2420 Homelands Drive, Mississauga, Ontario L5K 1H2

Phone (905) 822-2031 Fax (905) 822-4502

Website: http://schools.peelschools.org/1323 Follow us on Twitter @Homelands323

December 2019 Newsletter Mateja Drinovac Principal

Simone Wallace Vice Principal

Roberta Leonardi Office Manager

Robin Sciascia Office Assistant

Nina Jaiswal Superintendent (905) 366-8800

Brad MacDonald Trustee Wards 2 & 8 (905) 828-6929

Transportation Stopr.ca (905)890-6000 Attendance Check 1(855)209-6155 Safe Arrival Parent Portal pdsb.schoolconnects.com

December School Senate Report

Equity Bulletin Board: Indigenous and Hindu Heritage Month

By: Jonathan, Kaiha & Zoya Senate Activities in November

Did you know that there are more than 370

million Indigenous people living across 90

different countries in the world today? There are

over 1.6 million people in Canada who identify

as Indigenous. Did you know that Indigenous

people account for more than 5% of the world's

entire population? This November, here at

Homelands, we celebrated Indigenous heritage

and cultural traditions. As part of our celebration

we wanted to raise awareness about many of

the challenges Indigenous people faced and

continue to face. We need students like us who

are committed to learning and helping to

promote greater inclusion, equity and social

justice for everyone!

This November, we also celebrated Hindu

heritage and culture. Did you know scholars

have discovered that the game of “Snakes &

Ladders” was first invented by the Hindu poet

The Homeland's Herald

and philosopher Gyandev during the 13th

Century in India? Did you know that Hinduism is

the third most practised religion in the world?

It is important to recognize and appreciate all

cultures and religions and that is what we do at

Homelands! Students prepared an amazing

presentation recognizing Hindu heritage. We

also had students that did a beautiful

presentation about Indigenous heritage. Along

with these presentations, several Student

Senate Leaders updated our Equity Bulletin

Board to reflect our monthly recognitions, which

looks stunning and is very informative.

Throughout November, Homelands has also

been having a very successful Food Drive!

Students brought in non-perishable food items,

toiletries, hats, mittens, gloves and gift cards and

put them in the Colour House boxes in the front

foyer. The Student Senate Leaders promoted

the Food Drive by creating posters and giant

paper thermometers to track the items coming

in. The Colour House with the most items at the

end of the Food Drive is going to help out in the

community for a day. Great job to all our Colour

Houses! The winning Colour House will be

revealed soon. There was also a very

successful Clothing Drive in November run by

our EcoClub in order to support families in the

community. We had our Student Senate

representatives speak at the School Council

meeting on November 21. They did an amazing

job speaking on behalf of the entire Homelands’

students! Finally, on November 22, Homelands

had our first Spirit Day of the school year! Our

first Spirit Day was “Twin Day”. We had great

participation throughout the school!

Other Activities at Homelands

Students and staff at Homelands enjoyed a

variety of activities during the past few weeks.

Recently, the school hosted an “Activity

Afternoon” on November 14 in which different

workshops were made available to students.

These workshops included: technology rooms, a

craft room, a coding room, basketball in the gym,

and three different movie rooms. At the end of

November, students went to see “Matilda the

Musical” at the Meeting House, which is a local

community theatre. Several Grade 7 students

from Homelands were part of the cast! It was

pretty entertaining and a very funny musical to

watch. The performers must have worked hard

to sing and dance so well! Let’s not forget

sports! Many students signed up to play

European Handball intramurals and now

basketball is starting up. There are also

volleyball teams for boys and girls. These teams

are taking part in tournaments. Additionally,

students are participating in clubs like Art Club,

Baking Club, Drama Club, EcoClub and so much

more! There are so many fun and exciting

things happening at Homelands!

Coming up in December

First of all, we would like to acknowledge the

celebrations coming up in December. There is

the Buddhist festival “Bodhi Day” (December 8),

Yule/Winter Solstice on December 21, Hanukkah

(Chanukah) from December 22 - 30, Christmas

on December 25 and Kwanzaa from December

26 - January 1, 2020. Best wishes to those

celebrating! We are also pleased to tell you that

the first Student Voice Survey is also coming up

soon. December is going to be Colour House

Celebration Month here at Homelands! On

Mondays and Wednesdays in December, we will

be celebrating Colour Houses by having lunch

together (two Colour Houses at a time) and

playing dodge ball with another Colour House for

some friendly competition. Students are

reminded to wear their Colour House T-shirts to

get more points! Finally, we are planning another

Spirit Day to be voted on by Student Senate.

As always, stay tuned for more clubs, teams,

events, and Student Senate news.

Happy Holidays everyone!

Important Dates

December 5, 12, 19 ~Pizza Days

December 06 Chocolate Fundraiser Reward Trip

December 11 Winter Concert @ 6:30pm

December 19 Monthly Assembly

December 23 Winter Break begins

Up Coming Events

January 06 Back to School

January 16 Ski Trip

Pasta Mondays – Beginning in January, Pasta

lunches will be on sale from Palma Pasta

Physical and Health Education

Students have completed their first term Health

unit that covers personal safety and injury

prevention, as well as mental health and

substance abuse issues. This information will be

further solidified by visits with Officer Billy in the

New Year.

Tying into Indigenous Heritage month, students took part in Lacrosse lessons and mini games. We have also completed our volleyball unit. In December, students will begin our basketball unit. PLEASE ensure your child is coming to school with a change of clothing for gym. This includes a top, bottoms AND running shoes. Most often, students come to school in boots in the winter and forget to bring their runners. These are needed EVERY day. Students who do not change will be given alternative exercises to complete. NOTE: Homelands has signed up for Jungle Sports. They will be setting up their climbing equipment, and students will participate the first week back from the holidays. We ask that all students come to school in active wear clothing as there will not be time to change into gym clothing.

Sports Corner Our two volleyball teams have been practicing diligently for their tournaments. Our Senior Girls

competed at the South Peel Championships on November 27th, and finished with GOLD medals! Congratulations to all of the girls and Ms. Moscatel!! Boys results will be shared next newsletter. In January there will be tryouts for basketball. Good luck to all of our students. In intramural action, European Handball came to a close and sign ups were held for basketball. Students will begin playing games during the lunch hour the first week of December. Every student that plays MUST change into gym clothing or they will not participate. MUSIC CORNER Greetings from the Music Department! The bands, choir, dance groups and grade 6 classes have been working extremely diligently this Fall to prepare for our upcoming Winter Performing Arts Spectacular on December 11th! We hope that you will be able to join us at 6:30 pm for this anticipated annual event. As a reminder, students will need to arrive at 6:00 pm to prepare for the performance. Don't forget to dress appropriately for the event. A separate letter will be going home with those students who will be performing indicating what each ensemble's dress code will be. See you on the 11th! Mr. Allen Ms. Cooper Ms. Randall FOOD DRIVE Congratulations to ORANGE house, the winner of Homelands’ House Colour Food Drive Challenge. The members of ORANGE house will be helping out at the Out of the Cold program on December 13th. Purple house came in second and Pink house was third. A big thank you to everyone who contributed items to support this worthy cause. FUNDRAISING We are pleased to announce that Homelands first Bag2School clothing collection was a success. You donated160 kg of items! Our goal is to get one tonne. Our next clothing drive will be in March 2020. Thank you for your continued support.

NO SCENTS

GUIDELINES –

Be Aware!

Staff, students and visitors are asked to

remember that the Peel Board has “No Scents is

Good Sense” guidelines. In consideration of

those with allergies, staff, students and visitors

are urged not to wear or use scented products

such as perfumes, deodorants, lotions, shampoo

or cologne. Thank you for contributing to a

healthy indoor air environment for everyone.

Medications at School

Any students requiring medication at school

should come to the office and pick up an

Administration of Medication Form (Appendix A

and B) and a Plan of Care Form. The Plan of

Care form must be completed by parents and

the Administration of Medication Forms must be

completed by a physician and signed by the

parent/guardian. When completed they must be

returned to the office where they will be kept on

file.

Keeping lunches and

snacks peanut-free

Anaphylaxis is a potentially life-threatening

allergic reaction that affects some children. We

ask that you help us take care of these students

by sending lunches and snacks for your child

that are free from peanuts or nuts, because

these foods are the leading cause of

anaphylaxis.

Please read the label of any food you plan to

send to school with your child. If the label says,

"May contain nuts or peanuts," please do not

send it to school.

You can get a complete copy of the Peel board's

anaphylaxis guideline at www.peelschools.org

under the Parent tab, under Student Health.

School Council Corner

Parents/Guardians: You can make a difference in your child’s education! Each month this school year we will be sharing

information, resources and tips for parents about

how they can get more involved in their child’s

education. The following link

will take you to a document entitled “Parents

Matter” produced by the Ontario Ministry of

Education. It provides information about the

benefits of parent engagement in schools and

tips about how parents can become more

involved in their child’s education.

Parents Matter - https://bit.ly/2OSNSAl

Our next School Council Meeting will be on

February at 6:30 pm.

If you would like to know more or are interested

in joining our council, please contact Bradley

Knight at homelandssnrps.council@peelsb.com

Report your child’s immunizations

to the Region of Peel online

When registering for school for the first time,

parents and guardians are required to provide

up-to-date immunization information for their

children. This includes registering for

kindergarten.

You can update your child’s immunizations

online. The online immunization tool allows you

to attach a photo of the immunization record.

When reporting online, an Ontario Health Card is

required.

Report immunizations online at:

www.peelregion.ca/immunize

After you report your immunizations online you

will be given a reference number. Keep this

number for your records. You will need to give

this number to your child’s school when

registering.

If you do not have online access or your child

does not have an Ontario Health Card, take a

copy of the immunization record to the school.

Make sure your child’s name and date of birth

are visible on the record.

Call Peel Public Health at 905-799-7700 if your

child does not have an immunization record or if

you have any questions about immunization

exemptions.

For more information, visit

www.peelregion.ca/immunize

Train More. Rehearse More.

Learn More.

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 make it

difficult to attend school regularly? The Peel District

School Board’s Peel Region High Performers Program

will offer flexible timetabling to accommodate

student athletes and artists with demanding

practice, competition, rehearsal and/or performance

schedules.

The Peel Region High Performers Program is available

to students in grades 4 to 12 at Britannia Public School,

Dolphin Senior Public School and Mississauga

Secondary School.

Applications are open For more information and applications, visit

www.peelschools.org/HighPerformers.

Apply for Extended French by

Jan. 31, 2020

If your child will be starting grade 7 in September

2020, one of the important choices you will make

is whether you want to consider Extended

French (EF). To find out more about the

program, visit www.peelschools.org/French

The EF school for our area is Green Glade Sr.

P.S. The phone number is 905-822-8386.

Online application

The application form for Grade 7 EF for the

2020-21 school year is available online at

www.peelschools.org/French

The deadline to apply is Friday, Jan. 31, 2020. Applications received after that date will be put on a waiting list. Please note that students’, who are currently or

were previously enrolled in French Immersion,

cannot apply for grade 7 Extended French – you

will continue grade 7 in the French Immersion

program or an English program.

For more information

visit www.peelschools.org/French

call your nearest Extended French school

connect with families who have children in the Extended French program

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

Monthly Celebration

Working on artwork for our Annual Food Drive Girls’ Volleyball Team

Remembrance Day

ELL Orientation Day 2019