Westminster Public School

On Friday, Jan. 27, we celebrate Family Literacy Day. This awareness initiative started by ABC Life Literacy Canada, highlights the importance of reading and engaging in other literacy-related activities as a family. Whether it’s reading out loud or reading quietly in good company, reading is a great thing to do together. What family literacy activitieswill you be doing?


Early Literacy Equally important to family literacy is early literacy, which can be practiced through not only reading, but also writing, talking, singing and playing. Have you tried turning the reading of a book into a seek-and-find game, or coming up with a fun way to sing the text on the page? Looking for ideas?
The Canadian Children’s Book Centre has created a great Family Literacy Day Reading List for all ages that features some favourites from Orca: 

On January 26th, Westminster celebrated our Literacy Day as a Westminster family celebration!

Our older students joined their younger buddies for some precious time to get to know each other and enjoy some good books together. This is an annual event that both the younger and the older children look forward to each year.  It reminds us how wonderful our small close-knit school is when our students can develop friendships with other children from all ages. Some of these friendships last all year and beyond.  

A love of reading and literacy is so important to nurture in children of all ages. Reading together is a joyful experience and one that is always encouraged. Literacy is a life-long gift that should not be taken for granted. We hope you too can continue to encourage this at home by reading with your child as often as possible and modelling your own respect for literacy in everything you do such as reading a newspaper, recipes, signs, instructions, books etc. 
As part of our Literacy …

We are pleased that our Grade 3 students will be participating in the "Swim to Survive" program in the upcoming weeks beginning this Wednesday.

The "Swim to Survive" program was developed by the Lifesaving Society, to provide Grade 3 students the basic skills required to survive an unexpected fall into water.

The disturbing statistic is that over 400 people drown each year in Canada. Basic swimming ability is a fundamental requirement in any meaningful attempt to eliminate drowning.  

“Swim to Survive” is a drowning prevention program that aims to reduce drowning by 50% within 10 years.  In particular, the program teaches the minimum skills needed to survive an unexpected fall into deep water which include rolling into deep water, treading water for one minute and swimming fifty metres. The Lifesaving Society in partnership with York Region District School Board offers this program free of charge to Grade 3 age students for those schools who apply. We are pleased that…

Let's snuggle up and read!  It's Pajama day and Literacy Day!

A reminder to send your children to school in their comfortable and warm pajamas to participate in our PJ spirit day in honour of Literacy Day on Thursday, January 26th. They can also bring one of their favourite small stuffed animals to read with them (but maybe not their absolute "favourite" one in case he runs away....). 

Remember too that all our students will still need to go outside for recess so make sure they either have a change of clothes or wear their warm clothing as well as their PJs. Such a fun day at school!

We wish our Junior Volleyball Team good luck at their tournament Tuesday!! Go Wildcats!
Thanks to our coaches Ms Saccucci and Ms Manimankis for their help.

All Westminster PS community members are welcome to our School Council meeting on January 25th at 7:00-8:30 p.m. Child care will be available for school age children.

As parents it is very important to be involved in your children’s education and being involved in your child’s school is very beneficial to their whole educational experience. 

Some reasons to get involved in School Council are: 1. To stay abreast of school initiatives and focus. 2. To have a positive impact on your child/children’s learning environment. 3. To help make the school a better place to learn. 4. To meet the Principal and teacher representatives at monthly meetings. 5. To create a standard of excellence all parties will be proud of. 6. To build relationships with other parents. 7. To familiarize oneself with new school issues. 8. To help raise funds so that our students are given more opportunities.
As parents, we are all busy, but we urge you to make the time to come out to our meetings and get involved, meet other par…

Our "You're the Chef" lunch hour program for grades 5-8 is coming....for a limited number of students who register... first come first served.... 

Are your school lunches and snacks getting boring? Do you want to learn to cook? 

In our YOU'RE THE CHEF program you will learn to:

cook delicious recipes use kitchen equipment handle food safely include more delicious veggies and fruit into breakfasts, lunches, snacks and dinnerswhat you will do:  Help prepare a new recipe each weekeat the food you prepare have fun cooking with friends If your child is interested in this program, they need to send in there registration forms before January 23, 2017. SPACE IS LIMITED. Instruction to be provided by WPS staff. Those registered must attend all four sessions. 
Sessions Dates:  Wednesday, February 8th Wednesday, February 15th  Thursday, February 23rd Thursday, March 2nd
Time: 12:15-1:15 p.m. Cost: $10.00 per student Place: Westminster PS staff room

A reminder that we have a PA day on Friday, January 20th. There is no school for our students on this day.  See you Monday!

Join us for an evening of games and prizes, arts and crafts and much more with your family and friends!  See you all there! Please Pre-Order your Pizza Dinners using the order forms sent home.  Snacks will also be available for sale 
No Admission Fee – Donations to Support the School Are Welcome!
Wondering where your donations are going?           $ 5.00  - HELP PURCHASE CLASSROOM SUPPLIES $10.00 - HELP PURCHASE BOOKS FOR THE LIBRARY $15.00 - LIBRARY MAKERSPACE (MODERN LEARNING CLUB) SUPPLIES/TOOLS $20.00 - HELP PURCHASE GYM EQUIPMENT          $25.00 - HELP PURCHASE COMPUTERS
All donations will go directly to enhancing our school to benefit all our students. Thank you!

Kindergarten Registration to Commence January 20, 2017
Kindergarten registration will commence on January 20, 2017 for the 2017-18 school year. Registration forms are available on YRDSB’s website: www.yrdsb.ca. Children who turn four or five years old during 2017, live within the school boundary and whose parents are public school tax supporters will be eligible to register for kindergarten. A kindergarten information session for parents is being planned for this spring. For more information please visit the YRDSB website or contact your local school. 

At Westminster we have a vibrant Full-Day Kindergarten program that combines JK and SK students. Registration begins on Friday, January 20th. Please come into the school and register your child for Kindergarten. You will receive more important information about the program from our teachers during our Information Night in May 2017 as well as a bag full of resources and activities that you can start with your child to prepare them for scho…

French Immersion Information Sessions and Registrations
Information sessions for the French Immersion (FI) program will take place at French Immersion schools on January 19, 2017 at 7 p.m. Please visit YRDSB’s website in January 2017 (http://www.yrdsb.ca/Programs/fi/Pages/Program-Locations.aspx) to find the FI program location for your elementary school location. FI registration will begin January 20, 2017. Parents or guardians of Senior Kindergarten students entering Grade 1 in 2017, and wishing to enrol in the FI Program, can visit or call the school office and request an Office Index Card - short version. The Office Index Card must be signed by the principal of the home school.Parents or guardians then take this form, along with one piece of identification showing their address to the designated FI program location to register between January 20 and February 10, 2017. This eliminates the need to provide duplicate enrollment information or to pre-register.
YRDSB’s FI Accommodation Pl…

The York Region District School Board offers an Elementary Integrated Arts Program at Baythorn Public School. If you are currently in grades four or five  you may apply for the arts@baythorn program, where you will have the opportunity to explore the disciplines of Dance, Drama, Visual Arts, and Music in a cooperative learning environment.

To learn more about the arts@baythorn program, you and your family are invited to attend an information evening at Baythorn Public School on:

Applications will be available at bit.ly/arts_application2017 online after the January 19th, 2016 info night.

If you require further information, please call us at Baythorn Public School
(905) 889-7992.

Over the past few weeks there has been an increase in influenza activity across York Region. To date, there are 164 laboratory‐confirmed influenza cases in York Region. Influenza A (H3N2) is the primary circulating strain and it is well matched to this season’s influenza vaccine.

Young children and influenza:

Children under five years of age, especially those younger than two years of age, are at high risk of flu‐related complications. These complications include pneumonia, encephalopathy (inflammation of the brain), ear infections, sinus infections and worsening of medical problems like asthma or heart disease. In rare cases, flu complications can lead to death.

How to protect against the flu:

Get vaccinated – The flu vaccine is the best way to protect against flu. Studies show the flu vaccine can prevent 70 to 90 per cent of illness in healthy adults and children.

York Region Public Health recommends everyone six months and older get the flu shot. It’s not too late to get vaccinated.

Flu …

Do you have a favourite recipe that you like to cook with your children? Do you want to have it published in our Westminster School Cookbook so all can enjoy these yummy treats? So here's your chance to share it with our whole community and contribute your recipe to our school cookbook. We're collecting the best recipes from our community for our first fabulous WPS Cookbook!  Once we've got them all published they will be for sale with all proceeds going to enhance our fabulous school! 
Practice making your favourite recipes with your children, have them type out the measurements, ingredients and instructions...have your children practice their procedural writing and have fun while using their writing and authentic math skills. If you want, take a picture of your creations. Then email them to our school council. Make sure you let us know your child's name and grade. Our School Council Cookbook Committee will try to include as many as possible. Once we're done, you w…

Boomerang Lunches, Recycling and Energy Conservation: Our Eco Club will be busy educating our school by going from class to class and giving them feedback on how to improve their recycling and energy conservation.
At Westminster we encourage students to participate in Boomerang Lunches. A Boomerang Lunch is when students return home items from their lunch to be disposed of or recycled at home in order to reduce the contents of our garbage at school. 
We encourage students to refrain from throwing food waste in the garbage, but rather use our composters or bring their food back home to be properly disposed of in their residential compost bin. Remember, you can do your part for the environment by practicing the three R's: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.
We are also monitoring our electricity usage.  When we are out of our classrooms we must turn off the lights to help conserve energy.  You can be more Eco friendly at home too!  Everyone can do their part to help our environment!  
As a New …

We are pleased to have a special performance called The Secret Life of Riley K  come to our school on Tuesday, January 10th. This dramatization and was created by Juno award-winning musical writers, Judy and David Gershon, and by Canadian director and playwright, Ali Joy Richardson, along with guidance from a team of mental health specialists. 

The Secret Life of Riley Kay is their brand new Mental Health Program, focusing on anxiety, and specifically created for grades 4 - 6. 12-year-old Riley Kay, is a clever, ambitious girl who strives for a perfect life.But the prospect of giving a big speech leads to a perfect mess!She is surprised to learn that her sick stomach was not the flu, but anxiety.Riley discovers she isn’t alone with these challenges and that help is nearby. 

This curriculum-integrated show encourages serious classroom discussion about how to reduce anxiety and support a balanced approach in life. Parents are also encouraged to discuss these concerns with your children at…

We're looking forward to seeing all our students back at school on Monday, January 9th, 2017. We hope everyone had a restful winter break with family and friends. We also hope everyone is ready and excited about seeing their friends and teachers at school and getting back to learning. 

We suggest that you get your children back into their regular routines and sleeping patterns to get ready to go back to school on Monday. Perhaps discuss with your children what their goals are, where they want to improve and what New Year's resolutions they want to make to continue working to achieve their goals.  

2017...here we come!