January News 2012.pub - Greater Essex County District School Board

BELLEWOOD CONNECTIONVolume 5, Issue 1January, 2012Silver Ambassadorssharing some holidaysongsOn behalf of the Bellewood family we would like to wish you and your families a very HappyNew Year. We are looking forward to a great year of learning in 2012. Follow us on twitterat bellewoodbison.Our Quest To Make Poverty HistoryInside this issue:Welcome 2012 1Poverty 1Dr. Eva Olsson 2ChoChi’s Pizza 2Learning Goals 2Winter Reminders 3Extra Curricular 3Lego Club Prevails 4Writing Contest 4School Council 5Mr. T. AwenderPrincipalThank you to everyone who donated cans and dry goods for our Can Drive. Together, wecollected approximately 3000 cans that have been donated to local food banks. Our 3 grade6 classes collected over 1100 cans in a friendly competition. Bravo 6ieme annee! Thankyou to our grade 1/2 students and teachers as well as some junior students who took time tosort cans into boxes. It was a school effort that will help many people in our community.A HUGE thank you to families who donated gift cards in December for families in need.Your generosity helped many families this holiday season and put smiles on their faces.This is just another way that we have come together to help out.This month, we will be collecting hats, mitts, scarves, socks, blankets and soap to help thoseless fortunate in our community. We have divided items by grades to get a variety of eachitem. Please send these new items to your child’s homeroom teacher by the end of themonth. Mina and Sydney in 6Z are hoping to collect soaps and shampoos that people collectfrom hotels to donate to the shelters. If you have any of these travel items, please sendthem in by the end of January. Thank you in advance for your continued support to helpmake poverty history.Gr. 1s– MittsGr. 2s & 8s– BlanketsGr. 4s & 5s– SocksGr. 3s & 6s– hats and hotel soap/shampooGr. 7s-ScarvesMme A.FischerVice Principal

Page 2BELLEWOOD CONNECTIONDr. Eva Olsson Visits BellewoodOn December 6th, the grade 4 to 8 students and staff had the privilege ofmeeting and listening to a remarkable and inspiring Holocaust survivor,Dr. Eva Olsson. Dr. Olsson shared with us her remarkable story aboutsurviving such an inconceivable experience and spoke to us about standingup to bullies. She stressed the importance of treating everyone withrespect, telling your family every day how much you care for them, andmost importantly, we can’t be bystanders to people who mistreat others.At 87 years old, Dr. Olsson travels across Ontario to deliver her messages.She spoke to the students about making a difference and howtheir attitude will carry them in their future. As she described to us howshe lost her family so many years ago, the pain in her heart was evidentto all. She stressed to us that we could always go out to buy things butthat we can’t buy family. It is our hope that students will remember herimportant messages to not be a bystander and to treat everyone like family.Thank you Dr. Olsson for your remarkable visit.Bellewood Days at ChoChi’sMr. Yakoub, parent of Bellewood and owner of ChoChi’s has generouslyoffered Bellewood Days at all three ChoChi’s locations(Essex, Windsor, Belle River). On Wednesdays and Thursdays,for the remainder of the year, any families who mention Bellewoodwhen they order from one of the locations, Mr. Yakoub willdonate a percentage of his sales to our school. What a wonderfulway to support our school and have dinner made for you! Thankyou Mr. Yakoub for your continued support.Mme Varsava giving feedback to her students.Learning Goals, Success Criteria and FeedbackThis year at Bellewood, we are once again focusing on Learning Goals, Success Criteria and Feedback.Learning Goals are goals that are posted in student friendly language so that students know what they are going tolearn either that day, for a specific unit, or a particular task. They are always based on curriculum expectations.Success criteria are the criteria that students must aim for when meeting learning goals or curriculum expectations.The success criteria are co-created between teacher and student and posted in the classroom for students to refer to asthey complete tasks. The teacher assesses the tasks students complete in class based on the success criteria.Feedback is an extremely important tool to help students move forward in their learning. Teachers provide specific,timely feedback before, during and after tasks. It is important to give students feedback on their strengths as well astheir next steps so that students can then apply this feedback to their learning. Teachers provide many opportunitiesfor students to practice new skills they are learning and it is through the feedback that students will improve if theytake that and apply it to the next task. When your son/daughter brings home tasks, tests, etc. discuss their strengthsand next steps for improvement.

Volume 5, Issue 1 Page 3WINTER REMINDERS TO EVERYONEInclement WeatherUp-to-date information concerningbusing and school closure can befound by listening to radio stationslisted in the agendas and packagesent home earlier this year. You canalso visit www.gecdsb.on.ca If youclick on “BusKids” you will get theinformation you need. The final decisionon whether or not to send yourchildren to school rests with you. Wealso want to remind you the childrenshould not arrive before 8:55 a.m. Inclementweather procedure has thechildren arriving through the frontdoors of the building after 8:55 a.m.Dismissal is at 3:30 p.m. We wouldlike to thank all the parents, visitors,and volunteers for reportingto the front office when they needto see their child or speak to ateacher. Our first priority is tokeep all students safe and by havingall visitors remain in the frontfoyer we can ensure this. Pleaseremember to call in your child’sabsence. The safety of our childrenis of the utmost importance.Remove cords and drawstrings onchildren’s hoods, hats and jackets.Tuck in all clothing that can getcaught on playground equipment inyour community. Wear a neck warmerinstead of a scarf. Make sure the endof the drawstring is free of knots orloops. Be sure when the cold weatherarrives to send your child to schoolwith a warm jacket, mittens or gloves,a neck warmer, and a hat. We want tobe sure they are dressed appropriatelybecause they will be outside for recessunless extremely cold weather hits.Extra Curricular at BellewoodChessclubatBellewoodhassomeexcitingnews!AttheWorldYouthChessChampionshipinBrazil,LilyZhou,agrade4studenthereatBellewod,wonfourgamesandlostfiveandplaced41stoutof67playersintheunder10girlsgroup.Weareallextremelyproudofher.Furthermore,ourchessclubof150plusstudentsshowsthestudents’passionforthegame.Welookforwardtoourstudentshavingfun,learning,showingsportsmanshipandparticipatingovertheupcomingmonths.GreatworkBellewood!MmeTanninietM.Breton EXTRA CURRICULARE.R.C.A. Visits BellewoodOn November 29th, Bev Wannick fromE.R.C.A. (Essex Region ConservationAuthority) visited the 8A and 8Kclasses. She first utilized a powerpoint presentation to explain how waterin Essex County works and someof the key points the grade 8 studentshad been studying in Science ( waterrun-off, watersheds, micro-organisms,water contaminants etc). The studentsthen took part in hands-on activitieswhich had them see first handsome of these water features. It wasenjoyable and informative day.8A and 8KSkippingMany grades Two and Three studentsare keeping fit this winter byjoining the Skipping Club. Grade twostudents are skipping on Mondays atmorning recess and grade three studentsare getting their exercise anddeveloping their skill at skipping onWednesdays at morning recess.Skipping club will continue throughoutthe month of January.Mme Scheuerman, Mlle Gerard,Mme FreyPerformance Dance GroupAn exciting new group has begun atBellewood. It's the PERFORMANCEDANCE GROUP! This talentedgroup of young ladies from grades 6and 7 will be performing with theband and choir throughout the year.Our first event will be held on Sunday,March 25th. Following that,there will be spring performanceswith a Broadway flare! Stay tuned formore details as the school year progressesfor the dates and times ofour performances. We're lookingforward to performing for you!

SAC hopes all families enjoyed their Holiday break. As we look forward to a New Year, let us work together to ensurethat this year is a great one for our Bellewood children.Congratulations!Our first two fundraising endevours were a big success - MERCI!Congratulations to the top sellers!For Cookie Dough - the Top Seller was: Zack TrioletFor Magazines - the Top Sellers were: Ryan Nash, Kylie Sabatini and Jack McDonaldThese four sellers will receive a Cineplex Odeon Gift Certificate!Also, hats off to Mme Richer's Grade 4 class that earned top prize for selling the most magazines! Their class will enjoya special pizza lunch in January.Special Lunch: The next special lunches will be January 26th for grades 1-3 and January 27th for grades 4-8. Lookfor forms to come out in the New Year. As always, we welcome any parents who would like to help - please arrive atthe school for 11:30 that day.Magazine Fundraiser - Individual grid prizes will be in shortly. Please remember it takes a while to process all orders,magazines will start appearing shortly! Please note that you can still order online (all year long) at www.qsp.ca and ourschool number is 7214.DID YOU KNOW? All SAC funds will be used to benefit all kids that go to the school this year. SAC recentlyheld a budget meeting and some items passed at the recent budget setting meeting are:1) per student classroom funding to benefit ALL current students at Bellewood this year2) Classroom library funds2) Music and choir3) Student Activities - Science Fair, Lego, various clubs4) Sports, track and field5) Year end picnic, Graduation etcSAC passed a motion that if any monies are leftover once all is said and done the leftover money, will be split betweenthe current Bellewood school and the new Giles Campus French Immersion Public School . So please know thatall money raised through fundraising, special lunches etc. WILL be kept with the kids who are raising it this year.SAC has email!!! If you would like to know about upcoming meetings, or cannot attend meetings but would still likeyour voice heard, please let us know at: bellewoodsac@gmail.comLooking forward to seeing and/or hearing from you soon!