Victory Public School

March Newsletter

Posted February 23, 2023

From the Principal’s Desk …

We have had a lovely winter and have celebrated it during our regular outdoor activities as well as Carnaval.  It is now time to start looking toward spring and a break coming up in a couple of weeks. As we look forward to the warmer temperature, it is important that our students are dressed appropriately for the weather.  Layers are always best and provide the most options for variable weather.  Teachers have worked hard with students and are now well into term two.  Students are busy learning inside and outside their classrooms by experimenting, creating, writing, acting, speaking and discussing.

Please check the calendar in your UG Connect (mobile or computer) App to see the events scheduled to happen over the next few months. DancEd will be returning to work with all students over the course of eight days in April. The final show will be held at the GCVI Auditorium again this year on the evening of Friday, April 28th.  All students will be involved in the production and all families are welcome to come and watch. We will provide more information such as the time and costume details closer to the event.

Have a safe and happy March Break between the 13th and the 17th.

Carla Anderson

[email protected]

Vehicle Traffic Around Victory

Vehicle traffic continues to be a concern on the streets adjacent to our school. If you are dropping off or picking up your child by car, please respect the No Parking and No Stopping signs on streets adjacent to Victory, and be sure that your car is not blocking driveway access to the street. There is to be no stopping or parking in the bus zone or across from the bus zone.  Some roads allow parking on one side only, and some have restrictions for stopping during school hours. Parking is allowed on some side streets and on the laneway along Exhibition Park. Although this means a few extra minutes of walking time, we request that drivers make the safer choice by parking or stopping in these locations.

Please take a moment to check our school website to see, ‘The On Street Parking Map’ and ‘Routes to School Planner’.

Visitors to our School

Thank you for remembering to check in at the office when you visit our school.  Whether you are dropping off homework, lunch or other items it is important that we know who is in the building.  For the safety of our children please sign in.  Volunteers in the building are required to clip on a Visitor’s badge if you wish to be anywhere in the building aside from the main office, this includes if you are staying to help in a classroom, or helping on a pizza day.  The badges are located by the sign in book outside of the office.  Students arriving late may be escorted to the main office through the front doors and we are able to assist in getting them to their classrooms.  Thank you for your co-operation and understanding.

Safety Patrol

Our safety patrol members continue to act responsibly on behalf of all the students at Victory Public School.

Please remember that street patrollers are on duty at the following times only:

• Morning: 8:30 – 8:45 a.m.  
• Afternoon: 3:15 – 3:25 p.m.
• On extremely cold days they arrive at their posts by 8:40 a.m. and leave at 3:20 p.m..

Thank you to the City of Guelph Police and CAA for continuing to support our patrollers with training and appreciation events such as the skating party that was held last month.

Junior & Senior Kindergarten Registration

If you have a child who will be four or five in 2023, please phone the school with this information if you have not already done so.  Our registration times have come and gone but Mrs. Wynne is still accepting names and registering children for September classes.  Please share this information with any friends and neighbours in our school area who have children who are eligible for kindergarten. Thank you for your help!

School Council

Our next meeting is Wednesday, March 1st, 2023 beginning at 6:30 p.m. in the Learning Commons. Everyone is welcome to attend, and you don’t have to be an active member.  If you need to contact the school council or have any questions please feel free to email us at:  [email protected]

School Council Meeting Wednesday, March 1, 2023 

School Council Meeting Agenda_March 2023

PA Day – March 3rd

March 3rd is a PA Day. Staff will be engaged in professional learning and development around Equity, Learning Recovery, STEM and Mental Health and Well-Being.  There will be no school for students.

Vision Health

If you suspect that your child is struggling with vision issues, there are several things that you can do. First, book an eye exam with an optometrist. Basic OHIP coverage for eye exams, is sometimes available free of charge, for children from birth to age 19. Speak with your child’s teacher regarding your concerns and encourage your child to clearly express to the teacher the difficulties they are having (Are they having trouble seeing things on the board? Are they having trouble copying information? Are they having trouble seeing the information in novels/textbooks/notebooks etc.?) There are a number of accommodations that can be made to quickly address potential problems, including seating closer to the board or larger print on computers or photocopies. You can also discuss with the classroom teacher or SERT the possibility of making a referral to one of the Vision Itinerant Teachers who provide support to your school.

Term 3 Pizza

Just a reminder that Term 3 pizza must be paid online by February 28, 2023.  Late orders will not be accepted.

Help Your Child to be More Resilient

Life can be stressful for both children and their parents. When children learn how to handle challenging situations in positive ways and to bounce back after a negative experience they become more resilient. Resilient people are happier, healthier and more successful in life. Children learn resiliency skills from the adults in their lives. Here are some ideas to help you to build resilience in your child:

1. Build a caring and trusting relationship: Listen to your child and talk about their day, share cuddles or hugs, play or do activities together.
2. Think positive: Each evening ask your child to share a positive thing that happened during their day. You could share something positive that happened in your day too!
3. Gently challenge your child’s negative thinking: If your child has had a stressful experience, acknowledge their feelings and help your child see that experience as only one of many things that happened that day: “It sounds as if Max really hurt your feelings by not inviting you to play hockey. Did you play with him at another time? Did you play with some of your other friends?”
4. Build confidence: Allow your child to do things independently as often as possible; such as getting dressed, helping to make dinner, wrapping a birthday gift, helping with a chore. Only give guidance if absolutely necessary.
5. Allow your child to feel that he or she has control over his or her life: Allow your child to make age-appropriate decisions, such as what to wear, a choice of what to have in their lunch (“would you like a banana or yogurt?”), what book to read before bedtime, what movie to watch on the weekend.
6. Model and practice calming: When you are dealing with a difficult situation show your child how you calm yourself down. Practice calming with your child (deep breathing, counting to 10, going to a quiet place).
7. Model coping: When you have a problem, talk to your child about how you solved the problem calmly. What did you think about as you were solving your problem?
8. Build your child’s coping strategies: Help your child think through a challenge. Help your child to know that the issue is just temporary and that he or she can solve the problem. Support your child in coming up with a solution.

In supporting your child in building resiliency skills you are developing a positive outlook that will last a lifetime. For more information on resiliency please go to the website below.

Source: Reaching In, Reaching out Website:   http://www.reachinginreachingout.com/resources-parents.htm

EQAO Assessment Webinar for Parents and Guardians of Elementary School Students

Register for this free live webinar and learn about EQAO assessment results and Ontario’s largescale assessment program at the elementary-school level. EQAO will review highlights from the 2022–2023 assessment results. The session will also highlight how the primary-division (Grade 3) and junior-division (Grade 6) assessments have been modernized. The presentation will beapproximately 45 minutes and will be followed by a live Q & A session with EQAO staff. Registration: http://www.eventbrite.ca/e/451955981507

Call for Volunteers

The  Library Learning Commons (LLC) at The Victory P.S is looking for Parent Volunteers to help shelve and organize reading materials in the Library. Even if you could spare 1hr a week or every other week we would be most appreciative. We have been moving things around in the LLC this year and are looking for volunteers to help us keep our library organized! This will free up some time for our Teacher-Librarian so that they may devote more time to programming and collaboration with educators, therefore using the Library space in more of a Learning Commons method.

We are looking for volunteers during the following time slots (according to the school-cycle calendar): 

• Between 9-11am on Days 2 and 5

• Between 9am-12pm on Days 3 and 4

If you are interested, please contact our Teacher-Librarian Mme Britney Caswell at [email protected] with your name, phone number, availability, and confirmation that you have (or have applied for) a current Criminal Record Check – which includes the Vulnerable Sector Check as well. We are unable to use volunteers who do not have a current Criminal Record check – including the VSC sector. 

Please note if you do not have a current Criminal Record Check (with the VSC portion), you can use the online Criminal Record Check application here from the Guelph Police Service. Currently they only accept online applications. 

You might wonder “What is a Learning Commons?”

A learning commons is a whole school approach to building a participatory learning community. The library learning commons is the physical and virtual collaborative learning hub of the school. It is designed to engineer and drive future-oriented learning and teaching throughout the entire school. Inquiry, project/problem-based learning experiences are designed as catalysts for intellectual engagement with information, ideas, thinking, and dialogue. Reading thrives, learning literacies and technology competencies evolve, and critical thinking, creativity, innovation and playing to learn are nourished. Everyone is a learner; everyone is a teacher working collaboratively toward excellence.

Some metaphors for the school library learning commons might be: learning laboratory, idea factory, studio or even “great room” in the school and community. (https://llsop.canadianschoollibraries.ca/library-learning-commons/)

Co-Curriculars for School Website

January and February

Co-Curriculars for School Website

March

Categories: News • Newsletter