Grade 9 News

What a great start to the year! The students have been busy and the year is going by so fast. The grade 9 students are busy studying interesting topics and learning lots. In social studies the students continue to learn about the ancient world and the rise of societies. Our art classes to continue to learn about the influence visual art has on raising awareness on issues that affect our world. We are working our way toward a visual art composition to showcase what we have learned about art. In ELA the students are working on a novel study of Theories of Relativity. The Home Ec. students are working on a giving back project for all the staff at the school.

Grade 10 News

Well, we all blinked and September is gone. Time flies when you’re busy! In between all the extra-curricular activities, the Grade 10’s are still managing to learn some things. In ELA, each student is analyzing a book of their choice. In Science they’ve been studying organisms and bio- diversity. Wellness has been a welcome relief from the stresses of their young lives as they play some dodge ball and volleyball. The Commercial Cooking class has started serving some fine meals like Spaghetti with meat sauce, and Chicken Noodle Soup. And after some preliminary work, individual projects are starting to shape up in Industrial Arts. And finally in math, they’ve been studying payroll deductions and are now starting in on unit conversions in both Imperial and Metric. Go Sabers!

Grade 11 News

The year is off in full swing and we are busier than ever. In English/History we are studying WWI and working on our independent projects. In Physics, we have just begun the Waves Unit, and studying the properties of waves. In Health Science, are learning about different body systems with our focus being on the skeletal and muscular system. Mr. Anderson came in and discussed sports injuries with us, as well as showed us a video of his knee surgery. In PE 20 we are spending as much time participating in outdoor games as possible prior to the snow – slo-pitch, kickball, soccer/ Frisbee Golf, Ultimate Frisbee, football, etc. Lastly in Robotics 20, we are making figure eights with our robots and examining the question “Who Am I” in Psych 20.

Grade 12 News

So far the Grade Twelves have been working very hard this year. In Chemistry, we are fin- ishing up our Reaction Rates unit, while in English/Social Studies, we are continuing to read Three Day Road, by Joseph Boyden. In Pre-Calculus, we are currently working on Polynomic Division, and in Workplace Math we are playing Risk. In Home Ec we are making quilts, and lastly in IA we are making our personal projects.

On October 21st Hanley Composite School invites you to:

  • 5:00-7:00 pm Annual Meet the Staff BBQ Sponsored by the SCC
  • 4:00-7:00 pm Saskatoon Health Region Community Flu Clinic in the Gym
  • 5:00-7:30 pm Hanley Composite School Student/Parent/Teacher Tri-Conferences
  • 5:00-7:30 pm Book Fair in the Library

This also seem like a good time to remind you to subscribe to the school calendar for access to school events on your phone or computer. You can also view the calendar on our website if you don’t want to subscribe.

From The Office

When I look back at the past week I’m reminded about the phrases around being busy and the time flying by. School visits, field trips, track and field practic-es, a few meetings, and a burger taste test on Friday are some of the events that made up the week. Parents, you have some wonderful students at Hanley Composite School and many of us here are kept young by the fun interactions and smiles that working with them brings to us each day. We continue to be proud of their accomplishments, and their strides in growth and maturity each year.

We hosted the Prairie Spirit School Division annual board meeting on Wednesday night this week. The public attendance was low, but those in attendance were excited for the learning taking place here around our School Goals and shared our excitement around the big reno-vations taking place in the Home Ec and Industrial Arts rooms. I’d invite you to call and ask about what’s happening, or even stop in for a peek, if you don’t mind wearing a hard hat. The work is expanding to include some hallway and other room flooring, as well as changes to some classroom lighting. The latest development includes plans to complete the school painting project that began three years ago. Our renovations are going to include work to replace the lower level electric heating, and that was the only thing holding back the paint work.

I’ll take another minute and confirm for some of you that the renovations and work in the school will include some work on the balcony above the gym. We’ve been directed not to use the balcony for large public assemblies until their work this year is completed and so that area of the school will need to be closed during the Graduation ceremonies. We apologize for any disruption that will cause for the public or family plans to invite many people.

Plans for graduation continue to move forward as well as preparations for students’ lives after grade 12. If you have some questions about courses that we can help answer, or have some developments about future plans that you’d like to share, we’d always love to hear about what the students are planning on doing once their lives here move on.
Congratulations to our Drama club that did so great at Provincials. They received a number of awards and once again were lucky to see some great productions from other high school students from across the province. Way to go, Mrs. Griffin and the cast and crew!

Our Learning 4 Life School Goals around Literacy, Numeracy, and Student Engagement will be the centre of a report that Hanley School will deliver at the end of the month to the school board. I am once again proud of our progress. Our graduation rates (94% average over the last 7 years) continue to be higher than the school division’s which in turn are higher than the provincial average. For more information or details, please drop by or send me a note.

Last weekend was the last long weekend of the school year and the last partial week until the end of June. I’d like to encourage all the students to make all the effort needed to finish strong this year and if they have final exams, to give themselves lots of time to study.

Thanks again to everyone who was able to respond to my question last month to tell me what your home reading practices are. There were some very good ideas sent to me that I’ve compiled to share with you in this newsletter.

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.

Family Reading Responses – I asked last month what routines or common reading practices you have in your home – these were the reactions I was emailed:

  • Parents who try to show reading in front of their children – newsletters, newspapers, magazines, articles.
  • Narrated YouTube Stories.
  • Practices of older siblings reading to the younger.
  • Bedtime stories.
  • Practice of having to read a book before watching the movie it’s based on.
  • Reader’s digest stories.
  • Comic books and graphic novels

Chris Tucker
Principal
Hanley Composite School

Grade 12 News

The Grade Twelves are busy get-ting ready for graduation and getting out into the working world. In ELA, we just finished reading The Book of Negroes, and now we are working on speech writing. In Math Foundations, they’re learning how to graph equations while the girls complain about how much it sucks! In Calculus, we’re all loving the horrible realm of differentiation. In biology we’re learning about how our genes affect who we are, while in Physics we’re shocked by the amazing world of electricity. Finally in Art, we’re going crazy with Photography and our own independent projects!
-Shaina

Grade 11 News

It is a busy time of year as we continue to work hard and pre-pare for the end of our grade 11 year. In Chemistry, we are fin-ishing our chemical reactions unit. In Visual Arts, we are cre-ating a photography collage on a topic of our choice. In ELA and History, we are reading The Book Thief. In PAA, we are sewing our independent projects. In IA, we are building a small cottage and variety of sheds. In Work Placement, we are working on financial math and budgeting. In Pre-Calculus, we are simplifying radical expressions. Good luck to all the athletes going to the Track and Field Meet.