KETTLEBY PUBLIC SCHOOL

D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 7 V o l u m e 1 , I s s u e 4

Mrs. Jennifer Anderson

Principal

Mrs. Barb Sutton

Elementary Office Administrative Assistant

Mrs. Marianne Di Febo

Secretary

Becky Green

Superintendent

CEC Central

905 884 4477

Peter Adams-Luchowski

Trustee

416 960 0937

Barbara Cowper

Karen Penning

School Council Co-Chairs

Website:

http://kettleby.ps.yrdsb.ca/

Email:

kettleby.ps@yrdsb.ca

Phone: 905 727 9852

Fax: 905 727 3892

Address:

3286 Lloydtown Aurora Road

King Ontario

L7B 0H4

Twitter: Kettleby PS @kettlebyps

Principal’s Message

With the snow and colder temperatures upon us, December, along with a heaping

size of holiday spirit have arrived at Kettleby! We are looking forward to a month

of giving and showing how much we care about others through participation in

various activities, a food drive and by sharing our gifts and talents during our

school’s December Concert. As we approach the holiday season please remem-

ber that your thoughtfulness and generosity can go a long way in supporting chil-

dren and families who may need some additional help at this time of the year.

Thank you to Mrs. Ransom, Mrs. Wellwood and our Kindergarten students who

have worked hard to organize the Food Drive we will be running from December 4

-15. Thank you for your support.

The school continues to be filled with so many memorable activities and events

both in and out of the classroom. Some highlights from November include the in-

spirational Remembrance Day assembly, a group of students from Grades 6-8

attending the YRDSB Ring of Peace, active school clubs and teams including

choir, band, guitar club, LEGO club, Game On!, volleyball teams, and many more.

Our student leaders are to be commended for their initiative and commitment to

the many activities at Kettleby!

Thank you to the many families who have given to our School Council Donation

Drive! At the time of issue of this newsletter, we have raised just over $3000 and

need to raise an additional $1200 to meet our goal of $4200 which allows us to

purchase 40 Dell Chrome Books! We have enjoyed two incentive prizes so far: a

‘get out of doing homework’ coupon and an additional 30-minute recess! The Do-

nation Drive has been extended until December 15th in hopes that we can reach

our fundraising goal!

Winter weather does indeed mean snow and ice and can often present chal-

lenges in the parking lot. Please continue to help us keep our drop off area safe

and running smoothly. Please support us by not parking in the drop off zone or

bus loop and by obeying all traffic rules in the area. We kindly ask that if you are

dropping your child off at school that you please do so and then exit the parking

lot to make room for staff to park and for other families to drop their children off.

On behalf of all the staff at Kettleby, I would like to wish you and your family joy

and peace this holiday season. As a new year starts to peek over the edge of the

calendar, we all send our very best wishes for a happy and healthy 2018.

Mrs. Anderson

December Concert Kettleby PS

Students from K-8 will be performing in the December concert on Wednesday, December 13th from 6:30pm to 7:30pm. Students are asked to arrive at school at 6pm.

All families are invited to attend the concert. Students are asked to make every effort to

attend this special event, and try to reschedule any Wednesday practices or games if possible.

Our students have been working very hard to prepare for the concert! Please come and show your support as we look

forward to treating our families to the sights, sounds and spirit of the festive season. In order to accommodate every-

one, two tickets per family will be allotted and sent home.

Kettleby Food Drive

Kettleby will be running a Food Drive this year. It will run from Dec. 4th to Dec. 15th with all donations going to the King Township Food Bank.

We are accepting all non perishable food donations as well as encouraging dona-tions of shampoo, diapers, and baby needs. Help us fill our Holiday Train! The Food Bank is especially in need of the following items: beans in sauce,

Granola bars, peanut butter, tuna, soup, mac & cheese, juice packs, tea, stew, fruit cups, pasta sauce (tins only), instant groundcoffee, noodle packs.

We thank you in advance for your donations.

Winter Break:

Monday, December 25th, 2017

To Friday, January 5th, 2018

Kettleby's Gift Shop Returns this Holiday Season!!

On Monday, December 18th and Tuesday, December 19th we will be once again open-ing Kettleby’s Holiday Gift Shop!!

Kettleby students will have the opportunity to purchase gifts for loved ones.

Students will be purchasing gently used items (mugs, candles, baskets, trinkets, ornaments, books, toys, costume jewelry, DVDs, holiday decorations…the list is endless!!) But we need

YOUR help! Please clear out your closets, cupboards and storage areas and send items to the school by

Friday, December 15th. Feel free to encourage your neighbours and friends to contribute as well.

All items will be sold for only $1.00. Students will have fun buying gifts for family members, friends and pets!

Intermediate students will be wrapping the gifts, so we would also appreciate donations of paper, gift

bags, tape, tags and ribbon.

Any remaining items will be donated to charity.

Kindergarten Registration to Commence January 19, 2018

Kindergarten registration will commence on January 19, 2018 for the 2018-19 school year. Registration

forms are available on YRDSB’s website: www.yrdsb.ca. Children who turn four or five years old during

2018, live within the school boundary and whose parents are public school tax supporters will be eligible

to register for kindergarten. A kindergarten information session for parents is being planned for this

spring. For more information please visit the YRDSB website or contact your local school.

French Immersion Information Sessions and Registrations

Information sessions for the French Immersion (FI) program will take place at French Immersion schools on Janu-

ary 18, 2018 at 7 p.m. Please visit YRDSB’s website in January 2018 (http://www.yrdsb.ca/Programs/fi/Pages/

Program-Locations.aspx) to find the FI program location for your elementary school location. FI registration will

begin January 19, 2018. Parents or guardians of Senior Kindergarten students entering Grade 1 in 2018, and

wishing to enrol in the FI Program, can visit or call the school office and request an Office Index Card - short ver-

sion. The Office Index Card must be signed by the principal of the home school. Parents or guardians then take this

form, along with one piece of identification showing their address to the designated FI program location to register

between January 19 and February 9, 2018. This eliminates the need to provide duplicate enrollment information

or to pre-register.

YRDSB’s FI Accommodation Plan provides long-term consistency and equity of access to all students in York

Region and will enable YRDSB to continue to offer the FI program to all who wish to enrol. The FI program will be

offered in Dual Track or Single Track settings, in a variety of configurations. In order to meet community needs

and optimize available space in our schools, a community's Grade 1-8 FI program may be provided over more

than one school during the course of a student's FI education. Space requirements at some schools may mean

that siblings are in different schools for primary dual track French Immersion programs due to differing grade

structures. Like any of our schools across the Board, changes to school boundaries, and/or the accommodation

model for the French Immersion program may need to be considered when new schools open, a school experi-

ences enrolment growth, and program changes occur. This will allow flexibility in addressing community needs

and the opportunity to use existing space in schools.

More information is available on the Board’s website: www.yrdsb.ca. Please note: Some of the FI accommodation

plans will require facility modifications or the development of new schools and will require short-term transition

plans that might include overflow while we work toward the long-term vision. Overflow refers to situations in which

the Board directs students to attend a school other than their community school or optional program for a specific

period of time, as defined in Policy #108.

School Council Lunch Programs & School Milk Program for January to March 2018

Topper’s Pizza and Swiss Chalet, along with our school Milk Program, are

coming back for January to March Break! Hot lunches and milk will be avail-

able to order using Cash Online in the beginning of December and will be ac-

cepted until December 20. Don’t miss out on ordering Pizza, Swiss Chalet

and Milk for January to March.

School Council Meeting

Our next meeting will take place on Tuesday, January 23rd

at 7pm in the Li-

brary. All members of the community are welcome. There is a set agenda

and a myriad of topics are discussed (School Improvement Planning, Fund-

raising, School Council events such as the year end BBQ). We hope to see

you there! There is complementary child minding provided for children ages four and up.

School Bus Cancellation

In the event of a snow or ice storm, school buses may be cancelled for the

day. If the bus is cancelled in the morning, it will be cancelled in the afternoon

as well! On days in question, please listen to radio stations (680 on the am

dial) or watch Breakfast Television (channel 24), amongst other stations. A

bus cancellation message will also be available at www.schoolbuscity.com

and 1-877-330-3001. Please do not take any unnecessary risks on these days—safety comes

first!

Message from Our Trustee – Peter Adams-Luchowski

In November, about 1,000 students, staff members and community partners came together from across the Board to form a Ring of Peace and stand together against hate, discrimination and intolerance. The student speakers at the event shared mean-ingful messages about the importance of feeling welcome, valued and respected. At York Region District School Board, we are committed to listening to the voices of our students and communities. We will con-

tinue working with our school communities to ensure our schools provide safe, welcoming and inclusive environments for every-

one.

Last month, our annual Quest conference brought together educators from across Ontario, Canada and around the world to share, learn and discuss how to foster well-being in schools. Some of the themes covered included equity and inclusivity, and safe and caring environments. It was a wonderful opportunity to learn more about some of the positive things happening in our own schools and other districts.

In recent months, we have had several international visitors come to our system and schools to learn more about the work in

our system to support student achievement and well-being, including Qatar, the Netherlands, Texas and the United Kingdom.

We are pleased to have these opportunities to continue highlighting and sharing the great things happening in our schools

thanks to our outstanding students, staff members, families and community partners. Your engagement makes a difference in

our schools and I encourage you to continue getting involved in the life of your child’s school.

As we enter the holiday season, I am once again impressed by the generosity of our school communities and our students’

commitment to helping others.

Best wishes to everyone for a safe and happy holiday season and a wonderful start to 2018.

Math, Mental Health and Modern Learning Math

As part of the Ministry’s Provincial eLearning Strategy, the Ontario Ministry of Education and the Independent

Learning Centre launched a new project called Homework Help. All Ontario Mathematics students enrolled in Gr.

7 – 10 have access to this resource, including many new features and online resources.

Students log on to Homework Help and using an interactive chat room, they can obtain personalized tutoring from a

certified Ontario Mathematics teacher. Chats take place Sunday to Thursday evenings from 5:30 – 9:30 pm.

Homework Help is no cost, live, and anonymous.

Key Features

Best Sessions

Listen & Learn

Interactive Tutorials

Virtual Locker

Scientific Calculator

Glossary

Classroom Tools & Teacher Supports

Registration Information

Students may register using their Ontario Education Number (OEN)* and Date of Birth at homeworkhelp.ilc.org.

It is recommended that students use an anonymous username and password when registering.

Teachers and guests can register to access various tools and resources but will be unable to interact in the

Tutor Chat Rooms.

* The OEN may be found on any Provincial Report Card or may be obtained from your school.

Mental Health We would like to welcome Brooke Sheppard, a registered nurse with York Region Public

Health to our school’s Well-Being Team. Ms. Sheppard will work with our team and staff to

support our continued focus on mental health and well-being. She will share resources, pro-

grams and lessons with our staff for classroom and school use. We look forward to having

Ms. Sheppard attending our KPS Well-Being Fair (for Families) on Wednesday, May 9th

.

Be sure to save the date!

Modern Learning Kettleby staff are exploring flexible structures such as use of materials, indoor and outdoor spaces and

experiences to enhance modern learning environments. Our Kindergarten class is currently planning

and organizing a Food Drive to support the King Township Food Bank. The drive will run from De-

cember 4-15. The Kindergarten class is asking all classes to help make a Holiday Train with cardboard

boxes filled with non-perishable food! The box cars of the train will be based on our colour houses! Be

sure to ‘get on board’ with this initiative! Thank you for your support!

Caring & Safe Schools

Information from our Student School Climate Survey that was collected during the spring of 2017, will

be shared at our upcoming School Council meeting on Tuesday, December 5th. The survey was pro-

vided to students in Grades 5-8 at our school and provides insight into areas such as the school envi-

ronment, learning at school, mental health and well-being, equity and inclusive education and caring

and safe schools. We look forward to sharing results from this survey and the implications for our

school improvement work.

Protecting Your Family from Respiratory Illnesses

Cold and flu season is here and York Region Public Health would like to pro-vide you with information on protecting yourself and your family from com-mon respiratory illnesses, such as influenza, enterovirus and rhinovirus.

Respiratory illnesses can spread quickly from person-to-person when some-one who is ill coughs, sneezes or touches common surfaces such as taps, toys, light switches and doorknobs with unclean hands.

You can prevent you and your family from getting and spreading respiratory illness by:

1. Keeping healthy by eating healthy foods, being physically active and ensuring your immunizations are up to-date, including the seasonal flu shot

2. Avoiding close contact with people who are sick

3. Washing your hands often with soap and water or using alcohol-based hand sanitizer when soap and water are not available

4. Coughing and sneezing into your sleeve or a tissue, not your hand, and throwing away used tissues

5. Avoiding touching your face

6. Cleaning and disinfecting common surfaces

7. Staying home when you are sick

Symptoms of respiratory illness vary and can include: headache, chills, cough, fever (over 38 degrees Celsius or 100 degrees Fahrenheit), muscle aches and fatigue, running nose, sneezing, sore throat, wa-tery eyes and loss of appetite. Children may have other symptoms such as ear aches, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

If you have a respiratory condition such as asthma, you can develop a more serious illness when you catch a cold. If you or your child are sick and do not improve, contact your health care provider.

For more information about respiratory illnesses, you can visit www.york.ca/health or call York Region Health Connection at 1-800-361-5653 or TTY 1-866-252-9933.

Hand washing

Children share many items throughout the school day and at home including books, puzzles, computers, water bottles and

sports equipment. Sharing can spread germs that can cause sickness, especially during cold and flu season. Correct hand

washing is the best way to prevent the spread of infection.

To help keep the people in your home healthy, follow these simple steps:

Encourage children to sneeze into the bend of their arm rather than into their hands

Make time for hand washing, especially before eating, after using the bathroom, blowing your nose, sneezing, handling gar-

bage, playing outdoors or visiting someone who is sick

Wash your hands whenever they look or feel dirty

Together we can make the healthy choice the easy one!

This material is provided by York Region Public Health.

Volleyball

Congratulations to our Boys and Girls Intermediate Volleyball teams for a terrific inaugural season!

The players should be very proud of their hard work and commitment to improving their game. Well

done Cougars! Special thanks to Mr. Jones for all of his time coaching and supervising our teams.

Up next...Co-ed Volleyball for boys and girls in grades 4-6. Tryouts to be held before the winter break.

Important Reminders

Please ensure your child comes to school dressed for winter weather. This includes a warm coat,

snow pants, winter boots, hat, mitts/gloves and scarf/neck warmer. A second pair of socks and

mitts/gloves are strongly recommended for those who like to play in the snow. Students are outside

for 20 minutes during morning recess and 40 minutes during lunch recess and must be dressed appropriately.

If you need assistance accessing winter clothing for your child, please contact the office or Mrs. Anderson. We will

do our best to help out. Students should have a pair of indoor shoes at school. For safety purposes, shoes must

be worn inside at all times.

What Happens to Lunch Programs on a Snow (Inclement

Weather) Day?

School Council run lunch programs (Pizza and Swiss Chalet) will not

run on inclement weather days when buses are cancelled. If you

subscribe to these programs, please provide your children with a

lunch on these days.

OHIP+ is coming...

The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care is releasing additional re-

sources ahead of the January 1, 2018, launch of OHIP+: Children and

Youth Pharmacare. On the ministry’s website (health.gov.on.ca/ ohip-

plus_resources), you will find Factsheets for patients/families, Postcards

(available in 14 languages), and more. Through this program, Ontarians aged 24 years and younger, who are

OHIP insured, regardless of their family income, will be eligible for over 4,400 medications and drug products

at no cost. If you have any questions about OHIP+, please send an email to

OHIPplus@ontario.ca.

For more information, please visit: Ontario.ca/OHIPplus.

Bullying is defined as a form of repeated, persistent and aggressive behaviour directed

at an individual or individuals that is intended to cause (or should be known to cause)

fear and distress and/or harm to another person's body, feelings, self-esteem or reputa-

tion. Bullying occurs in a context where there is a real or perceived power imbalance.

Schools are encouraged to use this opportunity to explain the different forms bullying can take.

These include:

Physical – hitting, shoving, stealing or damaging property

Verbal – name calling, mocking, or making sexist, racist or homophobic comments

Social – excluding others from a group or spreading gossip or rumours about them

Electronic (commonly known as cyberbullying) – spreading rumours and hurtful comments through

the use of cellphones, e-mail, text messaging and social networking sites

Bullying and harassment can have a serious and significant impact on learning, student safety and the

school climate. In fact, school principals must now consider suspension when dealing with acts of bullying.

School climate is the sum of all personal relationships between all members of the school community. A

positive climate exists when all members of the school community feel safe, comfortable and accepted. A

positive school climate is essential for students to succeed in school.

In the coming week our students will be engaged in conversations around bullying openly in class in order

to help students understand the importance of respect, caring about the feelings of others, and friendship.

For more information visit link below.

http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/safeschools/prevention.html

Lost and Found

Please remind your children to look through our lost

and found bin – it is overflowing with items! Any

items not picked up before the winter break will be

donated.

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 Day 5

Donation Drive

Continues

2

3 4 Day

1

Swiss Chalet

Lunch

5 Day 2

School Council

Meeting 7pm

6 Day 3

Pizza Lunch

7 Day 4

Gr 3 V.I. P.

(1:45pm)

8 Day 5 9

10 11 Day

1

Swiss Chalet

Lunch

12 Day 2

Rehearsal December Concert 1:45pm

13 Day 3

Pizza Lunch

December Concert 6:30pm

14 Day 4

K.C.S.S Jazz

Big Band at Kettleby

11:10am

15 Day 5

Food Drive Ends

16

17 18 Day 1

Swiss Chalet Lunch

Kettleby Gift Shop

19 Day 2

Kettleby Gift Shop

Snowed in at Kettleby

(PJ., Pancakes, Movies)

20 Day 3

Pizza Lunch

21 Day 4 22 Day 5

Assembly (9am)

(Wear House Colors)

23

24 25

Winter Break

26

Winter Break

27

Winter Break

28

Winter Break

29

Winter Break

30

31

Kettleby Public School

December 2017

BUS ROUTES HOTLINE 1-877-330-3001

www.schoolbuscity.com

Website:

http://kettleby.ps.yrdsb.ca/

Email: kettleby.ps@yrdsb.ca

Twitter: Kettleby PS @kettlebyps

Phone: 905 727 9852

Fax: 905 727 3892

Address:

3286 Lloydtown Aurora Road

Kettleby, Ontario

L7B 0H4