9 - Western Quebec School Board

GREATER GATINEAU SCHOOL NEWSLETTER
MAY 2013 #9
SPORTSMANSHIP/FAIRNESS MONTH
1. UPCOMING EVENTS: IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER
May 1 – 30 Coin Drive Fundraiser (see 13 for further details)
May 1 Hadley School Open House for Grade 6 students & parents from 5:30 pm
to 8:00 pm
May 3 Grade 6 students visit Hadley from 9:00 am-12:30 pm
May 4 PPO Silent Auction @ 6:30 pm in the Gym
May 6 Librarian Lee Randall into do poetry with Grades 1 & 2
SEAC Meeting at WQSB @ 7:00 pm
May 7 Terry Kharyati, Hadley Principal - meeting Grade 6’s @ 9:00 am
Respect Assembly @ 10:10 am
May 14 Governing Board Meeting @ 6:00 pm
May 16 Grade 6 students at Defi-nissant
May 17 WQSB PD Day –School closed but Daycare open
May 20 Victoria Day Holiday
May 21 Grade 4 - 2 nd dose of Vaccination(Hepatitis A & B and HPV) @ 8:10 am
May 23 Greater Gatineau School Softball Tournament
May 24 Greater Gatineau School Softball Tournament (rain date)
May 27 Last day of Mazzola Hot Meal Program
May 29 Kindergarten`s going to Museum of Civilization
Grade 3 students going to National Art Gallery
Last day of Pizza program for this year
May 30 Grade 2 students going to Midway
IEP signing evening (more details to follow)
May 31 Greater Gatineau PD Day – School closed but Daycare open
World No Tobacco Day
June 1 PPO Garage Sale @ 8:00 am
June 3 Grade 6 students at Parliament Hill
Sportsmanship/Fairness Assembly @ 11:00 am
June 4 Greater Gatineau School Track & Field
June 5 Greater Gatineau School Track & Field (rain date)
World Environment Day
June 6 Clean Air Day
June 20 Grade 6 Graduation
June 21 Last day of school
2. DAYCARE
There are two PD days this month. The first is on Friday, May 17 th and we are planning
a day of garden themed activities. The cost for the day will be $10.00 and will cover the
daycare fee, an afternoon snack and the activity fee. The deadline to register is Friday
May 10 th . The second PD day is on Friday, May 31 st and we will be walking to the park
for games and a picnic, we will finish the day with an ice cream cone from Dairy
Queen. The cost for the day will be $11.00 and will cover the daycare fee, an afternoon
snack and an ice cream cone. The deadline to register is Friday May 24 th .
We sent a 2013-2014 daycare survey with the last newsletter. We would like to
determine how many children need before and after school care next year and who
might be interested in our PD day program which is open to the whole school at the
$8.00 rate. If you still have the survey at home and are interested in any type of
daycare please fill it out and return it to school.
Should you have any questions about our program, please do not hesitate to contact
Jennifer by phone at (819)643-6365 or e-mail jplaxton@wqsb.qc.ca.

3. SCHOOL ATTENDANCE
Parents are asked to always advise the school if their child is going to be late or absent,
it is very important that you report their attendance to Margaret Burns by contacting
the school at (819) 663-4842 ext. 1 before 8:00 a.m.
Our morning bell rings at 7:55 a.m. and it is important to get your children to school
on time in the morning. When they arrive late, there are changes that have to be made
to the absentee database and late slips written up for the teachers. All of this takes
time, which means more work for our administrative staff. More importantly your
child misses the instructional start of the school day, and it is a disruption to the teacher
and other students when a child enters the classroom late.
As well, when dropping off your children in the morning, please allow them to proceed
to their classrooms on their own. If you need to see their teacher, please make prior
arrangements with him/her. Please do not take up their time in the morning when they
are trying to tend to their students and getting classroom routines underway.
4. PICKING UP AFTER SCHOOL
If you are picking your child up anytime throughout the day, it is imperative that you
send a note with your child that day. We ask that parents not show up without having
sent a prior note or e-mail to Margaret Burns at mburns@wqsb.qc.ca in the morning.
The teachers and students are not always in their class, so we need to know when you
are coming, so we can have them ready at the office. As well, we need to get our
“DESTINATION SHEET” out to the teachers and daycare staff by 2:00 p.m . (this sheet
tells others what the changes are at the end of the day for students who are not
following their regular routine.) Notes are the best because e-mailing, calling or
leaving a message does not always work, as it gets very busy in the office and it runs a
risk of not getting on the destination sheet. Our students’ safety and well-being is our
# 1 priority and we trust that you will give us your full co-operation.
5. HADLEY OPEN HOUSE
On Wednesday, May 1 st , all grade 6 students and parents are invited to attend the
Hadley Open House Night from 5:30 pm to 8:00 pm. Parents, if you did not receive the
information booklet that was sent home with your child recently, please go to our
website and it is attached to our newsletter.
6. GRADE 6 ORIENTATION AT HADLEY
On Friday, May 3 rd our grade 6 students will be visiting Hadley Junior High School.
We hope that all the students will be in attendance that day.
7. GREATER GATINEAU SILENT AUCTION
Just a reminder to all parents that, Saturday, May 4 th is our 6 th Annual Silent Auction.
We hope to see as many of you as possible and ask that you get your tickets as soon as
possible so we get organized for the evening.
8. SEAC (SPECIAL EDUCATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE)
The SEAC Committee will be having their next meeting on Monday, May 6 th , 2013 at the
Western Quebec School Board at 7:00 pm and the following items will be discussed:
(a) Making Healthy Choices: WQSB programming related to drugs and alcohol -
Polly Green & Erica Tomkinson, Social Aid Technicians.
(b) Schedule/Topics of SEAC Meetings for 2013-2014
(c) SEAC Budget
9. HEPATITIS A & B IMMUNIZATION. HPV
Just a reminder that the Grade 4 students will be receiving the second round of their
Hepatitis A & B on Tuesday, May 21 st , 2013.. If your child is not at school on that day,
please call the CLSC to make arrangements to have another date set for their injection
as soon as possible.

10. WQSB SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT
On Thursday, May 23 rd , Greater Gatineau School will be hosting the WQSB Softball
Tournament at SansCartier Park. The players will be leaving the school at 8:30 am
and will be returning by 2:00 pm. We would like to thank Paul Lamarche for
organizing this event as well as Michael Birch and Michel Lemaire for working with
our teams.
11. THIRD TERM &EXAMS
Now that we have begun the third and final term of the year, it is important for parents
to remind their children to keep working hard. As third term is worth approximately
half of the total mark of the year, it is not time to sit back on accomplishments from
terms one and two.
The end of year exams have already started for grade 6 students and other grades will
be starting in May, some as early as the first week.. Parents, we can`t stress enough
how important your child`s attendance is at school during this time.
Good study habits and getting proper rest will enable students to do their best on the
final exams.
12. ENCHANTED GARDEN FUNDRAISING
We would like to thank all those who participated in our spring fundraiser. $2,480.00
was raised for year-end school trips. Parents will soon be notified of the exact delivery
date.
13. COIN DRIVE FUNDRAISER
Centraide is once again providing funds for the Back to School Program. However,
funding has been cut drastically and we are hoping to supplement it by having a coin
drive during the month of May. Please send in your donations in an envelope marked
coin drive. Thank you in advance for your generosity.
14. CONCOURS D’ART ORATIORE
The students representing all Cycle 2.2 and Cycle 3 classes presented their speeches in
front of students, staff and parents on Thursday, March 28 th , 2013. We would like to
congratulate our three winners.
1 st place Mathieu Goyette
2 nd place Maelie Plaseskie
3 rd place Laura Mailloux
Our first place winner Mathieu Goyette went on to represent our school at the board
wide competition at South Hull School on Tuesday, April 9 th and won 1 st place.
Congratulations Mathieu we are all very proud of you.
15. MAZZOLA HOT LUNCH PROGRAM AND PIZZA PROGRAM
Just a reminder to parents that our last day for this year’s current Mazzola hot lunch program
is Monday, May 27 th . As well, the last day of the current program is Wednesday, May 29 th .
Children must remember to bring in their own lunches every day starting Monday, June 3rd h .
16. KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION FOR 2013 -2014
If you have a younger child at home ready to start school or know of a friend,
neighbour, or relative who has a kindergarten aged child, please contact the office at
819-663-4842. Early registrations help us prepare for next year, so please make an
appointment with Nicole Leclerc and register soon.
17. ARE YOU MOVING
As we prepare for next year, it is very important that you notify the school if you are
moving. Please call the school at 819-663-4842 with your change of address so we can
up-date our files for transportation and summer mailing.
18. PROPER DRESS
Now that the weather is starting to get warmer, we ask students to remember the proper dress
code for school. If you question what you are wearing, it is probably something you should not
wear to school. Our dress code policy is on page 9 in our school agenda.

19. GRADE 6 GRADUATION
This year our Grade 6 Graduation will be held on Thursday, June 20 th . The Graduation
Committee will be sending home details soon.
20. LICE CHECKS
There have been a few cases of lice in our school; we ask that parents continue to check
their child’s head for lice. If you discover lice, please call the school that we can check
the other children in the class. Parents should be checking their child’s hair at least
once a week or more often if their child has had a case of lice.
21. GOOD FOOD CHOICES
The Greater Gatineau School staff has been encouraging students to bring nutritious
snacks and lunches. We want our students eating healthy food throughout the day. We
encourage you to send snacks in reusable containers and to avoid heavily packaged
prepared items. All staff members will monitor snacks and lunches daily. Let’s make
this a community effort.
Some suggestions for snacks:
Fruits
Vegetables
Cheese and other dairy products
Crackers
100% fruit juices and snacks
Granola Bars (no chocolate coating)
Foods to stay away from:
Puddings
Chocolate
Candy
Chips
Cookies
Processed fruit snacks and juices
Soft drinks
Chocolate coated granola bars
18. BIRTHDAYS & OTHER CELEBRATIONS
We ask that parents please do not bring birthday or any other type of celebratory cakes
or cupcakes to school. If you would like to bring something in we ask that it be a
healthy option such as: banana bread, muffins (nothing with icing), fruits or
vegetables, cheese and crackers, rice krispie squares.
19. PEANUT FREE & SHELLFISH FREE SCHOOL
We have a few students in our school who have a severe allergy to all nuts, peanuts and
their derivatives. As well, we have a couple of cases of shellfish allergies (shrimp, crab
and lobster) in our school. So we are asking parents/guardians to help keep our school
peanut free and shellfish free.
20. WEBSITES TO CHECK OUT
Literacy
Website: www.abclifeliteracy.ca
Health
Website: www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUaInS6HIGo
Website: www.healthybabyhealthybrain.ca