The Unionville Voice
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NOVEMBER, 2014 The Unionville Voice 300 Main Street| Unionville, Ontario| L3R212 Website: www.yrdsb.ca/schools/unionville.ps Email: unionville.ps.ca A Message from the Administrative Team It has been a busy fall here at Unionville Public School. As a school, we have been in- volved in a variety of activities including International Walk to School Day, the Terry PRINCIPAL Fox Run and the grade 6-8 trip to Camp Muskoka. Classes have enjoyed field trips Helen Hart including a four day immersion into Pioneer life, swimming lessons and a visit to VICE-PRINCIPAL St. Lawrence Market. Students in grades 6-8 will be exploring a section of downtown Shelley Jones Toronto with an emphasis on media on November 4th, and our students in grades 2, 4 SUPERINTENDENT and 7 will be attending Milne outdoor center this month. In classes, students are hard Dan Wu at work on their grade level curricular expectations working individually or in small groups to go deeper with their knowledge and understanding of a topic, apply this TRUSTEE understanding and use this knowledge to analyze and evaluate information. Ada Yeung On November 12th, Unionville students will bring home their Progress Report Cards. Progress Reports are an opportunity for teachers to share the development of learning skills and work habits as well as general progress in the subject areas with families, to I N S I D E date. It gives families, teachers and students the opportunity to review their progress THIS ISSUE: so far and to set goals for growth to ensure a successful term. Final marks for all sub- ject areas will be recorded on the Term 1 Report Card which will go home February Remembrance 2 th Day Assembly 19 . This year, all of our classes from SK to grade 8 will participate in Parent Teacher Interviews on the evening of Thursday, November 13th and the morning of Friday, Bike Safety 3 November 14th. Parent Teacher Interviews are one of the ways for you to participate in partnering with Walk to School 4 your child’s teacher to support their learning. Before the interview, you may wish to Day review the progress report card and talk to your child about their learning experiences Terry Fox Run 4 so far this year. Please see a Tips Sheet for Parent Teacher Interviews included in this newsletter. Parents and guardians of JK students will be invited to their child’s class- Student News 5 room for a classroom observation. These observations will take place later in 6 November. 7 We look forward to your involvement in this process and know that you will take the Parent Teacher 8 opportunity to recognize and celebrate your child’s positive accomplishments from the Interview Tip Sheet first couple of months and help your child to set goals for the remainder of the term. Calendar 10 Helen Hart Shelley Jones Principal Vice Principal P A G E 2 Remembrance Day Assembly Unionville Public School will be holding an assembly in honour of Remembrance Day on Tuesday, November 11th. Parents and family members are welcome to attend this ceremony. The assembly will take place in the gymnasium at 9:45 a.m. Also, UPS will have two student representatives presenting a wreath during the outdoor ceremony in front of Crosby Arena at the cenotaph. The outdoor procession will begin at 10:30 a.m. at the bandstand on Main Street Unionville. Parents are welcome to attend this ceremony. UPS Poster Sale Thank you to everyone who supported our Fundraising efforts in support of pur- chasing the video component of the new sound system in the gymnasium through the purchase of the 2013-2014 poster. If you did not get a copy of this poster made by the students themselves or if you would like to buy another copy for a family member, now is your chance! They will be available for $10/poster until December 15, 2014 and will be sold at upcoming school events or through the school’s office. Save the Date – January 27 On the evening of Tuesday, January 27, 2015, Shyamala Kiru will be at Unionville Public School to speak with families about Fostering Confidence in your Children. Shyamala is a dynamic and accomplished presenter with a style that is both engaging and informative. Mark your calendars so that you will be able to join us THE UNIONVILLE VOICE P A G E 3 Bicycle Safety On Wednesday, Oct. 15, students participated in a fun and interac- tive session learning about helmet and bike safety. Pedalheads, an organization that delivers programs that promote kids’ health and development, lead these sessions which were brought to the school as part of Active and Safe Routes to School in partnership with the City of Markham. There were lots of smiles as the students partici- pated in a variety of challenging bike activities. Thanks to all the parent volunteers who came out to help and support this event. Biking is a great active way to get to and from school, so please encourage your kids to continue to use this form of transportation! Help to Keep our UPS Grounds Healthy! Winter is just around the corner and our gardens and planters need a little TLC! You can get involved by lending a hand. The gardens need some edging, weeding and deadheading before the cold weather sets in. Our school also has three very large planters by the main school entrance that need to be redone for the winter season ahead. All of our gardens are cared for by volunteers. If you're interested in lending a hand, please contact Suzanne Fearn at [email protected]. Thanks for helping to keep the school grounds beautiful and healthy! Community Outreach The goal of COMMUNITY OUTREACH at UPS is to allow staff, students and families to contribute and support our community whether locally or globally and reflect on how fortunate we are. We hope to encourage students to become active, global citizens and understand their roles as leaders through par- ticipation in local events. This year we will have multiple opportunities to ‘reach our community’ and become leaders. Here are highlights for the first 3 months of the year: September: students participated in Markham Fair by submitting original pieces of work. November: two students from UPS will participate in the Unionville outdoor Remembrance Day procession and place a wreath at the cenotaph. We will also launch our first fundraiser with JUMPSTART – look for more information to come home shortly! We look forward to a very active year – working together to help others and raise our own awareness about the needs in our community and beyond. THE UNIONVILLE VOICE P A G E 4 International Walk to School Day – October 8 Thanks for a successful International Walk to School Day ! On Wednesday, October 8, Unionville Public School’s staff, students and families came out to celebrate International Walk to School Day! The York Regional Police, Public Health Nurses and representatives from Regional Municipality of York, including the Mayor came out with great enthusiasm. International Walk to School Day is an event that is celebrated across Canada and this year, we partnered with The Regional Municipality of York and York Regional Police to promote safety and the importance of active travel for the trip to/from school. Despite the weather starting to get colder, please try and continue to walk, bike or be active on your travels to and from school. For those of you who live farther away from the school, park a block or two away and “walk a block” to school, but en- sure you are parked in a legal parking area. Remember to walk with your child or have your child walk with other students and use the sidewalks and pathways. If possible, cross the street where crossing guards are available. Please ensure that your child/children are dressed for the weather. If your child(ren) children are eligible for school bussing, they are encouraged to use the bus service, because taking the bus is a sustainable form of travel. We hope that you saw the photo of some of the smiling faces from this event that appeared in Thursday, October 9, Economist and Sun. Thanks to everyone who was active getting to school and supported this “Active and Safe Routes to School” event. It was great to see all the students and families out and being active! P A G E 5 Student News Spirit Day The Student Parliament ran a successful Wacky Hair Day for our last spirit day. The class with the most participants was Mrs. Hoffman’s class who won the spirit cup! They had the honour of picking the next spirit day and they decided upon Superhero Day. Stay tuned for the date in November. Students are re- minded that they can also create their own superhero, as well as dressing up as well known ones. Peace Tree Conference Mrs. Cooper took three grade 5s and three grade 6s to this year’s Peace Tree Conference, which focuses on inclusivity and anti-bullying. The conference was very well received and the students developed an action plan, which they will be implementing at UPS. VIP Program The grade 6s are currently participating in the York Region Police’s VIP (Values, Influences and Peers) Program. Officer Jen from YRP has been running the session with our students to educate them about some of the challenges they may face with respect to values and rules, peer pressure, authority figures, alcohol, tobacco and drugs, internet safety, and youth and the law.