Principal A. Peel Epsom Excels

“"Epsom and Greenbank Public Schools are committed to challenging, motivating and empowering lifelong learners to embrace opportunities and positively contribute to the global community"

November, 2015 Administrator’s Message: October was a busy and exciting month. Students got to partake in a whole school Thanksgiving lunch thanks to Mrs. Meek and our SCC. The grade 5/6 class served the younger students and a delicious lunch was shared by all! Thank you to the SCC for making the lunch possible. We also had a drumming workshop with our Aboriginal facilitator which was very inspiring and fun for students. Our grade 5/6 class had a workshop on Photoshop to increase their technology expertise. Check out our "I'm Proud of." display case. Students are invited to submit work they are proud of to showcase. Students are asked to identify why they are proud of their work - I tried my best, I used feedback to improve, or I learned something new. There is some amazing displays of artwork, math and writing on display in the showcase as well as the halls As part of our school plan this year, we are focusing on preparing students to be great learners. Students need to be “Ready to Learn” which encompasses self-regulation and proper listening skills. They need to “Develop Stamina” to persevere with tasks, find resources and do grade level quality work. They also need to have “Student Voice” which incorporates researching and demonstrating their learning with choices in topic and presentation. Lastly, students need to be “21st Century Learners” by using technology as part of their learning and need to develop critical thinking skills. When your child’s work comes home, ask them if they preserved to complete the task and if the quality of the work is grade level. We have high but realistic expectations so students can reach their potential. Be sure to check out our upcoming dates. We have a special Remembrance Day assembly on November 11th at Greenbank starting at 12:30. Everyone is welcome to attend.

Mrs. Peel Principal

Epsom Public School 16051 Marsh Hill Rd, Port Perry, Ontario

L9L 1B2 Safe Arrival Phone # (905) 985-7250

website: http://www.ddsb.ca/school/Epsom

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Remembrance Day Parents and family members are invited to attend our Epsom/ Greenbank Remembrance Day Assembly. The assembly will be held on November 11th @ Greenbank P.S. in the gymnasium. Our start time will be 12:30 p.m.

Students from both school sites will be performing at the assembly. A special “thank you” is extended to Mrs. Larocque for her leadership in organizing this important event. Students can bring in money for the poppy box to wear a poppy. Dress for the Weather As the cooler weather is approaching, please ensure that your child has appropriate outdoor clothing so

that he/she can enjoy our outdoor recesses during the fall and winter months. An extra pair of gloves in their backpacks is recommended in case they get wet.

Poinsettia Fundraiser Don’t forget to purchase your poinsettias this year. The beautiful selection of plants will come from Valleyview Gardens. Watch for details in the coming days. This fundraiser will begin on Friday, November 13th. If you

purchase plants for your business, friends or family, Epsom P.S. would love to help with your order.

Healthy Snack Program Once again our Healthy Snack program will be provided every day for Grades 1-6 at morning recess. This program has proven to be successful and once again

donations are welcomed and appreciated (i.e. Multigrain Cheerios, Wheat thins, Whole Grain Triscuits, Yogurt Tubes and Cheese strings). We will be asking students for some input on ideas and helping with the program. Lunchroom Supervisors Needed

If you or anyone you know is interested in helping out for a one hour paid position in lunch supervision at our school, whether everyday or occasionally, please contact the office.

Santa Store You may already know the Epsom “Santa Store” is a bit of a tradition. As part of our holiday celebrations, we are inviting our students to participate in this

special event. Each family is asked to put aside a few gently used items that can be donated to our “store”. Just prior to the Christmas holidays, our parent volunteers set up the items and gather lots of tape and wrapping paper (donations are greatly appreciated). Every student is invited to come and select an item or two for a special family member(s). There is no cost for the students and our parent volunteers wrap the gifts for every student. More information including the date when our Santa Store will be held will follow. It’s not too early to start sending in your gently used items!

Little Caesar’s Fundraiser We will be selling Little Caesar’s Pizza Kits that are fun and easy to make, store and stock just in time for Christmas break! Our goal is to sell 100 kits in the whole school

(staff included!). That money will help to support our SCC and various school programs, resources and technology. We thank you for your help and support to reach our goal! Our kick off starts November 9th with orders due by November 25th. Delivery will be on Friday, December 4th.

Ski and Snowboard (Snow) Club Information regarding Snow Club is available from Mrs. Peel for students in grades 2-6. Greenbank and Epsom P.S. are scheduled to attend Skyloft on Jan. 8, 15, 29 and Feb. 5,12. All students will be

required to take the bus there and parents are responsible for pick up at 7 pm. at Skyloft. Packages are available in office.

Scholastic Books We will be starting the Scholastic book order before the holidays. Thank you to A. Ashton and J. Krabi for taking this on.

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In cases of extreme weather, please listen to one of the local radio stations or T.V. news casts below for notices of transportation cancellation:

CKDO-AM 1580 KX96-FM 95.9

Q107-FM 107.1 94.9 The Rock

CHFI-FM 98.1 EZ ROCK 97.3

CFRB-AM 1010 CHUM-FM 104.5

Bob-FM 91.9 CICX 105.9 Global TV CP 24

Bus Cancellations Due To Inclement Weather Important NEW Information About Inclement Weather Cancellations Occasionally transportation is cancelled due to weather. Depending on the location and type of weather occurrence Transportation can be cancelled for a specific zone of Durham Region that DSTS is responsible for. Please use the Map Below to refer to if your Bus Stop falls within a specific weather zone that has been cancelled. Please note that DSTS offices remain open regardless of cancellations. Also remember, if buses are cancelled in the morning, they are cancelled for the whole day. Visit http://www.dsts.on.ca for details.

Nov 3 Epsom SCC at 8:30am

Nov 11

Remembrance Day Assembly at GPS @ 12:30 p.m.

Nov 16-20 Bully Prevention Awareness Week

Nov 20 PA DAY – No school for students

Nov 23 Chicken Noodle Lunch

ZONE 3 – EPSOM PUBLIC SCHOOL

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BOARD CONTACTS: OUR TRUSTEES: Greg Island Joe Allin (Administrative Officer) Board Chair, Trustee 905-666-5500 Uxbridge & Brock Townships island_greg@durham.edu.on.ca 1-866-890-2227 / 705-357-3697 allin_joe@durham.edu.on.ca Anne Marie Laginski Carolyn Morton Superintendent of Education (Brock, Uxbridge, Scugog) Township of Scugog 905-666-5500 905-986-5525 laginski_annemarie@durham.edu.on.ca morton_carolyn@durham.edu.on.ca

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LITERACY NEWS

Every newsletter, we will share a literacy or numeracy strategy that is used at all grade levels and has been shown to improve achievement. All grades and teachers run a Comprehensive Literacy program which includes Read Alouds, Shared Reading, Guided Reading and Independent Reading. What is a Reading Diagnostic? All teachers use a diagnostic assessment to determine a student's independent and instructional reading level. Students read one-on-one with the teacher, while the teacher notes any decoding errors and asks comprehension questions to determine the student's reading level. Students are aware of these levels so they can choose 'just right' books at their independent level and the teacher can challenge the student at their instructional level. These levels are then used to help the teacher create guided groups for more precise practice and instruction. See the attached list for Reading levels for grade level descriptions. There are two similar diagnostics that are used; one uses letters and the other uses numbers which correspond to grade levels.

Grade Level BAS Diagnostic PM Benchmarks Diagnostic Kindergarten A-D 1-6 Grade 1 E-I 7-16 Grade 2 J-M 17-22 Grade 3 N-P 23-27 Grade 4 Q-S 28 Grade 5/6 T-Z 29-30

What is Guided Reading? The teacher groups students according to reading level or need (ie, decoding, fluency) into small groups (2-5 students), and students read a moderately challenging book selected by the teacher. While reading students use previously taught strategies and skills to construct meaning. The teacher coaches and prompts the students in effective reading strategies, supports vocabulary learning and models questioning to promote higher order thinking and critical literacy. The small group structure gives the teacher opportunities to meet individual needs. The benefits of Guided Reading for students include: the opportunity to apply reading strategies independently, provides time to sustain reading behaviour, challenges the reader to work on his/her own and to use strategies on a variety of texts and challenges the reader to solve words. Through Guided reading we have seen students improve up to 20 levels in their reading! The Durham District School Board believes so strongly in this strategy that thousands of dollars in resources have been purchased for all school for grades K-8! Ask your child about the opportunities they have to get individual attention from the teacher in guided practice to improve their reading. If you have questions about your child's reading level or guided reading, please contact your child's teacher or the office.