At this time of the year many of us are turning our thoughts to cele-brating the holiday season with family and friends. Regardless of when and how we recognize our holy days and tradi-tions, it is a time when we think about kindness, generosity and un-derstanding. Many of the most memorable and cherished gifts cost very little. They are simply meaningful gifts from the heart such as:

The Gift of Attention - spans all ages and is most appreciative. The Gift of a Compliment – can be given at any time and can lift the spirits of those who anonymously help us every day. The Gift of a Smile - when it is delivered with honesty, it lifts the spirit of another immediately.

The Gift of Sharing – extends family traditions to others. The Gift of Love – our love for one another is the greatest gift we can give and receive. On behalf of the staff of Derry West Village Public School, I wish you and your family a holiday season filled with much happiness and love and a peaceful New Year.

Many thanks to our generous community for helping Derry West Vil-

lage P.S. raise over $700.00 for the United Way in Peel region. Stu-

dents and staff enjoyed taping the Principal, Ms. Grewal to the wall!!

Jonathon D. in class

4/5A duct taped the

Principal 24 times and

Jaswinder in Class 4A

did 20 times!! What a

sticky situation!!

“A picture is worth a thousand words or in

this case $700.00! “

A Message from the Principal’s Desk

It takes a village to raise a child. Nigerian Proverb

DECEMBER 2013

Derry West Village P. S.Derry West Village P. S.

620 Twain Avenue

Mississauga, Ontario

L5W 1M1

Tel: 905 565-5762

Fax: 905 565-0173

Attendance Line: Ext. 1

Principal: Ms. Grewal

Vice Principal: Mrs. Cummings

Upcoming Dates:

December Events: See Calendar Insert

January 20th: No School For Students

January 28th: Cookie Day

January 16th and 30th: Pizza Days—2nd Nutrition Break

January 31st: Honesty Student Recognition Assembly 9 a.m.

Wow! 30 Years!

Our heartfelt congratulations go out to our very own Mrs. Susan Gould who was honoured by the Peel District School Board for 30 years of service!! Mrs. Gould, thank you for your commitment to students and their families and your dedication to teaching and learning!!

United Way

Choose Action - Stop Bullying Now!

The Peel District School Board recognized Bullying Awareness and Prevention Week during the week of November 18 to 22, 2013. The following report on Choose Action is written by Isha P. in

Ms. Allen’s class:

On Wednesday, November 20th, 2013 three classes from Derry West Village went to

the Powerade Centre for the Choose Action event. With about 5000 other students, teachers

and staff from Peel District School Board, we watched teachers, principals and staff play

against the Harlem Globetrotters Alumni Team. There were a lot of staff who played, but there

were only 5 players on the Harlem Globetrotters team!

The event was all about teaching us how to avoid bullying and how to help people if someone is

getting bullied. The whole experience started off with a host who introduced the players. Then

they showed us a couple of videos on how to stop bullying, and then the game began. We laughed

when the Globetrotters were joking around, cheered when they scored a basket, and listened

when they were talking about bullying.

After when the game was over, we listened to Sean Mauricette, AKA Subliminal, talk about the 6

Peel Character Attributes - Respect, Responsibility, Honesty, Inclusiveness, Cooperation, and

Caring. He showed pictures from his life and talked about how each of the attributes mattered

to him and how they are important for us to learn

and demonstrate daily.

Finally, when the whole thing was over, we climbed

back onto the bus and headed back to school.

The message really made me think about being

an "upstander" not a bystander, and how to help

people avoid bullying. So Derry West Village, I

have some questions for you! What will you do

to help stop bullying at our school? How will you

HELP your friends? By Isha P.

Maya Z. Says “NO” to Bullying

One of our students, Maya Z. in Mrs. Andrew’s Grade 5 class, has recently done a voice over for a cartoon on bullying with TVO Kids. The cartoon de-picts Maya’s personal experience with bullying and how she overcame it by taking a stand for herself. Well done Maya!!

Derry West Village P.S. loves the color blue too, Maya!!

News from the Library

The Library-Learning Commons is open throughout the day for students and staff to read, work and use the resources available to them.

Reminders: Borrowing Material:

1 book for students in the primary grades

2 books for students in the junior grades

Providing your resources are not overdue, I am happy to increase this limit whenever you need it.

To avoid any overdue materials, students can return materials any day of the school week. A new book can be checked out at that time.

Library Schedule: The library schedule is posted on the library web page (News from the Library) so you can see when your child’s class is scheduled to visit the library. One can find the school’s class sites at http://www.peelschools.org/schools/Pages/profile.aspx?sid=1581. NOTE: There is a fee for all lost or damaged books. Please use the library bag that the school provided to carry all books safely back and forth to school.

What’s Coming … 1. Blogs:

a) Howling Hot Picks – Junior Blog b) Fun Favourite Reads – Primary Blog

2. Respect : Theme for December Students will participate in a variety of activities on the theme of respect.

3. Book Swap: The dates for the “book swap” are December 16th, 17th & 18th, 2013.

This is an opportunity for students to bring in any books they no longer want and swap for a different book.

4. Read-a-thon: The “read-a-thon” will occur during the month of February 2014. All money raised with go to the purchase of iPads for the school.

Happy Reading, Ms. Lappan

On November 15th, 2013 students were treated to a wonderful presentation by the Kaha'wi Dance Thea-tre. The presentation of "Medicine Bear," combined two Iroquois legends about the gift and knowledge of traditional medicine made from the plants of the forest as well as teachings of compassion, thankfulness and respect for nature. The story was told through engaging song, dance and drama. This culturally rich multi-media contemporary dance experience was enjoyed by all ages.

Performing Arts at DWVPS

We will be collecting donations for our food drive, for the Salvation Army. Please donate non-perishable food items, such as boxed or canned goods. The Salvation Army will pick up the food items from Derry West Village P.S. on December 19th, 2013 and distribute it to families in need, shortly thereafter. Thank you for your support!!

Food Drive

Continuing with Traditions

The holidays are just around the corner and Derry West students have been working on holiday/seasonal songs to present at the assembly on Thursday, December 19th at 9:00 am. The assembly will consist of these special performances from several grade levels, followed by a sing along of our favourite holiday songs and ending with our student awards for the character attribute of the month: Respect! We welcome all of you to join us for this festive celebration.

Traffic safety in our community

NEWSLETTER DRAW

The newsletter draw will take place the morning of December 6th, 2013 at 8:45 a.m.

Yes, I have read the DECEMBER newsletter.

Please enter my name for the Derry West Village P.S. draw.

Student Name: _________________________ Teacher Name: ___________________________________

Safety is a top priority at our school. Here is a list of traffic tips to keep students, staff and parents

safe while commuting to and from school:

Respect traffic signs and road markers around the school.

Drive slowly and with caution on and near school property. Adhere to the posted speed limits on any

surrounding streets used by students on their way to and from school.

Always yield to pedestrian traffic. Wait for students, staff members and parents to cross before driving

past them.

When dropping your child off at the school, use the Kiss'n'Ride area. This is a supervised area that is

designed to keep students safe.

Have your child ready to exit the car when you reach the curb. Say goodbye to your child before you

park at the curb to let your child out of your car.

Follow the directions of staff or volunteers on duty in the school parking lot and treat

staff, students, volunteers, passengers and other drivers with respect.

Consider parking off site and walking a short distance to school. This will give you time

to talk to your children about their day.

Remind your child to only cross the street at an intersection or crosswalk. They should

never “jaywalk” by crossing in the middle of the street.

Week 1 Make a Writer’s Kit – set aside a shoe box or container of a similar size. Put in paper (of different shapes, kinds, sizes), magic markers, pencils, crayons, glue stick, stickers, old flyers, safety scissors and stapler.

Week 2 Ask your child to help you write a thank-you note, birthday card, holiday card or shopping list.

Week 3 Make play dough together and use the play dough to make letters for names of family members and characters from favourite stories.

Week 4 Go outside and trace letters in the snow/sand (any place the child plays). Make an alphabet chart by tracing mag-netic letters on paper. Put the chart on the refrigerator or a cookie sheet and then give your child some magnetic letters to try matching to the chart.

The Learning Partnership

R - Be a role model to your child

E - Enjoy reading together

A - Allow your child to choose their books

D - Read daily

“Early experiences are important for children’s development. Opportunities for developing reading skills can be cre-ated by providing a print-rich environment, which includes various reading materials (storybooks, magazines, calen-dars, pamphlets, menus and maps). Adults can support development by engaging in conversations and observing and making connections to children’s life experiences.” (NAEYC, 2009)

Six Pre-Reading Skills: 1. Narrative Skills – ask your child to describe things and events, tell

each other stories, or make up stories together. 2. Print Motivation – help your child become interested in books, help

them to enjoy books and show them that you like to read for pleas-ure, as well as for learning.

3. Vocabulary - talk to your child and encourage them to “pretend play”. 4. Phonological Awareness - help them to hear the smaller sounds in

words – nursery rhymes are great for this.

5. Letter Knowledge – look at letters all around you, in the community, in your home, play “I Spy”. 6. Print Awareness – noticing print, knowing how to handle a book, and knowing how to follow the words on a

page.

Early Literacy

What is a Book? By: Lora Daunt A book is pages, pictures and words A book is animals, people and birds A book is stories of queens and kings Poems and songs – so many things! Curled in a corner where I can hide With a book I can journey far and wide Though it’s only paper from end to end A book is a very special friend.

Monthly Reading Activities

December 20 – No School for students or teaching staff Professional Activity Day on Dec. 20, 2013

As you know from our school year calendar, Dec. 20, 2013, is a Professional Activity Day. Students will not be

at school on this day.

Traditionally, school staff participate in professional learning activities on these days. However, the Ministry of

Education has designated Dec. 20 as unpaid day for some staff and a professional development day for others.

Based on new provincial legislation, permanent teachers, both elementary and secondary, will take Dec. 20 as an

unpaid day and are not required to be at work on that day. In some cases, principals and vice-principals will

choose to take this day as an unpaid day and will also not be present in their schools. In other cases, administra-

tors will choose to take an unpaid day at another time and will be at school on Dec. 20.

Dec. 20 is a regular, paid work day for all other Peel board staff members and many will participate in profes-

sional learning offered through the board on this day.

Register for French Immersion by Jan. 31, 2014

Are you thinking of registering your child for French Immersion (FI)? For the 2014-15 school year, parents must register children for

entry into grade 1 FI by 4 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 31, 2014.

Registration for FI will be done through an online registration form that will be available on Nov. 22 at

www.peelschools.org/parents/programs/French/registration.

What is the FI program like? What are the advantages and disadvantages of the program? How can you tell if it is the right

choice for your child?

One way to help answer these questions is to attend the information meeting at the FI school your child would attend. Meet the prin-

cipal and some of the teachers from the school. Hear about the program and have an opportunity to ask questions. Talk with some

parents whose children are now in the program. A parent information night will be held at each FI school in Peel on Nov. 21 at

7 p.m.

Registration process

A grade 1 FI enrolment cap is in place. This means that a specific number of spots are available for students entering grade 1 FI. If the

number of students registered by the deadline exceeds the number of spots in grade 1 FI, a lottery system will be used to identify stu-

dents gaining entrance into the grade 1 FI program.

All students who make the registration deadline will be placed in a lottery and assigned a rank using a computerized random selection

process. Spots are not assigned on a first come, first served basis. Once students have been assigned to all available spots, remain-

ing students will be placed, again in rank order, on the school's waitlist.

Some students will be automatically placed in grade 1 FI. To find out if your child does not need to participate in the lottery, and for

more information about the lottery and waitlist processes, visit www.peelschools.org/parents/programs/French/registration.

How to get more information

Visit the Peel board website—www.peelschools.org/parents/programs/French/registration.

Call Britannia Public School at 905-814-1146.

Visit the Canadian Parents for French website at www.cpfont.on.ca.

Closing schools because of bad weather

During the winter months, we may need to cancel buses or close schools because of bad weather.

The board decides by 6:30 a.m. whether to cancel buses or close schools. To find out if busing is cancelled or schools

closed, visit www.peelschools.org or call 905-890-1010 or

1-800-668-1146. You will receive one of the following messages:

Peel District School Board buses are cancelled. Schools remain open for students and staff, but buses are cancelled.

Buses will remain cancelled all day. All activities that require busing will also be cancelled. Permits, night school

classes, daycare and other activities in schools will operate as usual. When buses are cancelled due to inclement

weather and you choose to drive your child to school you must be prepared to pick them up for the 3:00 p.m. dis-

missal.

All Peel District School Board schools and board offices are closed. Due to weather conditions, schools and board

offices are closed to students and staff. All activities in schools and board offices are also cancelled, including daycare,

night school and permits.

All evening programs and permits at the Peel District School Board are cancelled. Due to weather conditions, all

activities in schools and board offices are cancelled, including continuing education courses and events. The buildings

will be closed.

All weekend programs and permits at the Peel District School Board are cancelled. Due to weather conditions, all

activities in schools and board offices are cancelled, including continuing education courses and events. The buildings

will be closed.

You can also follow @Peelschools on Twitter or become a fan of the Peel board on Facebook, www.facebook.com/

peelschools, for updates.

It’s almost time to register for Kindergarten Join us for a Kindergarten Live! open house in December to learn more

Do you have a young children that will start school in the next year or two? If so, join us for a Kindergarten Live! in-

formation session to learn more about the Peel board’s full-day kindergarten program and how to register your children

for school.

Four elementary schools in Peel will host Kindergarten Live! information sessions in December where Explore Guides

will takes families on a small group tour to see a kindergarten class in action, find out about play-based learning and

have the opportunity to ask questions about special education.

Kindergarten Live! information sessions will take place at the following Peel elementary schools in December:

Queen Street Public School in Brampton, Caledon East Public School in Caledon, Clarkson Public School in

Mississauga, Marvin Heights Public School in Mississauga.

For more information or to register for an information session, visit http://www.peelschools.org/parents/kindergarten.

If your child was born in 2010, he or she can start kindergarten in September 2014.

All Peel elementary schools will be open for kindergarten registration from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Feb. 4, 5, 6 and 7

and from 5 to 8 p.m. on Feb. 6.