping in your backyard
-play board games, or charades
-host a concert, or a sing-a-long
-create or join your own community event
-have an Earth Hour every month!
The possibilitiesare endless!
School Council 2017-2018
Mark Brubacher (Chair)Dennis DiefenbacherWayne Frey
Brian GingrichGerald MartinKen Martin
Melvin MartinPaul WeberJacob Zacharias
Dennis Frey
Don’t forget to complete your Newsletter Draw Form and return it to the office for a chance to win a gift certificate for the Scholastic Book Fair. The winner of the draw last month received a gift certificate worth $10.00 to use at our book fair!
NEWSLETTER DRAW
Thank you for your feedback and suggestions. Please feel free to call Mrs. Gingrich at 519-638-2668 at any time.
Comments, Concerns, Suggestions, and Compliments:
______
Please complete, detach and return this form for the October Newsletter Draw. Thank you!
______
Student’s NameGradeParent’s Signature