70 Watford Street, Brooklin, Ontario L1M 1E8 Telephone: Fax:

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1 70 Watford Street, Brooklin, Ontario L1M 1E8 Telephone: Fax: March 2016 OFF ICE NE WS MISSION STATE- MENT Winchester P.S. is committed to working collaboratively with our community to provide a safe learning environment for our children. Our staff will challenge students to join them in the pursuit of life-long learning, and in celebrating diversity. Our goal is for students to develop critical thinking skills and to be become responsible citizens. CONTACT US Principal. D. Marchand Vice-Principal...J. Wells Admin. Assistants J. Lewis R. Ingarao Superintendent of Whitby/Safe Schools..J. Bowyer Administrative Officer..G. Island Whitby Trustees..K. Zeppieri. C. Winters The last month here at Winchester Public School has been quite busy. Our classes have been working hard on achieving student goals in numeracy, literacy and work habits. We are very proud of the gains that our students have achieved in so many areas. The month was quite busy with many sporting activities, learning about Black History Month, Eco Club initiatives, our Curling team, and Pink Shirt Day. It was great to see the rooms covered in pink for the day. We are also appreciative to our School Community Council for sponsoring Junglesport for a whole week. Our students enjoyed the activities and even staff and some SCC members participated in the fun. With March upon us our students are excited for the warmer weather to arrive. Please remember that this brings lots of wet and muddy days, so a change of clothes is always a good idea. We are also still accepting registrations for all students who will be four years of age before December 31, 2016 for our Full Day Kindergarten program. Just call our office to arrange. Our students have also been completing the School Climate Surveys. We are asking families to also complete them using the link provided. If you need access to a computer, please let us know and we can arrange for you to complete it here. The survey closes on March 24 th, Our modified classes will begin March break on Monday, March 7 th and our regular classes on Monday, March 14 th. We hope you have a relaxing break and find some time to enjoy family and friends. School resumes on Monday, March 21 st. As always, we thank you for your ongoing support. Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions or concerns. Respectfully, David Marchand and Jennifer Wells MARCH BREAK Modified - Monday, March 7th - 18th Regular & Modified - Monday, March 14th - 18th

2 School Climate Survey The Safe Schools Department, in collaboration with the Accountability and Assessment Department, has created School Climate Surveys for students, parents/ guardians and staff for use in the Durham District School Board. The School Climate Surveys have been created to assist Safe and Accepting Schools Teams in gathering data to help make decisions in creating, maintaining and improving safe and caring learning environments for all students. Students will be completing their surveys in class. We encourage all parents to complete the parent Survey, at the link below. All surveys must be completed by March 24, Link to Parent Survey: : s/438winchester_schclim_par2016/

3 P a g e 3 W i n c h e s t e r P u b l i c S c h o o l DATES TO REMEMBER 7th 18th Modified March Break 14th 18th Regular March Break 21st - Back to School 23rd - Badminton Pool Play 25th - Good Friday - No School 28th - Easter Monday - No School 30th - Badminton Finals 31st - Grade 8 Modified to board office for workshop (am) 4th - Learn not to Burn 9-9:45 (am) Autism Awareness Day - Wear Blue 7th - Gr. 8 to board office for media workshop (am) 8th - P.A Day 18th - Dental Clinic for JK/SK - Grade 2 18th - 22nd Jr. B Ball Playdown 22nd - Board Holiday for Modified students 26th - Fire Safety for Youth 9:00-9:45 AM Gr. 7/8 Jr. B-Ball round of 24 28th - Jr. B Ball Sweet 16

4 P a g e 4 W i n c h e s t e r P u b l i c S c h o o l ***Classroom Interruptions*** We understand that sometimes you may forget to remind your child of a change in his/her afterschool routine, or to put his/her lunch in their backpack. Unfortunately, when we are asked to get a message to your child this interrupts the entire classroom and the learning day. Unless it is a medical or family emergency, we cannot interrupt the classroom. Therefore, please try to do the following: Write any changes to your child s afterschool routine in the agenda (or send a note) If your child s lunch is being brought in as a late delivery, please instruct your child to go to the office to pick it up at recess or at the beginning of lunch. ***LOST & FOUND*** IF YOU HAVE A MOMENT, PLEASE DROP BY AND CHECK OUT OUR LOST AND FOUND TABLE JUST OUTSIDE THE OFFICE. THERE ARE A NUMBER OF UNCLAIMED ITEMS SUCH AS SNOW PANTS, HATS, MITTS AND JACKETS. DON T DELAY AS THEY WILL ONLY BE THERE UNTIL THURSDAY, MARCH 24TH. AFTER THIS DATE ALL ITEMS WILL BE DONATED.

5 NEW P.A DAY TO TAKE PLACE APRIL 8TH, 2016 All Durham District School Board (DDSB) schools will have a newly designated Professional Activity Day (P.A. Day) on Friday, April 8, This additional P.A. Day was mandated by the Ministry of Education on December 18, 2015 and applies to all DDSB schools and calendars. All DDSB schools will be closed to students on April 8, On this day, DDSB teachers will participate in professional development on provincial education priorities identified by the Minister of Education. DDSB Child Care partners will survey parents to determine where care will be offered. Child Care partners will operate full-day programs in all locations where there is significant interest from families. The remainder of the school year calendar remains unaffected. Details on the school year calendars can be found on the DDSB s website.

6 FRENCH IMMERSION PARENT NIGHT Registration for French Immersion for September 2016 is ongoing. There will be a Parent Information night on Thrusday April 21, 2016 at 7:00PM at the Education Centre located at 400 Taunton Road East in Whitby

7 P a g e 7 W i n c h e s t e r P u b l i c S c h o o l BE ON TIME Please be reminded that first thing in the morning the yard is supervised between 8:30-8:45 a.m. The children enter the school at 8:40 a.m. and classes begin at 8:45 a.m. Try to avoid being late. It creates back-up in the office and disrupts classes and your child s learning. We also remind parents not to drop students REMINDER: FIRST STOP IS THE OFFICE To ensure our students safety and security while at school, we request that all visitors make the office their first stop upon arrival. Visitors in the hallways who have not checked in at the office will be asked to do so. Parents/Visitors should not go directly to their child s classroom without having made a stop at the office first to check in. Parents should say good-bye, and pick-up their children outside their designated doors. Please understand that this policy is in place for the safety of our Dressing for the Weather With the variety of weather we are experiencing, please ensure that your child is dressed for the weather. Recess can seem very long for a child who is not dressed appropriately. We would recommend sending along extra clothing for children in the younger grades for those days when it is really wet and slushy outside. Pack Extra Clothing for Your Child Due to our weather conditions of late, many students have needed a change of clothes due to slipping in puddles and mud. For your convenience, please pack some extra clothing for your child to keep at school. This will prevent us from interrupting your day and

8 P a g e 8 W i n c h e s t e r P u b l i c S c h o o l Pink Shirt Day Anti-bullying - February 24th, 2016 On February 24th all staff and students wore pink to take a stand against bullying and to demonstrate our commitment to creating a safe and inclusive environment for all. The Accepting Schools Act (Bill 13) defines bullying as : (a) the behavior is intended by the pupil to cause, or the pupil ought to know that the behavior would be likely to cause, harm, fear or distress to another individual, including psychological harm or harm to the individual s reputation, and (b) The behavior occurs in a context where there is a real or perceived power imbalance between the pupil and the individual based on factors such as size, strength, age, intelligence, peer group power, economic status, social status, religion of special education; ( intimidation ) Bullying includes the use of any physical, verbal, electronic, written or other means. It is an aggressive behavior There is an intent, or reasonable assumption to cause harm (to the individual, his or her reputation or property) It is typically repeated There is a real or perceived power imbalance There may be a negative impact on Moving?? Winchester P.S. is planning staffing for August and September If you are planning on moving out of the school area or enrolling in the French Immersion program, please inform Mrs. Lewis or Mrs. Ingarao in the office as soon as possible.

9 P a g e 9 W i n c h e s t e r P u b l i c S c h o o l LIGHTS OUT On March 11 th we put our daily Eco practices to use for Earth Hour. Earth Hour is a 60 minute session where the entire school turns off the lights and electronic devices FROM 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM. During this hour we remind ourselves what we can do to help the earth! Earth Hour does not stop at school. You can participate at home too! On Saturday March 19th it is Global Earth Hour from 8:30 PM to 9:30PM and less than 1 month later we celebrate Earth Day on April 22 nd. At school we clean our parks by picking up garbage and make our school yard green. Again, you can make a difference in your own home and community by participating in garbage pick-up at your local park and around your home. Last year around the globe during Earth Hour more than 135 countries participated and on Earth Day our community couldn t have looked better. Remember to always keep your neighborhood clean 365 days and

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