Berwick & District School s2

BERWICK & DISTRICT SCHOOL NEWSLETTER February 2015 Please remember that Berwick & District promotes a scent aware and peanut aware school. Follow us on Twitter @BerwickSchool Check out the website http://www.berwickschool.ednet.ns.ca/

Early Dismissals/No School: Monday, February 16th, 2015 No School – Viola Desmond Day Tuesday, February 17th, 2015 Early Dismissal @ 11:45 am Principal’s Message: February is a wonderful month! Not only does winter settle in a bit so we can take advantage of outdoor activities like snowman building, snowshoeing and sledding, but it also involves opportunities to celebrate traditions like Valentine’s Day and now the new holiday, Viola Desmond Day. At school we take advantage of all of those things but we also enjoy a good solid month of teaching and learning relatively free of distractions. Teachers and students are busy and so are the rest of us … constantly trying to figure out better ways to do things and ways to make BDS the best it can be for everyone! Some solid examples of that are:  Our Breakfast Program (BP) has a wonderful volunteer, Mrs. Carty, who continues to provide hot breakfast choices on Monday and Wednesday mornings. We are testing out a slight change and moving the BP to the Family Studies Room. Ms. Schneider our awesome daily BP leader and Mrs. Carty will be ready to greet our breakfast eaters from there each morning.

 Our share of the Magazine Funds went to purchasing some ipads for classrooms who didn’t have any. Not only do certain students use these as integral to their learning but all students benefit from being able to access these tools.

 You have already heard about our Brain Bike. We hope the added publicity will draw potential sponsors for these bikes and help us get a few (or many) more. Crossing fingers!

 Our Wellness Survey was slightly delayed due to the recent snow days but soon we will have them back (due Feb 6th) and the data summarized. It is what we use to plan the next rounds of student activities and parent supports. Our 2nd Speaker Series on Helping Disorganized Kids was fantastic and after our next one in April (Teaching Kids Social Skills), we will be ready to plan the 2015 – 16 offerings.

 ** coming up on Feb.4th is our Wellness Day, when students get a chance to experience a variety of activities all related to components of mental and physical health.

 Our staff are on a targeted path to Professional Development – we continue to work on key areas of Literacy and Math, but also work hard to improve our skills and equipment in the areas of technology and the deeper understanding of the whole child. We have recently purchased a license for Mathletics and those of you with children in Grades 5-8 English (not yet available in French) will hear more about this very soon.

 We have been teasing our students with a campaign advertising “unches” …another opportunity to support improvements in our school – giving kids more healthy, pro- social, supervised things to do.

I can go on and on about our wonderful students, our dedicated incredibly hard working staff and the love we have for our school. Suffice it to say that all of those things are true and if you would like to support any of the above initiatives or have ideas for others, please let us know. Enjoy February! Cindy Dickie

SLC Update The Stingers have a very busy month ahead! We are having a great start to 2015. There are many events going on next month; February and March plans are shaping up nicely. The February fun starts with Dress-Up Day on Friday February 13th. Please wear red and pink to show your school spirit! Berwick and District leadership conference is also on the 13th. For the next two months we are having student yoga classes on Monday's after school and the Chess club will meet every Friday at lunch. Mark your calendars for the middle level dance on February 12th. From 6:30-8:30 pm. Bring a food bank item and pay only $4.00. It is $5.00 without an item. As well, we will be having participation awards at the dance, lots of prizes! Hope to see you there!

Thank you, Amaya and Darsi, Grade 7 class Rep.

SCHOOL NEWS: What matters in learning? Brain based teaching and parenting… Margie Nelson, during our Speaker Series on Helping Disorganized Kids, gave away many handouts on a variety of common organization and routine building situations. Our PTSA has decided to move their bulletin board inside our foyer and display copies of those articles for families to take if interested. Children need structure, routine and can begin to learn multi-step tasks at a fairly young age. Everything from cleaning their room, helping with chores, getting settled into a bedtime routine… all of those topics are available for you to read about. Please continue to watch in our foyer for those resources. Social media parenting tips… Are your children on Twitter? Facebook? Instagram? SnapChat? If they are, do you regularly check their profiles, friends, and messaging? One of the things that many young people are learning (often too late) is that potential employers, coaches etc. are investigating their applicants, athletes and participants to make sure that they are promoting and communicating appropriate, positive, respectful images and messages on Social Media. Every now and then there are stories of missed opportunities, cancelled interviews and lost scholarships due to reckless social media behavior. Students need to feel supported around the use of Social Media and they are looking to us the adults, both parents and educators to model appropriate behavior, set rules and follow through with consequences. It is difficult to manage something that changes so quickly but all the experts say that that is the reason to be even more diligent. Good luck! We try hard to support you by teaching kids good digital citizenship in school and modeling our own appropriate social media behavior.

Berwick School Band Meeting will be held on Thursday, February 5th, 2015. The Band Executive will meet at 6:45 pm and the General Band Meeting for all parents of students in the band program grades 5-8 is at 7:30 pm. This meeting will be immediately followed by a very important meeting for all parents of the grade 8 students going on the Boston Band Trip. It is mandatory that at least 1 parent/guardian from each family be present at this meeting.

Primary Registration: Our Primary registration will take place on Thursday, February 12th. Students in Primary Batherson class will remain at home on this date. If you have a child turning 5 on or before December 31st 2014 and they will be attending Berwick and District School in September, please contact the office immediately for an information package and to schedule an appointment.

PTSA: February’s meeting will take place on Tuesday, February 17th at 6:00 pm in the Family Studies Room.

Child Abuse/Criminal Checks – we are coming into the Spring/Summer season where classes often take a class trip. For you to be able to accompany and take part in the class trip you will need to have your child abuse and criminal records checks up to date. Under the new policy for AVRSB the checks need to be renewed every three years; therefore, if your check was completed before or in 2012 you will need to update your checks. If you are not sure when your check was last completed, or if you have not completed your checks, please contact the school office Self-Identification Initiative Starting February 2, 2015: AVRSB is asking all parents/guardians, staff and students to help us learn more about the diversity of our students, staff and communities. Starting on February 2, 2015, we would like to have as many students and staff as possible identify their ancestry and/or Aboriginal identity. Please note that self-identification is for everyone. A Self-Identification package will be delivered to all students. For parents/guardians of students in Grades Primary to 9, we encourage you to complete the Self-Identification form on your child’s behalf and return it to school. Students in Grades 10-12 can complete the form independently and return it to school. This information will help us to know who our students and staff are, how demographics are changing, and will help us plan how best to support the success of all students. Even if you have self-identified in the past, we want to make sure everyone has a chance to provide or update information, or to add more than one ancestry and/or Aboriginal identity. Thank you in advance for helping us to collect this information. For further details, please speak to your school principal or visit www.avrsb.ca.

"Winter Walk Day in Support of Open Arms": This year we are hosting this event on February 20th at 8:00am. We will meet at either Town Hall (walk with the Mayor) or the School Board Office (walk with Donna Johnstone our Board Member) and walk toward the school. Both groups will meet at the corner of Foster and Veterans (crossing guard area) and then walk the last short way together. During the day, students and staff can wear a hat for a free will offering in support of Open Arms. We will present the $ to Open Arms at the Coldest Night of the Year event on February 21st (assuming someone from our Parent/Student group is going).

In the Middle, our regular feature from the Middle Level classes:

Middle Level Dance will be held on Thursday, February 12th from 6:30-8:30. Cost is $5.00 a person or $4.00 with a food bank donation item. Downtown Lunch Times: The tradition at our school of Grade 7 and 8 students going downtown at lunch with parent permission has continued to exist in spite of most other schools, including Grade 9’s in High Schools discontinuing it. We at BDS have begun to analyze this situation by starting to collect information. The students have completed an anonymous survey, the staff has as well and soon parents of these students will also get to provide their feedback. It’s Elementary, our regular feature from the Elementary classrooms: Our skating sessions at the Apple Dome are soon going to be upon us. We plan these opportunities so that your children have a supervised, fun and safe place to continue their Physical Education learning. Skating, is one of the foundational movement skills best recommended for young children. It is meant to be for all, not “optional” but a continuation of what we learn in school. We have skates available for those who need them, teachers to help them learn to skate if they have never tried and/or are still learning. It is so important to model how to learn a challenging activity, and we would encourage you to show confidence in your child’s ability to learn and enthusiasm for the sessions.

Matt The Music Man CD's - Last December (December 19th, 2014) Matt The Music Man performed at Berwick & District School. It was great fun! Parents and students are now able to order his CD through the school. Simply bring $15 to the school office to order a CD. A bit about Matt: After writing and performing music for almost 20 years, Matt became inspired to write children's songs with the arrival of his first child. Using humour to write about things he enjoyed seemed to strike a chord in young ears. Matt discovered the joys of performing for young children and getting them involved. Today, Matt lives in Coldbrook and is performing for children across Nova Scotia. Using fun props and instruments to engage children has proven to help make his shows a success. He just released a fun-filled album of original songs titled, "Songs For Kids Age 1 to 101". The humourous nature of songs such as Fat Cat, Pat the Platypus, Hot Dogs and Cookies and Garbage Day are hits with children and adults alike. The smiles, laughs and voices singing in response to his performances are the rewards that continue to drive Matt. Find out more about Matt at www.mattmusic.ca! The Berwick Garden is a beautiful space dedicated to students learning. Last year the school and town had difficulty finding general maintenance for the garden. Summers are filled with busy families so weeding the large spaces has been a problem. The Town of Berwick and Blomidon Nurseries are working to connect with the community and build an Edible Garden Group in Berwick, dedicated to the schools garden space and three other green spaces in town. We are calling on any gardening persons and non gardening people interested in being involved with this organization. Please contact the Town of Berwick to get involved. Phone Messages: We encourage families to discuss what the routine for the day will be before coming to school. We have a number of students asking to make calls on a daily basis to find out where they are supposed to go after school. This can create havoc for both the child/student and the office, especially when the parent/guardian cannot be reached. Please remember that we do our best to advise students, however, our office is a very busy place and messages for students do have a risk of not getting to them, especially when the calls are short notice. Therefore, we ask that you call with messages for your child only if an emergency. We thank you for your support with this request. COMMUNITY NOTICES: Items in this section announce activities in which students or their family members are likely to participate. These are activities, which the school does not sponsor nor necessarily encourage – they are here for your information only.

Winter Carnival in Berwick – Saturday, February 14. Activities include Breakfast at the Mason’s Hall on Mill Street, Fun Fair at the Town Hall Gym, Activites and book sale at the Berwick Library, Outdoor Games, Free Skate and Sledding Party. For more information, contact Berwick Recreation at 902-538-8616, [email protected]

March Break Program – Berwick Recreation will be offering a March Break Program with the theme of “Canadiana”. Cost is $100 for the week, $25 for the day. Space is limited. To register, contact Berwick Recreation at 902-538-8616, [email protected] PARENT SUPPORT GROUP - WOLFVILLE!!! Third Wednesday each month, 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm. Starting October 15th. Boardroom, KC Irving Science Centre Building, Acadia University Campus, Wolfville ... If you are a caregiver of a child, teen or adult with autism and would like to get together with others to share your experiences, consider stopping by for our first meeting on October 15th. The group will be led by Annapolis Valley Chapter of Autism NS Co-Chair, Valerie Wohlmuth. If you'd like to attend, just drop us a quick RSVP at 375-3031 or [email protected] so we know how much coffee, tea and snacks to bring!

VALLEY SPEED SKATING CLUB Like to go fast? Looking to learn to skate or improve your skills? Valley Speed Skating is the place to be! We are a club for all ages and abilities! We offer a learn to skate program. We are accepting registration for the fall session! Skate rental is free for the first year. We are at the Credit Union Centre in Kingston on Saturdays from 10am - 12pm! You can find us on facebook at Valley Speed Skating Club or email us at: [email protected]

Valley Community Learning Association: Do you find it hard to help your children with homework? Would you like to improve your reading and writing skills? Do you wish your math skills were stronger? Is your spelling a little too “creative”? Do you have trouble filling out forms? The Valley Community Learning Association is committed to help adults reach their learning goals. If you want to upgrade your skills, get your GED, or become involved as a volunteer, contact the Valley Community Learning Association (VCLA) at 679-5252, or toll free 1-866-898-7323. All our programs are free! We are located at 49 Cornwallis Street, Suite 106, Kentville, NS, B4N 2E3 and email is [email protected], website is www.vcla.ca

Dance ConXion will be offering a “DAY OF DANCE” during March Break. You can chose Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday OR come to all 3 for a FABULOUS time!! Kids will learn jazz technique, tap technique, stretch and strength, acro / tumbling as well as some great choreography. It is an excellent opportunity to try something new, improve the skills you already have AND stay active over March break!! The day starts at 9:30 and runs until 3:00 (early drop off/ late pickup is available) Cost is $40 for one day or $100 for all 3! To register call or email the studio 365-7300 [email protected] Space is limited

Healthy Living Feature

Head Lice, although a nuisance, is no longer considered a health issue in today’s society. One preventative measure is to check your child/children on a regular basis, every two or three days. If you find lice, please treat your child/children and then return them to school.

Cut and Clip Recipe Recipes from www.eatingwell.com Strawberry and Cream Cheese Sandwich Ingredients: 1 tbsp cream cheese (fat reduced) 2 slices whole-wheat sandwich bread 1/4 tsp honey 2 medium strawberries, sliced 1/8 tsp freshly grated orange zest

Combine cream cheese, honey and orange zest in a bowl. Spread bread with the cheese mixture. Placed sliced strawberries on 1 piece of bread, top with the other.

Pizza Wrap Sandwich Ingredients: 1 8-inch whole-wheat flour tortilla 12 leaves baby spinach 2 tbsp prepared pizza sauce 3 tbsp shredded part-skim mozzeralla

Place tortilla on a plate and spread pizza sauce over it. Top with an even layer of spinach and sprinkle cheese on top. Microwave on High until the cheese is just melted, about 45 seconds. Carefully roll the tortilla up. Let cool for 10 minutes before slicing into pieces, if desired. These can be made ahead, cover and refrigerate the pizza roll-up for up to 1 day.