November 2010 Newsletter

In this edition:

• Dates to Remember
• School Council Update
• The NEW Provincial Progress Report Card
• Staffing Update
• Character Development at John Fisher
• Fundraising News
• Choir News
• Remembrance Day Assembly
• Spirit Day Tomorrow
• Candy for Kids
• Les nouvelles du gymnase
• The Food In You
• Community News

Dates to Remember

As the online calendar is now nearly up to date (just missing tomorrow’s Spirit Day – see article further down), please link to it here. The next upcoming events are also featured in the sidebar on the right.

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School Council Update

At our meeting last week, the 2010/11 budget was unanimously approved. The Finance Committee considered many things to prepare this budget including: budget submissions, funds available, historical spending, student impact, and educational benefits. I have included a short note with each item, but please fell free to ask for more information.  This is not the complete budget, but more of a highlight of how the money raised is allocated this year.

Committee/Activity	2010/11	% Total	2009/10	Comments
Art	$996	1.5%		Half day art workshop for Grade 3, linked to curriculum.
Athletics & Physical Education	$7,260	7.9%	$5,892	Uniforms, supply teachers, buses, banner, events.
Character Development	$2,200	2.4%	$1,800	Implementation of Future Aces program, continuations of PALS
Class Parents Committee	$200	0.3%	$200	Incidentals
Classroom Libraries	$8,481	12.7%		Support and enhance libraries in the classroom.
Communications / Directory	$1,250	1.4%	$1,500	Printing directory, banners for events
Cultural Enrichment	$3,000	3.3%	$2,993	Performances
Carnaval	$1,000	1.1%		Supplies
Dance	$3,000	4.5%		Intensive dance workshop
Drama Club	$1,170	4.1%	$1,393	Workshops, supply teachers
Finance	$300	0.5%	$317	Necessary banking expenses
Graduation Committee	$3,000	3.3%	$2,417	Year end event to honour students
Green / Playground Committee	$2,619	4.0%	$5,818	Greening playground, eco-club
IT and Communications	$4,244	5.0%	$7,869	Director’s Cut, Mimio Teach
Math Manipulatives	$4,400	6.6%		Enhance student learning through various teaching methods
Music	$3,800	5.7%	$4,800	Accompanist fees, buses to performances
Music Program (band & strings)	$2,000	3.1%	$2,000	Instrument rental
Scientist in the School	$4,500	6.8%	$4,865	Additional Scientist in each classroom
Social Studies in the Class	$1,932	2.9%	$0	Grades 3-6 have visiting professional to add to curriculum
Teachers Discretionary Fund	$8,500	12.8%	$7,920	$300 per teacher, $600 JK/SK
Welcoming and Recognition	$1,100	1.7%	$980	Staff  appreciation, kindergarten booklet, welcome back event.
Total	$66,437		$64,637
Amount Available	$66,437
Surplus	$0

Once again, I would like to thank Dorothy Carson for her hard work and expertise throughout the budget process. I cannot stress the amount of work and commitment that she puts into our budget each year.  Also, thanks to all Committee Chairs, teachers and staff who submitted budget requests.

At the meeting, we were also treated to a presentation by Pat Reinhart, about EQAO.  John Fisher historically does very well in the process, and it was interesting to see how the data was used to help find room for continued growth.  For anyone with questions about the process, please visit www.eqao.com.

Our next School Council meeting is Thursday, November 25, at 7:15 pm.  Please join us in the library; all are welcome.

Stefanie Cepuch
Chair, School Council 2009-2011
scepuch@rogers.com

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The NEW Provincial Progress Report Card – November 17th

As outlined in the October newsletter, parents of students in Grades 1-6 will be receiving the new Progress Report and parents of Senior Kindergarten students will receive the Kindergarten Progress Report. Interviews for JK-Grade 6 students will be held after school and in the evening on Thursday, November 19th, and during the day on Friday, November 20th (PA Day). While many and/or most parent/teacher interviews will take place on these dates and during these times, please note that there may be some differences in dates and/or times amongst individual teachers. Each classroom teacher has already or will be sending home an interview request letter which includes their specific interview dates and times.

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Staffing Update

Welcome to Mme Elsa Wu as our Primary Drama/Dance and Junior Support teacher.

Mme Wu will be replacing Mme Thomson while she is on leave, and deliver Science and Social Studies to grades 5 and 6, in partnership with the homeroom teachers, provide Literacy support to Junior students, and Drama & Dance to JK, SK,  grades 1 and 2. We are fortunate she is such a great multi-tasker!

We are also including a photograph of our 0.5 Drama/Dance teacher, Denise Blake, who was introduced to you in the October newsletter. Please take a moment to say hello when you next visit the school.

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Character Development at John Fisher

Last year a new Character Development committee was initiated on John Fisher’s School Council. Its purpose is to support the school’s character education plans and to communicate these plans to the parents. The school’s plan is part of a broader directive from the Ministry of Education and the Toronto District School Board and is part of a growing international focus on Character Education. When you get a minute, visit the TDSB website where it discusses the role of parents: www.tdsb.on.ca/_site/ViewItem.asp?siteid=9997&menuid=15442&pageid=13673.

We are very excited to announce that the Future Aces program is coming to John Fisher! It has two mandates: to foster self-esteem and ethical behaviour and to assist youth to attain the highest level of achievement both personally and academically within their capabilities. This program will involve all of us: students, teachers and parents. Check out their website (www.futureaces.org), get a feel for their program and to come to the parent sessions when they take place (don’t worry, I’ll give you lots of notice!). Janet Cann (our new co-chair) and the rest of the committee will help teacher Naaz Jetha with the implementation of this project. Let us know if you can help too.

We plan to keep in touch. In every newsletter we will update you with the monthly attribute the TDSB has chosen and the corresponding school activities. From time to time we will host workshops for parents and let you know about other events/workshops/articles that might be of interest. Like this conference Nov 13-14 with People for Education. It looks really interesting, is not expensive and has free childcare: www.peopleforeducation.com/getinvolved/annualconference. Let me know if you hear of other things and I’ll post them.

Next month we will post the proposed parent code of conduct and ask for your feedback and show you the one that the teachers and students have already adopted. Your comments and suggestions are always welcome and you should feel free to email me at gilandshannon@sympatico.ca.

From here on in, I’ll keep this column much shorter but I wanted to take a few minutes this time to give you some background info and invite you to take part.

Thanks for reading,

Shannon Quesnelle
Chair, Character Education Committee

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Fundraising News

Gift Cards

We are launching the “Fundscrip” Gift Cards fundraiser today. In your child’s envelope you will find the order form to purchase gift cards. These are the same as gift cards you would purchase directly at the retailers themselves or outlets selling gift cards – the only difference is that a percentage of each gift card you purchase is donated back to John Fisher – anywhere from 2% to 10% depending on the retailer!

Order forms due by November 26th to ensure early December delivery!

This fundraiser is also available all year via: a) online ordering (details provided in your child’s envelope) and/or b) we will be providing a more concise order form approximately every month that you can use to order gifts cards for places that you make everyday purchases (e.g. grocery stores, gas bars, coffee shops)!

The goal of the fundraising committee is to provide a variety of fundraisers so that parents and families can contribute in a manner which makes sense for them. Order, donate, or participate only as you see fit!

Website News

Coming soon, there will be a separate permanent section on the website for all fundraising news!

Direct Donations

Un gros merci to the families who have already made direct donations to John Fisher. Our children will all benefit from your generosity. The response this year has been phenomenal – MERCI! It is never too late to make a donation. There are extra envelopes in the office if you need them.

Ongoing Fundraisers

The following fundraisers run all year!

1. Mabel’s Labels

Need to order more labels? Order Mabel’s Labels and give back to the school at the same time by using www.johnfisher.mabel.ca at any time.

Keep this URL handy for sharing with family and friends.

2. The Duck Stops Here

Need children’s party supplies and seasonal holiday items? Shop at The Duck Stops Here – located at 3300 Yonge Street, just south of Fairlawn, north of Lawrence. 10% of all purchases are donated back to the school – just tell them you’re a John Fisher parent when you make a purchase.

3. Supperworks

Looking to make your life easier by preparing home cooked meals without the planning, shopping, slicing or clean-up? Book a session at www.supperworks.com to make some meals (Forest Hill branch – 497 Eglinton Ave. West, or Leaside branch – 105 Vanderhoof Ave., Unit 18), and they will donate $10 for each visit. Use the code “JFPS” when booking.

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Choir News

Thanks to all for a great response for new and returning choir members. I am pleased to report that we now have 60+ members in the Primary and Junior Choirs respectively. The program for this year is ambitious and exciting.

Rehearsals

Primary choir rehearses once a week on Wednesdays at lunch.

Junior Choir rehearses once a week on Wednesdays before school for now, with a second rehearsal to begin in the next few weeks Mondays at lunch. Stay tuned for the official announcement.

Performances

The Junior Choir will be singing at the Remembrance Day Assembly on November 11th, and both Choirs at the Winter Concert on December 14th. As well, the Junior Choir is currently working on a community outreach concert, to be confirmed at a later date.

Both Choirs will be competing in Kiwanis Festival in February.

Finally we will wrap up the year at the Spring Concert.

There may be more performances as opportunities present themselves.

Our New Accompanist

We are very pleased to announce that we have a new accompanist, Andrea Ludwig, who is a highly accomplished and respected musician in the Toronto opera and choir community. We are very lucky to have her involved with our choirs.

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Remembrance Day Assembly

We are preparing the program for the November 11 Remembrance Day assembly, which will take place at 10:30 a.m. As mentioned above, the Junior Choir will be performing, Mr. Robert Crabtree will be once again playing the bagpipes, the children will be presenting wreaths, and Mme Tyrie’s grade 4 class have prepared something special. We are also hoping to have a guest speaker from the community, which we hope to confirm shortly. Parents are welcome to attend, but space is limited.

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Spirit Day Tomorrow, Friday November 5, 2010

We will be celebrating our first 2010-2011 Spirit Day on Friday. In honour of our “eco-focus” this year, children are invited to create and wear recycled apparel. Last week our grade 6′s modelled some of their fabulous creations.  It was truly astonishing what children can create from what we think of as trash!

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Candy for Kids

Our very own Katarina in grade 6 found out about a charity called “Candy for Kids”. This wonderful program asks for donations of extra Halloween treats to distribute amongst the children at Sick Kids who are too unwell to go trick or treating. The contributions that you see in this photo were collected in just one day. Our pile has grown considerably since then. Well done all of you beautiful kind hearted John Fisher students!!

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Les nouvelles du gymnase

Flag Rugby

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The Food In You

Calcium Check up

Hello John Fisher students, families and staff! Nice to be back writing about my favorite topic- food and nutrition! This edition will focus on keeping bones healthy. And check out the great contest at the end of this article.

Calcium is an important mineral that makes up about 1 % of the total body weight of a child- It is an important component of bones, and also plays a role in making sure the heart, muscles and nerves work properly. Calcium is also needed for blood clotting. Ninety-nine percent of all the calcium in the body is stored in bones and in teeth. During the adolescent years, children require a constant supply of calcium from their diet in order to ‘bank’ this calcium in their bones- if enough calcium is not supplied through the diet, then there is an increased risk of osteoporosis, or a weakening of the bones later on in adult life.

Through diet surveys, it is known that children’s intake of milk and milk products declines especially during adolescence. These surveys indicate that after around the age of 8 years, intake of calcium is not adequate for many children. Surveys also indicate that adults do not take in enough calcium. In fact 76 % of women and 79 % of men between the ages of 19 and 50 years did not take in enough calcium in a recent Canadian nutrition survey.

There are some easy ways to ensure children, and the rest of the family, are getting enough calcium in the food they eat- here are some suggestions;

• Use milk instead of water to make oatmeal or cream of wheat
• Use yoghurt as a dip for fruits and vegetables
• Add toasted almonds slivers (tip- add some cinnamon during toasting for added flavor) to salads, yogurt or as topping to pancakes
• Flavor white milk with pureed fruit, yogurt or combine with chocolate milk (reducing total sugar content)

Most importantly, be aware of the calcium needs of everyone in the family- Following are the calcium requirements for different ages;

• 4 to 8 years > 800 mg per day
• 9 to 18 years > 1300 mg per day
• 19 to 50 years > 1000 mg per day
• 50 + years > 1200 mg per day
• Pregnant of lactating 18 + > 1000 mg per day

Where do you find calcium in foods?

Obvious foods that contain calcium include milk, cheese yoghurt. Other sources are dark green vegetables like broccoli, kale and bok choy. Almonds and calcium enriched orange juice are also good sources.

To find out if your calcium intake, and that of family members, meets daily needs, check out the Osteoporosis Canada website at the following website; www.osteoporosis .ca . This site includes a link called ‘calculate my calcium’ that easily calculates the amount of calcium you are getting from some common foods. The website is a great resource on bone health in general.

Not to be forgotten- Vitamin D- calcium cannot be absorbed without an adequate amount of Vitamin D which helps to absorb the calcium into the body. While Vitamin D is known as the sunshine vitamin, due to the ability of the sun’s rays to form Vitamin D in the skin, our fall and winter months do not allow us to make enough Vitamin D here in our climate. Vitamin D can be found in fatty fish like trout and salmon, as well as in milk, but many children and adults are simply not getting enough. Supplements are now being recommended to ensure an adequate supply of this important Vitamin. More on Vitamin D in a future newsletter.

And finally, a word on activity and its effect on bone health. Without proper weight bearing activities, like running, jumping and walking, bones just cannot remain strong. A recent survey of Canadian children found that only about 2/3 of kids were active more that three times per week during winter months. Exercise and activity are so very important for bone health, and are essential for general health- so watch that screen time, and make sure the whole mainly includes some form of activity daily!

Now, enjoy that tall glass of milk, and sprinkle some almonds on your salad!

Nutrition contest for kids! EatRight Ontario Kids Recipe Challenge- Deadline Dec 3, 2010

Once again, EatRight Ontario is having a contest for kids to share their ideas on what they think is a great snack or lunch item. Kids are asked to send in their favorite recipe for a lunch or snack item, and write why it is healthy, and why other kids would like it. This is a great way to get kids excited about helping to prepare their favorite foods, and win some super prizes!

Who can enter?

Ontario students in grades 1 to 6.

What to do:

Create an original, kid-friendly recipe for either school day lunches or after school snacks.

Recipes will be judged on:

• Nutrition – School day lunch recipes must include THREE food groups from Canada’s Food Guide. After school snack recipes should include TWO food groups from Canada’s Food Guide.
• Taste
• Originality
• Preparation
• Response to the question, “Why would kids like this recipe?” (100 words or less.)

For more information, and contest entry form, see the link below.

http://www.eatrightontario.ca/en/ViewDocument.aspx?id=348

By Daina Kalnins, Registered Dietitian, The Hospital for Sick Children and mom of Natali – gr 6 and Matis- gr 5

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Community News

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