The Monthly Newsletter for Fernforestpublic School

THE FERNFORESTER

The Monthly Newsletter for FernforestPublic School

HONO

HONOUR LEARN BUILD

DECEMBER 2013 Visit our website DECEMBER 2013

From the Principal’s desk...

Reflection and Celebration

It is difficult to believe that it is December already!

Congratulations to our students on their many outstanding achievements this past term andto our Teachers for their ongoing academic and extra-curricular contributions in school success. We have found that students who are successful demonstrate strong learning skills, are rarely absent, have few or no late slips, complete their homework and are prepared for class.

Thank-you for your support and encouragement.

December is a month of reflection and celebration. Please reflect upon the many accomplishments of the past year and celebrate the precious family time that December has to offer.

Have a safe and happy holiday!

Mrs. S. Whaley

REPEATING AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE!!!

STUDENT VACATIONS

We have had several requests for support for student absence in order for students to go on vacation. Attendance at school is vital for student success. In removing your child from school, they are missing instruction and may not be successful in their school year. If you are leaving on an extended vacation, you are asked to submit a letter to the Principal.

WATCH FOR IT………..

WINTER LIGHTS

THE MUSICAL!

DECEMBER 18TH, 2013

Written by our own Ms Horsten, Winter Lights is a musical based upon the celebrations of many cultures.

Online Newsletter

The newsletter can be found online at:

Closing schools due to bad weather

During the winter months, inclement weather may disrupt bus transportation and school operations. The decision to cancel buses and/or close schools is usually made by 6 a.m. If you have reason to believe bussing may be cancelled, visit or call 905-890-1010 or 1-800-668-1146.

You will receive one of the following messages:

Buses are cancelled. This message means that schools remain open for students but transportation services provided by the Peel District School Board are cancelled. If buses are cancelled, they will remain cancelled for the duration of the day. When busses are not running, schools that rely heavily on bussing may be closed.

Schools are closed. This message means that, due to bad weather conditions, schools are closed to students.

All schools and Peel board facilities are closed. This message means that, due to the severity of the weather conditions, schools and board offices are closed to students and staff.

WE NEED PARENT VOLUNTEERS FOR OUR RISING STARS PROGRAM

READ EVERY DAY

RAZ KIDS EVERY DAY

PLEASE ENSURE THAT YOUR CHILDREN ARE DRESSED FOR THE COLD WEATHER – THANK-YOU!

A Message From Our Director’s Office

Professional Activity Day on Dec. 20, 2013

As you know from our school year calendar, Dec. 20, 2013, is a Professional Activity Day. Students will not be at school on this day.

Traditionally, school staff participate in professional learning activities on these days. However, the Ministry of Education has designated Dec. 20 as unpaid day for some staff and a professional development day for others.

Based on new provincial legislation, permanent teachers, both elementary and secondary, will take Dec. 20 as an unpaid day and are not required to be at work on that day. In some cases, principals and vice-principals will choose to take this day as an unpaid day and will also not be present in their schools. In other cases, administrators will choose to take an unpaid day at another time and will be at school on Dec. 20.

Dec. 20 is a regular, paid work day for all other Peel board staff members and many will participate in professional learning offered through the board on this day.

A Message From One of Our Students

Peel District School Board Staff and Students “Choose Action” and Stand Up to Bullying at Celebrity Basketball Game and Performance.

By Jasleen in 4A

On Wednesday, November 20th at the Powerade Centre in Brampton, students in the Peel District School Board learned how to stand up to bullying in a non-violent way! They learned to “Choose Action” by standing up for others, remembering the character traits, and by using their words. There were approximately 5000 kids at this event who were in grades 4-8. The Peel staff played the Harlem Globetrotters Alumni in a basketball game. The Peel team lost 74 to 52. There were also other performances and a motivational speaker named Subliminal. From this event, we expect there to be less, or maybe even zero bullying in our schools. This made a positive influence on all the students who went.

Celebrating Faith and Culture

December 2013

December / Luut'aa / Aboriginal Spirituality
Sunset of November 27 to December 5 / Chanukah / Judaism
December 1 / First Sunday of Advent / Christianity
December 8 / Bodhi Day (Rohatsu) / Buddhism
Sunset of December 11 to 30 / the month of Masa'il / Bahá’í
December 13 / Birthday of Imam Agakhan / Islam
December 13 / Maun Agiyaras or Muanajiyaras / Jainism
December 17 / Sanghamitta Day / Buddhism
December 19 / Amitabha Buddha’s Birthday / Buddhism
Eve of December 20 to 21 / Yule / Wicca
December 21 / Tohji-taisai / Shinto
December 25 / Christmas / Christianity and Canada
December 26 / Boxing Day / Christianity and Canada
December 26 / Zarathosht-no-Diso / Zoroastrianism
December 26 to January 1 / Kwanza / African-Canadian communities
December 31 to January 4 / Ghambar Maidyarem / Zoroastrianism
December 31 to January 18 / the month of Sharaf / Bahá’í

Register for French Immersion by Jan. 31, 2014

Are you thinking of registering your child for French Immersion (FI)? For the 2014-15 school year, parents must register children for entry into grade 1 FI by 4 p.m. onFriday, Jan. 31, 2014.

Registration for FI will be done through an online registrationform that will be available on Nov. 22 at .

The FI school for our area is Carberry Public School. The phone number is (905) 458-6771.

Registration process

A grade 1 FIenrolment cap is in place. This means that a specific number ofspots are available for students entering grade 1 FI. If the number of students registered by the deadline exceeds the number of spots in grade 1 FI,a random selection process system will be used to identify students gaining entrance into the grade 1 FI program.

All students who make the registration deadline will be placed in a random selection process and assigned a rank using acomputerized random selection process.Spots are not assigned ona first come, first served basis. Once students have been assigned to all available spots, remaining students will be placed, again in rank order, on the school's waitlist.

Some students will be automatically placed in grade 1 FI. To find out if your child does not need to participate in the random selection process, and for more information about the random selection and waitlist processes, visit

How to get more information

• Visit the Peel board website—.
• Call Carberry Public School at (905) 458-6771.
• Visit the Canadian Parents for French website at .

HELP

WANTED

Fernforest Public School is searching for Supply Lunchroom Supervisors. This position involves supervising students for 20 minutes while they eat as well as 40 minutes while the students play outside.

Supply Lunchroom Supervisors are called on an as needed basis and fill in for the full time Lunch Room Supervisors when they are unable to work.

If you are interested in this position, please call Mrs. Gibson at the school – (905) 793-6157

Silver Birch 2014 is coming to Fernforest!!

Fernforest will be participating in the Silver Birch Award Reading Program for grade 4& 5 students again.

For this year's list there will be:

10 Fiction Titles

10 Non-Fiction Titles

10 Express Titles comprised of a mix of fiction and non-fiction with a slightly easier reading level.

Each year these newly published novels in Canada for grades 4-6 are nominated for the Silver Birch Award by the Ontario Library Association. Students are asked to read the books and vote for the winner. In order to qualify to vote, students must read a minimum of 5 books in a category; fiction, non-fiction or EXPRESS. The books have arrived and will be introduced to the grade 4 and 5 students in December. Voting will take place in April.

Students receive a passport with teacher expert names beside the title of each book. When a student has read a book, he/she makes an appointment with a teacher expert to discuss the book. The passport is signed by the teacher if the conference is satisfactory. This is an opportunity for students to see adults as readers and staff to work with our grade 4 & 5 students.

If students wish to start reading before Christmas, the some titles may be available at Chapters or the Brampton public libraries.

Students are encouraged to visit the official website at:

2014 Silver Birch Nominated Titles

Fiction Nominees / Non-Fiction Nominees / EXPRESS Nominees
Curse of the Dream Witch
Allan Stratton / Animal Sanctuaries
Rob Laidlaw / And the Winner is…
Amazing Animal Athletes
Etta Kaner
Eldritch Manor
Kim Thompson / Draw Out the Story
Brian McLachlan / Ava and the Little Folk
Allan Neal
Nobody’s Dog
Ria Voros / Learn to Speak Film
Michael Glassbourg / Buzz About Bees
Kari-Lynn Winters
Record Breaker
Robin Stevenson / Off to Class
Susan Hughes / Cryptic Canada
Natalie Hyde
The Awesome, Amost 100%
True Adventures of Matt &
Craz
Alan Silberberg / One Step at a Time
Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch / Danny, Who Fell in a Hole
Cary Fagan
The Hypnotists
Gordon Korman / Our Rights: How Kids are Changing the
World
Janet Wilson / Jason’s Why
Beth Goobie
Neil Flambé and the Tokyo
Treasure
Kevin Sylvester / Robbers! True Stories of the World’s
Most Notorious Thieves
Andreas Schroeder / Secret of the Village Fool
Rebecca Upjohn
The Metro Dogs of Moscow
Rachelle Delaney / The World in Your Lunch Box
Claire Eamer / The Gargoyles at the Gates
Phillipa Dowding
Ultra
David Carroll / Warriors and Wailers: 100 Ancient
Chinese Jobs
Sarah Tsiang / The Stamp Collector
Jennifer Lanthier
Yesterday’s Dead
Pat Bourke / Weird Zone: Sports
Maria Birmingham / When I Get Older
K’Naan with Sol Guy

Mrs. L. Barron

Teacher-Librarian

Help your family stay warm this winter

Canada Safety Council recommends the following tips for staying comfortable and preventing hypothermia when working or playing outdoors:

• Wear a warm hat—most body heat is lost through the head. Children should keep an extra hat at school.
• Wear layered clothing. Layers allow warm air to stay trapped around the body.
• Protect your feet and hands. Wear loose waterproof boots. If the boots have liners, carry an extra pair to replace damp ones or take an extra pair of socks. Mittens are warmer than gloves. Carry an extra pair of mittens to school, on outings, etc.
• Prevent dehydration and exhaustion, which can lead to hypothermia. Drink plenty of fluids and pace yourself when doing vigorous activities.
• Stay fit by exercising and eating well—people who are fit are less susceptible to hypothermia.
• If you stay indoors, avoid moving from a hot environment to a cold one. Excessive sweating caused from an extreme change in temperature increases the risk of developing hypothermia.
• Eat high-energy food such as nuts and raisins.
• If you are travelling (on the road or in the wilderness) carry emergency supplies.

Traffic safety in our community
Safety is a top priority at our school. Here is a list of traffic tips to keep students, staff and parents safe while commuting to and from school.

• Respect traffic signs and road markers around the school.
• Drive slowly and with caution on and near school property. Adhere to the posted speed limits on any surrounding streets used by students on their way to and from school.
• Always yield to pedestrian traffic. Wait for students, staff members and parents to cross before driving past them.
• When dropping your child off at the school, use the Kiss'n'Ride area. This is a supervised area that is designed to keep students safe.
• Do not double park or do anything else to block traffic or draw your child off the curb and into traffic. Do not take shortcuts over curbs.
• Have your child ready to exit the car when you reach the curb. Say goodbye to your child before you park at the curb to let your child out of your car.
• During regular drop-off times, students are to remain in the car until it is safe for them to exit the car onto the curb.
• Follow the directions of staff or volunteers on duty in the school parking lot and treat staff, students, volunteers, passengers and other drivers with respect.
• Consider parking off site and walking a short distance to school. This will give you time to talk to your children about their day, review new vocabulary words, math concepts, etc.
• Remind your child to only cross the street at an intersection or crosswalk. They should never “jaywalk” by crossing in the middle of the street.
• Students who bike to school should always wear a helmet, and follow all traffic laws. They should only cross the street at a crosswalk or intersection—never in the middle of the road.

It’s almost time to register for kindergarten

Join us for a Kindergarten Live! open house in December to learn more

Do you have a young children that will start school in the next year or two? If so, join us for a Kindergarten Live! information session to learn more about the Peel board’s full-day kindergarten program and how to register your children for school.

Four elementary schools in Peel will host Kindergarten Live! information sessions in December where Explore Guides will takes families on a small group tour to see a kindergarten class in action, find out about play-based learning and have the opportunity to ask questions about special education.

Kindergarten Live! information sessions will take place at the following Peel elementary schools in December:

• Queen Street Public School in Brampton
• Caledon East Public School in Caledon
• Clarkson Public School in Mississauga
• Marvin Heights Public School in Mississauga

For more information or to register for an information session, visit

If your child was born in 2010, he or she can start kindergarten in September 2014.All Peel elementary schools will be open forkindergarten registration from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Feb.4, 5, 6 and 7 and from 5 to 8 p.m. on Feb. 6.

Math Problems For Everyone

Thanksgivukkah

This week marks the rare and exciting overlap of two holidays: the Jewish celebration of Hanukkah, and the American holiday of Thanksgiving. It's rare because 11/28 is the latest day that Thanksgiving can fall, since it's always the 4th Thursday of November, and 11/28 is the earliest day that Hanukkah can fall. So chances are already low that they'll both fall on 11/28 the same year. On top of it, the Jewish calendar is "drifting" out of sync from the solar year, by about 4 days every 10,000 years. After the Gregorian year 2146, an 11/28 Hanukkah won't even be possible until we loop all the way around the 365-day year, which will take about 70,000 years!

As a result, this year families celebrating Hanukkah get to eat their turkey with potato latkes, applesauce, and other traditional Hanukkah fare. As we see here, that adds a whole new level of math to juggling cooking times.

Wee ones: If you serve yourself turkey, cranberry sauce, and a latke with 2 toppings, how many kinds of food do you have on your plate?

Little kids: If it takes you 3 minutes to grate a potato, 4 minutes to squeeze out the water, and 1 minute to shape a pancake, how long did that take you in total? Bonus: If 1 grated potato can make 2 latkes, how many latkes can you make from 6 grated potatoes?

Big kids: If it takes 3 hours to cook your turkey and 1/2 hour to make the latkes, how long after you start the turkey should you start the latkes so they're ready the same time? Bonus: If your brisket takes 13 times as long as the latkes, how long after starting the brisket should you start the turkey?