"It is more blessed to give than to receive.' " Acts 20:35

Dear Parents, with Advent upon us, it is most fitting that the virtue of charity is our focus for De-cember. Charity seems to be what the fabric of this community is weaved upon. Our Christmas basket charity tradition and the Covenant House toiletry drive are two fine examples of our community putting others first. Advent is a time of quiet, joyful preparation for the celebration of Jesus’ birth and a time to enjoy the hope that Christ’s Resurrection points to. We believe that God’s plan of promise took flesh when his son was born in Bethlehem. We believe that Christ is a light for the world. Yours in Christ, Peter Fitzpatrick

From the Parish of St Barnabas Catholic Church Superintendent: K. Malcolm(416) 222 8282 Administrative Assistant: Ms. Rosos

The virtue of the month of December is Charity Ubi Caritas et amor, Deus ibi est – Where there is charity and love, God is there. Check out the Virtue Pres from the No-vember Assembly

http://www.kizoa.com/Movie-Video-Slideshow-Maker/d227864236k6935432o2l1/november

Should you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact the school @ (416) 393 5351.

Parents, we hope you can join us on Monday, December 10th at 7:00 for the family Advent mass. A merry reception with carolling back at the school after ….shhhh Santa may stop by for a visit. Our family of schools will be joining us for mass and we have invited them back to our humble abode for some Christmas cheer.

…that together you may with ONE VOICE glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 15:6

Chair Ms. George

Treasurer Ms. McNeilly

Secretary Ms. Almeida

Fundraising Coordinator

Ms. Munro

SPIRIT WEAR UPDATE: we have 9 spirit wear St. Barnabas hoodies still in stock for sale on a first come first serve basis: 4 Youth Large - $30.00

2 Youth Medium- $30.00

2 youth XL - $30.00

1 Youth Small - $30.00

1 Adult Medium - $40.00

Inclement Weather: School is rarely cancelled due to weather. However, for potential closures and bus cancellations please re-view the following: Updates will be posted on the Board’s 24-hour information line, 416-222-8282, extension 2873. The infor-mation will also be posted on the Board’s website at www.tcdsb.org or www.tcdsb.org/weather.htm. For bussing: The Transportation Department will post this infor-mation on its website at http://www.schoolbus.to/c_home.asp Also, please access local media outlets for information, e.g., City TV We will be going outside for recess unless the weather is un-safe for staff and students to be outside. Please have your child prepared for the conditions. En-joy the snow!!

…that together you may with ONE VOICE glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 15:6

Student Nutrition Program – Volunteer Co-ordinator Position

Effective Immediatley at St. Barnabas Catholic School The Student Nutrition Program Volunteer Co-ordinator is not a Toronto Catholic District School Board position. Hours: Mornings 3 hours Days per Week: Monday to Friday Honorarium: Approximately $30.00 per day The volunteer co-ordinator is to ensure that the nutrition program is universal and open to all students; serves 5 days per week, that it includes one serving of dairy, one serving of fruit or vegetable, and one serving of whole grains and/or meat and alternatives. The volunteer co-ordinator must have a police reference check before volunteering in the school. Duties: The volunteer co-ordinator is responsible for the day-to-day operation and supervision of all activities for the nu-trition program which include: Menu Planning – Plan menu which adheres to Toronto Public Health’s Nutrition Standard for Student Nutrition Programs keeping in mind student allergies and dietary restrictions. Food Procurement – Purchase and/or order food according to menu and budget. Food Safety and Environmental Practices– Ensure that the highest sanitary practices for food handling and safety are maintained. The volunteer co-ordinator must be trained in safe food handling which will be provided by To-ronto Public Health to obtain certificate. Financial Responsibilities – Set up a system for collection of parental contributions, prepare monthly budget, keep financial records and complete Monthly Financial Reports according to The Angel Foundation for Learn-ing’s guidelines. The volunteer co-ordinator is also to assist principal in completing the annual application for funding, if needed. Fundraising – As required, plan, coordinate and execute fundraising initiatives to raise program sustainability funds. Volunteer Recruitment/Management - Recruit and train volunteers, prepare weekly volunteer schedule. Qualifications: The successful candidate should be able to work independently, be organized, stay on budget, procure and prep food following simple and varied menus and possess basic record keeping skills. Previous experience in a nutri-tion program; safe food handling certification from Toronto Public Health; experience recruiting and working with volunteers. Basic computer knowledge including Excel and the ability to communicate through e-mail.

If you are interested in volunteering as a Student Nutrition Program Co-ordinator, please submit a letter of

interest outlining your qualifications. This may be dropped off at the school office.

St. Barnabas Starting Line Up

Principal Mr. FitzPatrick

Administrative Assistant Ms. Rosos

Head Custodian Mr. Amenta

Early Childhood Educator Ms. McPherson

Early Childhood Educator Ms. Velinor

FDK Teacher Ms. Kiefer

FDK Teacher Ms. Black

Gr 1 Teacher Ms. Colla

Gr 1/2 Teacher Ms. Richardson

Gr 2/3 Teacher Ms. Capone

Gr 3/4 Teacher Ms. Ross

Gr 4 Teacher Mr. Nabzdyk

Gr 5 Teacher Mr. Durant

Gr 6 Teacher Mr. D’Souza

Gr 7 Teacher Mrs. Twydell

Gr 7 Teacher Mrs. Gordon

Gr 8 Teacher Mr. Sulmona

French Teacher Ms. Navoa

French Teacher Ms. Carvalho

Physical Education Mrs. Sullivan

Resource Teacher Mrs. Schiller

ESL Teacher Ms. Pham

Vocal Music Mr. Longo

Instrumental Music Mr. Zaw-Tun

Educational Assistant Ms. Garas

Educational Assistant Ms. Trabulsey

Educational Assistant Ms. Chan

Educational Assistant Ms. Fernandez

International Languages Elementary

(ILE) Program: December Update

ILE Survey Conducted in All TCDSB Elementary Schools

On July 12th, the Board of Trustees of the TCDSB approved a mo-tion to survey parents, in all TCDSB Elementary Schools, from November 13th to November 27th, to determine whether parents wish to continue or initiate an International Languages program at their child’s school.

We would like to thank everyone that was involved with the deliv-ery, distribution and collection of the completed ILE survey. We would like to especially thank all families for providing your voice to the process by completing and returning the survey. Results of the survey will be compiled and reported to the Board of Trustees in January 2019. This report will include a list of results by school, including the response rates for each school. However, only schools with the required threshold of 67% response rate will receive a detailed summary of parent responses. For updated information regarding the International Languages Elementary (ILE) Program please visit: https://www.tcdsb.org/programsservices/schoolprogramsk12/internationallanguages/pages/change-to-international-languages-program.aspx

Wishing you and your families a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

The students learned that they can track data when involved in charity work. They enjoyed engaging in math that affects peoples lives for the better.

Mrs. Ross’s grade 3’s explored different ways to learn how to multiply. By skip counting the stu-dents were able to create works of art that are both creative and beautiful representations.

Curriculum Connections… This months Parent Engagement piece will focus on making math meaningful in our school. Our Student Learning priority is to engage stu-dents in Mathematics on a deeper and more mean-ingful level. We also recognize that basic number facts are an important building blocks for teaching more abstract concepts. Thus our goal is to marry having students become more proficient at basic Math facts while engaging them in Math tasks that are rich and connect to the real world..

Mrs. Richardson and Mrs. Capone’s class tried to connect their math learning with the Covenant House toiletry drive.

The grade 8’s can predict and infer what may or may not happen if population trends continue in the pattern they are going.

Mr. D’Souza’s class has a sink in it for cleaning, Art and Science purposes. The sink has a leak and the students are concerned that over time this can pose problems. They worked together to calculate how much water was wasted over periods of time. We have since called for a plumber.

Curriculum Connections Continued The grade 8 ‘s from Mr. Sulmona’s class learned that Math is not an isolated subject. Math is con-nected to all different subjects and to the world outside the school. Canada is a large country with many population trends and statistics that matter in our world to-day . The students recognized these connections in several different subjects.

Safe School Action Plan

Pro-Social Behaviour: Let’s focus on the good things! Let’s celebrate what is right in the school community and the world around us. Let’s model for our children/students what positive relation-ships look like and what they sound like. Let’s put our school theme, “Lead By Example”, into action. We need to do this explicitly and intentionally! We will continue celebrating with our monthly Blues Spirit assemblies, we will continue offering programs and activities for our stu-dents to shine. We will most certainly continue to partner with our CSPC modelling to our stu-dents how a wonderful Christian community shines through positive fun family events. We will continue to celebrate our mistakes as opportunities for growth!

Leadership as a vehicle: We will look to our intermediate students and Leadership team to set the example for the school. When the intermediate students shine, the school shines! Our Leaders will be visiting classes regularly, reading pro-social stories, focussing on being as-sertive, sustaining relationships in a healthy manner. Our school has a healthy library with many social stories that dovetail the pro-social work we are fostering.

Be Assertive: We are an Easter people and forgiveness plays a large role in our social dynamic at home and at school. We encourage our students to be forgiving and equally important is the need to be assertive and confident in ensuring the same infraction does not become a habit. Thus, when a student apologizes to his/her friend for something inappropriate, we have coined the phrase, “I accept your apology but don’t let it happen again”. When students are assertive and confident, our community becomes more resilient to bullying. We need to be explicit and inten-tional with this type of language and it’s importance in social development.

Code of Conduct: Our school code of conduct can be found in every child’s agenda. The crux of the code of conduct is a focus on prosocial behaviour, supported by progressive discipline, where students are offered support and provided with strategies to adjust behaviour in a positive fashion. In addition, restorative justice is utilized whereby students can internalize behaviour and learn from mistakes. All through the lens of our Catholic Faith

Even the weakest and most vulner-able, the sick, the old, the unborn and the poor, are masterpieces of God’s creation, made in his own image, destined to live forever, and deserving of the utmost reverence and respect.—Pope Francis

Guidance Corner During the season of Advent, encourage your child to be charitable towards others. Forgiving past hurts, extending the hand of friendship and including those who are marginalized, is a wonderful way to put our monthly virtue of Charity and our faith into action. http://www.parents.com/parenting/money/donate-to-charity/9-ways-to-teach-your-child-about-charity-/ Grade 8 students have been working with the AFTER8 Transition Guide to gather information about different aspects of high school such as: The Credit System, Course Types, Timetables and Special Programs. The more information students have before going to high school, the easier the transi-tion becomes. Talk to your Gr. 8 child about their fears and anxieties that they are having about go-ing to high school, and help them gather as much information as possible. Your Parent Transition Guide that you received last month is filled with helpful information to answer many of your ques-tions. Intermediate students have been working on their Individual Pathways Plans on http://www.myblueprint.ca. Ask your child to show you their survey results, goal setting and porfolios. I would like to let you know that have taken a new position as Elementary Guidance Resource Teacher, and will now be working in a central role at the Board office. It has been a privilege to have provided Guidance services to my Scarborough schools over the past 20 years, and the staff and students of these schools will continue to hold a special place in my heart. The role of Elemen-tary Guidance Teacher/Counsellor in your chiid's school, will now be filled by Ms. Shaloufe-Sanchez. She will be providing classroom programming and individual Guidance support. Please contact the school Principal for any Guidance-related needs and to inquire about Guidance support for your child, if necessary. I wish you and your families a peaceful Christmas season, as well as health and happiness for the

Let the good times continue….

Let the good times continue….

Monthly Update from the Board December 2018 Latest Updates on Weather Related Cancellations or Closures To get the latest information about school bus transportation, see https://busplannerweb.torontoschoolbus.org/Cancellations.aspx Parents are encouraged to subscribe to the transportation portal to get real time information about any transportation issues: https://busplannerweb.torontoschoolbus.org/Subscriptions/Login.aspx Information is also shared via Twitter. Follow @TCDSB. For more information: https://www.tcdsb.org/forstudents/healthandsafety/pages/weather-related-safety-concerns.aspx Angel Foundation for Learning Through the Loretto Fund and the Social Work Emergency Fund the Angel Foundation supports TCDSB students who are new comers to Canada by helping to offset the costs for items such as school supplies, uniforms, field trips, groceries or other necessities to help them settle into school and life in Canada. You can help support families who have come to Canada in search of peace donations to The Angel Foundation for Learning. To learn more about the work of the Foundation, visit http://www.angelfoundationforlearning.org/ PA Day Friday, December 7th is a system-wide PA Day (Check with your local school to confirm) Christmas Holidays The last day of classes before the Chr istmas break will be Fr iday, December 21, 2018. Schools will reopen on Monday, January 7th, 2019. Administrative offices will also be closed star ting Saturday December 22rd and reopening on Wednesday, Janu-ary 2, 2019. SAVE THE DATE! Kindergarten Registration Begins January 16th at 10 a.m. Visit www.tcdsb.org for details. Apply online starting January 16th at https://soar.tcdsb.org December’s Virtue is Charity Find all the resources related to the monthly virtue, as well as other resources to support faith development and Reli-gion and Family Life on our website here: https://www.tcdsb.org/Board/NurturingOurCatholicCommunity/Pages/Default.aspx TCDSB Celebrates Advent and Christmas—Advent Begins December 1st Visit the board’s website for the latest news and information from TCDSB schools including food and clothing drives, Christmas baskets for needy families, Christmas concerts and other special events. https://www.tcdsb.org/news/othernews/2018/pages/Advent-and-Christmas.aspx We Belong As we journey through the first year of our pastoral plan, “Rooted in Christ, we Belong, we Believe, we Become”, the Nurturing our Catholic Community Team invites you to share your ideas of belonging. We want to hear from our students and staff about how they are nurturing the concept of belonging and inclusion in their schools, in their fami-lies, in their parishes and their community.