Christopher Lake School

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CHRISTOPHER LAKE PUBLIC SCHOOL

Home of the LAKERS

October 2017

SCC News

We had our first meeting on September 26th. This was an exciting meeting as we had many new families joining us and fabulous ideas were brought to the table. We discussed the skating rink project and what steps we need to take to move forward with the project and fundraising ideas to make this dream a reality.

We are still in the planning stages but we look forward to offering a paint night and bringing back the monthly Boston Pizza Hot Lunch program.

Our next SCC Meeting will also be our AGM. This meeting will take place on Monday October 30th at 6pm in our School library. Families are all welcome and encouraged to attend, educating our children is a community effort.

Principal’s Message

Hello Families of the CLPS Community

September has been an amazing month here at school. It has been great to reacquaint with all families that have been here for a while, and it has been a pleasure to welcome all that are new to the Christopher Lake Public School Community. We are off to a great start and we want to keep you aware for what is going on. After a successful year of pursuing a reading fluency SMART goal last year, we are now on to a reading fluency and comprehension goal. Our goal is to have all students at Christopher Lake Public School reading at a proficient level by the end of the year. In simple words, we want kids to read at their level and understand what they read! Reading, and a love for reading, begins at home and because of this, we need your help! Reading with children is a proven way to promote early literacy. As most parents know however, it is not always easy to carve out time each day for reading. Luckily, by putting a few simple strategies into action a parent can make a significant contribution to their child’s reading in as little as 15 minutes per day. Here are a few ideas you can apply when reading with your child. 1) For younger children, point word by word as you read. This will help the child learn that reading goes from left to right and understand that the word he or she says is the word he or she sees. 2) When you come to a new word, take this opportunity to talk about it in interesting ways that your child will enjoy and learn. For example, “This big house is called a palace. Who do you think lives in a palace?” 3) Read a child’s favorite book repeatedly. This will provide positive reinforcement and your child will gain confidence as they are able to successfully recognize words. 4) Stop and ask about the pictures and about what is happening in the story. 5) Read with emotion. Reading with emotion draws a child into the story in a way that is much more memorable and enjoyable. 6) Let your child turn the pages. Besides, being enjoyable, this activity helps more active children stay focused on the book. Thank you for your help this year!

In October please look for events such as picture day on October 16th, education week from October 15-21, our SCC meeting on October 30 at 6:00 pm for the Annual General Meeting, and the beginning of the OUR SCHOOL surveys where students can give feedback to assist CLPS to continue to provide programming and activities that entice all learners. Christopher Lake Public School is on Facebook! Please follow us at and also continue to use the remind app to stay informed of events at CLPS.

Have a great October!

Reporting periods and Interim Reports

This note is to inform CLPS families of a small change that was made to our reporting practice for this school year. In the past, our school had interviews after the report card and often changes in be assessment could only be set towards the next term’s results. This year our parent student teacher interview model will be proactive. Parents will receive an interim report card that tells where their children are performing in the way of Characteristics of Successful Learners. Parents can bring those reports to the interview and center their discussion on how students can achieve a common desired assessment level in the various classes. The report card can then have some goals to work towards for the final three weeks of the term with parents in the know of performance prior to a final report. If there are any questions regarding interviews, please call Mr. Feschuk at 306-982-2131.

Looking for Education Week volunteers! This year’s education week theme is “Building our Future by Learning Together”. Education week is October 15-21. We are looking for volunteers for an afternoon who can come and teach a life skill or tradition to a group of students. Some skills we are looking for may be sewing, baking, language, weaving, or dancing. If you have a skill or tradition that we you would like to share, please contact the school.

Band News

Hello Band students, parents, and guardians!

Band classes are off to a great start this year! We have made the transition from Mrs. Rutz to Miss Klippenstein in the band program now, so thank you to all that have made this transition smooth! Here are a few highlights from September from the band program:

1. Grade 6 and Grade 7/8 Band has begun some music for their Christmas concert. Keep practicing every day for a minimum of 10 minutes, and we will see a great success at the Christmas concert!
2. Mark the Prairie Winds Christmas concert on your calendars so that it is booked off for the band concert. The Christmas concert will take place on December 7th, 2017.
3. Students should be practicing every day for 10 minutes and filling in their practice charts for each day that they practice. If they practice for 20 minutes in a day, they may fill in 2 slots on their practice chart. At the end of one line, they are eligible for a prize from the box.
4. Band calendars are sent home at the beginning of each month. These calendars have the dates of each band class so students know when to bring their instrument. Each students has received a calendar in their folder, so don’t forget to ask your child(ren) to show you their schedule.
5. Remind app has been started for Prairie Wind announcements. To sign up, use the code @pwb2017If you have any questions, feel free to call Red Wing School or email

Miss Klippenstein”

NEWS FROM THE TEACHERS / CLASSROOMS

Grade 1 – Mrs. Schlamp

Whew… September was a wonderful month of getting to know one another, routines and how much lunch to pack! And the great thing is that we are seeing changes and learning every day. It is exciting to have so much energy in one room.

Students started taking home Green Bags a week ago and are doing a great job of bringing them back read most mornings. Thank you to families for supporting the early stages of reading development. I encourage you to use the following strategies when reading with your child:

1. Use the picture clues (Eagle Eye is the reading strategy) to figure out words.
2. Track the words as you read.
3. Sound out words.
4. Find the sight words (or words your child knows) on each page.

In Math we have finished patterns and are talking about numbers to 20. Students are working with different ways to represent a number. We are also practicing counting to 100 by 1’s and 10’s.

We are looking for:

1)Volunteers: We are looking for volunteers for an afternoon during Education Week –October 16th to 20th, as we celebrate the theme Building our Future by Learning Together. Once the school based activities are scheduled, I will send home more details. There will be other opportunities throughout the school year.

2)We are still looking for more plants for our South facing reading area. You can send slips that we can plant.

3)Old magazines –we are needing some expired magazines for various learning projects.

Reminders:

• Library is on Day 3 –please send books
• If you haven’t signed up for Seesaw –please do so. It is a quick and easy way to communicate.
• Starting Monday, students are going to share their “All About Me” bags that were sent home last Wednesday. I am looking forward to learning more about our class. Please help your child pick items that are appropriate to bring.

Grade 2/3 – Ms. Simons

What a busy month we have had; as it just flew by. We have been working on outcomes in science that are based on animals for the Grade 2 and plants for the Grade 3. We were lucky enough to have scored 10 extra chrome books from the Teacher’s resource center for 3 weeks so we have been using them to do much research and integration of cross curricular outcomes. The animal research projects for the 2’s began with the National geographic site. The 3’s are doing plant web-quests. We are making dioramas (3D depictions ofa series of food chains in one habitat or ecosystem to wrap all the learnings together.) Grade Two’s math is just wrapping up Patterns unit, and will begin a Numbers to 100 soon. Mrs. Coombs has the pleasure of teaching all the 3’s math. Social is looking at community, rights and responsibilities and beliefs of groups of people reflected by the community. Health is focusing on healthy food and behavior choices. LA has many strands and programs on the go. Ms. Reimer helps to divide the group some days, so there are periods where the students are working on their own grade levels, and can challenge themselves as well. Arts Ed.has included dance, music and visual arts with somework that has aboriginal influences and content.Library will always be Day 2. Spelling test will always be on a Friday, unless that day is a holiday or PLC, we will have it Thursday. Thank you for your dedication to the green bag reading program and the studying of high frequency and tricky words. I have already noticed some growth in the students. This is the way we build competent engaged learners, using their full potential, with all the resources we have available. Any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to call.

Grade 3/4 – Mrs. Coombs

Thanks to parents of Grade 3-4 students for installing and connecting to the Class Dojo mobile app. Follow our class story, see the weekly spelling words and other assignments students may need time at home to work on, as well as a place to message the teacher when needed. If you have not yet received your logon codes from your child, please contact me at the school. We also have Agendas which should come and go daily between home and school, including a home reading log for students to rack up their minutes and fill their “gumball machine.” Notes can be made in these of upcoming appointments, or changes to after-school pick-up or busing routines. We are all geared up for a fantastic year!

Grade 5 – Mrs. Wagner

The grade 5’s have had a spectacular start to the school year! They have read some interesting mystery stories and have been working on creating our own mysteries. They have been studying First Nations Tribes in Social Studies, body systems in Science and healthy choices in Health. Parents, if you haven’t already done so, please sign up for the SeeSaw App so you can see some of the projects and assignments the grade 5’s have been working on! Happy Thanksgiving!

Grade 6 – Mrs. Abbey-Der

Fall colours are all around us now as we finish our first month of school this year. The class has been super busy getting back in to the swing of things with routines. We have been working on the Novel Wonder in English Language Arts, Place Value in Math, Power and Authority in Social Studies, and Diversity of Living Things in Science. Also, it is Socktober time again, and the class is in full swing collecting items that are not normally collected for those in need. Please read the class’s Socktober write up in this newsletter for further information. Last year was a HUGE success, so let’s make this year’s even better. 

Grade 7/8 – Mrs. Liedtke

Mrs. Liedtke’s 7/8 Classroom has started off to a great school year. This year's classroom quote is… “Paddle your Own Canoe!” We have done some writings and art projects relating to it and they all turned out great!

We have just finished writing up stories about an event that happens to us but we all have an interesting turn of events! You will have to read them, we don't want to ruin it for you!!! Both grades have had their first math test. We did very well, so we think … and so do our teachers! Grade 8`s learnt about square roots and perfect square roots while the Grade 7`s were learning how to add and subtract integers. We would like to thank all the parent volunteers for showing up for this summer's pancake breakfast for Western Days. Also, Ambrose for donating some delicious cookies to go with our buffalo stew! Thanks Mrs. Harkness for your efforts in the gardens and the stew!

Happy Halloween from the Grade 7/8 class and Jaylyn and Kaci

It’s Socktober time again!

The time to collect things that aren't normally donated for those in need.

The grade 6 class will be collecting items as a donation to Our House and the SPCA this month for Socktober. For Our House we would like to donate socks, underwear, mitts/gloves, and toques. For the SPCA we would like to get hard dog toys, wet KITTEN food, cat toys, and little blankets (washed). Again, we request that all items donated are new.

The reason we are donating these certain things to Our House and the SPCA is because people do not normally donate this stuff. Our goal is to reach 300 items for Our House and 100 items for the SPCA. We also have a small ‘kitty’ collection tin for collecting small change to donate to the SPCA.

Starting Monday we will have a box upstairs in the library for the donations, and the collection ‘kitty’ will be in the grade 6 classroom.

Thank you for all your support!

Grade 6 

Terry Fox Run

Christopher Lake Public School students and staff will take part in the Terry Fox Run on Friday, October 13th. We will be collecting “Toonies for Terry” on that day which will then be donated to the Terry Fox Foundation in support of Cancer Research. Please wear clothing suitable for running outdoors on that day so we can Run for Terry!

Picture Day

CLPS picture day will be on Monday October 16th. Retakes will be in November.

Halloween

CLPS will be having a spirit day onTuesday, October 31st. Students are encouraged to bring aCostume (Dress up in costume after lunch), or wear neon or Orange and Black on that day.Please ensure costumes are appropriate for a K-8 school and do not inhibit classroom activities.

The school office hours are 8:00 am – 3:15 pm. For your convenience we have message manager. You are welcome to leave a message regarding a student absence or a message for a staff member or use the Remind 101 app.

Student Safety: Bus Loading and Unloading Zone

For the safety of all students, it is critical that the bus loading/unloading zone is clear of parked vehicles and traffic at the beginning and end of each day. Please refrain from driving or parking in the bus zone from 8:00 to 8:30 am and from 2:30 – 3:00. The bus zone includes the wheelchair accessible parking spot. When dropping off or picking up your children, please park in the east parking lot during bus loading/unloading times.

During School Student Pickup

We realize that at certain times you may need to pick your child up from school earlier than normal dismissal time. Our request is that you come in to the building to gather your child and assist them to get ready to go if it is required. This will provide a level of communication that we need to ensure the whereabouts of the students. Thank you for understanding in this matter.

Student Fees

All students from Kindergarten to Grade 8 must pay a $30.00 student fee. This fee will be used to purchase materials that support student learning in the classroom and for class trips. Student fees can be paid to the classroom Teacher or to the Secretary in the Library. Please make cheques payable to Christopher Lake School. (Please note: The school will accept fees in monthly installments.)

NEWS FROM THE COMMUNITY

CPL REC

Core de Force – Saturdays @ 11-12, Christopher Lake School Gym. $20.00

Boot Camp II – Mondays and Thursdays @ 6-7, Christopher Lake School Gym. $20.00

Moccasin Making Class – Sundays @ 11-3, District of Lakeland Building. $50.00

Youth Dance Class – Wednesdays @ 5:30-7:00, Christopher Lake School Gym. $40.00

Deadline for registration is October 1st. Please call Diana Bird @ (306) 930-1597/982-3309.