LARKSPUR PUBLIC SCHOOL growing together today, for tomorrow

111 Larkspur Road Brampton, Ontario L6R 1X2 Phone: 905-799-2952 Fax: 905-799-8109 Website: http://schools.peelschools.org/1477

NOVEMBER 2016 DATES FOR YOUR CALENDAR

Every Tuesday Trek to School Tuesday! November 1 Grade 4 - 5: Youth Education Officer Presentations November 2 Grade 5: Watershed on Wheels Presentation November 8, 10 Kindergarten, Grade 2: Dental Screening November 10 Grade 5: Field Trip to Queen's Park November 11 Remembrance Day Assembly, 8:50 am November 11 Grades 1-5: Progress Reports go home November 16 Smile! Picture Retake Day November 16, 17 Grade 3: Dr. B’s Workshop November 17 After school Parent-Teacher Interviews November 18 Reporting to Parents Day: No school for students November 24, 25 Groove Edge-ucation Workshop November 25 Peel Custodial and Maintenance Workers’ Day

PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE

We are off and running! Term 1 well under way, and students and staff have been working hard throughout the beginning this school year. On November 14, Progress Reports for students in grades 1 to 5 will be sent home. These reports outline how your child is progressing so far this academic year. On November 17th and 18th, we will be hosting Parent/Teacher/Student interviews for all Larkspur families from Kindergarten to grade 5. We strongly recommend that your child attends these interviews with you. After all, it is about their progress! Forms will be sent home to parents in order to schedule an interview time. There will be NO school for students on Friday, November 18th, as teachers will be conducting Progress Report interviews. We look forward to seeing you then!

Remembrance Day Assembly Please join us on November 11th for our annual Remembrance Day Assembly. The ceremony will begin at 8:50.

November

Toonie Tuesday In support of Unicef’s Hurricane Matthew relief efforts, Larkspur embraced Peel Board’s campaign to raise money for those families who were devastated by this horrific storm. On October 18, “Toonie Tuesday”, Larkspur families raised $561.70 which will help to provide food, water and emergency supplies to Cuba, Haiti and Jamaica.

Terry Fox Walk On September 30th, you might have heard Larkspur staff and students chanting as they walked along the streets in our community. On this day, we participated in our annual walk in support of Terry Fox and cancer research. We are delighted to report that the Larkspur community raised $1265.70! These funds will aid in furthering cancer research and fostering the legacy of Terry Fox.

Larkspur Ts! New for the 2016-2017 school year, Larkspur is selling t-shirts that proudly display our school logo that was painted on the gym wall last fall. The t-shirts are grey in colour and have the Larkspur Lions emblem printed on the left side chest. We will start selling the t-shirts for a cost of $12.00 on the evening of Thursday, November 18th, which is our parent-teacher interview night. Look for the selling booth located in the school’s main entrance outside the office.

International Walk to School Day

On Tuesday, October 4th, students from Larkspur participated in International Walk to School Day. We had over 400 students walk that morning in support of this initiative which brings awareness to the positive aspects of choosing to walk to school as opposed to being driven. All participating students received a press-on tattoo that they could proudly display for the day. It is important for the Larkspur community to remember that walking to school promotes a healthier, active lifestyle, and the reduction of cars in our parking lot decreases the amount of exhaust fumes emitted into the air we breathe and makes it safer on roadways and sidewalks for staff and students.

Intramurals

Pinball Dodgeball intramurals are underway for Grades 4 and 5 students at Larkspur. All students in participating grades are encouraged to come down to the gym to engage in this fun- filled activity that works promote the development of their throwing accuracy and lateral movement. Students are asked to check the schedule posted on the gym wall to see what nutrition breaks Pinball Dodgeball is offered in each week.

Family Fitness Night

Larkspur will be hosting its first Family Fitness Night the evening of Thursday, November 24th, from 6:00-7:30pm. All students and their family members are encouraged to come out and participate in a variety of physical activities that will get your body moving and shaking. It is requested that loose fitting clothing and indoor running shoes be worn by students and family members attending.

PALS

We are happy to report that the Playground Activity Leaders in Schools (PALS) program is ready to kick-off at Larkspur for the 2016-2017 school year. Over the last few weeks student leaders from Grades 4 and 5 have been receiving training in the gym and are now prepared to head outdoors and promote and encourage active student participation in the program. Similar to last year, we have four stations that will offer different games and/or activities that students can choose to engage in with their friends. New to the program this year is Fitness Friends, which is specifically geared towards our exceptional students and will occur once a week. More details regarding this component of the PALS program can be expected next month.

Nov. 25 opportunity to say 'thanks' to Peel Custodial & Maintenance Workers Day In 2014, the board of trustees declared the last Friday in November as the Peel Custodial and Maintenance Workers’ Day. This year, the recognition day falls on Friday, Nov. 25, 2016. Take this opportunity to thank the important work of custodial and maintenance workers and their hard work and commitment to well-being and safety.

In preparation for the Peel Music Festival on May 1st, 2017, Peel conductors will be accepting names that were nominated by their Peel Music teachers (10 students per school per ensemble) in

October. On November 26, at Turner Fenton SS, Mrs. Allegretti-Costa will be auditioning children in grades 3-6 for the Peel Elementary Honour Choir, and Mr. Ciepiela and Mr. Mattson will be auditioning students in grades 5-12 for the Honour Guitar Ensemble. If your child is accepted, Mrs. Allegretti-Costa will be rehearsing the Elementary Honour Choir at Osprey Woods PS, and Mr. Mattson and Mr. Ciepiela will be rehearsing the Guitar Ensemble at Larkspur PS. Good luck to our top 10 most musical students!

The Angel Choir and The Larks Choir will be rehearsing songs for their 1st gig at Home Depot. We'll be singing Christmas Carols and other winter related songs to help spread the Christmas Cheer. Home Depot, in turn, will be providing the children with a hands-on DIY wood-working project at the store. Date to be announced.

Larkspur Composers! In conjunction with the Peel United Way Fundraising event at Larkspur P.S. (Oct 26 - Nov 25), the music department will be selling CDs with original songs for $2. The students created these 4 songs in April with our visiting composer, Julie Kryck. Songs include:

1. Larkspur Character Traits Song 2. Larkspur School Cheer Chant 3. Larkspur School Song 4. Seasons at Larkspur

All proceeds will go towards the United Way. Please support this great initiative and our children's talent!

Peel schools, students and staff recognize and honour First Nation Land daily At the Peel District School Board, everything we do is designed to help each child achieve to the best of his or her ability. The board recognizes that encouraging, inclusive and respectful environments help students achieve to the best of their ability. As part of this important work, at the Regular Meeting of the board on Sept. 30, trustees approved that the following statement will be played/read each school day at all Peel schools and all board-hosted events prior to the Canadian national anthem:

We would like to acknowledge that we are on the traditional territory of the Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation.

The acknowledgement recognizes Indigenous heritage and the importance of the land that we are located on. In addition to helping build awareness about one of our local First Nation communities, the acknowledgement also honours the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action about honouring Indigenous people’s historical and contemporary contributions to Canada. Students in all Peel schools will learn about the importance of the acknowledgement through lesson plans produced in collaboration and partnership with the Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation through the use of the Sacred Trust resource.

*NEW* Community Corner Stay up-to-date with community-based opportunities The Peel District School Board is pleased to introduce an electronic resource page on www.peelschools.org called, Community Corner, which contains links to information and resources in the community that may be of interest to students and their families. This site replaces our previous method of sending promotional materials about community clubs, camps, contests, fundraisers and events home with students on a regular basis. How you can access Community Corner

1. Visit www.peelschools.org/parents/communitycorner

2. Click on the “Community Corner” button, found on the main page of school websites, as well as on www.peelschools.org.

Pay school fees online—register today! The Peel District School Board is excited to announce that your child’s school now offers a new, preferred method of payment for all school fees. School Cash Online is a safe and secure form of online payment that allows you to pay for your child’s school items, like field trips and pizza days, from your computer or smartphone using eCheck, Visa or MasterCard.

Register now By registering, you’ll have the ability to:

Keep track of your children’s school item and activity fees

Check account history

Print or view receipts

Make donations to school fundraisers online and instantly receive a tax receipt

Pay for school fees with the click of a button

For more information and to register, visit www.peelschools.schoolcashonline.com. If you have any questions, please contact the school directly.

Train More. Rehearse More. Learn More. New Peel District School Board program offers flexible school options for student athletes, artists Does your child/teen have an intense sports or arts training and competition schedule that makes it difficult to attend school regularly? The Peel District School Board’s new Peel Region High Performers Program will offer flexible timetabling to accommodate student athletes and artists with demanding practice, competition, rehearsal and/or performance schedules.

Peel Region High Performers Program will open in September 2017. Information nights will be offered as follows:

Grades Information Night Location

4 to 5 Nov. 2, 2016 at 6:30 p.m. Britannia Public School 1145 Swinbourne Dr. in Mississauga

6 to 8 Nov. 9, 2016 at 6 p.m. Dolphin Sr. Public School 18 Brookside Dr. in Mississauga

Applications are now available at: www.peelschools.org/HighPerformers

#ChooseAction on Bullying Awareness and Prevention Week

The Peel District School Board will recognize Bullying Awareness and Prevention Week during the week of Nov. 20 to 26, 2016. This year, we ask our Peel community to ‘#ChooseAction to Be the Difference’ in their classes, offices, schools, communities or world, in order to make these spaces better places for everyone. The Peel Board would like to hear about the big and small actions, the pledges, the promises and the attitudes that our Peel community value, and ask that you take a moment to share your #ChooseAction moments on social media.

Across the Peel board, schools use many programs and initiatives to prevent bullying and to intervene when bullying happens. Though the programs vary, their messages are consistent. Students are taught to:

define bullying identify forms of bullying identify the shifting roles in bullying relationships, for example the person who bullies, the

target, the bystander or the trusted advocate determine how to safely “choose action” to prevent and intervene in bullying & harassment understand that bullying is a relationship problem with relationship solutions determine positive ways to interact with others in an accepting, inclusive way demonstrate character attributes and be a leader to help maintain positive and safe school

communities

Bullying Awareness and Prevention Week is one of the key items contained in Bill 13: The Accepting Schools Act, that came into effect on Sept. 1, 2012. For more information, visit: www.peelschools.org/aboutus/safeschools/bullying/ or www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/safeschools/prevention.html.

Winter bus safety

The following winter school bus safety tips will help to keep your child safe throughout the winter months.

Allow extra time to get to your bus stop.

Wear bright clothing so the bus can see you in the early morning and late evening.

Stand away from where the bus stops. Buses need extra room to stop when there is snow and ice.

Use the handrail when boarding or exiting the bus to prevent slipping on wet or icy steps or road surfaces.

Dress properly—winter clothing, hats, and boots will keep you warm. Don't throw snowballs at the bus or other children waiting for the bus. Don't slide on the snow or ice patches in driveways or on the street. Don't push or shove around the bus. Someone could fall down on the ice and get hurt. On very rare occasions, buses are late because of weather conditions or mechanical problems. Talk to your child about what to do if the bus is late. Here are some suggestions: When possible, wait with your child for the bus. Make sure your child knows a phone number where he can reach you or another trusted adult. Teach your child how and where to get help. Talk to your child about what a "safe" stranger is. Help your child set up a bus stop buddy system so your child has someone to wait with for the bus.

Bus cancellation & closing schools due to bad weather During the winter months, we may need to cancel buses or close schools because of inclement weather. Information regarding details of cancellations or closures will be announced on radio and television stations listed below and posted at www.peelschools.org, school websites and www.stopr.ca. Information will also be available on Twitter (@Peelschools), Facebook (www.facebook.com/peelschools) or by calling 905-890-1010 or 1-800-668-1146. VIRGIN RADIO FM99.9 CHUM AM1050 CFTR AM680 CFNY FM102.1/AM640 CJCL AM590 CHFI FM98.1 NEWSTALK 1010 AM EZ ROCK FM97.3 CJBC (FR) AM860 FM Z103.5 FM93.1 FM Q107 CHIN FM100.7/AM1540 CBC99.1 CTV BREAKFAST TELEVISION GLOBAL NEWS CITYPULSE One of the following messages will be announced (highlighted text only): Peel District School Board buses are cancelled. This means that schools remain open for students and staff, but buses are cancelled. Bus cancellations could occur in all or parts of municipalities. Buses will remain cancelled all day. All activities that require busing will also be cancelled. Permits, night school classes, child care and other activities in schools will operate as usual. All Peel District School Board schools and board offices are closed. This means that all schools and Board offices are closed to students and staff. All activities in schools and board offices are also cancelled, including child care, night school and permits. All evening programs and permits at the Peel District School Board are cancelled. This means that all activities in schools and Board offices are cancelled, including continuing education courses and events. The buildings will be closed. All weekend programs and permits at the Peel District School Board are cancelled. This means that all activities in schools and Board offices are cancelled, including continuing education courses and events. The buildings will be closed.

Is French Immersion right for my child? If your child will be starting grade 1 in September 2017, one of the important choices you will make is whether you want to apply for the French Immersion (FI) program. What is the program like? What are the advantages and disadvantages of the program? One way to help answer these questions is to attend the information meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2016 at 7 p.m. at the French Immersion school your child would attend. To find out the FI school your child would attend:

visit our website www.peelschools.org/French

call the school in your area

call 905-890-1010 or 1-800-668-1146 ext. 2212 Online application The application form for Grade 1 French Immersion for the 2017-18 school year will be available online at www.peelschools.org/French on Thursday, Dec. 1, 2016 at 1 p.m. The deadline to register is Friday, Jan. 27, 2017 at 4 p.m. Applications received after that date will be put on a waiting list. A French Immersion enrolment cap is in place. This means that a specific number of spots are available for students entering grade 1 French Immersion. A random selection process will be used to identify students gaining entrance into the program. For more information about the random selection process visit www.peelschools.org/French. Important dates Information meeting Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2016 at 7 p.m. Application process opens Thursday, Dec. 1, 2016 at 1 p.m. Application deadline Friday, Jan. 27, 2017 at 4 p.m. For more information

visit www.peelschools.org/French

call your nearest French Immersion school

talk with parents who have children in the French Immersion program

visit the Canadian Parents for French website at http://on.cpf.ca