Manning Elementary School Memos Box 779, Manning, Alberta TOH 2MO

Phone: 780 836 3532 Fax: 780 836 2925 Website: www.prsd.ab.ca November 18, 2015

Features:

Academic Results...2

Safety . . . 3

MES News . . 4-8

School Council . . 9

Thank you . . . 9

Messages . . . 10-12

Calendar . . . 13

Manning Elementary

School . . .

...Achieving Excellence

This Month’s

Contributors:

Grade 1:

Addie, Brielle,

Jasim

Grade 2:

Tate, Zayne

Grade 3:

Kale

Grade 4:

Sverra, Nevaeh

Grade 5:

Lauren, Kayla

Grade 6:

Dallin, Emma

Academic Results

We have interviewed Mrs.Matheson about academic results and we asked her some questions

about the tests. Here are some of the answer she gave us: She said “The students do PATs to

see how well they have learned in each subject. The tests also tell us how well our school is

doing compared to other schools in Alberta.” Mrs.Matheson said “Teachers don’t do PATs

because they make the tests and it wouldn’t be fair.” She also said that “The highest score is

100% and students at MES have gotten that grade before.” Mrs.Matheson said “The

government tells us to do PATs or SLAs.” Students at Manning Elementary School do well on

the tests because they work really hard and study to get ready for them. We are very proud of

our results and love to share them.

By Sverra and Dallin

Superintendent’s Message

Academic Results

Each year Alberta Education reports on numerous performance measures for Alberta school

divisions in a report known as the Accountability Pillar Report. Our updated results show that

69.6% of students (combined in grades 6 and 9) achieved the Acceptable Standard on the

Provincial Achievement Tests, and, 10.3% achieved the Standard of Excellence.

Updated results on the Provincial Diploma Exam courses show that 82.6% of students

achieved the Acceptable Standard, and 9.1% of students achieved a Standard of Excellence.

Provincial Achievement Tests and Diploma Exams are only one measure of student

achievement and results are best examined at the school level where the local context can be

considered. Each school will be sharing school results within their local community.

I wish to congratulate students, staff and parents on working so well together on improving

student achievement. Achievement Test and Diploma Exam results will be further analyzed to

help inform instructional decisions that will lead to increased student achievement.

I invite you to view a detailed summary of the division’s overall results on our website at

www.prsd.ab.ca.

Paul Bennett

Superintendent of Schools

Winter Preparedness

Spotlight on Health and Safety

Kristy Shilka, PRSD Health & Safety Coordinator

When wintry weather wafts will you be prepared?

Winter brings some special challenges and one primary concern is heavy snowfall and the

ability of extreme cold to knock out heat, power and communication services - possibly for

days at a time. Emergency provisions should include enough food, water and supplies to last

72 hours. Remember, to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning, never use portable fuel-fired

appliances indoors.

Winter transportation can mean coping with ice and snow that can make navigating roads

hazardous. Before traveling, make sure your vehicle is winter ready, contains emergency

supplies and ensure the gas tank is at least half full at all times. Clear all snow from the

vehicle and keep the windows defrosted. Make allowances for increased travel times and

communicate your route to others.

Before venturing outdoors check the weather and dress appropriately for the temperature and

activity. Keep walkways and driveways clear for winter visitors and Emergency Services.

Recognize and treat any early signs of hypothermia or frostbite.

Winter sports bring hours of enjoyment however continuously stay alert for dangers. Keep

activities suited to children’s age and abilities and always use maintained and properly fitting

equipment, including the appropriate helmet.

Stay safe and warm, be prepared.

In winter you will need to get snow pants and winter coats to play in the snow. If you want to

build a snowman you will need mittens. People need nice warm clothes to stay warm in

winter. Wear the proper clothes for the proper weather. Don’t go outside with wet hair.

If you don’t follow these rules, you can get frostbite or hypothermia.

By Kayla

My dad goes hunting for meat. We put winter tires on our trucks and cars. My mom cans

food from our garden. We bring our snowmobiles out. We put our golf cart away and we

put our lawnmowers away. My dad gets his trapping stuff ready. My brother and I get our

hockey gear out.

By Tate

Halloween

The whole entire school had a

costume parade in the gym at 2:15.

Once the parade ended everyone went

back to their classrooms and they had

fun with snacks and games! Parents

could pick their children up whenever

they wished after the Halloween party

or during the Halloween party.

By Lauren, Jasim, Addie, and Brielle

Amazing Reading Race MES students are reading! We’re trying to get enough pages read so that we can reach our

goal. It’s important. When we reached our goal in September, we got to read Pete the

Cat. Every month, we go to the assembly in the gym and we find out how many pages we

read. If we read enough, we reach our goal and we get to read a new book together. In May,

we get to go on the Amazing Reading Race. It will be all over the town! We have to

remember the books that we read in the gym during our assemblies. They will give us more

and more clues on the race and we have to listen carefully because the clues are related to our

books. We have to try to figure out the clues so we can go to all the places and get as many

clues as we can!

At our last assembly we read No David! No! Our total pages read by all

the grades is 142,164.

By Nevaeh and Zayne

Music Notes

Congratulations to our band members who performed their first “gig” at the Amicis

Gardens Christmas Open House on Thursday, November 5th.

Grade Three Assembly For the Grade 3 assembly the class did a play called Millicent and the Wind. Millicent didn’t

have any friends, and one morning the wind was talking to her and they played for a long

time. Then the wind said, “I must go now.” Millicent said, “Come back tomorrow!” and they

played all day and the wind went back and forth every day to play with Millicent. Then,

Millicent’s mother said, “We are going to walk to the village today.” It took them three whole

days to get to the village. Millicent’s mother said, “I’m going to go shop now.” Then a group

of bullies came over and the one with red hair said, “Who are you and where do you come

from?” Millicent said, “I am Millicent. I live up on the mountaintop. I have no friends except

the wind.” Then the boy said, “The wind is nobody’s friend!” and then he laughed. All the

other children joined in with him. Then he said, “Millicent, Millicent, who lives on the

mountaintop, go home Millicent, go home Millicent, go home Millicent.” Then a strange thing

happened. The wind blew in and tumbled the boy up and out like a leaf and here and there up

down all over the place until his hair was in tatters and his clothes were in tatters. His hair was

a mess. Millicent’s mother said, “We’re going to walk back to the mountain.” “I wish the

kids had stayed to play with me,” Millicent said. The wind said, “Welcome back! I looked for

you! I wanted to play!” Millicent said, “Wait, wind! You blow through the hair of every

child in the world. Can you find me a friend?” The wind said, “A boy or a girl?” The wind

rushed away and brought back two twins, a boy and a girl, to play with Millicent.

After the play was over we did a piece of music called Brudenell Waltz. We played

it on the violins and cello. After the music was done we presented the grade 4

awards. After the assembly was done, everybody left.

By Kale

Grade Four Awards

Grade Three Play

Grade Three Assembly

Grade Six

Remembrance Day Ceremony On November 10th the grade six class had their Remembrance Day assembly to remember

those who died for our country. Grade six recited a famous poem called “Flanders Fields” in

remembrance of Colonel John McCrae who wrote this poem while in battle. They had their

moment of silence to remember the soldiers. Devastated, grade six watched their annual video

which showed how happy and sad the families of soldiers feel when they come home or don’t

come home. I hope you all had a wonderful Remembrance Day!

By Emma

Christopher Tucker Presentation

On November 10, 2015 a soldier named Christopher Tucker from the Canadian military

came to talk to us about his life story and about kids who wanted to go to school but they

could not. He has grown up in Ontario and then he had moved to Manning and went to Man-

ning Elementary School when he was in grade three! He told us to be happy to have a home

and that we can go to school. He says he once had to carry forty pounds during really, really

hot weather. Sometimes, they would go and get out of the army truck that they were in and

give the children paper and a pen or water and candy. His job is to live in the dirt or mud and

get the job done! He has seen 500-pound bombs drop from the sky! The

first military camp he has been to was Camp Borden in Ontario. He has

been training for 22 years. About one hundred thousand people are in the

military in Canada! He was 17 years old when he started. He had met

his wife in the army. He has been in the army for 26 years. By Lauren

School Council Updates

Thank you! Thank you!

An anonymous donor who purchased two violins for our tiniest MES students.

Georgia Burton and Barb Karpiak for the yummy donuts.

Jayden McDowell for teaching our grade one students about 4-H.

Tara Johansen for teaching our grade one students about Highland Dance.

Ian and Brandi from the Aurora Theatre for the donation of movie poster tubes.

Our Christmas movie sponsors:

Lorenzen’s Oilfield Services, Advantage North Services Ltd., and Forest Pro

Our third school council meeting was

held on Wednesday, November 4th.

We enjoyed playing with our children’s

Chrome books and becoming familiar

with how they are used.

Meeting dates for 2015-2016 (first

Wednesday of each month): January 6,

February 3, April 6, and May 4.

All are welcome!

Please take note of the following:

* Our School Foundation is looking for a treasurer.

* Our hot lunch coordinators are looking for options

for healthy and exciting lunches for students. Please

send us your ideas!

* Our school division board meeting will be held at

Manning Elementary School at 10am on November

24th. This meeting is open to the public.

* Community Christmas Hampers are on track again

for this year. The grade 1 students are challenging

the rest of the school to bring in as many items as

possible. The winning class will get to have a hot

chocolate and candy cane party with the grade one

class!

Food Sales (Hot Lunch) Volunteer Schedule

October—Grade 3

November—Grade 6

December—Tara & Janine

January—Grade 2

March—Kindergarten

April—Grade 5

May—Grade 4

June—Tara & Janine