Hello parents and guardians of R7A students –

A short item.

This marks “Halloween Week” and I hope things at VM are not too scary! Speaking of scary, how about our first snowfall last night and this morning? Snow tires, winter boots and parkas are in order.

Soon to come: The Rideau Canal: ice and snow made pleasurable and fun

On Wednesday, October 31, the whole school will celebrate the traditions of Halloween. Students are invited to wear costumes without masks or dress in orange and black if they choose. We will hold our annual Pumpkin Bowl between the girls and boys football teams and Mr. Marcus will wear his famous pumpkin hat. After lunch, there will be a Halloween dance for all grade 7s and 8’s with popcorn sold at the canteen. There will be a games room for students who are not feeling like participating in the dance.

The WE SCARE HUNGER  Food Drive concludes on Friday, November 2nd. If you have not already, please contribute at least two non-perishable food item from your kitchen. Thank you.

We had a wonderful day at Macskimming Outdoor Education Centre on Thursday. The students enjoyed themselves greatly building shelters in the woods, creating camp fires with flint, steel and willpower and, orienteering with compasses through the woods. We combined the French Immersion, gifted and English programs together into teams so the students could get to know each other. It was a lot of fun. Thanks to Arian’s mom for volunteering. Here are some photos of the R7A students.

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Have a very good week, and Happy Halloween.

Ms Swail

Hello R7A Families  –

I hope you caught some flashes of bright sun on Saturday and kept warm in Sunday’s cold. I braved near-freezing temperatures and high winds today for a short, final kayak ride of the season.  While trying not to capsize, I did manage to photograph a beautiful red maple tree among the pines and a leaf under water. The next time I see our lake it will be a metre deep in winter ice.

MACSKIMMING: Information and ONE VOLUNTEER NEEDED! On Thursday, as you know, all of the grade 7s from Vincent Massey will be going to the Macskimming Outdoor Education Centre. They will need to have warm clothing as we will be outside all day. Please ensure they are wearing sturdy shoes or boots and have an extra pair of gloves/mitts and socks in case we get wet. The students should bring a water bottle and their snack and lunch. We will be leaving just after arrival at school and we will be back around 2:45 in time for the students to catch their school buses. It is always a great day. Halal and non-Halal marshmallows will be provided for roasting and tasting.

All IEPs for Term One were given out on Tuesday last week. Please review the IEP and return only the one form you need to sign and the envelope. Thank you. If you have any questions, please contact me.

The WE SCARE HUNGER Food Drive will conclude on November 2nd. Please send in at at least two non-perishable food items with your child. 

In Language Arts, we will be focusing on a Creation Story unit and on spelling this week, specifically, words that students have difficulty spelling and words like “Reconciliation” which we are using a lot in our discussions of residential schools. The students’ work on their journal entries, based on what they think an indigenous child would experience at a residential school, were quite wonderful. We have been invited by the grade 5/6 class, led by Ms Kirk, to come and share our journal entries.

In Our story, we will be learning about how European nations such as France and England looked for colonies to claim as their own territory. We will begin to learn how this search for more territory and the expansion of nations’ power and competitiveness affected the indigenous peoples living on those territories.

In Health, Canada’s Food guide is on the menu! Groups will be planning healthy meals based on recommended food groups and servings.

Please ensure your children are reading, on average, 30 minutes per day. I promise that for most children this results in stronger reading and writing skills and expanding general knowledge.

Have a very good week. Please consider volunteering for the Macskimming Trip.

Ms Swail

Hello R7A Families –

This weekend brought colder temperatures and brilliant colours after a strange week of unseasonably high temperatures, humidity and wind blasts. It was a blustery week in many ways: immunizations, bake sales, tests and photos. We all survived Friday’s day of inoculations; there were some tears, lots of nervous giggling, pre-vaccine dance moves and a great deal of support shown for each other.  Your children should have brought their immunization forms home on Friday. The next clinic will be in the spring of 2019. I will once again bring the Dr. Swail antidote of chocolate kisses.

🙂

The R7A Bake Sale resulted in over $100 for the Ottawa Food Bank. Thank you to all of you who contributed.

This week coming, I.E.P.s will be sent home, Intermediate girls and cross-country athletes will be representing VM and the class will be participating in a workshop on screening and addiction given by the Rideauwood Institute on Thursday. On Monday, students will be bringing home permission forms for our field trip to the Macskimming Outdoor Education Centre on October 25th. I am looking for one parent volunteer, please.

Good morning R7A families and HAPPY THANKSGIVING,

Photo Day in on Wednesday. Students will have individual photos taken and a class photo.

Thursday is our CLASS BAKE SALE for the Ottawa Food Bank. Our committee of Norah, Shakela, Amin and Sami are organizing the sale. We are expecting everyone to bring in something to contribute, even napkins!! The students are very excited and I am sure there will be a lot of flurry and energy building up to the sale. All items must have the ingredients listed. Thank you.

The Ottawa Public Health Immunization clinic for Grade 7 /8 will be held on Thursday and Friday. Most students received their forms on Thursday, the rest will be sent home on Tuesday. If your child has a strong physical/emotional reaction to vaccines, please make arrangements at your doctor’s office or call Ottawa Public Health to see if there are clinics (contact information on the form). There will be three shots: the mandatory shot, Menactra for Meningococcal; HPV; and Hepatitis B. If your child has had any of the vaccines and is up to date, please send evidence for Public Health. Immunization day can often be a very dramatic event for our grade 7s – some are still bracing for the needle even when the shot is over! “Dr.” Swail will bringing no-nut chocolate as an antidote, and will be collecting marks for Drama!

The Intermediate Division will soon be embarking on field trips. Our first big field trip for grades 7 and 8 will be to the Macskimming Outdoor Education Centre where we will learn to find our way with compasses and build fires. Field trips require all students to act mindfully and positively. We need to know students will be taking direction and keeping the environment safe and enjoyable for all. Overall, students who have not shown they can make good decisions to keep themselves and others safe will not be invited on the field trip. I am hoping that all of R7A will be able to go. I will tell them tomorrow – once again – that their behaviour in school needs to be respectful and safe. I will speak privately to anyone who will not be invited and contact you as well, of course.

In Language Arts, we now starting a historical fiction unit where the students are writing from the perspective of a child in residential school. They are showing empathy and imagination. If you would like to learn more about Canadian residential schools, please take a look at this CBC site. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/a-history-of-residential-schools-in-canada-1.702280.  Our learning about residential schools and the past relationships between indigenous and non-indigenous people is an introduction to the grade 7 History/Ourstory curriculum. Guided reading and read-alouds continue and we will be seeing our kindergarten reading buddies this week.

Albany Mission Indian Residential School. Fort Albany, ON. 1910

Please ensure your children are reading, on average, 30 minutes per week.

On Tuesday, we will welcome a new student to our class, Arian from Iran. That will bring us to 25 students.

I wish you all a happy and enriching Thanksgiving. I will be spending mine with some of my family at our cottage, hiking, kayaking and over-eating. I may even dare to take the last season swim. When I do, you may hear a piercing scream ringing out over eastern Ontario!

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Ms Swail