Carberry Chronicle September 2014

Carberry Public School

(905) 458-6771 Principal: Ruth Wedderburn-

Shelton

Vice Principal: Sumeeta Chhina

Superintendent: Pat Noble

905-451-2862

School Trustee: Jagdeep Mann

416-816-1140

Carberry is now on

Twitter! Follow us

at @Carberry _PS

Welcome to the 2013-14 school year!

Welcome to the learning community at Carberry Public School. The

staff looks forward to working with parents and guardians to

support the success of each student. We would like to invite you to

attend our Open House on October 8 at 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. At

this time you will be able to meet all of our teachers and support

staff, take a tour of the school, and say hello to your child’s teacher

as well as see their classroom. We have had a wonderful start to the

year at Carberry. The Junior and Senior Kindergarten students are

learning school routines. The grade 1 French Immersion students are

enjoying the introduction to a new language. As well, all of our

returning students in both English and French classes are enjoying

seeing old friends, meeting new ones and embracing the challenges.

Happy Birthday Carberry!

The 2014-2015 school year officially marks our fifth year of opening

Carberry! On the evening of October 8th we are planning an exciting cel-

ebration full of classroom visits, entertainment, and special visitors.

Please plan to attend this memorable event. If you are interested in

volunteering to help out, please write a note in your child’s agenda, along

with your daytime phone number.

We’re all looking forward to celebrating with the Carberry community!

Page 2

News from the Library

Dear Parents/Guardians,

Welcome back to a new and exciting year at Carberry P. S. Library. I have purchased many new books to add to our collection and will be seeing every class for orientation visits to tell them about new authors, books and series.

I want to tell you already about our upcoming Scholastic Book Fair which takes place from Friday Octo-

ber 3-Wednesday Oct. 15th. We will be open for sales on the evening of Wednesday October 8th during

the school Open House. Please be sure to come and visit the fair. We appreciate your support of your child's love of literacy and the book fair offers a wide selection of choices.

Last year a number of our library books were lost or damaged. I'm going to ask all parents to spend a few minutes talking to your children about proper care and handling of library books so our beautiful collec-tion will not be diminished. There will be a fine for lost or damaged books as follows: English paperback: $7.00-10.00; French book: $10.00. Hard cover picture and non-fiction books- $10.00-$20.00.

As a practical solution, I will be offering new and exciting designs of library book bags for sale at the price of $1.00 each. If your child has a book bag from last year that is still in good condition, please en-courage him/her to bring it to school. Our library book bags are a great way to prevent books from getting lost or damaged. If you wish to purchase a new library book bag, please fill out the attached form and return it with your child with $1.00.

Looking forward to a year full of reading fun,

Yours sincerely,

Mrs. McMann (teacher-librarian)

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I wish to purchase a library book bag for $1.00

Student name: ____________________ Teacher: ____________________

Parent signature: __________________ Date: ____________________

Page 3

No Child Without

Take advantage of Free MedicAlert Membership

for Students at our school! The Canadian MedicAlert Foundation has de-

veloped a program to protect children and

provide school officials with the help they

need to address concerns about students liv-

ing with chronic medical conditions, allergies

or special needs. To learn about the program

visit http://www.nochildwithout.ca/

Keep track of your child's vaccinations

To attend school in Ontario, children require an up-to-date immunization record, unless you

have a valid exemption. When your child receives a new vaccination, remember to contact

Peel Health and provide the information. Peel Health monitors immunizations on a regular

basis to ensure all children attending school have been immunized.

Make sure Peel Health has an up-to-date record of your child's immunizations by call-

ing Health Line Peel at 905-799-7700; Caledon residents can call toll-free at 905-

584-2216. Translation services are available.

Safe Arrival Reminder

Please phone the Attendance Check phone number at 905-458-6771 if your child is going

to be absent from school. The answering machine is available 24 hours. Please leave your

child’s name, teacher’s name and the reason for absence. If your child is away more than 3

days, an explanatory note should be sent to the school

News from the Office

News From the Gym

Intramurals — Mr. Mahy, Ms. Dogterom, & Mr. Tattersall

As we settle into September, Intramurals for grades 3-5 will begin. Students will

be signed up for teams of like grades and participate in friendly competitions

throughout the school year at nutrition breaks. Games may include scooterboard

handball, European Handball, basketball, and floor hockey. Students of any skill

level are encouraged to come out to get active, have fun, and make new friends.

Interschool Teams — Mr. Mahy

Grade 4 & 5 students will have the opportunity to try-out for interschool teams

beginning in the fall. Currently, we are planning for a fall co-ed floor hockey

team, a winter co-ed basketball team, a spring cross country team (which may in-

clude grade 3), and spring boys and girls' soccer teams.

Final teams and times for tryouts will be made clear through school announce-

ments. In the past we have had overwhelming turnouts for tryouts (e.g., 160+ stu-

dents trying out for 15 spots on a team) so give it your best shot at tryouts!

Physical Education Classes Grades 1-5 – Mr. Mahy and Ms. Dogterom

Welcome parents/guardians and students to the new school year — We are excited to get students

moving! During the first few weeks of school, students can expect to be introduced to the gym and engaged in cooperative games.

Your child’s homeroom teacher will provide individual class schedules in the near future stating

which days of our ten day cycle your child’s PE class is. Mr. Mahy and Ms. Dogterom will be co-

teaching nearly all the classes, and greatly look forward to this collaboration. In order to safely participate in physical activities:

Grade 1’s are expected to wear appropriate clothing on gym days

Grades 2-5 are expected to bring a change of clothes on gym days No jewellery can be be worn in physical education classes for any grade Every student should have a pair of indoor running shoes for mandatory Daily Physical Activity

(DPA) and gym days Students who do not come prepared with appropriate clothing will not participate in physical activity, instead they will observe their class and take notes. Please keep in mind that safe and active partici-pation are major components of student evaluation. Please visit the Health & Physical Education class site for H&PE information, such as: safety guidelines tips for leading active and healthy lives at home community organizations brief outline of PE activities

Join our school council—share your ideas

Every Peel school has a school council—a group focused on helping students succeed. School councils provide

a voice for parents and the community and offer advice to the school principal on a number of topics.

We are holding school councils elections on October 1 at 6:30pm.

Nomination forms have been sent home. If you are interested please sign this form and return it to school

before Oct 1st.

If you would like to know more or are interested in joining our council, please contact our office staff.

School doors will remain locked during the school day

In September, the front doors of our school will be locked during the school day.

This is part of the Safe Welcome program announced by the government in December 2012 for elemen-

tary schools in Ontario. As part of this program, portable doors will also be locked during the school day. A

letter explaining this program was sent home to all families in June 2013.

We have long had the practice for Peel schools that all outside doors, with the exception of the front door,

would be locked during the school day. While we acknowledge that locking doors will not in itself prevent all

risks to the safety of students and staff, it is an important step in providing an additional level of security.

A camera and buzzer unit will be installed by the front door and will be linked to a monitor in the main of-

fice of the school. Anyone who wishes access to the school once the school day has begun—parents, Peel

board staff and visitors—will request entry by pressing the buzzer. Staff in the main office will be able to

see and speak to the person, and release the door lock to provide access.

We understand that this new practice will require some adjustment. In particular, you may have to wait

briefly at the front door before the buzzer is answered. Also, please note that at our

school there are two nutrition breaks between the hours of 10:10am - 11:50am and 1:10 –

1:50 pm and we suggest you pack your child a lunch. During this time, office and admin-

istrative staff are busier than at other times of the day so there may be a delay in provid-

ing access. You may wish to choose another time to visit our school.

While this new program will lead to changes in routines, we are confident that the increased security it

provides will be reassuring to students, families and staff. As a result of this new practice, we ask that

parents be patient when waiting to enter the school.

Thank you for your continued support for the safety and well-being of all students and staff in our schools.

Peel board trustees—accountable to the community

The Peel board, like every public school board in Ontario, is governed by a board of trustees. Trustees

are elected by public school taxpayers every three years during municipal elections.

What do trustees do?

advocate for the needs of the community to other members of the board

help members of the community address concerns about the school system

set policies in the areas of curriculum, facilities, human and financial resources

explain the policies and decisions of the board to the community

evaluate the board's achievement of its goals and objectives and monitor its implementation

of new policies

participate in budget development, approve budget decisions and monitor its progress

protect the future of the board by always considering the long-term effects of decisions

Visit www.peelschools.org and check out the ‘Meet Your Trustee’ section to subscribe to board meeting

agendas and minutes and read highlights from board meeting.

Subscribe to receive news from the Peel board

Take advantage of our electronic subscription service to automatically receive a list of activities by email on a

monthly basis. Subscriptions are sent the last week of the month, plus bonuses throughout the year. Subscribing

is easy ¾ just visit our website at www.peelschools.org and click on the subscription link under "Quick Links."

You can also subscribe to receive:

News releases Keep up with the news at the Peel board. Subscribe to receive Peel board news releases to learn more about board

news and school events.

Board agendas Learn more about Peel board meetings by subscribing to receive agendas. Meetings of the board are open to the

public and are held on the second and fourth Tuesday of the month.

Board highlights Briefing is a newsletter with highlights of decisions made by trustees at board meetings. It is sent out on the

second and fourth Thursday of every month and immediately following any special board meetings.

Job postings for non-teaching staff

Learn about each new non-teaching job that is posted on the Peel board's Job Board.

Schools use many strategies to keep children safe

Peel schools provide a safe environment for staff and students to work and learn. The board has

many procedures to ensure safety. To keep students safe, schools use many strategies including:

requiring all parents and visitors to check in at the main office and obtain visitor passes

the use of a "buddy system" – students can only leave the classroom if accompanied by another stu-

dent (for example, going to the washroom)

assigning teachers to supervise inside and outside the school during recesses, before and after

school

locking all exteriors doors, except the main entrance, during school hours

encouraging staff to regularly review street proofing skills with students

expecting staff and students to report unidentified individuals to the office immediately

holding fire drills and "lockdown" rehearsals

having evacuation plans in place

ensuring that all staff and volunteers have up-to-date criminal record checks

working with the police to provide education on street-proofing

For more information about the safety at your school, review your school handbook or speak to

your principal or teacher

Supervision

Supervision begins at 8:35am. For safety reasons, children should not be dropped off earlier.

School ends at 3:10 pm and walkers should be picked up at Door A for Grade 1 and Grade 2, and

Door B for Grades 3 to 5. Thank you for your cooperation and understanding.

Kiss n Ride and PARKING LOT ETIQUETTE

Parking lot safety and etiquette is so very important to ensure the safety of our entire community.

The arrival and dismissal is a large endeavor involving the combined efforts of our teachers, par-

ents and students who care about the safe and expedient transfer of the children to and from home.

We are working very hard to ensure the safety of each and every one of our approximately 1000

students. Unfortunately there is no space for parking in our staff parking lot.

In order to reduce the congestion at the end of the day in our front driveway, the driveway at

Carberry will be closed to all vehicles except busses from 3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. every day.

The Kiss and Ride is only operational in the morning, as it is designed as a “drop off” area,

not a “pick up” area.

In order to ensure a safe dismissal for all students, parents will need to find legal parking in the

community and walk to the school to pick up students at the end of the day. The Kiss and Ride

will only be operational in the morning for student drop off. Thank you for your cooperation.