Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Elementary School 55 Hammet Street, Cambridge, ON, N3C 2H5 519-658-4041

Principal’s Message Dear Parents and Guardians, On behalf of the staff at Our Lady of Fatima CES, we hope you and your family had an enjoyable Thanksgiving with your family and friends. On the topic of ‘thanks’, we would like to extend a very special thank you to Mrs. Carriere and the rest of the Dance-a-thon Fundraising Committee, who, once again, did an outstanding job organizing and running a fun, high-energy, Halloween-themed School Council fundraiser. As always, the money raised will go towards programs that will augment the learning, both curricular and co-curricular, for your children. More specific details will be communicated in the coming months after discussion with our School Council and School Staff. I’d like to thank Mr. Pocsai (Gr. 5) and Mr. Ouellette (Special Education) for the exceptional job they have done teaching our students the past two months. They will be leaving our school community this month with Mme. Krisko (Gr. 5 Intensive French) and Mrs. Bilkas (Special Education) returning from paternal leave. November promises to be another busy month with highlights including: Progress Report Card Distribution, Parent-Teacher-Student Conferences, a P.A. Day on the 18th, a Spirit Assembly as well as Moustache Day on the 25th and the start of the Red Stocking Campaign. Please see details in this issue of the Falcon Flyer. God Bless, Dave Lynch

Friendly Reminders:

ALLERGY ALERT PLEASE - NO DOGS ON SCHOOL PROPERTY The Waterloo Catholic District School Board and Our If you walk your child to/from Lady of Fatima School are committed to the fundamental principle of providing and maintaining a healthy school, this is a please do not bring environment for all students and staff. In particular, this your dog on school property during includes all those who may be susceptible to the hours of 8:00 am and 3:30 pm. Anaphylaxis, the term used to describe acute, severe, life-threatening allergic reactions to a substance. Even though your dog may be very We have students at our school who are allergic to nuts, gentle, we have some students who in particular peanuts. We ask that our school are afraid of dogs. Please help keep all of our community be aware of this when making lunches and snacks for your child(ren). Please do not send in food students safe and comfortable. items with nuts or nut products. Thank you for your cooperation Your cooperation is appreciated.

“ Our Catholic Schools – Heart of the community, success for each, a place for all ” 2016-2017 Falcon Council

OLOF Community, As a school initiative we are going to be collecting aluminum pop tabs to donate to March of Dimes Canada in support of their Assistive Devices Program. The Program can help to buy, repair and maintain a wide variety of mobility or assistive equipment. For every aluminum pop tab you bring in a colour house point will be awarded. When you bring in your pop tabs drop them off at Miss O’Brien’s room, please have them labelled in a ziplock bag with the following information so points can be awarded appropriately; Name, Grade, Teacher, and number of pop tabs. Sincerely, Falcon Council ------OLOF Community, To help with the church initiative of "Milk Bags for Haiti" OLOF school will be collecting milk bags in hopes of helping the church create sleeping mats for the people of Haiti. 500 Milk Bags = 1 Sleeping Mat  Provides clean & comfortable sleeping mats for Haitians  Biting insects & poisonous spiders don’t like the plastic therefore don’t hide in it  Hung to dry during the day & washed in the river to clean  Used endlessly by the Haitians For every milk bag you bring in a colour house point will be awarded. When you bring in your milk bags drop them off at Miss O’Brien’s room, please have a label on them with the following information so points can be awarded appropriately; Name, Grade, Teacher Also, please be sure to wash out the inside of the milk bag and allow time to dry. Sincerely, Falcon Council

WCDSB Resiliency Initiative 2016-2017 The Waterloo Catholic District School Board will continue to work with Dr. Wayne Hammond and his team at The Resiliency Initiatives for the 2016-2017 school year. The parenting resource and Module 2 are now available: The “Springboard Parenting: An online parenting program for raising resilient, healthy kids and building a bridge between school and home” is now available to all parents and guardians. The web address is www.springboardparenting.com. If parents and guardians are asked for payment information they will put in waterloo2016 as the code. Healthy, Active Living Fit Bit

November FIT BIT

Water – the Wonder Drink! The Healthy Kids Community Challenge is all about helping kids make healthy choices. Our community is one of 45 across the province chosen to be a part of this special project. That means new ideas and programs are coming to our community – things that make it easier for kids to be ac- tive and eat healthier. These are the keys to good health as our children grow up and become adults.

Water is best  Encourage your kids to drink water when they are thirsty. It is much better for them than drinks with sugar added.  We all know healthy eating is important for growing children. So is healthy hydration. Our com- munity is looking for ways to make it easier for kids to choose healthy drinks more often.  Water is the natural choice for kids to stay hydrated and healthy. Water makes up more than half of a child’s weight. They need a steady supply to keep their bodies working and growing proper- ly. Water contains no sugar, calories, additives, preservatives, or caffeine. And it’s free.  Make water the easy choice for your kids – and keep them sipping throughout the day.

How to make water the first choice  Make water the ‘new normal’ in your home:  Keep pitchers of water on the kitchen counter or in the fridge for everyone to grab a drink from throughout the day.  Put water on the table at mealtimes.  Fill up re-usable bottles of water for the kids to take to school and sports activities.

Milk: another healthy choice Plain, unsweetened milk is another healthy choice for your thirsty kids. Milk also gives them some of the calcium and vitamin D they need each day. For those who cannot drink milk, unsweetened, forti- fied soy drinks are an option. Babies thrive on breast milk. Health Canada encourages mothers to exclusively breastfeed infants until 6 months. Most babies breastfed in this way do not need additional water before they are 6 months old. Avoid giving babies juice, cow’s milk, or other liquids until they are a year old. Continued breastfeeding has many health benefits for children up to the age of 2 and beyond.

Dates To Remember Bus Students

November 1 - Catholic School Council Meeting held in The Learning The STSWR website allows parents/guardians to subscribe Com mons, 6:00-7:30 p.m. and receive notifications about route delays, cancellations November 2 - Gr. 8s Experience the Arts & Technology, Gr. 7 Team- and school closures. Science Olympics at St. Benedict CSS For Delays, Closures & Cancellations: November 4 - Dance-a-thon Follow-up Assembly, 2:30 p.m. November 8 - Progress Report Card Distribution Visit www.stswr.ca November 10 - Picture Re-Take Day Click “Delays, Closures & Cancellations” - Parent-Teacher-Student Interviews Click “Delays & Cancellations” November 11 - Remembrance Day Assembly, 10:30 a.m. November 16 - Commissioning of School Council Chairs at the Catholic Bus cancellations are also communicated via local media Education Centre, 6:30 p.m. (radio, television) November 17 - School Lockdown Drill To Subscribe to E-mail Notifications for Route Delays November 18 - P.A. Day, Student Achievement, Numeracy and Cancellations and School Closures: November 23 - Gr. 4 Bible Celebration at St. Mary’s, 10:00 a.m. Visit www.stswr.ca November 25 - Moustache Day - ‘Always Room for One More’ Spirit Assembly, 10:20 Click “Delays, Closures & Cancellations” a.m. Click “Delays & Cancellations” November 28 - Red Stocking Campaign Begins November 30 - ‘People of Hope’ Pastoral Plan Mass with Bishop Crosby at St. Daniel, Kitchener Click

If you have any questions please feel free to contact Pizza Days - Fridays - Nov 11, 25 Dec 16 Student Transportation Services of Waterloo Region at Future Important Dates: Graduation - June 29th, 2017 519-650-4934 ext.221 Cash Online - Please Register

Britannica School A wonderful research tool available from home or from school (please see Mrs. Gear for home login A Christmas Pizza Party information). with Christmas cookies. Find information, images, and much more. We are having a Pizza Party for the top 2 classes who have A link is available through the best percentage of their students registered for online

Our Lady of Fatima’s website. cash. We will be sending home a reminder with students in Oct and Nov promoting Online Cash, hoping to increase Go to our Library page and numbers and the pizza party will follow in December just click on VLC (Virtual Learning Commons). before Christmas. Winter Weather - Inclement Weather

With the unpredictability of our weather, it is strongly recommended that students come prepared with extra clothes. Please send an extra pair of dry socks and mittens in your child’s

backpack. A warm coat, hat and mitts are necessary for outdoor recess times. Inclement Weather: Please note how school closures are announced to the public. If buses are cancelled or delayed in the

morning due to icy roads or snowy weather, the following radio and television stations will be notified: Toronto: CBC FM 99.1, CHFI FM 98.1, CFTR AM 680 : CJOY AM 1460, MAGIC FM 106.1 Kitchener: CKGL AM 570, CHYM FM 96.7 Please listen for WATERLOO REGION bus information and school closures.