December 2016

Inside

Dates to Remember Parent Advisory Council News Winnipeg Harvest Donation Inclement Weather Home Reading Tips Notes from the Music Room MakerSpace Koats for Kids Information for Parents Students Absent from School GeoEducation PE News Horse Connect Community News

The Principal’s Message Dear Parents, December is traditionally viewed as a month of giving and showing care for others. The generosity of the students and families of Laidlaw is always overwhelming. Already, we have seen Koats for Kids, a Movember initiative “Muscles and Mous-taches” with proceeds going to cancer research, and a very successful Groove-a-thon. There are also other charitable activities planned for the holiday season, such as the PAC fundraising baskets, food hampers, and collections for Winnipeg Harvest. I would also like to thank the P.E.G. committee and students, Junie and Shamim, for creating the fantastic coin-drop at the front of the school to help support Laidlaw’s playground initiative. The students love seeing it in action and predicting where the coins will land. We look forward to our annual Holiday Concert, MELTON, the Warm-Hearted Snowman, which will take place on Monday, December 5 and will feature the K-5 students. We look forward to seeing families at either the matinee performance at 1:30 p.m. or the evening performance at 6:30 p.m. If you are bringing guests who require handicapped parking, please contact the school prior to the concert to make arrangements for more convenient parking. This year, our Grades 6 – 8 band students have a separate concert planned for after the December break. Details will be in the January newsletter. Throughout the year, Laidlaw School will continue its character education work, building upon the foundation of Human Rights work that we have done. Teachers use age-appropriate discussions and resources from The Kids in the Know program to improve student understanding of social responsibility, inclusivity, and personal safety. Our grade 7 students attended Winnipeg’s WE Day, a call to social action for youth. This is important work that we plan to continue throughout the year, involving classroom activities, assemblies, and social action initiatives. At this time of year, Laidlaw teachers are also busily working on your children’s report cards. Report cards will be sent home on Wednesday, December 21st. We encourage you to discuss these reports with your children. The final day of school this term is Thursday, December 22nd. Classes will resume on Monday, January 9, 2017. The Laidlaw staff would like to wish you and your family a safe, peaceful and joyous holiday season! Mr. Ryan Scott

LAIDLAW SCHOOL

NEWSLETTER

December 5

1:30 or

6:30 PM

Laidlaw School

Holiday Concert

MELTON,

The Warm-Hearted

Snowman

Parent Advisory Council News Submitted by L. Kemp & J. Thiessen

Our next round of Fun lunch and Pizza Wednesday menus have been posted online, order your students lunches for January to March. https://laidlaw.hotlunches.net Upcoming events: Monday, December 5th Our annual Holiday Baskets will be raffled off at this year's holiday concert. All funds raised will go towards our PEG Laidlaw School Yard Improvement. Thursday, December 15th Movie night - 3:45 to 5:30pm Students, friends and siblings over the age of 5 are welcome.

Kindergarten-Grade 5 will be watching Ice Age Collision Course

Grade 6-8 will be watching Middle Years: Worst Years of My Life

Sign up online.

Dates to Remember 2016-2017

December 5 Christmas Concert 1:30 & 6:30 PM December 8 Gr. 6—Aviation Museum—all day December 9 Report Writing Day—No School December 15 K—Children’s Museum—AM PAC Movie Night—3:45 PM Gym December 16 Subway Fun Lunch December 21 Report Card Distribution December 22 Last Day of School before Winter Break Dec 23—Jan 8 Winter Break—No School January 9 Classes Resume January 13 Booster Juice Fun Lunch January 27 Subway Fun Lunch January 31 Band Concert February 2 Tri-Conference 4—8 PM February 3 Tri–Conference—AM School PD—PM No School all day February 9 17/18 Kindergarten Information 6:30 PM 17/18 Gr. 7/8 Information 7:00 PM February 10 DeLuca Pasta Fun Lunch February 14 Gr. 4 Men-C—AM February 20 Louis Riel Day—No School February 24 Hot Dog Fun Lunch March 10 Taco Del Mar Fun Lunch March 17 Report Writing Day—No School March 24 Pita Pit Fun Lunch March 25—April 2 Spring Break—No School April 3 Classes Resume April 14 Good Friday—No School April 21 School PD Day—No School May 4 Gr. 6 & 8 HPV Shots—PM May 22 Victoria Day—No School June 15 PAC School BBQ—4PM June 16 Evaluation Day—No School June 29 Last day of School June 30 School PD—No School

INCLEMENT WEATHER It’s that time of year again when the cold weather will be upon us. Please ensure that your child(ren) is dressed appropriately for the weather. Please take time to talk to your child about the importance of wearing toques, mitts, scarves (tucked in) or preferable neck warmers, ski pants, a warm jacket and winter

boots. Students will remain indoors during recess and lunch breaks when the wind chill factor exceeds –27.

Important benchmarks are as follows:

-27 – Risk of frostbite in prolonged exposures

-35 – Frostbite possible in 10-15 minutes

-40 – Wind chill warning will be issued. Frostbite possible in less than 10 minutes

Fresh air and movement are part of maintaining a healthy learning environment for children.

Winnipeg Harvest Food and Toy Drive Submitted by D. Bradbury, J. Denolf, Student Council

Once again this year Laidlaw will be hosting a food and toy

drive for Winnipeg Harvest from Dec 5th – Dec 22nd. Each

day students will be asked to bring in items from a specified

list. Two large bins will be set up at the front of the school for

donations. Thank you for your support.

Please bring in specified items on these days:

December 5—Pasta/Stuffing

December 6—Canned Goods

December 7—Peanut Butter

December 8—Baking Ingredients

December 12—Pasta Sauce

December 13—Baby Food

December 14—Bath Products

December 15—Toys for infants and pre-school aged children

December 16—Toys for school-aged children

December 19—Cookies and Treats

December 20—Hot Chocolate / Tea / Coffee

December 21—Miscellaneous Items

♫ Notes from the Music Room ♫ Submitted by C. Gouriluk

WINTER CONCERT This is an exciting time of year here at Laidlaw as are

working hard for the much anticipated Winter Concert!

Monday, December 5th at 1:30pm & 6:30pm

WINTER CONCERT DRESS: Students in Kindergarten, Grade 1 and Grade 2 are to

wear their Holiday Best! Students in Grade 3, 4, and 5 are to wear all black, unless they have received a costume requirement.

♪CHOIR ♪ Grade 3, 4 and 5 Choir starts on Monday, December 12th. We will meet on Day 2 at 12:10pm in the music

room until Spring Break.

♪Gr. 3 RECORDER REMINDER ♪ For students in grade 3, please remember to bring in a recorder for January if you have not already done so.

You can also buy one from Ms. Gouriluk for $8 in the music room, cash or cheque to Laidlaw School.

Wishing you and your loved ones all the

best over the holidays!

Home Reading Tip:

Volume reading is important for the developing reader. Students should be reading books at their independent reading level every-day. Making books that are “easy” for kids to read available not only helps develop reading comprehension and fluency but it also encourages reading for pleasure. Children are not always able to choose books that are a “good fit” for them. Parents also struggle at times with supporting student book choice. It is often difficult to know if a book is a good reading level for a child. Often, a book may seem “too easy” for your child. It is important to re-member that for independent reading, students should be reading books that they can read with 98-99% accuracy. How can you help your child choose “good fit” books? Try the five finger rule.

The Five Finger Rule:

Open to any page in the book and begin to read. Hold up your hand in a fist. For every word that you can’t read or don’t understand, hold up 1 finger.

0-1 finger … easy book - you’ll do just fine with it

2-3 fingers … challenging book - you may need some help with this one

4-5 fingers...hard - pick something else to read now and come back to this one later.

Koats for Kids Submitted by C. Aiello Thank you for all the generous donations for the

Koats for Kids drive. We managed to fill about 15 boxes for the United Way. A special thank you to

Morgan, Kate and Nikki in 6A! They organized the clothing into boxes, made flyers to post in the school

and held presentations about the charity for all class-rooms. Great job everyone!

Band News Submitted by J. Thomas The first Laidlaw band concert will be on Tuesday, January 31.

The concert will feature performances from all students in the Laidlaw band program. Mark your calendars!

The grade 7/8 band will perform at the Optimist Concert Band Festival in February. The exact date will be announced later in

December.

Congratulations to Mark and Samantha on an outstanding performance with the Pembina Trails Divisional Grade 8

Honour Band! If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to

contact me at jethomas@pembinatrails.ca

Makerspace Submitted by S. Hjalmarson Things have been busy in the Makerspace. Grade 3 and 4 students have been working on fairy tale challenges which involve solving problems for fairy tale characters. The twist to these challenges is that students are given limited materials and specific criteria. They have created contraptions to help Rapunzel escape from the tower and are now working on a new chair for baby bear. The big challenge in the Rapunzel puzzle was that Rapunzel was repre-sented by an egg that had to be safely transported to the ground from a 6 foot tower. Most of our Rapunzel eggs managed to travel safely to the ground with only a very few being cracked or bro-ken. Baby bear’s new chair must be made from paper and be able to support a 2 kg weight. Grade 5 to 8 students have had time to explore and free build in the makerspace as well as participate in organized maker challenges such as creating spaghetti towers. Grade 5 students have created relief maps and accessories for their sugar cube castles, grade 7 students are building solar ovens and grade 8 students are building a cardboard mini golf for use with our Spheros, which are robotic spheres that students control by writing code using a special app on the ipads.

Wanted: old, unwanted toys Currently we are looking for donations of old, unwanted toys and games for repurposing into new toys and games. Broken or

incomplete toys will be gladly accepted. Please send all donations to the library. Please note: Toys and games will not be returned.

Please only send those that you no longer want.

PLANNING ON BEING OUT OF TOWN AND YOUR CHILD BEING ABSENT FROM SCHOOL? Vacations are excellent learning experiences for children. However, we all acknowledge students miss out on the regular classroom instruction. There are many opportunities for learning on vacations that keep the learning alive. A journal of the trip with maps, pictures, brochures, tickets, postcards and write-ups can be a great memory keepsake, as well as a way to keep up with the daily writings skills. It may also be a chance to practice some presenting skills upon returning to class. Reading a free choice book is a good life skill. Menu math, trip calculations or other such daily real life math can also be valuable. As most extended absences are a matter of choice, we appreciate in advance your understanding that teachers cannot provide individual packages of homework for vacations. Teachers, as professionals, continuously assess and adjust the pace and methods of teaching required for their classes to reach the curricular outcomes, making it difficult to gauge what work will be covered during extended absences. In addition, replication of the rich class discussions and group work that take place at school on a daily basis is impossible. Most of all, we hope that you as parents take the opportunity to tune into your child’s learning and teach them as you enjoy some wonderful times together. To assist us in working with your child, we ask that you notify the homeroom teachers and the office of the dates and circumstances of any absence as far in advance as possible by an e-mail to your homeroom teacher or a call to our absence line 204-888-1678 extension 3.

Coin Drop In a continued effort to fund the renewal of Laidlaw’s outdoor space, a coin drop has been created in the show case near the front door. The goal is to fill the bins with spare change. Students enjoy watching the coins fall through the maze and into the bins.

Boot Reminder It is that time of year when we are once again reminding students to remove their boots at the front door. This not only helps to keep the floors clean, but also helps to prevent slips on the wet floors. We already had one slip and fall this year and hope not to have any more. We also ask for parents help with this when dropping off our younger students. Thank you for helping us keep Laidlaw clean and safe.

Student Pick-up and Drop-off Except when pre-arranged with teachers (for extra help, clubs, or sports), students should not be dropped off before 8:35 and should be picked up by 3:45. There is no adult supervision beyond these times.

Dress for the Weather Parents are reminded that students are required to go outside for recess unless the temperature reaches -27° c. Warm jackets, snow pants, mitts and toques are essential. Please ensure that your child is dressed appropriately

every day.

Lost & Found Please check the lost and found items. Unclaimed items will be given to those in need prior to the December break.

Geography Challenge—Mrs. Bradbury and Mrs. Aiello

Laidlaw School is planning to participate in the Canadian Geography Challenge

to increase interest in geography. The challenge has grown from 20 participating

schools to more than 500, and has reached more than two million students across

Canada.

Now in its 22nd year, the competition is continuously evolving, melding traditional learning

styles with geographic literacy skills and new technology. The support of Google GeoEducation

has meant the competition can continue to be accessible, relevant and engaging for all students.

Level 1 is open to students in grades 4-6. It focuses on developing fundamental geographic

facts and skills and igniting passion in students’ early academic careers.

Students participate at the school level, finishing the competition by naming one School Cham-

pion. All School Champions receive a certificate, medal and one-year subscription to Canadian

Geographic.

Level 2 encourages students in grades 7-10 to push the limits of their geographic knowledge

and apply geographic thinking skills.

The competition begins at school level and progresses to name a School Champion. The School

Champion is then invited to compete at the provincial/territorial level.

Of the territorial/provincial winners, a total of 20 of Canada's best geography students will be

invited to participate in the National Final in June 2017. More information about the National

Final will be released later this year.

Level 2 School Champions receive a certificate, a medal and a one-year

subscription to Canadian Geographic magazine. Provincial and territorial

champions receive a prize package.

All students who are interested in participating are encouraged to attend a meeting on Decem-

ber 1st at 11:45am in Room 1. Students may eat their lunch while more information and

details are shared.

Manitoba Horse Council

“Learn to Ride” This makes a great gift!! P’tit Trot Program —Western

About the Program The P’tit Trot program is aimed at kids aged 6 - 12 with little or no previous riding experience. The program provides children with a pleasant introduction to horseback riding. Depending on the program enrolment level of the participant, some of the learning components may include: grooming, hoof care, general horse care, basic tack, parts of the saddle, adjusting a halter, colors, breeds, how to mount the horse, sitting trot, and transitions between the gaits. Each level has both a theoretical and practical component that participants must learn by the end of the level to move on to the next. Each level focuses on specific components of riding and more importantly, on taking care of the participants’ new friend—the horse! As each component is learned, participants progress to the point where they are able to master a specific skill. Games are incorporated into each component providing the riders the opportunity to learn by playing. Participants will be required to wear appropriate boots (at least a 1/2” heel) and a helmet (bicycle, hockey or riding) at every session of the program. These items may be also purchased at local tack shops, a list of which may be obtained from the MHC office. The cost of $286 ($300 with GST.), which includes a horse, instruction and a manual, can be paid by check or credit card. The 8 week program starts at 4:30 on Thursday, January 19th and runs for 2 hours every Thursday until March 8th. Instruction takes place in a heated barn and riding area at WW Stables on 1356 McCreary Road in Winnipeg – 204-895-7106.

Registration forms are available through Manitoba Horse Council. 204-925-5719 or mhc.exec@sportmanitoba.ca. Deadline for applications: Thursday, January 5th.

PE News December Submitted by M. Stupak

Gr. 3-6 Early Morning Games continues on Tuesdays @ 8:15am

Gr. 7/8 Morning Drop in gym continues on Thursdays @ 8:15am

Gr. 7/8 Boys Basketball Club begins

Gr. 3-6 Floor Hockey intramurals begins

Gr 6 Boys Friendship Volleyball tournament Dec 1 @ Bairdmore School (4:00pm – 6:30pm)Riley Colpitts (5th year student teacher) will be joining Mr. Stupak in the gym for his practicum teaching experience.

LAIDLAW SCHOOL MILK ORDER FORM

Please send the following milk tickets home:

White Milk Number of sheets _____ @ $15.00/sheet = $_______ Chocolate Milk Number of sheets _____ @ $20.00/sheet = $_______

(There are 20 milk tickets/sheet)

Enclosed please find $________ to cover the cost. Cheque (made out to Laidlaw School) _____ Cash _____ Name: ____________________ Grade: ______

Note: Laidlaw School Milk can also be purchased one at a time at lunch time in the office. Milk coupons are .75 cents for one White Milk coupon and $1.00 for one Chocolate Milk coupon.

515 Laidlaw Boulevard, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3P 0L2

Ph. (204) 888-1678 Fax (204) 888-2058 www.pembinatrails.ca/laidlaw