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Westwood Public SchoolJanuary 2017 NewsletterPRINCIPAL’S MESSAGEHappy New Year and all the best to you and your family in 2017!School starts at 8:50 each day. We have yard supervisors outside starting at 8:35. Please do yourbest to make sure your children arrive on time each day so that they can have a good start to theirlearning.Kindergarten Registration for September 2017 begins January 9th and runs until January 26th. Therewill also be an evening opportunity to register on January 19th from 4:30-6:30pm. If you have a child,or know of children who are turning 4 years old in 2017, please be sure to come to the office betweenthe hours of 8:30am-4:00pm. If you have questions, please don’t hesitate to phone the school.School Council meets Thursday January 9 at 6:45pm in the Community Room at Westwood. Councilis a wonderful group of parents who meet and discuss initiatives that promote a sense of community,love of learning and fun for our students and families at Westwood. If you are interested in finding outmore, please consider coming to the meeting. We would love to have your voice at the table!As always, please contact me at the school if you have any questions, comments or concerns.Sincerely,Tara ToppingLUNCH TIME SUPERVISOR POSITIONWe are looking for paid supervisors for our Nutrition Breaks (Monday-Friday 10:30-11:10 &12:50-1:30). If you can commit to some, or all of these times, please come by the office to discussyour availability.READING BUDDIESOn behalf of Westwood students and staff, Mr. Cloutier and I would like to thank the Reading Buddiesfor their commitment to Westwood. We appreciate their time and expertise as they work with ourstudents to improve their reading skills. Many thanks to Mrs. Caswell who continues to coordinateand organize the program. If you are interested in volunteering or have questions about the program,please contact the school office.HIGH SCHOOL PARENT INFORMATION NIGHTSGuardians and Grade 8 students are welcome to attend the following Parent Information Nights:GCVI on January 12th at 6pmCollege Heights January 18th 6:30 - 8:00pmTour the school, see the classes, and meet the teachers.These information nights are evenings where you will have the opportunity to hear about all of theGrade Nine courses offered at each of the Secondary Schools and will provide you some guidelines
to help you choose the appropriate courses for your son or daughter.Teachers from GCVI and College Heights will be coming to Westwood this month to assist withcourse selection for our Grade 8 students.PD DAY:Reminder of our next PD Day on Friday, January 27th, 2017. There is no school for students on thisday.BREAKFAST, SNACK/LUNCH PRORAMWe are fortunate to receive some funding from Food and Friends which allows us to run programs forstudents. Although we receive monetary support, if you know of anyone who is available to donatetime to help prepare food and snacks, or have healthy foods to donate to the program, please contactthe office. Thank you!PUBLIC HEALTHAvoid school suspension by keeping immunization records up-to-date! Student’s immunizationrecords must be provided to Public Health in order to attend school. In the next few weeks, PublicHealth will be sending notices to students with incomplete immunization records. Anyone who gets anotice should contact their family doctor so they can update their vaccines, and then report their newvaccines to Public Health.Report every vaccine to Public Health using one of the following methods:Online: Fill in the form at www.immunizewdg.caEmail: Send a photo of the immunization record to vaccine.records@wdgpublichealth.caCall: 1-800-265-7293 ext. 4396If a student is not getting vaccinated for medical reasons, reasons of conscience or religious beliefs,an exemption form must be submitted to Public Health. The forms are available atwww.wdgpublichealth.ca.Public Health is committed to helping students update their vaccination records so they can avoidsuspension from school.LIBRARY NEWSThanks to everyone who returned their books before the holiday. Mrs. Warnholtz had a BIG jobshelving all those books.This month we will be starting the “Forest of Reading” book clubs for all grades. This is a Canadawide program that brings Canadian authors and students together. Encourage your child to join!January will also be tech month at our “Maker Spaces” in the library. Students will be givenopportunity to explore ‘Cubelets’, Sphero’ and more!WESTWOOD SCHOOL AND THE GULEPH STORM!MONDAY JANUARY 16 is Guelph Storm day at Westwood. Storm players will be in the schoolreading to primary students and holding an assembly with the juniors and intermediate. Students areasked to wear Guelph Storm colours (Red, Black and White) to show our support to the team whilethey are here!FRIDAY JANUARY 27 our primary choir will be singing the National Anthem at the Storm game. Theschool will be selling tickets to the game. Join us for this fun family event!
WESTWOOD SAFETY PATROL:Please remember that vehicle access to the parking lot is strictlyprohibited 15 minutes before and after school for the safety of our students.Safety Patrols are located in the parking lot to direct students andparents to use the path to walk around the parking lot and to help monitorvehicle access to the parking lot. Please respect and obey our Safety PatrolStudents, they are just doing their job to ensure the safety of all our students.Students patrol at the following crosswalks at the following times:Rhonda & Willow, and Westwood’s Parking Lot at8:35-8:50 & 3:20-3:35.Note : On extremely cold days when the temperature reaches -25 or less including windchill, safetypatrol students will only be on post 5 minutes before the morning bell (8:45-8:50) and five minutesafter the dismissal bell (3:20-3:25).FULL DAY KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATIONKindergarten Registration will be held during the day on January 9 th -26th, 2017.We will also be holding registration on the evening of Thursday, January 19th from4:30-6:30pm.Eligible students for the Junior Kindergarten program must be four years of age onor before December 31, 2017 and students must be five years of age on or beforeDecember 31, 2017 to register for Senior Kindergarten.Please note: students currently in Junior Kindergarten do not need to register for Senior Kindergarten.Please bring the following with you when you register: Proof of birthdate. ie Birth Certificate/Canadian Citizenship, Permanent Resident Card. Thefollowing website allows parents to complete their Birth Certificate Application on-line or print off ablank application f/AttachDocsPublish/007-11076E 1/ File/11076E.pdf Proof of Date of Entry, if born outside of Canada (i.e. stamped passport, citizenship & ImmigrationCanada documentation, statement notarized by a Notary Public, Permanent Resident Card orConfirmation of Permanent Residence document) Proof of and full address (i.e. driver’s license, purchase/rental agreement, bank statement, orhydro bill.) Current Immunization Record Custody Order documentation (if applicable) For more information go to www.ugdsb.on.ca/jkregistationBEFORE AND AFTER SCHOOL CAREAs part of the Kindergarten Registration process, the UGDSB is surveying parents of students ingrades JK-6 for September 2017 who are interested in obtaining Before/After School care for the2017-2018 school year. The purpose of this survey is to determine viability of such programs in ourschools. Completion of this survey does not guarantee your child has a spot or is on a program’s waitlist. If sufficient interest exists within a school community, UGDSB will engage childcare providers tooffer this service. chool.aspx
Currently we have a Good Morning and After School Program running out of the Community Room atWestwood. For information about this program specifically, please contact the West Willow VillageGroup located in the portable behind the school.DATES TO REMEMBER:Jan 9 - Return to SchoolJan 10- Police Visits to Kindergarten, Gr. 2-5Jan 11 - Grade 8 GCVI Course Selection 1:30pmJan 12 - Grade 8 Parents' Night at GCVI 6pmJan 12- School Council 6:45pmJan 13 - Fire Prevention PresentationsJan 18 - Grade 8 Parents' Night at College Heights 6:30pm to 8:30pmJan 16- Guelph Storm visits WestwoodJan 17- Grade 8 Course selection for GCVIJan 19- Evening Kindergarten Registration 4:30-6:30pmJan 20- VIP Presentations Gr 6-8Jan 25- Wonderkids Assembly 2pmJan 26- River Run Grade 1 & 2Jan 27 - PD Day (no school for students)Jan 27 - Choir at Guelph Storm Game 6:30pmNATURE AND MENTAL HEALTHGetting outside makes such a difference to how we all are doing inside. Spending time in natureimproves our mental health and well-being. It is a simple way to add some much needed down timefrom screens. Adding some time in nature is having some much deserved peace and quiet in ourbusy lives.If you want your family:······To be less stressedTo be happierTo be more resilientTo feel better about themselvesTo have increased attentionTo have a better ability to learnThen GO OUTSIDE! Take your kids outside! Enjoy and be part of nature.One study showed that even 5 minutes in nature improves our mood. 5 minutes! We all can take 5minutes (or more if have it) to go outside and enjoy nature.Go for a walk or a ski or a skate or a run. Head for the woods. Go birdwatching. Follow tracks in thesnow. Watch the sunrise or the sunset. Watch the clouds drift by. Visit a river or lake or pond. Listenfor all the sounds of nature. Take in the smells. Notice all the colours and textures. Notice the light asthe days get longer.If you are not sure where to go, check out the links below for lots of great parks in our asp?hdnContent
n-areas/https://www.uoguelph.ca/arboretum/Have a mentally healthy 2017!Dr. Lynn Woodford is the Mental Health Lead for the Upper Grand District School Board.Follow me on Twitter @drlynnwoodford.SERCEvery school district is required to have a S pecial E ducation A dvisory C ommittee (SEAC).SEAC is a broad-based, educationally focused committee that meets monthly to engage in a varietyof discussions all related to the educational programs for students with special needs. Thesemeetings are open to the public and are held on the second Wednesday of each month throughoutthe school year. Meetings begin at 7:00 p.m. at the Upper Grand District School Board office inGuelph.At SEAC meetings, the representative members from different organizations (ABC - Association forBright Children, Autism Ontario Wellington Chapter, FASD-Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders,Integration Action for Inclusion in Education and Community (Ontario), Learning DisabilitiesAssociation of Wellington County, Parents for Children’s Mental Health, VOICE for Hearing ImpairedChildren) share knowledge about their agency programs with the committee. These communitymembers then take back points of information about the Board’s educational programs to theagencies that they represent. In addition, SEAC makes recommendations to the board with respect toany matters affecting the establishment, development, and delivery of Special Education programsand services for exceptional students within the board. The SEAC committee also participates in theboard’s annual review of the Special Education Plan and participates in the board’s annual budgetprocess as it relates to Special Education.For further information about SEAC or Special Education Programs in the Upper Grand DistrictSchool Board please call the Program Department at 519-941-6191 ext. 254.CREATIVE THINKINGThe Ministry of Education recently released a document entitled 21st Century Competencies thatoutlines four key competencies. They include critical thinking, communication, collaboration, andcreativity and innovation. The document outlines how these key competencies impact learning in theclassroom, in the world, and later in life in careers.Looking for some ideas to inspire creativity at home? Consider these invitations to create andinnovate:1.Read picture books that promote creative thinking with everyday materials such as Not a Box orNot a Stick by Antoinette Portis. Then collect some sticks or a few boxes and let your child’simagination run wild!2.Explore the idea of provocations at home. A provocation is simply putting materials or items
together that provoke thinking and curiosity. It could be as simple as a basket of unusual householditems (old vinyl records, a variety of nuts and bolts, open-ended building materials, some paper andwriting materials, etc.) and asking your child what they might be able to do with these items. Offeringsimilar materials over a period of time allows children to challenge themselves to come up with evenmore creative ideas using the same things.3.Offer your child a variety of open-ended art materials (markers, watercolours, plasticine, buttonsand loose parts, etc.) to allow them to do the creative thinking and planning instead of pre-plannedcrafts.4.Together create a dance routine to a current song, or even better, use an oldie but a goodie.Inspire your child to create dance moves for the verses, and then change up the moves in the chorus.Engaged in the fun of being innovative; your child will be creating dance phrases and exploringmusical form by doing this!5.Re-purpose containers, or small boxes and create a scavenger hunt outside in the snow. Placefound objects in the containers/boxes as clues that your child needs to piece together. By placing thecontainers/boxes ahead of time as a scavenger hunt, you will have created a large scale“provocation” that can lead to imaginative play afterwards. Use the idea of discovering artifacts in theoutside environment as an invitation to create a map of your backyard, or a forested area near yourhouse. Build on this idea.and make new scavenger hunts and maps as an inquisitive way to learnabout your home and local environment together.“Awareness of one’s inner feelings and thoughts is a prerequisite to making art. Inspiration andinnovative thinking spring from this awareness and provide us with new answers and solutions, andnew questions to pursue” (The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 1-8: The Arts, p.19).
School Council meets Thursday January 9 at 6:45pm in the Community Room at Westwood. Council is a wonderful group of parents who meet and discuss initiatives that promote a sense of community, love of learning and fun for our students and families at Westwood. If you are interested in finding out more, please consider coming to the meeting.
