Westminster Public School

Last evening, the staff at Westminster PS were honoured at the York Region Character Awards ceremonies. Westminster was nominated under the catagory of School of Character for our focus on the explicit teaching of character education, growth mindset and acts of kindness to support the social and enotional well-being of our students and each other. Westminster staff were recognized for their commitment and dedication to developing a positive climate for their students and supporting one another. I was pleased to represent our school along with Mrs. Einhorn, Mrs. Moliterni and Mrs. Ebidia at the awards ceremony which was attended by nominees and dignitaries from all over the region. It was very exciting!  Thank you to all our wonderful Westminster staff!

Come and see the wonderful talent of our Westminster students!  

Boomerang Lunches at Westminster Public School
School lunches are a major source of waste in Ontario – the average student’s lunch generates a total of 30 kilograms of waste per school year, or an average of 8,500 kilograms of waste per school per year. With your assistance, we can make a great contribution to reducing waste, every day.
As part of our Eco Schools initiatives, Westminster Public School will participate in an initiative called Boomerang Lunches in order to reduce the amount of waste we throw away. A boomerang is a curved piece of wood that when thrown will return to the thrower.
A boomerang lunch is when everything in the lunch goes back home at the end of the day, no matter if its leftover food (which can be composted), containers, recycles or garbage. Examples include: leftover food, banana peels and apple cores, recyclables and garbage
Boomerang Lunch Tips ·         - Use a reusable container for packing snacks and meals (The dollar store carries reusable containers and…

Earth Day is April 22 and Westminster is showing everyone what a GREEN school we are! 

The whole school will be going out to do a Spring Clean-up of our school community and take care responsibility for our own environment.  Students are encouraged to wear green and collect spirit points for their class too!  Thanks goes to our Eco Club for coordinating this day.

Having a Growth Mindset means that we are not scared of making mistakes because we know that we can learn from our mistakes.  We never give up and we keep trying until we get things right. 

Having a Growth Mindset means knowing that we increase our intelligence through practice and hard work.  

We are proud of our Grade 3 and 6 students who are making progress by practicing their skills in math and literacy at our after school OFIP programs.  Never give up is our motto!!

Tomorrow Constable Kerry from the York Region Police will be coming to speak to our grade 7 and 8 students as part of the VIP program, Values, Influences and Peers. This program is run every year in all York Region schools in grade 6, 7 and 8.  Police officers visit our schools to discuss relevant issues such as the health dangers of drugs, alcohol and smoking as well as the importance of internet safety and bullying prevention. Cyber-bullying and internet safety is a topic that always needs reinforcing as our children become more and more digitally dependent. We thank our community partners from the York Region Police Department for helping us keep our students safe through awareness and education.

The "Infinitus" performers are coming to Westminster on Tuesday April 21st.  This special event from our Arts Package for our children in K-8 will feature musical instruments playing a variety of popular music..."from Handel to Hip Hop".....  This is a great way to highlight the arts and show our students how much fun playing a musical instrument can be. Enjoy the music Westminster!

A reminder that our 2nd in the series of Triple P Positive Parenting Seminars will be this Wednesday 7:00-9:00 p.m.. Childcare will be available.  Hope to see you there. 

Topic:
Raising Confident and Competent Children

Encouraging respect and cooperationLearning to be independentLearning how to develop healthy self-esteemLearning how to be good problem solvers

Last evening, I was pleased to attend the YRDSB Parent Symposium with four parents from our school. Together we listened to speakers and participated in workshops that promoted the vision of: Achieving Excellence, Ensuring Equity and Promoting Well-being. The overall theme was Parent Engagement and the positive impact that parents and families have when they become involved in their children's education and school.  Some of the workshop topics we attended included;
Parents are partnersDistressing family LifeEffective parenting strategies to support your pre-teenMental health, resiliency and solution focused communicationKeeping youth safe in a technological world Enlarging parental capacity in the school community Positive mindset to promote mental healthWe hope to share some of our learning and how it applies to supporting our school community at the next School Council meeting. Thank you to the parents who joined me at this event and their ongoing support of our school. 

Wishing our intermediate mathematicians good luck as they head out to the York4 Math Competitions tomorrow on April 16th. Congratulations to Alex, Nadya, Houman and Tara who were chosen to represent our school at these Math Olympics. Thanks also to their coach Ms Beckles. 

We are sure that their problem solving talents will be highlighted and they will make us proud!  Good luck team!

The SUMMER INSTITUTE – YRDSB Educational Summer Camp

The York Region District School Board Summer Institute is a program that offers academic, recreational and athletic programs and activities with intentional links to the Ontario Curriculum for children and youth entering Senior Kindergarten to Grade 8.  Give your children a heads start to the new school year. 
Programs are offered at locations in Richmond Hill, Markham, Stouffville, Newmarket, Woodbridge, Vaughan and Georgina from 9:00 am - 3:30 pm with extended YMCA before and aftercare programs available at all locations YMCA Before and Aftercare RegistrationWeekly Sessions July 6, 2015 to August 14, 2015For registration information and to see what types of exciting programs are being offered this summer, please visit www.yrdsb.ca and select programs and services.  Do not hesitate to register as weeks are booking up fast!  Parents can also call the Dr. Beatte Stephenson Centre for Learning to find out about availability 905 884-2016…

We have started preparations for our Student Talent Show at Westminster which will be performed for our community on May 5th at 6:30 p.m.  $2.00 admission will go towards supporting our school.  This an extremely popular event for our students and families.  We can't wait to see all our talented students perform. Great way to promote the arts and our own young stars!  

Keep the date!

Our Grade 3 students are excited to begin their Swim to Survive program!  

The Swim to Survive Program is a collaborative partnership with the Life Saving Society and the City of Vaughan and has been offered to students in York Region District School Board since 2005.  Students from Westminster PS will be receiving three sessions of swimming instruction at the Dufferin/Clark Community Centre April 13, 20 and 27.  

Have fun everyone! 

Thanks to those that came out to our School Council meeting yesterday. Lots of things to share and discuss about school events and initiatives. We're very excited about the ideas planned for the Community BBQ and Fun Fair coming up on June 9th, 3:00-6:00.  Lots of fun for the whole family so save the date!  Parent volunteers are needed. If you can help please email. Thank you. See you at our next School Council meeting May 6th 7:00 pm.

A reminder to all to come out to our School Council meeting this Wednesday, April 8th at 7:00 p.m. There will be lots to share and discuss about school events and initiatives. Hope to see you all there. Childcare will be available.

Wishing everyone a restful long weekend and hoping the weather continues to look like spring!For those who are celebrating the holidays, wishing you all a happy Passover or Easter with your family and friends.  Enjoy!