From the Office July 2019

  2019-20 REGISTRATION

                  Registration and a full day of classes for Grades 1-12 students will be on Tuesday, September 3rd. The first day of school for Kindergarten students is on Sept 9th and 11th. It is very important that all prospective students be present for registration.

New Families may contact the Principal to discuss student placement (306-544-2511).  Any new students or Grade 11 or 12 wishing to register prior to September 3rd are invited to come to the school the week before school starts. Please bring report cards and transcripts.

Have a great summer everyone. We’ll look forward to seeing you in the fall.

From the Office May 2019

When we get to this part of the school year, I usually get reflective and talk about where we’re at and what’s coming up before June wraps up. I know we seem to be filled with getting ready for Track and Field Conferences, and the Band Trip next week, as well as an upcoming Kindergarten Orientation and Grade 12 Graduation, a number of field trips and some of those pesky final exams to end off the second semester.
Those 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. I continue to update the bulletin boards in the high school wing upstairs with program information and links or information for scholarships and bursaries. It takes some time to apply for most of them – students need to be proactive and start early.
And as we plan for one class to leave us, we also plan for one class to join us. Kindergarten Orientation is planned for the morning of May 29th. We’ll welcome our new Kindergarteners and they and their parents will have a chance to spend some time in the classroom and fill out some registration forms and learnings to look forward to for the fall.
Congratulations to our Drama club that had another great year and such good reviews by the crowds that got to see The Olympic Tryouts! Way to go, Mrs. Griffin, Mr. Hutchinson and the cast and crew! We’re very proud of you all!
The last athletics season of the year is wrapping up in the next couple weeks as track and field conference day is next week and Districts are at the end of the month. It’s the last sports season in our school each year and it runs into Elementary Track & Field and Play Day for the K-6 planned for June 12th.
This week we’re presenting our Learning 4 Life presentation about our School Goals around Literacy that we present to the division each year. Our school-wide reading plans as well as many cross-school interactions between class activities and reading groups and shared teaching projects have made strides in student reading results that will benefit students in their upcoming years of school work as well as their future career choices.
I’d once again like to encourage 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. A final exam schedule for grades 10-12 is in the makings and will be sent home soon by email to all families.
Well, that’s all for now. For further information and updates from the students and classrooms, check out our school website at http://blogs.spiritsd.ca/hanley/. 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.

From the Office April 2019

Our Spring Break is right around the corner this week and we’ve crammed a lot in again before some time away from school. As opposed to last year, I think the last couple months are liable to fly by for us as quickly, if not more so, than the previous eight months. As always my message is one of encouragement to you to help your students stay focused on strong finishes to their classes as we all enjoy the nice weather and temperatures that we’ve been looking forward to for what seems like such a long time. It’s easy to let off the pressure, but sometimes that strong finish is the difference between getting a scholarship or not, being accepted into the right college or other school, or clarifying an understanding in a course that is a prerequisite for another one next year.

The school division calendar for the 2019-20 school year has been finalized and is posted on the division website. I’ll get it attached to our school website as well to help you plan your family details.

With our upcoming graduation on June 14th, this is the time of year that grade 12s start looking at more scholarships and bursaries available for their courses in the fall. The ones sent to the school are always posted in the high school hallway and the https://ScholarTree.ca website is the next best place to start looking. It’s a lot of work but it does pay off in the end, literally. I know that a number of our graduates already have conditional acceptances to school in the fall and others have plans in place.
I’ve also had some recent questions about the Youth Apprenticeship Program as well as the Summer Internship Program as well. The Youth Apprenticeship Program is a fantastic way to get informed about apprenticing before choosing a career – and it has multiple benefits for the employer the student contracts with. Again, we’ve had a few students in the last two years apply and be offered work at trades jobs for the Summer Internship Program and not only get paid well but also receive Apprenticeship 20 credits on their transcripts for every one hundred hours of work. What a great opportunity! The registration deadline is May 8th if other students are interested. They need to get two teacher references filled out so don’t leave it until the last minute.

Our School Community Council meets next month on May 13th to hold our annual meeting. We’d encourage any parent who’d like to be part of the council to contact the school and ask me or Mr. Anderson about the role they play in supporting our school goals and other school projects as well. Any of the council members would also fill you in on the workings of the School Community Council.

Congratulations on the play The Olympic Tryouts for their wonderful results at Regionals last week. They The cast and crew did an awesome job at the drama night and dessert theatre performances. Mrs Griffin and Mr Hutchinson once again put on a super show.

Track and Field practices started this week after a quick season of badminton that didn’t see any players move on to Districts. Conference competition for Track is May 22 and Districts to follow May 31.

Well, that’s all for now. For further information and updates from the students and classrooms, check out our school website at http://blogs.spiritsd.ca/hanley/. 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.

From the Office March 2019


We’re at that time of year again when the muck, the mud, the puddles and the slushy snow are causing some havoc with our playground as it warms up outside. Believe me I’m not complaining as I know we’re all loving the warm temperatures. This might be my plug for investing in a pair of splash pants for the elementary kids who go outside or see if last year’s pair still fits.


It’s a busy week again with the parent teacher student conferences on Wednesday night (5:00-7:30pm) and after school Thursday night (3:30-6:00pm) in the school. What a great time to come learn about how your students are doing and what wonderful learnings their involved in. We also are holding our annual Knight to Remember Wednesday evening during the interviews as well going from 3:15-7:00pm. Please keep in mind there is no school on Friday.


Drama is running a little later this spring. Drama night and the Dessert Theatre performance is scheduled for April 8 and 9. They go to regionals later that week.
Our Athletic programs are also moving right along as well. The Senior boys had a great season and competed at Regionals in Regina last weekend. What a great season there! Curling was wrapped up after our teams again represented well at Districts. Way to go everyone! Badminton is in full swing as well with junior and senior playoffs the second week of April.


A big thank-you goes out to the School Community Council for all their support of our school and it’s programs! They made a motion this winter to pay for the purchase and install of two new water-bottle filling water fountains in the school and the students are loving them. Thanks again for all that you do, SCC members!


That makes me think about the Community Calendars – there are some left over that were ordered but still haven’t been picked up. Please do so as soon as you can.
The Community raffle tickets are due back at the school at March 29 so I can send them in at the end of the month. Thank you to everyone for all your offered help to sell them. There are some tickets left for those who still would like to purchase one. All tickets books whether sold or not should be turned into the school March 29.


Well, that’s all for now. For further information and updates from the students and classrooms, check out our school website at http://blogs.spiritsd.ca/hanley/. 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.

From The Office February 2019

I’m writing this on what feels like our first day in a long time that we’ve had buses running and all the students here. The polar vortex we’ve been experiencing and with it the frigid temperatures and wind and snow again is a reminder of the extremes we can experience in Saskatchewan. Our Cold Cats club has had our own record days outside beat as I’ve counted over 20 indoor recesses that we’ve been able to take students outside so they can get some fresh air and exercise! I do see some warmer temperatures on the horizon ahead of us, but I also heard a meteorologist talking about cooler than normal temperatures sticking around for a while yet. I guess we’ll have to see where that takes us.


March is going to bring with it a busy schedule of days including the spring Tri-Conferences taking place the nights of March 20th (5-7:30pm) and March 21st (3:30-6pm). As always it’s a great time to come to the school with your student and celebrate the great learning they’re doing. Please call the school to book your interview if you haven’t already done so. Another reminder also that with the two evenings of interviews here there is no school then on Friday, March 22nd. K-9 report cards will be coming home March 14th. 7-12 report cards go home in April.


Next week has our grade 7-12 school Ski Trip scheduled to Table Mountain on Thursday, March 7th. It’s a great day for the students and we look forward to seeing them all on the hill.


Our grade 12s are currently in the middle of their second week of Career Work Experience. It’s a great opportunity to try a career on for size and see if it’s what they were looking for. Many times in previous years those placements have turned into part time jobs or career opportunities for the future as well as chances to start an apprenticeship.


For those students planning on pursuing a trades career and looking to apprentice with a tradesperson, the Youth Apprenticeship Program is a simple program to complete for a step ahead of other apprentices. We’ve also helped send five students in past summers to a Summer Youth internship in a trades area where they receive very good pay and up to 2 apprenticeship credits on their transcripts. See Mr. Tucker for further information for either program.

Badminton is starting up for both juniors and seniors with practices after school – playoffs are in April so it will be a short season due to the cold weather days. See Mr. Tucker to sign up! Our annual Knight to Remember evening will take place on March 20th – see in the newsletter for more details. It’s a great opportunity and supports a good cause. We also have curling season finishing up and senior basketball as well around the corner with playoffs coming soon – the senior boys basketball team has been having an awesome season and have a game record to be proud of!
Drama performances will be taking place in April but the Drama club has been practicing and learning lines and performance details for weeks already. I’m sure it will once again be an amazing show!


Well, that’s all for now. For further information and updates from the students and classrooms, check out our school website at http://blogs.spiritsd.ca/hanley/. 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.

From the Office January 2019

It’s cold today. It feels like one of those days I can imagine a polar bear and a penguin talking to each other and asking that age old Saskatchewan question of, “Is it cold enough for you?”

Our Cold Cats club has about seventy names of K-7 students listed and again it’s nice to see so many of them who took advantage of that option on the few indoor recess days we have had. We will continue to run this as an option to staying inside – please make your own wishes known to your elementary students about if you’d like them to head outside. We won’t be forcing students on the list outside if they want to remain in especially when the rotation has them in the gym at noon. That said if they intend on going out, make sure they have warm clothes and understand they have to wear them.

Semester one exams started on Wednesday this week and many classes are reviewing and studying to prepare. Next Tuesday January 29th is the midway point of the year and a day for report cards to be prepared and planning to begin for Semester two. There are no classes on that day for all K-12 students. Semester two classes begin on Wednesday, January 30th.

I want to encourage all grade 11 and 12 students who are interested to see me about finishing a Youth Apprenticeship Program. It sees students working through some simple apprenticeship assignments that will give them a step ahead of others who might be also looking to enter an apprenticeship agreement to start their career. It’s also important to note that we have had a few grade 12s already receive conditional acceptance to university programs starting in the fall. It’s an exciting time for them all as their life after grade 12 begins to take shape.

February break will start on Family Day, February 18th. The Grade 12 Work Experience Week 2 will take place following the break as we’ve had in practice for a few years. 

The School Community Council would like me to mention that we still have copies of the Community Calendars available at the office that families ordered this fall.  The cost remains at $10 each. They are also looking forward to seeing their purchase of two new water fountains installed this year that have water bottle fillers. Thank you SCC members for investing in our school building.

I was very proud of the school and community to see so many donations this season to our call for clothes and food items to help those in need. What a great example for our students to see and witness the generosity and assistance for others.

I would also like to remind you that we have $5 tickets for sale on the Legion Community Lottery 2019. The prizes are pretty substantial items donated by Western Sales and the money taken in for each ticket sold stays with our school to support our own projects. Thanks for supporting it and please consider selling some tickets for us. A number of families already have and we can’t thank them enough!

That’s all for now.  For further information and updates from the students and classrooms, check out our school website at https://blogs.spiritsd.ca/hanley/.  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.

December 21 2018

The break for school runs from Dec 22nd to Jan 6th. We look forward to seeing everyone again January 7th as high school starts to prepare for the semester one exams to end those classes.

On behalf of the staff here, I’d like to wish you our very best and hope that you are able to enjoy the upcoming holidays. We hope you can all rest, relax, recharge and renew as we move into 2019 and look forward to what a new year provides us all.

From The Office December 2018

I’m finding it once again an amazing thing that we’re already at the week before Christmas holidays! Where do the school days go? The snow seems to be disappearing all around us with the warm temperatures the last couple weeks. The sun has reappeared after that week of frost and fog we put up with – and with the sun
some melting temperatures. Hopefully we’ll still see a whiter Christmas for
everyone to enjoy and for some snow activities to help pass the break.

If you were here for the Christmas Family Fun Night then you had a chance to enjoy some songs, games, snacks and crafts. As always it’s a great chance for us to get together and celebrate the Christmas season together. We also were selling the Community Calendars for those who wanted to pick theirs up. If you’ve ordered one this
year, please pick it up at the school office. Same price as previous years for ten dollars. We were also selling some Football clothing items as well as the Cold Cats shirts. They are still available for those who want them.

There were a lot of opportunities this month to contribute to some food hampers and I want to celebrate what a great response we had, whether it was support through food donations, money donations, or a combination. We are committed to keeping those donations for local families who can use them. Thank you for your generous spirit during this season. I’m proud of you all for your part.

The Grade 12s made it out to their first week of Work Experience in December. What a great program that is and the students are lucky to have the opportunity available to them to “try a career” on for size to confirm that it’s for them or (and just as important) that it’s not for them. The second week is coming up in February on the week following the school Winter Break. We’ll keep you posted. Grade 12 students, keep checking the
bulletin boards for Careers info as it comes to the school. Scholarship and bursary info is also found at the link on the bulletin board.

Parents, remember that the PowerSchool program has a parent access feature that you can register to use to check up on how your son or daughter is doing through their assignments. There are a number of great features available, including just seeing a snapshot of their progress. It was a handy tool for students and families to access when we were having division report card program glitches with printing out the paper copies. Contact us to help you sign up for this if you want to give it a try.

Our basketball teams have been already into practices for a couple weeks, and I know that curling and drama are in the preparations for their seasons as well! What fun it is to be a student!

That’s all for now. For further information and updates from the students and classrooms, check out our school website at https://blogs.spiritsd.ca/
hanley/. 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. Talk to you soon.

From the Office November 2018

It’s that time of year again when we need to offer a reminder about a few division policies regarding cold weather because we’ve had a taste of it already, and I think it’s a safe bet that more of it’s on its way before we see spring.

Remind your students to wear the proper warm clothes to school again this season, including snow pants for elementary students headed outside to slide around and play in the snow, as well as for any of our students being picked up by bus.  Bus Drivers do have the authority to refuse students entry to the bus if they don’t have proper clothing for cold weather.  In the case of a breakdown, all students should have proper clothing to ensure they are safe and warm on the bus while waiting for support to arrive. While on the topic of bussing – a reminder that a combined temperature and wind chill that drops to minus 40 degrees will cancel buses for the day. If a bus doesn’t run in the morning, it will not run in the afternoon. Classes will never be cancelled on those days – the school is required to remain open for those students who do make it to school, including those whose parents drive them in.

We will be continuing this year with our Cold Cats club for students in grades K-7. Again, remember that this is an option on the indoor recess days for students who still want to go outside for some fresh air and outdoor play. I’ll be supervising them on those days on the playground until they’ve had enough. They can go back in when they get cold or once they’ve had enough, but it’s sure great for many of them to get some fresh air and exercise, even though its that cold. Please ensure those students are prepared with warm clothing and accessories so they can enjoy the recess. Call or email the school to sign up your Cold Cat student to be on our list. We even have Cold Cats shirts for sale!

The grade 11 and 12 students enjoyed another morning earlier this month at the annual Career Fair in Saskatoon.  Planning should be well underway for students to narrow their options for careers or education following grade 12.  For those students who are still struggling with ideas, help is always available from Mr Tucker who can lead the students to directions to start looking for answers.  I’ll also encourage any students who are considering an apprenticeship opportunity to spend some time to complete the Youth Apprenticeship Program this year as it offers many benefits to the student and the employer.

Our Christmas Family Fun night will take place on Dec 12 and the annual Christmas Lunch for students and staff will again be on the last school day of Dec 21. 

Just a reminder that the Grade 12 Work Experience week one is scheduled for the first week of next month, December 3 – 7.  Students are expected to meet with their work placement employer for their interview in preparation for the first day that week.  Good luck to each of the students as they spend a week in their chosen career areas.

We started sending progress reports home last week with students in elementary grades. Our system has had some troubles this go round so I want to thank you for your patience as we wait for the updates to the program and get the paper copies sent home. The first quarter of the year has passed us very quickly. Congratulations to students on all your wonderful marks and achievements already this year.

We had a wonderful fall of extracurricular teams doing well representing our school. Congratulations to the Senior Girls Volleyball team on their push that ended at Regionals! It was also a great season for the Junior Girls who played at District playoffs this year and also to the Senior Boys who had a team.

The same congratulations to the Football team for a well-played season and a tough provincial game against Hafford! The school is very proud of all players and coaches across the school for such great seasons thus far this year! As always, our students proved again that they are wonderful representatives of Hanley Composite School and their conduct continues to make us proud.

That’s all for now.  For further information and updates from the students and classrooms, check out our school website at https://blogs.spiritsd.ca/hanley/.  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. Talk to you soon.

 

From the Office – Sept 2018

We were dealt an early blow of cold fall weather it seems this month to welcome us back to school. Those temperatures always change a bit depending on the year. Please check with your student that they dress appropriately for those times outside at recess.

A number of new faces are in our hallways, students and staff alike! Welcome to everyone and we look for-ward to your additions to our school as our enrollment is up from our projection and we’re sitting at 265 students! Mrs. Zak will be our Kindergarten teacher this year, and Miss Ward is our grade 1-2 teacher and Mrs. Menshenfriend is our grade 5 teacher. Welcome back to Mrs. Koroll and to Mr. Tyndall who were away for a portion of the last school year and to Mrs. Button who will be permanently filling the SERT role in our school. We also welcome Miss Wajahat who is interning in our school with Mr. Block. We hope you all enjoy your time at Hanley Composite School.

Classes are fully under-way this month as you will read and timetables for each student are in place. Please keep up to date on your senior student’s progress and stay in contact with their teachers to help support them, including talks about what life after grade 12 looks like. We will be taking the grade 11 and 12 to a career fair at the start of November.

Extra curricular programs are well underway as well with nice results in the football, volleyball and cross country activities. Well done students for getting involved.

Many schools are omit-ting the use of cell phones for students in schools. We have adopted the following position. Students in elementary grades will not have use of cell phones during the day. We would like to have them focus on developing relationships with others at breaks and not have the distractions. Parents please call the office and
pass a message through Mrs. Block. Students can use the student phone at the office as needed during breaks. High School students have been instructed to not bring their cell phones to class due to the disruption they can create.

We’re looking forward to the Meet the Staff evening in October and invite you here for a BBQ burger if you can make it. It will be the first night of interviews as well.

That’s all from me for this month. Monthly newsletters will follow like other years before. For further information and updates from the students and classrooms, check out our school website at https://blogs.spiritsd.ca/hanley/. 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
Principal