PRINCE PHILIP PUBLIC SCHOOL 3112 Dorchester Road N, Niagara Falls Ontario, L2J-2Z7 (905) 356-0521, Fax: (905)356-2163 Website: princephilips.dsbn.org Superintendent: JoAnna Roberto (905) 641-1550 ext. 54108

Trustees: Barb Ness & Kevin Maves

Dear Parents/Guardian,

It’s hard to believe it’s almost the end of 2014. As we prepare for the approaching holidays, and all the excitement that it brings. We find ourselves considering the many things to be thankful for in this wonderful school community. We have such dedicated staff; caring and considerate students; hard working support staff; and many dedicated parents - and a school full of resources available to all. Whether you are celebrating Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanzaa, Ramadan or another special event this Holiday Season, the staff at Prince Philip Public School would like to take this opportunity to wish all of you a joyous holiday. We hope the winter break provides opportunities for all of you to find some extra time to rest and relax as you gather with family and friends to celebrate the season. A reminder that our Winter Break will begin December 20th until January 4th, 2015. Classes will resume on Monday January 5th, 2015.

Best wishes to all for a peaceful, joyful and healthy holiday! STUDENTS OF THE MONTH

Congratulations to our September "Perseverance/Persévérance" recipients. December's

Character Trait is "Caring/Bienveillance".

3/4FI- Raina D. & Mya P. 4FI-1- Jade B. & Mary-Maira B. 4FI-2- Ayesha H. & Stephanie G. 4FI-3- Braedan D & Cole P. 5FI-1- Sarah A., Macey B., & Hayley-Rose V. 5FI-2- Nikola J., L.J. N. & Ahelayas N. 5FI-3- Rahma H. & Julian B. 6FI-1- Owen H. & Daphene W. 6FI-2- Arleen S. & Daniel P. 6FI-3- Sam R. & Sheila N. 7FI-1- Troy B. & Mikayla T. 7FI-2- Kendra S. & Owen M. 7FI-3- T.J. C. & Riley L. 8FI-1- Winfield O. & Savannah Z. 8FI-2- Shannon B. & Joshua C. 8FI-3- Elly W. & Connor L. 7 - Paje B. & Garnet B. 7/8- Bailey G. & Jaden S. 8- Abby S. & Chance M.

December 2014/January 2015 News JOHN MCCALL MACBAIN VISIT

On Wednesday November 19th, 2014, we were honored by a visit from John McCall MacBain and Bob Wybrow. Mr. McCall MacBain was a former graduate of Prince Philip and Mr. Wybrow was a former teacher here at our school. Mr. MacBain is a very successful business person. His contributions to the world go far beyond the realm of business. Through his efforts to support education, health and the fight against climate change, Mr. McCall MacBain has demonstrated to us that true success includes both personal accomplishments and social conscience.

Since its foundation in 2007, the McCall MacBain foundation has committed almost $200 million dollars for scholarships, health and the environment. Mr. McCall MacBain donates a significant amount of time to various Boards and charitable organizations that empower people and improve society. In particular, he is the Founding Chair of the European Climate Foundation which promotes climate and energy policy to greatly reduce Europe's greenhouse gas emissions. Although he lives in Switzerland, Mr. MacBain is from Niagara Falls and has never forgotten his roots. He is a graduate from Orchard Park Public School, Prince Philip Public School in grades 7&8 and AN Myer Secondary School. His visit to our Niagara Falls schools was to highlight teachers who play a significant role in influencing students and he acknowledged Bob Wybrow, his Geography teacher, during his time here at Prince Philip. In addition, Mr. McCall MacBain also established two scholarships in his name and in Mr. Wybrow's name for the next 10 years to our Grade 8 graduates. McCall MacBain Scholarship - $1000.00 Criteria : Awarded to a recipient who exudes the qualities of

hard work, dedication, perseverance, a love of learning and demonstrates significant school and community spirit by contributions in both areas. R.W. Wybrow Scholarship - $500.00 Criteria: Awarded to a recipient who demonstrates the most

significant academic growth and most improved attitude towards learning in his/her graduating year.

Ms. L. Tisi, Principal & Ms. K. Racey, Vice Principal

HOLIDAY CONCERTS

Our holiday concerts will take place on December 16th at 9:00 a.m., 1:30 p.m., and 7 p.m. Due to the popularity of the evening concert, we will be asking family members to reserve tickets. An order form will be sent home and spots will be reserved on a first come, first served basis. We are also limiting the tickets available to family members on that evening to no more than two tickets per student. We also ask that if you attend a performance, you stay for the whole performance if that is possible. Students will be watching the concert during the day performances (Juniors at 9:00, and Intermediates at 1:30). We hope to see you there!

HOMEWORK CLUB Prince Philip is now offering "Homework Breaks" during 4 days per cycle:

• Day 1: 12:30 – 12:50

• Day 2: 10:10 – 10:50

• Day 6: 12:30 – 1:10

• Day 7: 10:10 – 10:30

These breaks will give students the opportunity to work on assignments or other school work in the library. Grade 7 & 8 Literacy/Numeracy Club

Starting this December we are offering an Outside the School Day Literacy/Numeracy Club to help grade 7 and 8 students accomplish their literacy and numeracy goals. This program is FREE for all students and provides an enjoyable and fun learning environment.

• Students will receive individual and small group instruction and help with the goals for each session

• Students bring their materials with them to each session

• Students will receive assistance with work related to Literacy or Numeracy

• Students attend all sessions If you would like your child to participate or have any questions please contact: Cassandra Ahmed at cassandra.ahmed@dsbn.org or 905-356-0521

Student Medical Concerns/Anaphylactic Alert We would like to remind parents/guardians that we have students who have life-threatening allergies to peanuts/nuts.

It is our request that you do not send peanut or nut based food as snacks with your child to school. Even a trace amount, or even the smell of these products, can cause anaphylactic shock and possible death. If your child is recently diagnosed, please inform the school ASAP to ensure the safety of your child. In addition, the DSBN requires an Emergency Action Plan to be completed. These can be obtained at our Office.

SCHOOL ADVISORY COUNCIL

Our Prince Philip School Advisory Council had their November meeting on Tuesday, November 25th. Our next SAC meeting will be on Thursday, January 22nd at 6:30 pm at Prince Philip in the Library.

HOLIDAY BASKET RAFFLE

On Tuesday, December 16, during each performance of the Holiday Concert, the members of the School Advisory Council will be selling tickets for a Basket Raffle to raise funds to assist with updating the school Learning Commons/Library Each class has been assigned a theme for their basket and we are asking students to bring in one item for the basket. The SAC members will be collecting all items on Friday, December 12, 2014 so that they can put the baskets together in time for December 16th. Tickets will be sold at the door. The following classes have been assigned the following theme: 1) Movie Theme - 3/4 Klassen

2) Movie Theme - 7 Brochu

3) Games Theme - 4 Gilberti

4) Games Theme - 7 Whitehead

5) Chocolate Theme - 4 Yochim

6) Chocolate Theme - 7 Stapleton

7) Sports Theme - 4 Wais

8) Sports Theme - 8 Vandenbosh

9) Pamper/Spa - 5 Mackenzie

10) Pamper/Spa- 8 McGovern

11) Baking Fun - 5 Werezak

12) Baking Fun - 8 Demers

13) Arts and Crafts - 5 Berman

14) Arts and Crafts - 7 Ibey

15) Beach Fun - 6 Kirouac

16) Coffee Lovers Theme - 7/8 Hellwig

17) Coffee Lovers Theme - 6 Provenzano

18) All about my Dog - 8 Miller

19) All about my Dog - 6 Sauvé We thank you in advance for your cooperation and generosity. Prince Philip School Advisory Members

PARKING LOT SAFETY

We thank parents for their continued support in ensuring our parking lot is safe during our entry and dismissal times of the day. We continue to ask parents who are dropping their children off, especially between 8:00 and 8:25, to do so on McMicking. We are finding it unsafe for cars to manoeuvre

between buses and students having to walk in between buses to get to the back of the yard. In addition, there are small traffic jams in the bus loading area that make it difficult for our 17 buses to get through. Thank you

GRADE 8 HIGH SCHOOL OPEN HOUSES

Our DSBN High Schools had their Open Houses On November 20th in order to prepare our Grade 8's to move onto High School next year. It was a great turnout. Congratulations to the following Prince Philip students who won prizes that evening at A.N. Myer: Clair C & Ali I. - Myer bag Daylon O. & Jessie F. - Myer shirt Emily M. - Myer water bottle Camryn F. - Cinema passes Jeorge R - student activity fee paid for Tyssa B. - Phys-Ed uniform

GRADE 8 GRADUATION PHOTO DAY IS THURSDAY, JANUARY 29TH, 2015 Students are asked to wear a white shirt/tie or blouse. If students are unable, Lifetouch photography will have shirts and blouses available for students to use for that day. Bring your smiles!!

INTRAMURALS

In the month of December, the Intermediate boys will be playing basketball at 1st breaks and Gr. 3/4 students will be playing floor hockey at 2nd breaks. We thank our supervising teachers and our student referees for their support. Information is updated daily and should be your go-to for all athletics-related information All questions can be answered by going to ppathletics.weebly.com Be in the know and check us out!!

Remember, get involved at Prince Philip! If you are not, you are missing out!

Stop the spread of Infection by:

Staying home if you are sick and return when you are well

Washing your hands with soap and water or use a hand sanitizer

Covering your cough or sneeze with a tissue or in your sleeve

Keeping your distance Getting a flu shot

For more information, talk to your school nurse or go to www.niagararegion.ca/health

HEAD LICE

Parents are an important part of controlling head lice. Children

are especially prone to these pests as they often play close

together where heads may come in close contact.

• Remind your children to put their

tuques and other headgear in their lockers

• Long hair should be braided or

pinned close to the head

• Hats, combs, brushes should not

be lent or borrowed, and should be washed regularly

• Check your school age children.

once weekly for head lice

Please notify the school immediately

if head lice or nits are found.

When students are found to have lice or nits parents will be

contacted and students will be sent home, as our goal is to

keep the school lice free. The school sends information home

with all students in a class where head lice has been found.

This is also available for parents to assist in the treatment of

head lice.

CUSTODY ORDERS When couples separate or divorce, parents generally share custody of the children. Sometimes, however, other arrangements are made and set out in a court order. The school cannot enforce these alternate arrangements unless we have a copy of the court order on file in your child’s confidential Ontario School Record. Should you have such a court order that we should be aware of, please speak to the principal and share the most current copy with the school office.

AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE ABOUT INCLEMENT WEATHER PROCEDURES

There may be times during the school year where inclement weather or other situations could cause transportation cancellations or school closures. At times when student transportation has been cancelled and schools remain open, the decision of whether or not to have children in school on that day rests with the parent or guardian. Should you decide not to send your child to school in the event that transportation is cancelled but schools remain open, or if your child is ill or late, please ensure that you call your child’s school to inform them of your child’s absence.

A key resource in any emergency is the DSBN Emergency Information form that you filled out at the beginning of the school year. Please let the school know of any changes in contact information or procedures you wish to be followed throughout the school year. For secondary schools it may become necessary to cancel late buses. Notice will be provided via school announcements and on the websites and subscription features by 11:30 a.m. Information about transportation cancellations and school closures will be available as soon as it is available through the following channels: Phone:

Niagara Student Transportation Services 905-346-0290 Voice Auto Attendant Websites:

http://www.dsbn.org/inclementweather/ www.nsts.ca Subscription Features:

DSBN Facebook or Twitter NSTS Transportation Delay or Cancellation Alerts

Television Stations:

COGECO, Cable 10, CHCH Television, City TV

Radio Stations:

KLite102.9FM, EZRock-105.7, FM,Y-108–107.9 FM, Wave

94.7 FM, CKTB 610 AM, CHML 900 AM, CHSC 1220 AM Hits

97.7 FM

CTV Toronto Cogeco Channel 10

SNOW AND SAFETY

As always, we want all students at Prince Philip Public school

to make safe choices on the yard. With winter already here,

we need to remind students about the following rules

1. No snow throwing 2. No kicking snow

Students can always roll snow for fun and exercise. Let’s work

together to keep our yard and school environment safe and

enjoyable for everyone.

Grade 1 French Immersion Registration

The French Immersion program (offered at French Immersion sites) is open to all students in Senior Kindergarten. If you want your child to develop a high proficiency and fluency in Canada’s two official languages, French Immersion has a great deal to offer. FEATURES OF THE FRENCH IMMERSION PROGRAM:

Development of French language skills in speaking, listening, reading and writing from grades one to twelve;

Designed to be a second language program for children whose first language is NOT French;

Current enrolment of over 2,000 elementary students;

Certificate of French Immersion Studies awarded upon successful completion of the elementary and secondary Immersion program;

Promoting understanding of different cultures;

Providing additional opportunities for employment using French as the working language;

An increased ability to communicate and interact with confidence in French.

Registration will open January 5th

, 2015 at 12:00 p.m. and will close February 17

th, 2015 at 9:00 a.m.

For more information about French Immersion in the District School Board of Niagara visit www.dsbn.org/fi or speak to your school principal. Parent Information evening sessions will be held in January. Parent Visitations to the Grade 1 French Immersion classrooms will occur during designated daytime hours if desired. *N.B. – With recent revisions to the French Immersion program at the DSBN, McKay Public School in Port Colborne, is the only site accepting Grade 4 entry registrations. Please note, beginning September 2016, the DSBN will be a single entry program with French Immersion starting only in Grade 1. Niagara Falls John Marshall Public School (Grade 1 entry)

1) Parent Information Night: Thursday, January 8, 2015 6:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.

2) Grade 1 French Immersion Classroom Visits (if

desired): Tuesday, January 13, 2015 9:25 a.m. -10:15 a.m. & 1:20 p.m. – 2:10 p.m.

“Take a MATH Hike”

You can help your children continue to learn and stay

active by taking a math hike. Walk or bike together

through your neighbourhood or along one of the many

beautiful trails or bike paths in our area. You may want

to use a pedometer to track your steps. You can also

have children help to plan the outing by discussing how

far you might go, how long it will take and how fast you

might travel. Children can be math detectives as they

consider and discuss some of the following:

Can you find leaf or petal clusters in groups of

3,4,5,6....?

Can you find spirals?

What geometric shapes can you find, manmade or

natural?

What patterns can you see?

What equations might you use to describe the

patterns you see?

How could you estimate how tall or wide something

is?

Do you see symmetry anywhere?

Are there arrangements that make it easy to count

how many objects you see?

Can you guess the angles formed by branches or

leaves? How did you estimate?

Do you see numerals anywhere? What do they tell us?

For long lasting fun, take along a camera to capture

pictures of the math you see or a notebook to draw and

label your discoveries. Other friends or family members

can guess what the image is and where the image came

from as well as talking about the math that they see! You

could even create a collage, scrapbook or slideshow.

A parent/guardian survey will be coming home soon

that is related to Math curriculum and instruction to

further support families.

"ME TO WE" SOCIAL JUSTICE CLUB The Me to We group has been busy discussing and planning some exciting activities for the month of December. Our group will be hosting a guest speaker from who is a volunteer at a local shelter and was once a person without a home who received services from the shelter. He will discuss the essential roles of shelters in helping those in need and discuss the challenges and stigmas he experienced in his past as a homeless man in St. Catharines. This is part of our campaign, “We Won’t Rest”, to inform our students about the realities of homelessness. He has invited our group to volunteer during dinner service at the Southridge Community Shelter in St. Catharines for four nights in the coming weeks! We are looking forward to this eye-opening experience! Our group will also be collecting school items to send to children in Uganda. Miss Miller’s friend makes a yearly trek to schools in Uganda that are in need of school supplies. As she is only one person, we are relying on the members of the Me to We group to collect items! Also during the month of December, our group will be selling Rafiki bracelets to support Kenyan mamas as they create lasting change in their communities. Every Rafiki an artisan makes helps her earn a living, send her children to school and show the world the power of her skills and traditions. These make wonderful Christmas gifts for all! We will be selling the bracelets for $10.00, half of the proceeds go directly to the Kenyan mamas and the other half goes to Adopt a Village, a Me to We campaign. Rafiki release date will be announced shortly!! In the New Year we will be taking on initiatives brought to us by the students, as well we will be engaged in some awareness campaigns about Aboriginal issues, homelessness and education both locally and globally. Some students may even decide to take a Vow of Silence in April, to show support for children around the world who do not have a voice! The New Year holds lots of promise for whole school involvement…stay tuned!!! Mrs. Hellwig, Mme. Ahmed and Miss Miller

Developing in your child the Math

and Critical Thinking Skills