Mustang Memo - January 19, 2024
Family Math Night is almost here!
That's right! Our 2nd annual Family Math Night is coming on Thursday, January 25 from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the school.
What is it, you ask? Each grade level has picked out a game that supports some important math skills for that grade level. You simply come to the school, pick a game, and go to the classroom to play it. You'll find everything you need to play the game in the classroom! Teachers have prepared two versions of each game so that you can play with both younger and older students! We will also have some large math mat games set out in the gym and you can explore them with your family too!
We'll have three rounds of 15 minutes so that you can learn at least three different games throughout the hour! In between, visit the concession for a treat! Cash only!
We will also have prizes available for people who participate! We hope that we will see you there for a super fun evening of games, family, community and math!
Helene Hewitt & Jay Robertson
Principal & Assistant Principal
You belong here!
Table of Contents
Week At a Glance
Action
- 2024-25 Fee Survey
Opportunity
- Grade 6 Assemblies are Coming!
- Yearbook Cover Contest
Information
- Counsellor's Corner
- Pink Shirt Day Contest is On!
- Learning Disruption Funding
- Parents Make the Difference
WEEK AT A GLANCE
| Monday |
|
| Tuesday |
|
| Wednesday |
|
| Thursday |
|
| Friday |
|
ACTION
Fee Survey
Thank you to the many parents who joined our last school council meeting to learn about school fees. If you couldn't attend or if you have some additional feedback to share, this is your opportunity!
We invite you to fill out our fee survey to share your thoughts about how we should set fees for the 2024-25 school year. We want to know what you think about field trips, swimming lessons, and fees in general to help us make good decisions in the future.
Families may choose to add their contact information to the survey to be entered to win a $50 Sobeys gift card! This is our thank you for taking the time to share you thoughts with us!
Click here to take the survey!
OPPORTUNITY
Grade 6 Assemblies are Coming
On January 25, Grade 6 students will be hosting two assemblies in the afternoon before and after recess to teach students about physical education and wellness. We cannot wait to see what they will teach us!
Yearbook Cover Contest
Calling all Grade 6 student artists! Show us what Davidson Creek Elementary means to you through your art! Use your creativity to show everyone that this is "A Place Where We Belong". The winning entry will be featured on the cover of the yearbook. The work of the two runners up will be featured on the back cover. The winner of the contest will also get a FREE copy of the yearbook!
Here is a copy of the entry form for the contest with details on the size of the artwork and other details that need to be included for each entry. Have fun!
INFORMATION
Counsellor's Corner
This year, Bell Let’s Talk Day is Wednesday, January 24. Since 2011, Canadians and people around the globe have joined in the world’s largest conversation around mental health on Bell Let’s Talk Day. Together we have taken big steps to reduce the stigma around mental health issues, inspire one another to take action, and help create a Canada where everyone can access the mental health support they need. But it is clear more needs to be done. Real change is needed.
Here at Davidson Creek Elementary, we are having a “Hats on for Mental Health Day” and wearing hats on January 24th to bring awareness to mental health issues and help reduce the stigma. Teachers will also be provided with age-appropriate resources to learn about mental health and wellness with their classes.
Bell Let’s Talk Day marks the start of a new year to take action in mental health. We can all create real change by doing one or more of the following:
- Choose a mental health organization to learn about or support
- Help a friend struggling with their mental health by learning how to support them
- Ask about how your school, workplace or community is creating change for mental health
- Nurture your own well-being by practicing and learning mental health strategies
- Get involved in a mental health initiative or organize an event to support mental health
- Engage in conversations about mental health to fight stigma
You can find resources and learn more about organizations providing mental health supports and services throughout Canada at Bell.ca/letstalk. You can also download the Bell Let’s Talk toolkit for tools to get the conversation started and to create real change at home, school, or in the workplace.
Madison Bashaw and Kelley Mitchell
DCE Counsellors
Pink Shirt Day Contest is On!
In honour of anti-bullying and Pink Shirt Day on February 28, DCE will host a pink t-shirt art contest! One student from each division at DCE will be chosen to display their art on a pink t-shirt printed by Tyleen and sold to families before February 28th. Then students can wear their DCE pink shirts on Feb 28th. Here’s how the contest will work:
All teachers helped students to create an anti-bullying-themed black and white design on one side of a heart. One design from a student in Division 1 (K-3) and one design from a student in Division 2 (4-6) will be selected and then joined together to make one whole heart to be used on the t-shirt.
We will keep you posted on when you can order your very own shirt designed by our students! Thank you to the parents on our Parent Wellness committee for organizing this incredible event for the school!
Learning Disruption Intervention Update
As communicated by EIPS in an email in November, our school has received a modest amount of additional funding to provide some targeted supports for grades 1 to 5 students in literacy and numeracy. We have spent some time determining how we will spend the funds to support the highest number of students in both literacy and numeracy from now until the end of the year. While we would love to provide supports to all students, the funds are limited and we have elected to put our focus on students in grades 1 to 3.
Teachers of students in the target grades are looking at current data to determine which students might most benefit from a structured intervention program in foundational skills in phonemic awareness, phonics or foundational math skills such as fact fluency and number sense.
We will be able to offer daily 30 minute small group interventions of 3-4 students per group in foundational reading skills and 4 students per group for foundational math skills across 10 weeks. We hope to run two rounds of 10 weeks each, in order to support approximately 70 students in total from now to the end of the school year.
If your child has been selected to participate in one of our intervention groups, we will be contacting you via email in the upcoming week to share more details about the opportunity.
Parents make the difference
Here is this week's article with helpful tips for families:
Accelerate your child’s math learning with three strategies
Simple things families do at home can make a big difference in how well students perform in math. Use these three strategies to boost your child’s math learning:
- Family engagement. Partnering with the teacher to support your child’s math learning results in higher achievement. Look over math papers your child brings home, and talk about what your child is learning. Ask the teacher what else you can do at home to help your child with math.
- Math talk. When your child solves a problem, ask, “How did you get your answer?” Children solve problems more accurately in the long run when they regularly talk about their math thinking and explain their methods. While explaining, they clarify their thinking—and often catch their own mistakes.
- Children often do better at things they enjoy, so make math fun! When you play board games, appoint your child scorekeeper or banker. Put a math twist on games like hopscotch (write a problem in each square) and Simon Says (“Simon says add 18 plus 18”). In the car, challenge each other to solve problems using numbers on road signs. If the speed limit is 65, your child can solve 6 + 5, 6 – 5 or 6 x 5.
Reprinted with permission from the January 2024 issue of Parents make the difference!® (Elementary School Edition) newsletter. Copyright © 2024 The Parent Institute®, a division of PaperClip Media, Inc.