CENTRAL PUBLIC SCHOOL 97 Dublin St., N, N1H 4N2

Phone: 519-821-7990 Fax: 519- 821-8270

NOVEMBER NEWSLETTER 2017

Principal: R. MurrayCako Office Coordinator: K. Epps

PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE

Welcome to the month of November! Please take

note of the many calendar events including School

Council social events and the holiday fundraiser.

During the week of November 20st – 23

rd we will be

recognizing Bullying Prevention. The week will be

filled with team building activities to continue to

build the positive and caring environment we know

Central to be.

We want all students to feel safe at school. For

students, staff and parents to know that we do have

a process for determining if bullying is happening

and steps to take to ensure it stops. If you know of

anyone experiencing this type of interaction please

report it to an adult in the school or access the

“Online Bullying” reporting tool found on the board

and school websites.

Don’t forget… to set clocks back one

hour on Sunday, November 5th

,

when Daylight Savings time ends.

R. MurrayCako

Principal

MARK YOUR CALENDAR November 1 – Creative

Playground Closed

November 5 – Clocks fall

back 1 hour

November 7 – Wreath

Orders Due

November 11 – Remembrance Day – our tribute

will be held on November 10th at 11:15

November 14 – Picture Retake Day

November 15 – Progress Reports Home

November 20- 23 – Bullying Prevention Week

November 24 – P.A. Day – no school

November 30 – School Council Meeting 6:30

December 25 to January 5 – Winter Holiday

REMEMBRANCE DAY

Remembrance Day assembly will

be on Friday, November 10th

, 2017

beginning at 11:15 am in the gym.

Poppies will be handed out prior to

the assembly. Money donations for the poppies are

to be handed to homeroom teachers.

SCHOOL COUNCIL NEWS

We are excited to invite all Central families to our

annual Family Games Night on Wednesday

November 22nd from 6:30-8:00 p.m. Come meet

other parents and play some new or old game

favourites - this is always a fun event for parents

and kids!

Our annual holiday wreath fundraiser will be taking

place again this year. All funds raised will be going

to the greening committee to maintain our outdoor

play spaces - look for order forms to be sent home

soon, order forms due November 7th

, wreaths will

be available for pick-up the week of November

27th.

Central School Council is always looking for

volunteers or parent involvement to ensure the

success of fundraising activities and events that

benefit our school. We are currently looking for

volunteers for our silent auction that will be held on

Friday, March 2, 2018. If you can lend a hand, or

are interested in donating an auction item, please

contact Chelsee Devries at:

chelseedevries@gmail.com

Our next school council meeting will be held on

Thursday, November 30 at 6:30 p.m. in the

library - childcare will be provided.

PROGRESS REPORTS

Progress reports focus on learning skills or work

habits, as well as, strengths and next steps to assist

in improving student learning in subject areas. It

will provide students and parents with early and

specific feedback on the progress made during the

first two months of the school year. There will be an

opportunity for parent/teacher conferences. This is

your chance to find out early in the school year how

your child is progressing. Progress Reports will be

sent home November 15th

.

FROM THE LIBRARY

We have had such a wonderful

start to the year! Our library is a

busy spot where students can

often be seen doing a wide

variety of things: snuggled up on the couch

enjoying a book, huddled together collaborating on

a project, reading and researching in the computer

lab, investigating something intriguing at the

Wonder Table or making something unique in our

Maker Space.

We would love to see all of our students checking

books out on a regular basis. Kindergarten and

grades 1-4 students have a book exchange every

week and grade 5 and 6 students can come to the

library every morning to exchange their books.

Please support your child by helping them to

remember to return their books to the library!

MILK BAG COLLECTION

We need your help to collect

plastic milk bags!

Some of you may know about

the milk bag project that is

taking place in communities

across Canada. The sturdy

outer bags are collected and cleaned before being

woven or crocheted into plastic

sleeping mats. The mats are then

provided to people in need, both

here in Canada and around the

world. For more information please

visit the site

http://milkbagsunlimited.ca If your family

purchases milk in three-litre bags, we are hoping

that you will be willing to send the sturdy outer bag

into the school for this project. The bags must be

clean and dry. It takes a few hundred bags to make

one mat, so the more bags the better! We will be

collecting the entire school year.

CREATIVE PLAYGROUND CLOSED

The Creative Playground will be closed as of

Wednesday, November 1st.

Thank you for your support!

SKATES We are looking for skate

donations to support the

junior skate program. If you

have used skates size 3-6

please pass onto Ms.

McNabb. Thank you for

your support!

SHOES AT SCHOOL

With the wet, snowy and cold weather approaching

it is important that all students have not only

outdoor footwear, but also indoor shoes. This is a

safety issue as proper footwear reduces the risk of

slips and falls and stepping on items which may

cause injury. Indoor shoes are also important so

that students are protected in the event of a fire drill

or event resulting in a school evacuation.

DROP OFF AND PICKUP REMINDERS Please assist us in ensuring student safety at drop

off and pickup times. We would appreciate your

help by ensuring that both you and your child are

crossing at the cross walk or at the corners that are

supported by our School Safety Patrollers. Please

also remember that the school parking lot is not a

drop off or pickup zone.

Thank you for your support in keeping our families

safe.

School Newsletter Insert from Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health November 2017

WDG Public Health is pleased to provide elementary and secondary schools with up-to-date information on health topics for their monthly newsletters and announcements to parents. Please find below two inserts you can include in your school newsletter and/or announcements if you wish. Images can be included or excluded as they meet your needs. If you have any questions please contact us at 1-800-265-7293 ext. 4111 or email schoolhealth@wdgpublichealth.ca

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Insert 1:

Information from Public Health Public Health is inviting community members from Guelph, Orangeville, Elora, Salem and Fergus who are 14 or older to share their opinions on our local neighbourhoods. Fill out Public Health’s Neighbourhood Design Survey and you could win $250 in groceries! Survey closes Nov 30. www.wdgpublichealth.ca/nds

For more information visit www.wdgpublichealth.ca

Insert 2:

Information from Public Health Think about the last movie your kids watched… You likely checked the rating to make sure it was age-

appropriate. Movie ratings consider violence, coarse language, and sexual and disturbing content, but they leave

out something that is very important to kids’ health – smoking.

Research has shown that the more kids see smoking in movies, the more likely they are to start smoking.

Smoking in films give children and youth the impression that smoking is okay and that they should do it too.

What can parents do?

Talk to your kids about the realities of smoking.

Talk to other parents about the issue of smoking in movies.

Check www.smokefreemovies.ca/now-playing/ or https://tutd.ucsf.edu/. These websites review movies to tell you which ones have smoking in them.

Sign the e-petition to support an 18A rating for all movies with smoking in them: www.smokefreemovies.ca/petition/

Monthly environmental activities to help celebrate our planet

November 24th is BUY NOTHING Day! Don’t buy, give. “No one has ever become poor by giving”, Anne Frank

Celebrate Buy Nothing Day on November 24th!

Buy Nothing Day is an awareness day highlighting society’s habit of buying too many things. It is a day for society to examine the issue of over-consumption and is held on ‘Black Friday’, which is one of the busiest shopping days in the United States. https://en.wikipedia.org

“We are also consuming and trashing clothing at a far higher rate than our planet can handle.

Today's trends are tomorrow's trash. The only solution is to reduce our levels of consumption.” Dr Kirsten

Brodde of Greenpeace Germany- https://www.telegraph.co.uk

Repair, reduce, re-use, recycle – 4 R’s are best!

It's time for a new kind of materialism, based on an economy of better, not more... that makes things which last and can be repaired many times before being recycled, from furniture to tools, cars, fridges, clothes and food. ‘Repair, reduce, re-use, recycle’ could be the new model. https://www.theguardian.com

Some great ideas for your family on Buy Nothing Day!

•Instead of shopping, enjoy a day in the great outdoors by walking trails or going to the park.

•Recycle school supplies such as binders, workbooks, pens and pencils instead of buying new.

•Donate clothes, books, toys and games your family does not need any more.

•Think of things you can make or do for people as gifts without spending any money.

Either way, there’s no doubt that going without buying anything for an entire day is quite a challenge in the

modern world, and will serve to make you think about what your life is really about! https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/buy-nothing-day

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Feedback Welcome on Draft Policies

The Upper Grand District School Board is welcoming public input on draft policies. Currently under review is

Policy 310 - Display of Flags. You are invited to review the draft documents and submit online feedback at

www.ugdsb.ca/board/policy. The deadline for public input is November 30, 2017 at 4 p.m. EST. Persons

without internet access may call 519-822-4420 (or toll-free 1-800-321-4025) ext. 723 to request a printed copy

of the draft documents.

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Talking About Mental Health November 2017 – Talking to Your Child/Youth about Tragic Events

When a tragic event occurs, children and youth will hear about these events through media, peers or other sources.

These are difficult topics to talk about and your response will shape your child/youth’s core beliefs.

Tips for talking to children/youth about tragedies

You know your child/youth best, and you’ll have a good idea of how much information your child/youth is ready to hear.

Consider these tips as a guideline:

Don't allow young children to watch the news. Watching news footage can be very disturbing to young children so it’s

important to keep it off when they’re around.

Keep your message simple. Say something like, “That person decided to hurt other people." For young children, this may

be all the information they need. Older children are likely to ask more questions. Stick to the simple facts. It’s OK to say

you don’t know all the answers.

Focus on the steps that are being taken to keep people safe. Talk about how police officers, government officials, and

other first responders are helping. Spend more time talking about the good work people are doing, rather than the horrific

event. This can help reduce your child/youth's anxiety about safety.

Empower your kids to become helpers. Discuss how they can take positive action in the wake of a tragic event.

Volunteering in the community and donating allowance money can go a long way toward helping children/youth see that

they can always take steps to make the world a little better. Children/youth who feel like they have a little bit of control

are less likely to feel helpless in the wake of a tragic event.

Send a healthy message to your child

No matter how many conversations you hold or how much you decide to share, keep the message the same, bad

things happen but there are good people out there helping and we’re strong enough to get through it.

Sharing with your child/youth messages that fosters resilience and teaches your children/youth they’re able to

cope with whatever bad things come their way in life and there are caring adults in their lives to talk to and who

will support them.

(This information is taken from Psychology Today: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/what-mentally-

strong-people-dont-do/201710/how-talk-kids-about-the-las-vegas-shooting) Have a mentally healthy day!

Dr. Lynn Woodford is the Mental Health Lead for Upper Grand District School Board

Follow me on twitter: @drlynnwoodford