Westminster Public School

Our Character Assembly this month will be focusing on "Integrity". Throughout the month, our students have been discussing what integrity means to them in the classrooms and with their friends in the school yard. Our students are learning that to have integrity means to be truthful and sincere; to care for the well-being of others by how they treat each other. Displaying integrity is not always easy. It is one of our most difficulty character traits to live by and sometimes it takes years to truly understand what it means.

We look forward to honouring those students who have displayed this trait at our awards assembly on Wednesday, October 28th at 11:15 a.m.

Parents and guardians are welcome to join us.  We thank Mr. Clark and Ms. Croteau's grade 2/3s for hosting the assembly this month.


"Integrity is doing the right thing even if it's difficulty; even when no one is watching." 


"If it is not right do not do it; if it is not true do not say it."

This week, we will be learning about Halloween as one of the many celebrations recognized in our community during the month of October.  As you know, Halloween is an exciting time for some; yet we do acknowledge that it is not celebrated by all and not everyone will observe or participate in it. 
To encourage school spirit, however, our School Spirit Committee has planned a spirit day on Friday October 30th where children are encouraged to wear the colours “black and orange” or a “costume”.  Students will receive spirit points for wearing these colours or their costume on October 30th. 
All primary classes will be participating in a short parade through our school halls at 1:30 p.m.  At this time, the children may wear their costumes if they so wish.  We ask that you please avoid sending costume accessories such as replica weapons or masks to school as they are against our safety rules.   Please also be advised that treats and loot bags are not allowed at school. 
Aside from the plann…

October 26, 2015
Dear elementary school students, parents and guardians,
This letter is to provide you with an update regarding the escalation of job sanctions by the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO).
In addition to the job sanctions referenced in my previous letters, ETFO provincial has announced that, beginning on Wednesday, October 28, teachers will not participate in voluntary or extra-curricular activities. As a result, any voluntary activities currently supervised by teachers will cease on October 28. Information regarding specific activities will be forthcoming from your school as required.
Once again, it is important to note that the job actions are a result of the bargaining process at the provincial level, and union members are required to follow the direction of their provincial federations/unions.
You can find updates and information about labour issues on the Board website: www.yrdsb.ca. You may also follow our Twitter account for more immediate updates: …

As I reflect on the tragic accident reported last week in Markham that took the life of a kindergarten child on her way to school, my condolences go out to the families and the school community of David Suzuki Public School as they struggle to deal with their loss. I felt it important that I remind my community again about our own safety concerns in our parking lot at the school.  Student safety it our first priority. We need your help.  
Please use our kiss and ride program as it is meant to be run. Drop off your children safely in the designated spots. Say goodbye at the curb and let them go into our supervised school grounds. If you want to go with them, please only park in the visitors parking spots or on the street. Make sure to get your children to school on time without stress...without rushing. 
Please slow down...please watch out for all our children.Never drive in the wrong way across the sidewalk and along the curb in front of the school. Never go in our bus loop. 
Please be c…

Our students thought the visit from the Canadian author Philip Roy was very interesting and they enjoyed listening to sections from some of his books and talking to him about the writing process and publishing his books. In particular, they found the submarine and helicopter that he brought made of old wood "cool" and getting his autograph "awesome"!  Thanks Mr. Roy!  
This is the first special event from our Arts and Athletics Enrichment Package that we are bringing to Westminster for our students. Stay tuned for more information about the other educational and entertaining special guests that will be coming to our school throughout the year.  

This week our whole school, students and teachers from grades K-8 were busy creating our "School of Fish" art pieces.  Following some training from our intermediate student leaders, all classes were given the opportunity to plan their collaborative art design on their own wooden fish. Many of these designs represented their learning about the importance of water conservation and our need to ensure safe and clean water ways for fish and other animals in our world. This activity helped our students understand this important anti-pollution, environmental awareness message. 

Along with this Eco learning, the art work the children created was amazing! Check out some of the gorgeous pieces below.  Stay tuned for posts of the finished product when we hang them all on our Kindergarten fences....beautiful streams of student created fish....   

This Friday, our students are looking forward to meeting a world renowned Canadian Children's Author who will be visiting our school as part of our Arts and Athletics Enrichment Program. Philip Roy will be speaking to our students about the writing process and how to create stories.  Our own young writers and readers are very excited to learn about how Mr. Roy uses his imagination to help him write his books. Student's will have an opportunity to purchase author signed books on Friday ($11.00 -$1200 each).  You can find out more about Philip's books by visiting:http://philiproy.ca.
This visit will kick off our new Reading Club being offered in the library as well as our participation in this year's Silver Birch Awards.  Stay tuned to hear about our new shipment of award nominated children's books coming to our library for our students to try out. They will also have the opportunity to choose their favourite authors and cast their votes for these national awards. 
W…

We got some great feedback from our Pavement Activities Mentors at their Leadership Training Session.

"I think its great that we get this at our school because sometimes I don't have anything to do at recess and now I have the opportunity to have something fun to do and help other kids have fun too."

 "Walking the labyrinth takes a while and you can think about things when you're doing it.  It's fun."
 "I think some of these new games are fun even for big kids."
"I like that I can help other kids have fun at recess."

A reminder to all of our up-coming School Council meeting being held this Wednesday, October 21st  at 7:00 p.m. 
Come out and meet with other parents, your Principal as well as Student Voice leaders and teacher representatives. Hear about the initiatives and events going on at our school. Ask questions and find out how you can get involved in your child's education.
All are welcome! Bring a friend... Child care will be available.
See you there!

On October 19th our school gym will be used as our neighbourhood poling station for the Federal Elections. 
A reminder to everyone to cast their votes.

We are excited to have arranged for student representatives from Grade 4-8 to receive training on our new pavement games and activities on Monday afternoon. These student mentors will then teach these games and activities to their classmates and younger grades during their DVPA (Daily Vigorous Physical Activity) classes and recesses.
Already we've noticed our students enjoying many of the colourful activities on their own....
Anyone want to walk the labyrinth today? What province am I sitting on again? Can you help me solve this problem?

Congratulations and good luck to our athletes who qualified to compete at the Regional Cross Country Competition at Bruce's Mill tomorrow, on October 15th.  

We are proud of Mira J., Sarah K. and Atakan G. who will be representing our school against all schools in the region. 

We hope you enjoy the fall weather Wildcats! 
Good Luck!

Save the date of October 29th for our annual Family Autumn Ball!  It's going to be so much fun for our whole school community - students and families alike!
Here's our flyer and pre-order form which you can download and use to pre-order your dinners. Please consider using our online cash service which is our preferred method of payment by going to https://yrdsb.schoolcashonline.com/ or from our website  http://westminster.ps.yrdsb.ca/
See you then!  Thank you!

On a beautiful fall day, our Eco club went out to plant flower bulbs in our new garden.  We can't wait to see the tulips, daffodils and crocus' growing up this spring....  It will be great to see them growing.  It's going to be so lovely!  Thank you Eco club!

To all those celebrating Thanksgiving, we would like to wish you and your families a very happy celebration. To all our families we wish you a terrific long weekend!
A reminder that there is no school on Monday. See you on Tuesday!

Our cross country team had a fabulous day at the races! On a perfectly beautiful fall day our young athletes from Grade 4-8 performed with strength and stamina against students from other area West schools. We are proud to say that four of our students qualified for the Regional competition next week against all schools in York Region!  We wish them good luck in their respective meets!  Way to go to our whole team for a terrific showing!

Check out the new tidy landscaping at the entrance of our school!  Our Eco club is working on an Eco Garden there too. Stay tuned for news about the flower bulbs being planted by our Eco club....lovely!

Beautiful, colourful games and activities have been painted on our school pavement and are ready for our students to enjoy!  We are particularly excited about our new "mindfulness" labyrinth, conflict resolution wheel,  our tricycle tracks and gorgeous  map of Canada. Our next plans include training a group of student leaders to demonstrate and lead these games at recess.  Lots of fun for everyone and something to be enjoyed by our whole community.

Our cross country team is excited to be heading to the Area Cross Country meet this Thursday, October 8th. Our students from grade 4-8 have been practising for the last couple of weeks to build up their stamina and speed and they're ready to compete against other schools in our area. Thanks goes to Mr. Zuker and Ms. Beckles our coaches.  Parents of those who are on the team are reminded to send in permission forms.
Go Wildcats!

To those who have ordered our Subway and Pasta Lunch programs on Tuesdays and Fridays, please be aware that they will be starting next week not this week. The milk program however, is starting this week. Sorry for the confusion in our School Newsletter. 
Our Subway Lunch program is running Tuesday, October 13, 2015 - February  2nd, 2016  Our Pasta Lunch program is running Friday, October 16, 2015 - December 18, 2015
Thank you!

Please see our October Newsletter following the link below if you haven't already received it.  You can view previous School Newsletters on our website.  

http://www.yrdsb.ca/schools/westminster.ps/NewsEvents/Documents/October%20Newsletter%202015.pdf

Today our students had Picture Day for both individual and class pictures.  In the next couple of weeks, parents will be receiving proof packages of your child's individual pictures for purchase consideration.  You will be asked to go online to place your orders using an identification number for your child.  

For those students who were absent today, retake pictures will be taken on November 17th. Class pictures will also be taken if the homeroom teacher was absent today.

A reminder of our school Picture Day coming on Monday, October 5th.  There will be class pictures as well as individual students pictures.  Parents are to fill out their order forms if you wish to buy a picture package.  A retake day has been scheduled sometime in November for those who are absent on Monday.  

Smile!!

In the coming weeks we invite you to check out the new creative games and activities being painted on our school playground and kindergarten enclosures.  Four square and hopscotch will be joined by a map of Canada, number grids, alphabets, agility ladders and tricycle trails to name a few of the colourful activities which will be available for our students to play on during their recess breaks. As well, to support our work with mindfulness and social skills, we will have a "thinking labyrinth" and conflict resolution wheel to help our students reduce their anxiety levels and use their problem solving skills in social situations. Stay tuned on this blog once the painting is done for pictures of our new look!Much thanks goes to the fundraising efforts of our School Council which sponsored these pavement paintings for our school. Thanks to all our community for your continued support. Each time you order hot lunches or come out to school events you help raise funds to enhance o…

We had a terrific character assembly on "Courage" today.  Students from grade 5/6 shared their presentations on what they had learned about Terry Fox who showed courage during his Marathon for Life run for charity. They shared how Terry Fox used the subjects we learn about at school to help him on his run such as math, music, science and even French. 

We presented courage awards to students from each class who have demonstrated courage this month. Congratulations to everyone!  



We also enjoyed fabulous weather for our own Terry Fox Walk/Run this afternoon. The whole school walked or ran around our school park in support of the Terry Fox Foundation. Thank you to everyone who has already sent in their "Toonie for Terry" donations. Donations are still being accepted at the office and will be sent to the Terry Fox Foundation for Cancer Research next week.  Thank you!