What a great week it has been so far. Green Day was very successful, as was our opening kick-off assembly. We are looking forward to Family Night tonight. They'll be some activities and a guest speaker. Looking forward to Litter less Lunch tomorrow (although we encourage that everyday)!
It is a really busy time of the year as teacher's are almost at mid-point in third term. In May, our grade 3 & 6 students will participate in EQAO and our grade 4-8 students will complete the quick CTBS (Canadian Test of Basic Skills) diagnostic. This diagnostic gives the teachers a "snapshot" of their students' year long learning. We will share those with you in June. EQAO results will be released next September.
During the next two months, we are busy closing a school and preparing for next year. Please read last week's blog to see the model (projected enrolment and number of classes). Teaching assignments will be provided to the community at the end of the year. We will also be placing the children in classes over the next month or two, and it is important that you know that staff work very hard to place children appropriately. Generally, we look at academic needs, social skills, the number of students in each class and gender (i.e. how many boys vs girls). The idea is to achieve "balance" across the grades and in each class. Placements for new kindergarten children will be sent home late May/early June.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Friday, April 18, 2008
Earth Week
Thank you to Mr. Mclean, Mrs. Perry, Mrs. Cooper (Parent Council Environmental Rep), and the many parent volunteers for all their help organizing all the events that will take place next week. Our Kick-Off Assembly starts on Monday, followed by Green Day on Tuesday, the evening presentation on Wednesday, Litterless Lunch on Thursday and the final clean-up of the grounds on Friday. It should prove to be a great success. A special thank you goes out to the student Environmental Warriors! You've done a great job so far encouraging all of us to be more conscientious of our environment.
This week we met with the City and the Board to finalize plans for expanding our playground into the property next to the pool. The plan is to have the work complete for September. Also, the windows in Mr. Bracht's room are to be replaced with ones that open; we are hoping the work gets done sooner than later.
This week we had an entertaining play, Robin Hood, for the primary and grades 4-5 classes this week. Thank you to Parent Council for organizing this great event. We do love hosting performances for the kids as they allow another learning opportunity for storytelling.
Our grade 6 and 3 teachers having been working with our math consultant to help plan for EQAO. The students have been practising sample questions in preparation. The kids really get a chance to see where they can improve their skill level as they take the questions up together. If you would like more information on EQAO, please feel free to visit the Ministry website.
May Dates
3rd-Springfest
8th-Dr. de Braga and a few grade 8 scientists attend Hydraulics workshop
9th-Sharing Assemblies
12th-Senior Girls' Soccer all day and Parent Council Meeting @ 7:30 p.m.
13th-Mrs. Caddel & Mr. Blais take grade 6 & 8 students to an Equity Conference
15th-Author Veronika Charles visits and Jr.Girls' Soccer
16th-Senior Boys' Soccer all day; Free the Children Assembly
20th-Forest of Reading Celebration @ Harbourfront for some grade 6-8 students
22nd-Celebration Lunch for Forest of Reading; Junior Boys Soccer all day; Kindergarten Spring Concert
23rd-Track & Field
26th-EQAO Begins for grade 3 & 6
This week we met with the City and the Board to finalize plans for expanding our playground into the property next to the pool. The plan is to have the work complete for September. Also, the windows in Mr. Bracht's room are to be replaced with ones that open; we are hoping the work gets done sooner than later.
This week we had an entertaining play, Robin Hood, for the primary and grades 4-5 classes this week. Thank you to Parent Council for organizing this great event. We do love hosting performances for the kids as they allow another learning opportunity for storytelling.
Our grade 6 and 3 teachers having been working with our math consultant to help plan for EQAO. The students have been practising sample questions in preparation. The kids really get a chance to see where they can improve their skill level as they take the questions up together. If you would like more information on EQAO, please feel free to visit the Ministry website.
May Dates
3rd-Springfest
8th-Dr. de Braga and a few grade 8 scientists attend Hydraulics workshop
9th-Sharing Assemblies
12th-Senior Girls' Soccer all day and Parent Council Meeting @ 7:30 p.m.
13th-Mrs. Caddel & Mr. Blais take grade 6 & 8 students to an Equity Conference
15th-Author Veronika Charles visits and Jr.Girls' Soccer
16th-Senior Boys' Soccer all day; Free the Children Assembly
20th-Forest of Reading Celebration @ Harbourfront for some grade 6-8 students
22nd-Celebration Lunch for Forest of Reading; Junior Boys Soccer all day; Kindergarten Spring Concert
23rd-Track & Field
26th-EQAO Begins for grade 3 & 6
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Staffing
Thank you to all who came out for last night's Parent Council Meeting. I was unable to attend as I'm just recovering from this stomach flu that is going around. We shared our staffing numbers and we'd like to share with everyone. Here are the following things we know so far:
Projected Enrolment: 745
# of Teachers: 36.5
*We had to declare 3.5 teachers surplus to the school
Number of classes:
We were given 12 teachers to teach at the primary level, therefore we have 3 straight ones and 2 grade one/two splits, 3 straight grade 2s and 1 grade 2/3 split, and finally 3 straight grade 3 classes. We were also told that we have to have one grade three/grade 4 split. We were assigned 12 junior/intermediate teachers, therefore we have 2 straight four classes and one 4/5 split, 2 straight grade 5 classes, 3 grade 6 classes and 2 grade 7 and 8 classes. Finally, we have been assigned 3.5 kindergarten classes. We have been allowed 2 exemptions at the kindergarten level (2 are at 23 students) and the grade 3/4 split will also be at 23 students. We were also given 2.5 special education teachers.
As you can see, there isn't a lot of "play" with the model as we are now so restricted as to where we can use the allocated teachers. Please watch for more staffing information over the next couple of weeks.
I also wanted to thank Ms. Malobabic for her leadership in organizing the play, Comedy of Errors, last week. The intermediate students really enjoyed performing and it was delightful. Thank you to Mr. Spruin and Mr. Samowtaka for assisting.
We would also like to thank Mr. Page, Mr. Ross and Mr. Ellerker as they took our swim teams to their meets last week. Mr. Page also convened the meets for the entire area. The finals were yesterday.
Last week, we had many events hosted by Parent Council. Some of the classes listened to Mrs. Pollock as she described her experiences as an author. The grade 4-8 students were entertained by Allan Shain who talked about living with a disability. Both of these were hosted by the parent Literacy Committee,led by Jenn Abbott, and Resources, led by Diane Moore, respectfully. We would also like to thank Karen Miller and her committee for hosting the Dinner Dance. We really appreciate your support of this evening and LKS!
Projected Enrolment: 745
# of Teachers: 36.5
*We had to declare 3.5 teachers surplus to the school
Number of classes:
We were given 12 teachers to teach at the primary level, therefore we have 3 straight ones and 2 grade one/two splits, 3 straight grade 2s and 1 grade 2/3 split, and finally 3 straight grade 3 classes. We were also told that we have to have one grade three/grade 4 split. We were assigned 12 junior/intermediate teachers, therefore we have 2 straight four classes and one 4/5 split, 2 straight grade 5 classes, 3 grade 6 classes and 2 grade 7 and 8 classes. Finally, we have been assigned 3.5 kindergarten classes. We have been allowed 2 exemptions at the kindergarten level (2 are at 23 students) and the grade 3/4 split will also be at 23 students. We were also given 2.5 special education teachers.
As you can see, there isn't a lot of "play" with the model as we are now so restricted as to where we can use the allocated teachers. Please watch for more staffing information over the next couple of weeks.
I also wanted to thank Ms. Malobabic for her leadership in organizing the play, Comedy of Errors, last week. The intermediate students really enjoyed performing and it was delightful. Thank you to Mr. Spruin and Mr. Samowtaka for assisting.
We would also like to thank Mr. Page, Mr. Ross and Mr. Ellerker as they took our swim teams to their meets last week. Mr. Page also convened the meets for the entire area. The finals were yesterday.
Last week, we had many events hosted by Parent Council. Some of the classes listened to Mrs. Pollock as she described her experiences as an author. The grade 4-8 students were entertained by Allan Shain who talked about living with a disability. Both of these were hosted by the parent Literacy Committee,led by Jenn Abbott, and Resources, led by Diane Moore, respectfully. We would also like to thank Karen Miller and her committee for hosting the Dinner Dance. We really appreciate your support of this evening and LKS!
The LINK
Thank you to Kristine Laco and her committee as they have been taking pics and videos capturing life at LKS; particularly last Friday during the sharing assemblies! A big thank goes to all the people who have sent in their pictures. We know the LINK, our video yearbook, is being put together right now and we look forward to seeing it!
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Parent Interviews, Week Ahead
Thank you to all the parents who came to interview night. It was a good opportunity to discuss your child's academic progress and/or concerns.
A few facility updates for you as we had a quick inspection today. Please refer to the last blog for roof and playground updates; we've put in orders for the windows to be cleaned, especially the mess at the front of the school and the washrooms will be scrubbed tomorrow. Although we do have some areas of concern, overall the school is in pretty good shape. Our computer lab is to be moved over to the new lab tomorrow, and then we are almost finished with the renovations. We still need to put up our plaques in the front hall.
Next week brings an art performance for the junior/intermediates grades on Tuesday; The Comedy of Errors Play on Wednesday (student matinee & parent performance @ 7:00 p.m.); Author visits for grades 3(Thursday) and 5 (Wednesday); Junior Swim meet on Wednesday and Senior on Thursday and Sharing Assemblies on the 11th.
Please don't forget about the Parent Council Dinner Dance next Friday, and if you want to be in the Parent Council School Directory, please get your form into Lianne Hill, our chair. You can return those to the office also.
We also got our final numbers for staffing and we will be held at 36.5 teachers for '08/09. We have yet to hear about special needs assistants, and the number of lunchroom supervisors is status quo.
Next week, we will also finish up our Special Education Annual Reviews. Every year, all students who are indentified with an exceptionality (i.e. Learning Disability, Gifted, etc) are discussed at a meeting to review progress and plans for the following year. We started in the Fall with our grade 8 students, and are now completing the process. Thank you to all the parents and staff involved as these meetings are such an important part of our school process.
Finally, Mrs. McGee downloaded some library data, and we have read 1091 more books in the first three months of '08 compared with the same time last year! Congratulations to our readers!
*Also, our April Newsletter is on our website: http:/schools.tdsb.on.ca/LambtonKingsway
A few facility updates for you as we had a quick inspection today. Please refer to the last blog for roof and playground updates; we've put in orders for the windows to be cleaned, especially the mess at the front of the school and the washrooms will be scrubbed tomorrow. Although we do have some areas of concern, overall the school is in pretty good shape. Our computer lab is to be moved over to the new lab tomorrow, and then we are almost finished with the renovations. We still need to put up our plaques in the front hall.
Next week brings an art performance for the junior/intermediates grades on Tuesday; The Comedy of Errors Play on Wednesday (student matinee & parent performance @ 7:00 p.m.); Author visits for grades 3(Thursday) and 5 (Wednesday); Junior Swim meet on Wednesday and Senior on Thursday and Sharing Assemblies on the 11th.
Please don't forget about the Parent Council Dinner Dance next Friday, and if you want to be in the Parent Council School Directory, please get your form into Lianne Hill, our chair. You can return those to the office also.
We also got our final numbers for staffing and we will be held at 36.5 teachers for '08/09. We have yet to hear about special needs assistants, and the number of lunchroom supervisors is status quo.
Next week, we will also finish up our Special Education Annual Reviews. Every year, all students who are indentified with an exceptionality (i.e. Learning Disability, Gifted, etc) are discussed at a meeting to review progress and plans for the following year. We started in the Fall with our grade 8 students, and are now completing the process. Thank you to all the parents and staff involved as these meetings are such an important part of our school process.
Finally, Mrs. McGee downloaded some library data, and we have read 1091 more books in the first three months of '08 compared with the same time last year! Congratulations to our readers!
*Also, our April Newsletter is on our website: http:/schools.tdsb.on.ca/LambtonKingsway
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Facilities & Internet
As you can tell our field is a mud pit! In order to have enough room for the kids to play, we have been taking a group of grade 3-5 students to the Shale Pit so they can continue to play soccer and tag games. Right now it seems to be the "lesser of the two evils". In the next two weeks, the City and Board are coming to finalize plans for the fence to be moved, so we can possibly use the City property. This is the area beside the pool. Also, we've asked the Board to plant sod to replace the mud (although it can be fun too)! They may choose to wait until the City/Board finalizes their plans, as it doesn't make sense to plant if they are going to track heavy machinery over it in the process. We do know that we are going to have to stay off of it for 3 months for the grass to take. I figure we've been using the shale pit for 2 days now, what is another 12 or so more weeks! When we know exactly what the plan is, I will share on the blog and also at Parent Council.
We are also having difficulty with our roof, as many of you know. We have many leaks in the roof for various reasons, one being that the roof (inverted) wasn't installed properly. We have had the Board in to come up with a plan to fix the leaks as they are not acceptable. They are going to fix the leaks that are causing the most concern, and then they will either repair the 15 year old roof or replace it. Again, I will let you know when that decision has been made.
A couple of issues have come up lately with student access to the internet. The internet, when used properly, can be a great educational tool, and the majority of our student body is respectful of the boundaries. We have had a couple of incidents lately that leads to a few reminders of the internet rules. Just to let you know that the kids are not allowed to be using social networks, like Facebook or You Tube at the school, unless under direct supervision of staff, for educational purposes. Sometimes the kids do use email to send their essays to staff, but that should be the extent of its use. They shouldn't be "checking" emails for social reasons. We will reiterate to the students, particularly the junior/intermediate students as we just finished discussing this at our last staff meeting. Of note, we are in the process of rescheduling our Mediacs presentation for May. We will send home a flyer later.
We are also having difficulty with our roof, as many of you know. We have many leaks in the roof for various reasons, one being that the roof (inverted) wasn't installed properly. We have had the Board in to come up with a plan to fix the leaks as they are not acceptable. They are going to fix the leaks that are causing the most concern, and then they will either repair the 15 year old roof or replace it. Again, I will let you know when that decision has been made.
A couple of issues have come up lately with student access to the internet. The internet, when used properly, can be a great educational tool, and the majority of our student body is respectful of the boundaries. We have had a couple of incidents lately that leads to a few reminders of the internet rules. Just to let you know that the kids are not allowed to be using social networks, like Facebook or You Tube at the school, unless under direct supervision of staff, for educational purposes. Sometimes the kids do use email to send their essays to staff, but that should be the extent of its use. They shouldn't be "checking" emails for social reasons. We will reiterate to the students, particularly the junior/intermediate students as we just finished discussing this at our last staff meeting. Of note, we are in the process of rescheduling our Mediacs presentation for May. We will send home a flyer later.
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