| March
Newsletter
Daycare
Providers Needed
Please
let us know if you provide before and/or after
school daycare. We would like to assist our
parents by preparing a list of possible providers. Feel
free to call the school at 489-0995 or email us
at www.pembinatrails.ca/vw
C.A.R.E.
- Canada to Afghanistan Reading and Education
Our
kick-off assembly took place on Monday! Thank
you to Captain Krak for talking to the students
about why we are collecting school supplies for
Afghanistan.
We
would also like to remind you that we are collecting
donations as per the February newsletter.
Congratulations
. . .
.
. . to Brandon Wright who was featured in the Valley
Leader, Friday, February 8, 2008 issue.
Brandon performed a cultural dance for the annual
Alzheimer Awareness Ukrainian Dinner in Carman,
Manitoba.
Winnipeg
Harvest
The
8th Annual Operation Donation for Winnipeg Harvest
takes place from Monday, March 3rd- Friday, March
7th, 2007. Van Walleghem will be participating in
this event and we encourage students to bring a
donation of a non- perishable food item or items
to school next week.
more
. . .
Community
News
Attention
all parents! Are you starting to think about something
fun and exciting for your child to do this summer?
Mini U has over 40 stimulating camps ranging from
sport development camps to specialty camps.
more
. . .
Parent
Council News
The
weather has finally let up and with spring in the
air or at least our wishful thinking we have lots
on the go:
Lunch
Program tax receipts have been sent home with the
students.
Site
Development – More good news! Our Site Development
Chair, Ron Banister, made a presentation to the
Pembina School Division Board and we were granted
a $3500 grant to assist with our playground enhancements.
We are working on final costs and making plans as
we would sure like to get the play structure in
this spring. We have not yet decided on the
Fibar or pea gravel as the costs of Fibar are significant.
This continues to be a great topic of discussion
at our PC meetings.
Parent
Education evening – We are planning 2 education
nights. April 14th we are hosting an HPV vaccine
information evening. This is simply for information
only. Also on May 1st we will have another
session on Internet Safety Games that those who
attended in November really enjoyed experiencing
what that their children in Grades 7 & 8 play
but all are welcome even if your children are in
younger grades. Its never too early to learn about
the internet.
more
. . .
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Administration
Message
First
and foremost, congratulations – you found time to
read the school newsletter!
It
was an absolute pleasure to see so many parents
out at 5 Star Conferences. It is extremely
rewarding when children speak confidently about
their learning goals, share their goals with their
parents and then work towards them as the term progresses.
Thank you to the many families who took the time
to respond to the online survey. The survey
results continue to affirm this practice and provide
positive suggestions for improvement.
In
the words of a parent:
"Active
participation by the student is the cornerstone
of Self Management. Setting realistic goals together
with all parties concerned gives the student a stake
in the process. It also builds self-esteem, because
they are asked to participate."
(source:
5 Star Conference Parent Survey- anonymous comment)
Report
cards will be sent home on March 28.
March
is full of Action! Our student voice has ingeniously
combined Operation CARE and I love to READ into
one fabulous activity. Along with that, we
are happy to take part in Operation Donation which
runs from March 3-7. During Operation Donation
students are asked to donate non-perishable food
items for Winnipeg Harvest; their donations are
matched pound for pound with fresh produce from
Peak of the Market. If you have any questions
about these initiatives, do not hesitate to contact
us.
Reading
is HOT at Van Walleghem School. This month
for Circle of Love, we are thrilled to welcome a
special guest from Hot 103! We are certain
that the children will absolutely love hearing our
special guest.
In
staffing news, we would like to take this opportunity
to thank Ms Amanda Davis for her contribution to
the school and to welcome Ms Shalon Herring who
is returning from maternity leave. The Van
Walleghem staff family is growing; congratulations
to Mr. Giesbrecht who is the proud father of a baby
girl.
As
always, we invite your questions and comments.
Sincerely,
Brad
Burns and Cintra Ragoonanan
Your
Admin Team
Do
you love to sing? Would you love to sing with others
who share your passion for choral music? Pembina
Trails Voices, Pembina Trails School Division’s
honour choirs program for talented choristers in
K-12 invite you to consider auditioning for the
2008 – 2009 season. Audition packages will
be available from your school office or your school’s
music specialist April 7. For detailed information
about PTV, check the website at http://www.pembinatrails.ca/program/pembinatrailsvoices
Library
Links
I
Love to Read off to a great start at VW!
We have officially begun our festivities at VW!
I Love to Read weeks will take place from Monday,
February 25th to Friday, March 5th.
In conjunction with C.A.R.E (Canada to Afghanistan,
Reading and Education) students have begun the journey
of Reading to Afghanistan.
Read to Afghanistan!
Students will also be reading as much as possible
for the next 2 weeks!
Students will earn planes to be displayed around
the school as we read to Afganistan. (10 561 kms)
Each plane=5 kms and students are encouraged to
earn as many planes as possible!
Here is a guideline to help determine when students
will receive one plane;
Kindergarten- 2 books
Grades 1 and 2 15 mins
Grades 3-5 20 mins
Grades 6-8 30 mins
Teachers will be distributing the planes to the
students throughout the next 2 weeks.
During the week of March 3rd to 7th students will
Drop Everything and Read at various times througout
the week.
As well, Ace Burpee from Hot103 will be a guest
reader for our grade 4 students on Weds, March 5th.
We are all looking forward to meeting him and listening
to him share his love of reading!
Happy Reading!
Fall
Classic
Based
on last year's popularity and success, the Fall
Classic Running Club (FCRC) will be starting-up
again once we are free of the snow (probably early
April)! The FCRC is for adults and our participants
have a wide range of running experience. The FCRC
is also beginner-friendly. Our goals are to have
fun running together and to get in shape…and it's
FREE!
The
club will meet at École Van Walleghem School,
Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 9:15am. After
the run, join us for the Latté Lap . Watch
for more information in next month's Linden Words
or go to the Linden Woods Fall Classic web site
for updates www.lwfc.ca
. See you in April!
|
Calendar
(online)
Home
Band
News
Marathon
Club
The
Van Walleghem Wolverine Marathon Club begins on
Monday, April 14th. There will be a 12:25 meeting
on Wednesday, April 9th for all who are interested
in participating. The club is open to all students
in the school.
Students in kindergarten and grades 1 and 2 must
be accompanied by an adult.
In April, we will be meeting every Monday and Wednesday
after school at 3:35 in the gym for warm-ups before
going outside to walk and/or run. The practice should
be no more than 45 minutes in total meeting time.
In May, when the weather is nicer, we will also
meet on Friday mornings at 8:00 a.m. If you are
interested in joining us or volunteering to help
with the muffin breakfast, please e-mail me at mperreaux@pembinatrails.ca
Sound good? See you there!
Counsellor's
Corner
Children
and adolescents socialize and engage with each other
through the internet like we used to with phones.
I speak to many students here and they would be
fine without a phone, some even say they would be
fine without a television, but take away their computer
and internet and that would feel like the end of
the world.
more
. . .
Constructing
Knowledge, Reconstructing Schooling
Many
of our staff attended a lecture by John Abott as
part our last Professional Development day.
We
thought you might be interested in reading some
of John's ideas on why our current education system
will need to change to meet the needs of life in
the 21st Century.
This
article by John Abbott and Terence Ryan appeared
in the November 1999 issue of Educational Leadership.
Click
here
for the article.
Lunch
Program
A
few interesting tidbits about the people who work
for the Lunch Program…
1.
Of everyone who works for the Lunch Program…
·
16 are employed on a full-time basis,
·
12 on a regular part-time basis, and
·
8 on an occasional basis.
2.
Of the 16 full-time staff,
·
7 are retired members of our community,
·
6 are also employed full-time at other work places,
·
4 have children, and 1 has grandchildren attending
Van Walleghem School
·
1 will have children attending VW in a few years!
3.
Four of our full-time lunch program staff started
working for the Lunch Program many years ago when
their children attended VW. Their children
are now attending or have graduated from university!
4.
Of the 12 regular part-time lunch supervisors,
·
1 is a retired member of our community,
·
1 is a university student,
·
1 had children at VW years ago, and
·
the remainder are moms and dads with children currently
attending VW, who are also employed at other work
sites.
more
. . .
$21,115 for
New Books!
Thanks
to a special Library Renewal initiative of the Pembina
Trails School Division, Board
of Trustees, École Van Walleghem School will
receive a grant of $21,115. The monies were
allocated on a per student basis and break down
into $13,459.00 for French materials and $7,656
for English materials. The Board is investing
approximately $500,000 in the libraries of its 33
schools. These funds are available to the
school for this school year.
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