Peel District School Board

Volume 8, Issue 8

PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE April 1, 2015

Welcome back to everyone, from what I hope was a wonderful March Break. It is an honour to be joining Shaw Public School as your new Principal. I'm excited for the Spring Term and with it, I'm sure, will come some lovely springtime weather. As we move toward a warmer April and school life evolving back outside, a new enthusiasm for learning will carry us forward to the end of the 2014-2015 school year.

My first week at Shaw has highlighted many passions. Students visibly love to learn and do so with avid curiosity, a collaborative spirit, and respect for one another. Teachers love to teach and learn. They plan collaboratively with their colleagues, attend meetings to discuss school direction, they seek to understand student strengths and needs, and are committed to making Shaw a "Great School" for your children.

The parent community represented by those whom I have had the pleasure to meet in the halls, school yard, and during movie and EQAO night, have shared with me two common themes; a commitment to support their child's achievements and a desire to make Shaw a "Great School". I look forward to working with students, staff, parents, and community partners to ensure Shaw is the "Great School" we all envision.

From a school perspective, March was a very busy period for many of our students and staff. We had the “Penguins of Madagascar” movie night put on by the Community Outreach team, the Senior Girls Basketball Tournament, Science Workshop for Kids, RAID Program Presentations, Cookie Sales, the Kindergarten Concert, Character Assembly, Intramurals, Colour Spirit Day, Region of Peel Literacy Program and the Senior Boys and Girls Basketball games against Mountain Ash, R.J. Lee and Eagle Plains.

As we enter the final three months of the school year, the Shaw schedule will be packed with events for students, staff and families. School life is multi-faceted meaning that students, staff and parents can look forward to a variety of activities in the areas of academic life, arts, service projects and athletic activities. For example, the Region of Peel Literacy Program, Education Week activities, Day of Pink, Grade 4 through 8 intramurals, Spirit “Barcode” Day, our monthly Character Attribute Assembly, the Spring Concert, Grade 8 “Crock– A-Doodle” Ceramic Glazing art class and the first Pre-School Storytime for new September 2015 Kindergarten registrants and parent.

As always, we look forward to welcoming Board approved parent volunteers to partake in activities of interest. If you would like to volunteer, please book an appointment with our Vice Principal, Kathryn Bray. We also encourage parents to join us for School Council meetings and Principal Chats. These meetings provide a forum for parents to engage in life at Shaw Public School. Research proves that increased parent engagement leads to demonstrated improvements in student success. Please partner with us!

We remain academically focused on supporting improvements in numeracy and literacy, and the use of 21st Century Teaching and Learning Strategies. We continue to embed technology into our classrooms. Our goal, as always, is to ensure that all members of the Shaw community have the opportunity to teach and learn within a safe and positive school climate. Through our hard work as a teaching community, the students’ commitment to work toward excellence and your partnership with the school, Shaw will continue to be a great learning community.

I have an open-door policy and welcome you to discuss suggestions for improvement, concerns or to share moments of excellence we have achieved. Your voice is important to your child' s success and the greatness of our school community. We welcome your visits!

Please check out our "Upcoming Dates" section of the newsletter for some key dates and events to keep in mind.

I look forward to serving the students, staff and parent community with transparency, a commitment to excellence and an enthusiastic spirit. It will be a pleasure sharing this journey with each of you!

Kindest regards,

Sally-ann Gibson Principal

April, 2015

Principal’s Message Pg. 1

Shaw Athletics Pg. 2

Me To We Club Pg. 2

Technology Corner Pg. 3

BYOD School Pg. 3

School Council Pg. 4

Movie Night Pg. 4

April Dates Pg. 4

Parent Involvement Pg. 5

Education Week Pg. 5

Numeracy & Beyond Parent Conference

Pg. 6

Adult ESL non-credit Pg. 6

Tentative 2015-16 Calendar Info

Pg. 6

On-going Kindergar-

ten registration

Pg. 7

Inside this issue:

Shaw Public School Newsletter

905-790-6095 Attendance/Voice Mail

Special points of interest:

As of March31st, our enrolment

was 651students.

Easter Weekend is April 3rd-6th;

School is closed

School Council Meeting 6:30 pm

April 9, 2015

Education Week is April 20th-24th

Spring Concert “Smiles Around

Shaw” April 23, 2015

Gr. 3 EQAO is on May 25th-29th

Gr. 6 EQAO is June 1st-5th

First Pre-School Story Time April

24, 2015

This Month in Shaw Athletics... March madness was in full effect as the Boys and Girls Senior Basketball teams and Boys and Girls Junior Basketball

teams were all in action. The senior teams completed their season (their final game was cancelled due to unforeseen

circumstances with the opposing team) earlier in the month. The Senior Girls continued to work hard and lost a close

game at Robert J. Lee Public School 15 to 10 and then competed hard in a tough match against Mountain Ash. Great

effort this season, Shaw Hawks Senior Girls. The Senior Boys finished their season with a 35 to 15 win at Robert J. Lee

and a 58 to 37 hard fought victory against a strong Mountain Ash squad. Congratulations Shaw Hawks Senior Boys

Basketball team on your undefeated local league season.

The Junior Girls Basketball team travelled to Sir Isaac Brock Public School

the day after March break for their divisional tournament. They competed

hard and won a series of round robin games. They went on to the

semifinals and lost a close one but went on to capture a fourth place finish.

Congratulations Junior Hawks Girls. The next day the Junior Boys Basket-

ball team also journeyed to Sir Isaac Brock Public School for their division-

al tournament. Their day began with some tough losses including a 1 point

loss to the first place team and eventual tournament champions. After the

round robin the Junior Hawks Boys were the seventh seed. They moved

on to the quarterfinals and defeated Mountain Ash handily, then just

missed an opportunity to get into the finals with a one-point loss in the semi

-finals. Great effort Junior Boys Basketball team.

NEXT UP FOR THE SHAW INTERSCHOOL SPORTS SCENE:

Students will be trying out for the girls and boys ball hockey teams, and the co-ed dodgeball team, with the soccer

season on the horizon.

SHAW INTRAMURALS:

The grade 1’s finished their stint with scooterball and the grade 2’s began their turn at scooterball. The grade 3’s

continued to practise their basketball shooting skills during the Hoops intramurals and next look forward to their class

tournaments. The grade 4/5 Continuous Soccer Cricket intramural games got under way and have seen many

students enjoying a new sport. The grade 6 intramural floor hockey season moved into its playoffs and saw the

Canadiens take on the Canucks in the championship game with the Canadiens taking the win. The grade 7/8’s kinball

intramural season got under way with its first game and saw the Raptors take the first match with a high score of 27.

Need more Shaw Athletics information? Check the Athletic and Intramural boards and listen carefully to the

morning announcements.

STAFF—STUDENT GAME

On March 4th, the Shaw Staff All-Stars took on the grade 4/5 floor hockey intramural champion Jets. A well-attended

game saw lots of cheering and excitement from the student crowd as the Shaw Staff All-Stars got back to their winning

ways with a 7 to 2 victory. Thank you to all those students who attended the game and helped Shaw raise $89 for the

Shaw Athletic Program.

Page 2 Shaw Public School

ME to WE Club - Take a Vow to be Silent

On April 16th, the ME to WE club would like Shaw to be SILENT! Stand together with those whose voices are not heard. Taking a vow of silence helps raise awareness. Students in grades 4-8 can pay $1.00 to take a vow of silence for 24 hours. Kindergarten –

grade 3 students can participate as a class and choose a period of the day to be silent. All funds raised will go towards one of the causes supported through Free The Children. Students/classes who choose to participate will be given a card to wear for the

day/period as well as get to choose the cause they are being silent for. Some causes could be child labour, girl’s education, poverty, exploitation or for students who are bullied.

Each of them has a voice that needs to be heard. Take a silent stand, because together, our silence can speak volumes.

“We realize the importance of our voices only when we are silenced,”~ Malala Yousafzai, an international children’s rights activist~

2015 SHAW JUNIOR BOYS

BASKETBALL TEAM

Page 3 Volume 8, Issue 8

Technology Corner

Technology is everywhere and has become a huge part of our world. Here is a list of applications that students are using to enhance their learning at Shaw.

Tellagami: an app that allows you to create short animated movies called “gamis” using an avatar. Connecting to education: have your child tell a story, pick a person in history and have them introduce themselves, use a plant cell as the background and have the avatar name and discuss the function of each part of the cell, speak in French, or practice reading fluency.

Adobe Voice: an app that helps you to create animated videos in minutes. No filming required, you just simply talk to tell your story. It’s a simple, fun way to communicate with impact. Connecting to education: research information about a topic in science or social studies and record information using adobe voice.

Popple: an app that is used for mind-mapping, brainstorming, and an idea-collection. Helps students to gather their thoughts and accumulate many groups of ideas in individual “popplets.” Connecting to education: creating a math word wall in popplet for test preparation, summarizing ideas from a book or research, presenting historically events,

Toontastic: a storytelling app that allows students to create their own cartoons and tell a story.

Connecting to education: narrative writing and evoking creativity.

Doceri: the professional i-Pad interactive whiteboard and screencast recorder. This app allows students to take pictures, record voice, and hand draw on a whiteboard. Connecting to education: used for math allowing students to orally explain their thinking and reasoning

Shaw student using technology to do mathematics.

AT SHAW WE ARE A BYOD SCHOOL Digital Citizenship: We embrace the use of personal devices in a respectful and responsible manner, in keeping with school

codes of conduct and the Peel board’s Digital Citizenship Policy #78. You can find the policy here:

http://bit.ly/PeelCode

Our next School Council meetings will be held on

Thursday, April 9th, 2015

Thursday, May 7th, 2015

Thursday, June 11th, 2015

All meetings are at 6:30 p.m. in the school library.

Looking forward to seeing you there.

“YOUR VOICE, AS A PARENT, IS IMPORTANT TO US.”

April 2 Character Attribute Assembly

April 3 Good Friday—No School

April 6 Easter Monday—No School

April 8 Day of Pink (Letter previously sent home)

April 9 School Council Meeting 6:30 p.m. in Library—All Welcome April 10 Wear Your Hat Day—$2 donation to Breakfast Club

April 13 Crock-A-Doodle for Grade 8s (note date change)

April 18 Numeracy & Beyond Parents’ Conference,

Fletcher’s Meadow S.S.

April 20-14 Education Week

April 22 Spirit “Team Colour” Day

April 23 Spring Concert “Smiles Around Shaw”

April 24 First Preschool Storytime—Parent with child (registered to start Kindergarten at Shaw in September 2015) in Library 12:00—1:00 p.m.

“Penguins of Madagascar” Movie Night

Our second, and final movie night of the year was quite a success!! We had a fabulous turnout of families come to watch The Penguins of Madagascar. Families watching the movie, curled up on blankets and pillows that they brought from home, while enjoying their chips and drink.

The event was able to raise a total of $822.35. These funds will be used to help support future community events, as well as go towards helping to support our student's learning

needs here at the school. Thank you for your continued support of Shaw's events!

Help us to encourage and enhance parent involvement in Peel

Apply for a position on the board's Parent Involvement Committee

The Peel board’s Parent Involvement Committee (PIC) meets regularly throughout the school year to review the board’s plans for parent involvement as they relate to parent, family and community engagement, and to make sug-gestions to schools, councils and the board regarding additional parent outreach.

As mandated by the ministry, the purpose of Peel board's PIC is to:

support, encourage, and enhance meaningful parental involvement within schools and across the district, including, outreach to parents who find involvement more challenging

work collaboratively with the school board to support student success

seek out the advice and ideas of school councils, and other parents and partners as they plan and implement strate-gies to involve more parents at the regional level

develop strategies for enhancing parental engagement and outreach

Parent application packages will be made available on April 8 at www.peelschools.org/PIC. Forms must be returned by April 24, 2015.

Peel board celebrates public education during

Education Week – April 13 to 24

Peel public schools will host hundreds of special activities and events to celebrate Education Week 2015. To give schools plenty of time to hold activities, this celebration of education will be held for two weeks from April 13 to 24. The theme for this year's focus on education is Inspire. Greatness. Together.

In addition to inviting parents and community residents to visit their classrooms during the week, Peel schools are hosting open houses, plays/musicals, storytelling, environmental activities, awards assemblies, talent shows and much more.

One of the highlights of Education Week is the presentation of Awards of Excellence. The award recipients are students, volunteers, staff and community partners who have made outstanding contributions to public education in Peel. The awards will be presented to 31 deserving recipients at the Showcase of Excellence ceremony on April 22 at 7:30 p.m. in the board room, HJA Brown Education Centre, 5650 Hurontario St., Mississauga.

More than 800 individuals will also be honoured during Education Week with Awards of Distinction for their contributions to their school or workplace.

Conference helps parents make a difference in numeracy and beyond'

The Peel District School Board is hosting its annual parent conference on Saturday, April 18, 2015 at Fletcher’s Meadow Secondary School in Brampton. This year, Numeracy & Beyond: Parent Conference, will focus on numeracy—25 out of 60 workshops help with math. Parents will still have the opportunity to attend workshops on other topics, including literacy, special education and science.

This free learning event is open to Peel parents of students at all grade levels.

Stay up-to-date!

For more information, visit www.peelschools.org/parents/conference.

Register today for Adult ESL non-credit courses

Do you know an adult in Peel that is interested in improving their English language skills for work, study or daily life?

The Peel District School Board offers Adult ESL courses at three locations in Brampton and Mississauga.

To learn more or to register, call 905-270-6000. Registration is ongoing and continues after courses have started.

Bramalea

Adult Education Centre

25 Kings Cross Road, Unit 3

Brampton

Adult Education Centre

#300 - 7700 Hurontario Street

Mississauga

Adult Education Centre

100 Elm Drive West, Room 117

To learn more, visit www.peelschools.org/adulteducation.

Twitter: @PDSBLearnESL

Tentative 2015-16 School Year Calendar now available

The Peel board's 2015-16 school year calendar (pending Ministry approval) is now available online at

http://peelschools.org/calendar/schoolyear. Please note that these are tentative dates that will be

approved by the Ministry of Education in late spring.

Kindergarten registration continues at Peel board

Parents can book an appointment to register their children

Children born in 2011 can start kindergarten in September 2015. Parents can contact their local Peel District School Board school to make an appointment to register their child. To find out which school their child will attend, parents can call 905-890-1010/1-800-668-1146 ext. 2212 or visit www.peelschools.org and click on ‘Find Your School’. School contact information is available on the Peel board website at www.peelschools.org/schools/all.

Parents should bring the following to registration:

Proof of child's age

Canadian passport

Canadian birth certificate

citizenship card/certificate

Permanent Resident Card

confirmation of permanent residence

work permit

refugee permit

Proof of address

Ontario driver's license

utility bill

bank statement/client slip (directly from financial institution)

credit card statement

federal government forms (e.g. Social Insurance Number, Service Canada documents)

purchase agreement

Proof of custody

Proof of immunization

It is important for parents to know that required immunization information forms must be completed before children are allowed to attend class. Parents should contact Peel Health at Peel Public Health at 905-799-7700 (Caledon resi-dents can call toll-free at 905-584-2216):

for information about the immunization schedule in Ontario

to verify that your child's record is up-to-date

to obtain exemption forms if your child has not been immunized for medical reasons or because of conflict of religion or conscience

for information about how to have your child immunized if you do not have an Ontario health card and can't afford a doctor's fee for immunization

For more information, visit www.peelschools.org/parents/kindergarten.