I can’t believe it’s Christmas holidays already! We have had a busy month preparing for the Christmas concert and have had a few special guests join us in grade two and three. At the be- ginning of the month, Mrs. Leier (our school councillor) came in a couple of times to present a bullying workshop with us for health class. Then Mrs. Prout (my mom who’s a retired school teacher) came to make a Christmas craft with the kids. This week, Miss Rugg (an intern majoring in art) came to teach us how to draw people. We have sure enjoyed having all of the extra company! We have also spent a lot of time on our writing skills, working on organizing our thoughts, using details, and we also wrote friendly letters which we mailed to Santa Claus. We recently got some new readers in that we are using for guided reading in ELA as well. Please continue to read with your child at home on a daily basis, as some students have not been filling out their reading logs consistently. Remember that the students should have a chapter book to read to you and that the story books may be more appropriate for you to read to them. We’ve spent a fair amount of time on social studies and are hoping to wrap up our community unit within the first couple of weeks in January. We haven’t had a lot of time for science, but will continue with our animal unit in the new year. In math, the grade two’s are half way through our unit on addition and subtraction to twenty, while the grade three’s are learning to add and subtract with three digit numbers. Please continue to practice mental math skills at home to strengthen these con- cepts as well. I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe Christ- mas holiday and I look forward to seeing you in the new year!
Category Archives: Newsletter
Kindergarten & Grade 1 News
We are winding down to the holiday in the K/1 room! The Christmas concert was a great success! The kids were wonderful and it was great to see the families come out to the show. December has been a month of lots of arts and crafts, reading Christmas stories, writing letters to Santa and playing in our Christmas centres. After the break Kindergartens will continue exploring numbers to 20 in math. Please have your child practice counting forwards and backwards between 0 and 20. We have also been practicing writing our num- bers from 0 to 10. To chal- lenge your child at home, try having them recognize num- ber words from 0 to 10. The Grade 1s will continue with simple addition and subtraction to 12. Strategies we will be using include utilizing a number line, drawing a picture and counting on. In the last newsletter I said that there will be a field trip in January and that has now changed to mid-February. It will be on the next take-home calendar.
Merry Christmas and all the best in 2012!
The North Pole Exposure
Please join us for our annual Christmas Program on Wednesday, December 14th at 7:00 p.m. in the Hanley School Gymnasium. This year, we are featuring “The North Pole Exposure”. Thanks to the exploits of a brave and curious group of young people, you’ll get a first-hand look at all the famous characters that make Christmas dreams come true: Santa’s well trained volunteer corps, the overworked elves, snowmen who dream of a tropical vacation, what Mrs. Claus really does on Christmas Eve, and the true spirit of the season, Santa Claus himself!
From the Office
Once again another full month of class and activities has managed to make another 30 days disappear in our school year. I continue to be impressed with all the teamwork, great interaction, humour, hard work, laughter, and creativity I see from your students and the staff that get to teach them. I hope each of you continues your ef- forts as it’s making Hanley School a great place to be.
Since our last newsletter, we were treated to a number of very creative creatures and scary spooks in our halls as Halloween festivities took place. Thanks again to Mr. Vedress and the Grade 6 students for the haunted house they created in their classroom for the school to take part in. Thanks as well to the SRC for holding the “best costume” competition and also for their monthly activities that support many worthwhile causes.
Continuing on with the talk of competitions, I wanted to highlight how proud Hanley School is of it’s fall athletics as well. Congratulations to our first Senior 7vs7 Soccer team for their first season, and their respectable performance at Regionals on October 21st. Congratulations as well to the Junior Girls’ Volleyball team for their great season and admirable job hosting Districts on October 29th. More congratulations to the Senior Football team’s season, including the close quarter semi-final game at Spiritwood. Lastly, con- gratulations to the Senior Girls’ Volleyball team on their season as well. It was a lot of fun to coach you this fall. December begins the basketball season and many students are looking forward to it.
The start of November brought with it our annual fall opportunity to invite parents to Tri-Conferences with the teaching staff. I want to encourage you to make time in Spring to attend the next opportunity to meet with your students and their teachers, to bring up the good things that are going on and to discuss any areas we can improve on together.
I would lastly like to highlight an impressive Remembrance Day Service led by Mr. Kirk and the Grade 11 students. Your school is proud of your efforts to design a respectful service that honours our Veterans and those who continue to fight for our country. Thank you.
Looking ahead, I see a Winter Band Concert on December 12th, as well as a school dance December 16th. I’m also looking forward to our Christmas Concert on December 14th and my stomach is reminding me about the Christmas Dinner on Dec 21st.
As always, drop in to see Mr. Anderson and me sometime. We’d love to say Hi. Take care and I’ll talk to you soon.
Mr. Chris Tucker Principal
Book Fair
Thank you to everyone who made the Book Fair a success! We will take all of our profit in books and the students will soon notice new books around the library. Scholastic Book Fairs is always very generous with their prizes. We made a draw with each grade from kindergarten to grade seven for a free book. The Family night draw for $25.00 worth of books was won by Chase. His teacher, Miss Rancourt also won $25.00 worth of books for the classroom. We still have posters to give away as prizes in the next while.
Thank You to the ladies who helped out at the fair during noon hour and recess and to Kennedi , Kaylee and Chery for helping out during Family Night, arranging coloring contests, handing out prizes and entertaining the younger students as their parents talked with the teachers. Thank You all for supporting the Book Fair,
Mrs. Suttie
Grade 12 News
The Grade Twelve class is currently having fun with triangles in Math and cruising through the novel Three Day Road in English and Social. Mrs. Prakash has been showing us some very cool experiments in Chemistry. A few days ago the Home Ec. Class went to Celestial Photography to get some beautiful photos done and had a blast! The IA class is slowly, but surely, completing their projects.
Grade 11 News
Winter is fast approaching and who can believe that Christmas is right around the corner. However, we need to keep studying because we are busier than ever in our classes. In Pre- Calculus, we are learning about quadratic equations and in Work Placement Math, we are learning about trigonometry. We are finishing our Ecological Organization Projects in Biology and will have a test on Wednes- day, Nov. 16th. In Physics, we have just started the Light Unit. In Biology and Physics, we are showing our creative sides, which is resulting in wonderful art work. We are having a blast playing sports in Gym. In English, we are all working together to plan the schools Remembrance Day ceremony.
Grade 10 News
Well, we’re at that time of year again: half way between the start of school and Christmas – well, give or take, anyway. November is a busy time of year. In Science, they’ve started learning chemistry, starting with the history of the at- om. “Challenges in Life” is the focus in ELA. The students have been exploring this by studying two people who ran across the Sahara Desert. In Social, they’ve been studying elections, and just watched Wag the Dog. In IA, they’ve been cabinet making, and Home Ec has been doing interior design. In Driver’s Ed, the pylon course has been seeing a lot of use as our budding young learners prepare for gravel roads. Math has seen them finishing up a project and now studying for their test on Surface Area and Volume. And, last but not least, in Wellness, the students have been playing Beach Volleyball (inside, and minus the beach) and JukeBall. Have a great month!
Grade 9 News
Hello from the Grade Nine Class! Wow we have had an awesome year so far. In E.L.A we just finished Romeo & Juliet and are about to write a SUPER HARD “ROMEO AND JULIET” TEST THAT ONLY A BRILLIANT ROBOT CAN PASS! In math, we are working on our Rate, Ration and Proportion project. Science we are having a blast, Mr. Tyndall keeps up the razzle and the dazzle in the Science lab. In Industrial Arts we are continuing on Welding and Small Engines and in Home Ec. we have moved on to learning how to sew and knit. Physical Education is a real hoot; every- one has been enjoying Tchoukball. Miss Rugg has us making surreal art and graffiti in our Art class. In Social Studies, we are exploring Ancient Civilizations. Our “Take our Kids to Work” day was very successful. Thank you to all those parents and businesses who helped out.
Have you heard of Greta? Greta has apparently been here since the 60’s, she has been haunting our room and we are starting to get annoyed with the strange happenings. Our class cheese- burger, “Maddy”, is now 75 days old and still looking and smelling terrific. Way to go little fella.
All in all, we love school, our teachers and each other.
Grade 8 News
In Social Studies they are completing a section on “How Canadians Govern Them- selves” on the structure and function of governments at all levels. In Industrial Arts they have started designing wood projects, such as mirrors, and are completing the exam on common tool names and functions in the shop. In Home Ec. they have started sewing. In Health/Guidance they are starting a computer game called “The Real Game” about careers and general workplace skills and character traits. In Math they are now working with Integers and starting to graph coordinates on X Y quadrants. In Science they have started a research project on specifically assigned “Body Systems”. Physical Education continuing a games unit with Tchoukball and soon Basketball is just around the corner. Early in the New Year a winter activities unit will start over at the curling and skating rinks. A certain very few of the Grade Eights are still working on keeping the area around their desks clean and organized so it is safe for everyone who passes by.