Grade 9

The grade nines have been busy juggling school and extracurricular activities! In math, they are learning about square roots and surface area. We are currently working on our first ELA project: Create-a-Script. The students will then get a chance to perform or record and play it in front of the class. They relived their summer activities in Art class while working on their drawing abilities. In Phys. Ed, they are honing their
volleyball skills. In Careers, they are studying the path of entrepreneurs. The students were very excited to start Home Economics and IA as well. Finally, in Science, they are learning about Chemistry!

Grade 8

SMITH
In Art class, the 8’s are making beautiful art out of simple 1 inch black lines.
Home Ec. we are learning to sew with the machine.
BLOCK
In Science, the unit of study is Cells, Organs, and Tissues.
Social studies is looking specifically at Canadian Culture
and multiculturalism.
CORY
In Health students are learning about their own personal skills, traits and characteristics and how they relate to career options.
In PE the students are working on increasing our activity levels, volleyball skills, all the while trying to sneak in those summer/fall activities
outside before the weather turns too cold on us.
BAIN
Math has students exploring “Square Roots and the Pythagorean Theorem”.
Meanwhile, in ELA, the students are currently working on their first thematic unit, “On the Edge of Survival”.

Grade 7

And so it begins…wow! It has been a whirlwind of activity around here. We are off to a great start! Our class is currently up to 24 students, with the possibility of adding yet one more student next week. The students have shown themselves to be kind, out-going and hard working so far. I am looking forward to a fabulous year.
Students have begun a unit on science fiction in ELA. In math, we are reviewing some basic skills before moving into a unit on “Patterns and Relations”. Science has the stu-dents exploring world views of European and First Nations people, and how these worldviews influence interactions in ecosystems. In social studies, students have been reviewing mapping skills before moving into their study of “Conflict, Co-operation, and Interdependence”. In health, the class has been investigating personality types and the concept of “Self”.

We are anticipating some exciting things this year. In October, the Grade 7s will be participating in a drumming inservice presented by Boomtown Drums from Regina. The arts program has a music component and what better way to delve into it than with African drumming! It should be a thumping good time! I will send more information as I get things put in place.

Additionally, we are starting to plan for our spring ski/snowboard trip to take place in March. A big thanks goes out to Mr. Anderson for his booking expertise! We will begin fundraising soon. Fundraising allows us to offset student costs for these activities. Please expect a letter home soon, outlining our fundraising ventures.
In closing, should you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me at the school: Nicole.Bain@spiritsd.ca or (306) 544-2511. Thank you all for your support! We are going to have an outstanding year!

Grade 2

Hello! The first couple of weeks back at school have been busy with the kids transitioning into grade two; they are starting to settle in with our classroom routines and are getting the swing of things. Miss Kolach, our new special education teacher, is helping us with math. Math is set up similar to last year, where the grade two’s are split into two groups and will rotate back and forth between Miss Kolach and myself. Our first unit is on patterning. In Language Arts, we are starting our reader’s workshop, focusing on how to read a book and choosing just right books. For writer’s workshop, we are going back to basics on how to make a great sentence. We are also currently working on a nursery rhyme unit. As we are still getting established in our language arts program, I’ve decided to start our spelling program in October as opposed to September. We are also learning about Growth and Changes in Animals for Science, as well as Our Local Community for Social Studies. Feel free to pop by to see what we are learning about or if you have any questions about your child’s progress in school.

Mrs. Romanchuk

Grade 4-5-6

Welcome back!! We are off to a very busy start in the grade 4,5,6 classroom. We are working on a mini unit about maps in Social Studies. In Science the students are learning about habitats and the diversity of living things. In math, the grade 5/6’s started with a unit about patterns. In ELA, we are learning about proper sentences, punctuation, and grammar. The students have been working on a variety of writing assignments as well. We have been learning about blending and shading in art and the results of the projects have been very nice.
Ms. Bishop Moisan and the Grade 4,5,6 class

Grade 1 & 3

The 1&3 class is off and rolling! We have been focusing on building our reading stamina. We are up to 14 minutes already! Both groups have been working on their writing skills. The 1s are being encouraged to sound words out and label their pictures. The 3s are paying attention to their spelling, capitalization, and word usage. In math, both groups are working on patterning. The 3s are exploring forces that repel and attract in science, and the 1s are learning about living things. In social studies, the 1s are learning about different types of families and are thinking about their own families. So far we have drawn family portraits and discussed the jobs each family member has around the house. The 3s are exploring their identity and how they fit into the world.
This will form a basis of comparison as we look at how other people live in different parts of the world. In phys. ed. we are focusing on volleyball skills and cooperative games and in health we are discussing how to get along with others. Students have painted beautiful watercolour selfportraits and created fingerprint fall trees. Don’t for-get to send your family photo!

From the Office

Welcome back to every-one again for the start of another great year. We have some new looks in the school as far as the building goes, the staff goes, and the students as well!!!
The school received a lot of attention this summer as much of the renovations and construction work that was planned was completed this summer, including the last few days before students came back and as well the last couple weeks as some furnaces are being hooked up and some areas that needed to be buttoned up at the end of the job. ConTech has done a really nice job of the school and we continue to be thankful of such a good crew of guys to work with, headed up by Kevin Sawyer.

We want to officially welcome a few new staff members who are on staff this year at our school. Welcome back to Mr. Brandon Hutchinson who has returned this year to teach ELA and Social Studies to the senior students. Welcome to Mr. Carter Block who is the Grade 9 homeroom teacher. Welcome to Miss Jeslyn Smith, our new Home Ec teacher. Welcome to Miss Mary Kolach who is our new Special Education Resource Teacher for the school, and welcome again to Miss Janine Buchinski our Kindergarten teacher. We’re so fortunate to include these new teachers on what is already a wonderful staff at Hanley. Welcome new staff as well as welcome back to the returning staff.

We are also happy to be able to let you know about an increase of 15 students to what we had projected for September. That’s going to bring our total number to 232 for the fall. It’s a nice healthy number for our school. Welcome to all the new students and their families. We’ll hope to see you all at the Meet the Staff and Tri-Conferences evenings we hold in October.

Our extra-curricular programs have all hit the ground running this fall as well, as per normal. The SRC representatives are heading to the Student Leadership Conference this week with Miss Smith. The Senior Girls just won their tournament in Colonsay this past weekend. The Junior Girls played some spirited volleyball in Loreburn this past weekend, and the Football team handily took care of Viscount on Friday.

I’m always looking forward to the approach of fall to get back into the halls with staff, students and parents. This year is not different. Mr Anderson and I will always tell you that the best way to help your students succeed is to encourage them to get involved in our school wherever and whenever they can, and we’ll work through the road bumps of learning and social interactions together. That’s all for now. As always, Mr. Anderson and I would love to talk to you if you have time to drop by the office or give us a call. Take care and I’ll talk to you soon.

Chris Tucker