176 Glenwoods Ave. Keswick, ON L4P 3E9 Tel: 905.476.7777 Fax: 905.476.4961

www.jersey.ps.yrdsb.ca Email: jersey.ps@yrdsb.ca

♦ Principal: Ms. Kathy Prince ext. 1184 ♦ Vice-Principal: Ms. Shanti Caswell ext. 1183

♦ Superintendent: Ms. Dianne Hawkins: 905.895.5155 ♦ Trustee: Mrs. Nancy Elgie: 905.476.4184

The arrival of February is an exciting and busy time in our schools. It marks the mid-point of the school year, the end of secondary exams and the arrival of mid-year report cards. Febru-ary also brings us longer daylight hours, the be-ginning of the end to winter and of course, the excitement of the approaching spring break! It is my hope that at this point, parents have seen signs of academic growth and develop-ment in their children. I encourage all parents to carefully review their child’s report card and re-flect on the learning that has taken place since September. Now is a good time to celebrate your child’s accomplishments and set goals for the rest of the school year. February may be the shortest of the 12 months, but it is a busy time. There is still lots of learn-ing, and opportunities for growth, ahead. With that in mind, I wish you all an enjoyable and successful second term.

Sincerely, Nancy Elgie

Message from the Trustee

Thank you to staff, students and families for the warm welcome. I have now been at Jersey for a full month and am impressed by our students’ energy and enthusiasm. Our Kindness Campaign runs until February 25 and has highlighted how thoughtful and consid-erate Jersey students are to one another. Every day students write down an act of kindness that they have witnessed or experienced that day and the kindness team chooses a couple of stories to share on the announcements. The kindness team is also blogging the story on the ‘Say My Name Campaign’ web page and enters the number of votes tallied from the day. Students will be bringing their term 1 report cards home on Wednesday, February 18. The report card provides students and parents with achievement levels for curriculum expectations and learning skills taught from September to February. The first sec-tion of the report card provides information about the Learning Skills and Work Habits that are needed for success in school and adult life: responsibility, organization, independent work, collabo-ration, initiative, and self-regulation. The second section of the report card provides achievement lev-els, areas of strength, and areas for improvement for each of the subject areas. The two areas are separated so that parents and students are given a more accurate picture of a student’s level of achievement. Not completing homework or handing in an assign-ment late would be reflected in the Learning Skills and Work Hab-its section of the report card, not in the subject area. This ensures that the grade in each subject represents a student’s true level of achievement. Please set aside time to review the report card with your child. Complete page 3 and 4 together, establishing areas for improve-ment and setting attainable goals for term 2. If you have any ques-tions or concerns about your child’s report card, please contact your child’s teacher and he or she would be happy to share goals and strategies for the coming term. Sincerely, Ms. Prince & Ms. Caswell

Message from the Administration

Feb. 13th  Dance‐a‐thon 

 

Feb. 16th  Family Day– No School 

 

Feb. 18th  Report Cards Go Home 

 

Feb. 23‐27  Jersey’s Got Talent Try‐Outs 

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TALKING TO YOUR CHILDREN ABOUT REPORT CARDS

Talking to Your Children about Assessment (adapted from Dealing with Report Cards and Assessment, The Search Institute 

(www.search‐institute.org) 

It happens several times a year: you receive a report card or assessment of your child’s pro‐gress in school. The way you respond has a big impact on how much your child feels motivated to do his or her best at school. Consider these ideas to keep your child’s motivation high. 

 

Helpful Hints: 

Even if you have an emotional reaction to a report card or assessment, calmly talk to your child about the report. Be careful not to allow your emotions to set off a negative response in your children, which can be detrimental to their enthusiasm about school. If you are shocked by your child’s report card, perhaps you are not talking enough with your child about what’s going on at school, what kind of homework your child has, upcoming projects, and tests to prepare for. Stay engaged every step of the way and talk about how impor‐tant your child’s education is. 

 

Talk with your child soon after the report card ar‐rives. First focus on where your child did well. 

 

Point out your child’s strengths. Then ask your child about the areas where he/she didn’t do as well. Use the time to gather information rather than to punish your child. 

Set goals together that will motivate your child. 

Choose goals that are easy, simple, and do‐able. 

For example, goals could include, “I will raise my hand to participate at least one more time a day” or “I will ask my teacher or Mom/Dad for help when I don’t understand something.” 

Make sure both you and your child understand on what basis a teacher’s assessment is based. 

Knowing the criteria for assessment as well as the process will help your child be more likely to achieve success. 

If your child has an Individualized Education Program (IEP), advocate for your child during every step of the process. 

For more helpful hints that are age specific please visit http://www.parentfurther.com/resources/ 

archive/report‐cards‐assessments at the Search Institute’s online parent newsletter Parenting Fur‐ther. REPORT  

Moving? The process of preparing

for a new school year involves predicting stu-dent enrolment and structuring the organiza-tion of classes and teachers to match the en-rolment. We ask that families assist us with these preparations by informing your child’s teacher or the office staff (in writing) if you are moving out of the Jersey area. Please in-clude the last day of attendance and the school your child(ren) will be attending. This will also facilitate in the transfer of your child’s re-cords (OSR).

Jersey’s Got Talent!

Auditions will be held during the week of

February 23rd - February 27th

The show will be held on Thursday, March 19th from 2 - 3:15 pm

Parents are welcome to attend the show!

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All students from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 8 are ex‐pected to go out for every recess unless the principal or vice‐principal  decides  that  weather  conditions  are  so poor  that  it would be detrimental  for  them  to be out‐doors.   Students are to come to school ready for winter and  prepared  to  be  outdoors  up  to  40 minutes  after lunch.  We always monitor the weather and, in extreme conditions e.g. wind chill; we keep the students indoors or shorten the recess breaks. 

 

We often receive requests from parents asking us to keep 

their  children  indoors during  recess  times because  they 

are not feeling well.   Unfortunately, we do not have the 

staff  or  facilities  to  supervise  students who  are  sick  or 

still  recovering  from  an  illness.    Students  with  heavy 

colds,  etc., which  are  serious  enough  to  prevent  them 

from  participating  in  physical  education,  recesses  or 

other  outdoor  activities,  should  remain  at  home  until 

their condition  improves.   This will  likely benefit the stu‐

dents concerned and prevent the spread of this illness to 

others.  

 

Please make sure that your children are dressed properly 

for our  invigorating winter days.    It  is advisable  for stu‐

dents  to bring extra pants and socks. A change  is often 

necessary  due  to  the  wet  and  cold  weather  of  the  winter 

months.   To avoid adding to our clothing collection  in the Lost 

and  Found,  please  be  sure  to  label  all  articles  of  clothing.  

Boots,  hats,  mitts/gloves,  scarves,  and  snow  pants  for  the 

younger children will help make recess an enjoyable time.  

Dreambox Our school has an exciting opportunity to participate in a web‐based mathematics software program called Dream‐box. Dreambox is a supplement to our classroom math instruction and assessment that can help to determine what students know about math concepts and then help them to progress through various mathematical ideas. Students will be using the web‐based software to work independently on math lessons a couple of times a week during class time, and will be invited to use the program at home if parents promise not to help in any way! Help‐ing a child may increase the difficulty of the programme, and lead to frustration. Students will be registered on the website by a classroom 

teacher with the students’ first name and last initial. More information about Dreambox is available at www.dreambox.com. Students will have accounts created on their behalf, including user names and passwords. 

Part of the work we will do this year will be to educate students about how to safely use the Internet. We will discuss internet safety and how to protect their online identity. Stay tuned for more information! 

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Friday, February 13, 2015   Junior Kindergarten‐Grade 8 

 

          Each participant at the Dance‐A‐Thon with a minimum of $5.00 in pledges will         receive 5 tickets towards prizes.  Every additional $5.00 raised , participants will            receive one additional ticket.  Students will have many prizes to have a chance at winning. 

 

GOLDEN TICKET 

Gold tickets will be issued to every student with a minimum of $5.00 pledges.  Each additional $50.00 raised, an addi‐tional Golden ticket will be issued. 

 

PLATINUM PRIZE 

For families who have raised over $100 

 

Tickets will be issued to students on the day of the Dance‐a‐Thon.  Parents are  welcome to join their kid(s) at the dance.  Dance times will be sent home closer  to the event date.  Receipts will be given to pledges over $20.00 upon request. 

Punctuality One of the skills we are trying to reinforce with students is punctuality. Being on time for school means students are benefitting from the entire instructional day. Arriving a few minutes early means students can be organized for the day, and have some time to talk with friends, and catch up be‐fore the day has started. Parents and guardians are encour‐aged to support the best learning conditions for their chil‐dren by ensuring that students are present and in class when learning begins! This is a life skill that we must instill in our children if we want them to practice it as young adults. 

 

Absent from School? We take your children’s safety very seriously. If we do not receive a telephone call or note explaining your child’s ab‐sence, the office staff makes telephone calls until an expla‐nation for the absence has been obtained (this is the “Safe Arrival Program”). If an explanation for the absence cannot be obtained even after exhausting all emergency contact numbers, a telephone call will be made to the police. Please help us by calling the school to report an absence. A message can be left on the night line at any time during the 

night or early morning. Thank you!  If your child is going to be late for school, please contact the office as well. 

Lockers Search and Seizure – As per the protocol between the York Region District School Board and the York Regional Police, please be aware of the right of school admini‐stration to search school property, such as lockers, desks and backpacks, without notice to or permission of any person. Also, from time to time, police may be in‐vited onto any school premises to conduct their own searches without notice to or permission of any mem‐ber of the school community other than the school Principal. 

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Acts of Kindness Campaign  On the 26th of January we officially kicked of the Jersey Kind‐ness Campaign. Glenn Marais, a musician and activist in York Region, started the campaign online called Say My Name Canada. He went around to a number of schools, including Jersey, to talk about the idea of spreading kindness through being mindful of all the kindness already happening in our school. We have been tracking the acts of kindness with every class and keeping an online tally for everyone to see. We tally up the acts of kindness every morning and update our school community on how our kindness is growing. Our hope is that bullying cannot exist in a school full of kindness and care. This campaign will finish on February 25th, Pink T‐Shirt Day, where we will be having a big kindness celebration assembly of our own. You can vote for any kindness acts and see how Jersey is doing at home by visiting www.saymynamecanada.com. 

    On Thursday  February 5th, Ms. Amar’s seventh and eighth grade students hosted an art gallery night to showcase all of the hard work from first term. Their goal was to sell their artwork so that they could fund an educational field trip to an art gallery of their choosing. We were able to raise just over four hundred dollars making this one of the most successful gallery nights Jersey has ever hosted. All of the artwork was student driven and designed. In the spring we will host a second Art Show that will encompass the artwork of the whole school community. Thanks to all the parents and students that came out to support Ms. Amar’s class and their artistic endeavours. 

The girls and boys intermediate basketball area tournaments are quickly approaching! Our teams have been working really hard on our defense and offensive strategies and have shown a steady im-provement in the last few months. At our exhibi-tion games held here at Jersey and at O.L.L., our students continue to show the community that Jersey has great character and spirit! Good luck next week! Jersey ROCKS! Upcoming sports at Jersey include Junior Girls and Boys Basketball, and Intermediate Badmin-ton. Junior and Intermediate intramural sports will continue to be held during morning recesses throughout the week (Juniors on Days 2 & 4; In-termediates on Days 1 & 3). Students should speak to Mr.Lang or Ms.Menczel if they want to get involved.