Good morning families –

After a very busy weekend, I am back to do some learning and have some fun with R7A. This week we have lots going on.

The Multi-cultural dinner is on Thursday, May 2, 2019 here at the school from 4:30 – 6:30 p.m..  We are still recruiting families to come to this wonderful, long-standing VM event. Bring a favourite traditional family dish and all will be shared. If you are interested in coming, e-mail me, Ms Swail, directly at Heather.Swail@ocdsb.ca on Monday and I will send home a form Monday. PLEASE DO COME!

 Take good care,

Dear R7A Families –

I am writing in green throughout this post because it has been so long since we have seen green, and this weekend, it re-surfaced. I even saw small daffodil shoots and some tiny, budding narcissus in my travels. I hope you and your children all had a good long weekend. Everyone – including their teacher – will return rejuvenated and ready to go! Speaking of green, the swamps in the countryside were full of frog song. They are singing their little froggy hearts out, rejoicing in spring!

We have a short but busy week. Tuesday morning is Grade 7 orchestra practice. On Wednesday, we have a Spring Extravaganza at our school (see below). On Thursday, yours truly gets “pied” with other teachers by students raising money for the David Suzuki Foundation. Hope the pie is good! On Friday afternoon, the Student Council is holding a Spring Fling Dance.

In Geography this week we will be looking at climate change and the effect it is having on the occurence and intensity of natural disasters and humans. In Language Arts, we will be doing some serious editing of our writing and engaged in guided reading.

🌹 SPRING EXTRAVAGANZA🌹

What is the Spring Extravaganza? The G5/6A and the EF4A classes are participating in a project called the Entrepreneurial Adventure. The objective is to make a change in the world. Our main goal is to reduce climate change by reducing methane pollution. We would also like to help protect species at risk and our coastal waters. We have organized a fundraiser called the Spring Extravaganza to donate money to the David Suzuki Foundation.We are selling a variety of goods like candy, baked goods, cake raffles, arts and crafts, and other great products! We are inviting you to come and enjoy yourselves at our event. Please ask your class to bring some money to help support this great initiative. If none of these times below work for your class, please contact Kim Shiau.

On Thursday, May 2nd, we will be holding our annual, wonderful Multi-cultural Dinner, just before Ramadan. Please come, and bring food for the potluck. There will be an Art Show on the first floor from 4:30 – 5:00. Dinner is from 5:00 – 6:00. The Fashion Show will be held from 6:00 – 6:30. I sent an orange sheet home asking about participation and volunteers. I will remind the R7A students tomorrow. Our own Rua will be one of the hosts of the Fashion Show!

See below for information on the VM Legacy Fund, also in the last school update. 

Dear Grade 7/8 Parents,

For some of us, our children’s journey at Vincent Massey is quickly coming to an end.  We thought it was a good time to give thought to a legacy gift back to our school.

The Grade 8 Legacy Fund is a gift from the graduating class to the current/future Vincent Massey students.  This gift can be used to enhance education or overall student experience.

We thought it would be great idea to extend this idea out to all intermediate families to provide Vincent Massey with something that supports physical activity for our children.  Having basketballs, volleyballs, footballs and soccer balls available to students will promote physical activity not only for our children but all students of Vincent Massey for years to come.  From our own experience, our children have spent countless hours playing with the DPA balls.  Socialization and team play skills are great added benefits.

If you are interested in providing support for The Grade 8 Legacy Fund, please contact us.  We are accepting cash donations as well as donations of any sport balls (basketballs, volleyballs, footballs, soccer balls) until Thursday April 18, 2019.  We would be happy to arrange picking up any donations you would like to make.

Thank you,

TJ and Becky (mothers of Grade 8 students)

TJ Bains – 613-601-9557 or krupka3@hotmail.com

Becky Gallinger – 613-295-3895 or beckygallinger@hotmail.com

TVO Mathify

TVO has a new platform at www.tvomathify.com that provides online learning tools combined with live after-school math tutoring. It is a free service available to students in Grades 7 to 10 every Sunday to Thursday, 5:30-9:30pm.  

Take good care –

Ms Swail

Hello R7A Families –

Another short week with no school on Friday. Next week is the same story with Monday being a holiday.

This week, we will be wrapping up Our Story and setting out on learning about physical geography, beginning with natural disasters, their causes and consequences for humans and the environment. In Language Arts, we will be completing historical diaries centring on the 1837 rebellions. We will also be focusing on Guided Reading and improving comprehension skills. This week in Health Education, we will be talking and learning about addiction, with a focus on Ottawa and the opioid crisis.

It has been an extremely long winter and I am hoping this week will give us all a welcome reprieve and launch into spring.

Below are some wonderful posters created by the students, and some shots of nature. I had the opportunity to travel to our family cottage on Saturday. It was a beautiful day and there were many signs that reluctant winter was being overtaken (finally) by natural spring: ferns and moss, melting ice and a robin!

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Take good care,

Ms Swail

Hello R7A Families –

This is a short week as there is no school on Friday. It is a PD Day.

Our Language Arts and Ourstory will be taken up with learning more about the 1837 Upper and Lower Canadas rebellions, and taking a side: are you a government loyalist or a rebel, and WHY? We will split up into Upper Canada and Lower Canada and the different factions that were in conflict over how government should run in BNA, heading up to Canadian Confederation in 1867, only a short thirty years after the rebellions. The students have been challenged to think about the BIG ideas behind our country’s story and to take a more philosophical slant in our discussions. For example: do you need conflict to bring about change; what kind of government do people want?; what makes people angry and want change and reform?

In Health Education, we are focusing on mental health, balance and learning about addictive substances such as drugs and alcohol. The R7A class will be having a mental health workshop with our social worker, Larry Gauthier, on Monday. I am also arranging a Collaborative Problem Solving workshop with Ms Davies this month.

April is Daffodil Month organized by the Canadian Cancer Society. I will let you know if daffodils are being sold at school in case your family would like to purchase some lovely spring flowers and support cancer research.

Take care of each other –

Ms. Swail