November - December - 2018 Precious Blood Catholic School 1035 Pharmacy Avenue Scarborough, Ontario M1C 1Z9 416-393-5258 Follow us on Twitter: @preciousbloodtc

C. Gomes Principal

D. McMullan Vice-Principal

Office Administration R. Greenaway M. Cosentino

F. Lopresti - Custodians O. Alday

P. Aguiar - Superintendent - Area 4Tel: 416-222-8282 extension 2267

M. Del Grande - Trustee - Ward 7Tel: 416-512-3407

Precious Blood Parish 1737 Lawrence Ave. East Scarborough, ON M1R 2X7 416-751-2661 www.preciousblood.ca

Father X. De Pinto, Parish Priest Archbishop L. Saldanha Father Joseph Moncada Nadine Kotes, Parish Secretary Chico Nuguid, Parish Youth Minister Virtue for December - Charity

Volume 9 Issue 2

Christmas Message and Greetings from the Principal’s DeskDecember 21, 2018

“And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins.” Matthew 1:21

Dear Parents, Guardians and Students,

During this beautiful season of Advent we prepare for the coming of our savior Jesus Christ. The season of Advent brings opportunity to each one of us to heal, renew, forgive and prepare for a new beginning with faithful hearts. Our Catholic faith teaches us that God so loved the world that He gave His only son to us. As we continue to take a walk towards Christmas, let us fill our hearts and minds with belief, trust, faith and hope remembering gratefully that the Christmas story is all about love, peace, compassion, charity, kindness and healing when we come together to celebrate the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ.

The past few weeks has been very exciting and wonderful where our staff and CSPC Members have worked collectively to help our students enjoy various activities and trips as a school community. The students enjoyed the wonderful “Movie Night” in the school gym and library on December 6th, 2018. We thank you for supporting this event and it was due to you that this event ended up being such a great success. Recently, the Primary and ELL classes also went on a trip to the Famous People Theatre to see the “Winter Wonderland” play, that they thoroughly enjoyed. Our parish priest Fr. Xavier has celebrated the “Advent Mass” with us and he also visited Mr. Cosgrove’s Grade 6 class to bless their “Christmas Lanterns” that were creatively designed and made by students! Our “Secret Santa” event was also a mega success, where every student received a gift and we thank you for your generosity, support and charitable works.

Our students have faithfully prepared themselves for Jesus during the Holy season of Advent. They have learned from scripture and faith stories that the birth of Jesus heralds “Peace on Earth” and that we must have peace in our hearts and love for our neighbour. On the same note, I wish all of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. May this Christmas bring healing, peace, happiness, joy, good health, contentment and love to all of you and your loved ones.

Last but not the least, I thank you for making a positive difference and for supporting us with the theme of “We Belong” in the Pastoral plan for 2018 – 2019. I thank you for your support, trust and for all that you do as parents and guardians for the Precious Blood School community.

I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, trusting in the Lord and praying that He may continue to bestow abundant blessings on all families of our school community as He guides us with His love.

With best wishes and felicitations,

Mrs. Cheryliane Gomes

“It's more blessed to give than to re-ceive (Acts 20:35)

A Celebration of Advent in the Precious Blood School Community

Staff and students have been busily preparing for Christmas with various activities in their classrooms and around the

school. Support for the Out of the Cold program and Good Shep-herd Refuge has seen many contributions of non-perishable items being donated by families and staff from the school. The donations will be distributied to needy families from the Precious Blood Parish Community over the Christmas season. Hallways and classrooms have been adorned with students' artwork and Christmas decorations. The office staff have organized a Christmas raffle with a gingerbread house as the prize, and a bake sale. As well, many parents and familes attended the evening Christmas Concert on Wednesday, December 12, which was a huge success.

Meaning of Advent

Advent is a time of Longing and Waiting for the Lord to come. The

evergreen circle and four candles of the Advent Wreath reflect the passage of the Advent season. It is often blessed at the beginning of Mass on the first Sunday of Advent, and one candle is lit. Another candle is lit every Sunday until all four candles are burning brightly. The act of lighting the candles banishes the dark-ness; a reminder of Jesus Christ, the light who has come into the world through his birth, and who continues to shine brightly through his Church. A PINK CANDLE for the third Sunday reminds us that the time of Christ's arrival is fast approaching and we must prepare.

(Left to Right: Mrs. Pirozzo, Mr. McMullan (V.P.) Mrs. Gomes (P.), Sarah G., Jessica T., Jasper H., Father Xavier De Pinto, Mrs. Garcia and Mr. Chico Nuguid)

On Friday, December 7th, Father Xavier De Pinto visited Precious Blood and celebrated with the school community the Mass for

Advent. In his homily , Father Xavier mentioned about the importance of making a good preparation for Christmas , the symbolism of the Advent wreath and encouraging students with their families to donate non-perishable food items for Out of the Cold program and the Good Shepherd Refuge.

TORONTO CATHOLIC DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD TRUSTEES2018-2019

Christmas and New Years' Mass Schedule for Precious Blood Parish Church

Christmas Eve: Monday, December 24 5:00 p.m. Children's Mass 7:00 p.m. Christmas Vigil Mass 11:00 p.m. Christmas Carols 11:30 p.m. Christmas Vigil MassChristmas Day: Tuesday, December 25 8:30 a.m. 10:00 a.m. 12:00 p.m. (noon)New Year's Eve: Monday, December 31 5:00 p.m.New Year's Day: Tuesday, January 1 - Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God 8:30 a.m. 10:00 a.m. 12:00 p.m. (noon)

Young Disciples Ignite Event at St. Patrick's High School

We went to St. Patrick's High School by school bus. When we arrived, we

saw the entrance to a very big high school; it was called St. Patrick's. We entered through the main entrance and were seated in a large auditorium. There, we waited for his grace Bishop Nyugen and the priests to come, so we could pray and celebrate Mass together with the other visiting grade six students. We were lucky to have the bishop there to talk to us, and explain the Mass to us. After the very long Mass, we sang songs such as We are Shining and played games such as Mr. George Said, and Heads and Tails, which was so enjoyable. Then a teacher from St. Patrick’s asked us ques-tions, and read to us sections from a book called Cracked Pot. Than we went to eat PIZZA, which was so delicious. After lunch we gathered in the audito-rium for Guided Adoration. We learned that we should love and respect the people in our lives, especially our family members, other students and teachers. At 2:00 p.m. we grabbed our belongings and boarded the bus for the return trip to the school.(Patricia, Mekela, Shanelle, Adrian and Bianca)

The Mission for the Young Disciples

As we continue to celebrate the Year of Belonging, this rally is designed to

ignite faith and inspire acts of service amongst our school communities. Stu-dents are encouraged to embrace the mission of discipleship and continue to promote acts of faith, through commu-nity, family and parish.

School Attendance Procedures

1. Attendance at Precious Blood Catholic School begins at 8.30 am and continues through until 3.00 pm.2. All permissions for students leaving the school during the day must be in writing. Oral permissions such as on the tele-phone are not permitted.

Attendance/Safe Arrival/Late Arrival

If your child will be absent or late for school, you must call the

school office at (416} 393- 5258 prior to 8 a.m. or leave a message on the school answering machine providing the date(s} and reason for the absence.

If the student is not in class when attendance is taken and if no mes-sage has been left on the school answering machine, a member of the school office staff will make every effort to call you at home or at work to find out why your child is absent. Please ensure that all contact information is up-to-date including any emergency contact or custody information.

New Safe Arrival Policy begins Tues-day, January 15th, 2019

To report your child as late or absent, please use one of the following options:Phone: Call 1 (833) 251-3286 (toll free)

Online: go.schoolmessenger.ca

Mobile App: School Messenger Mobile App

The above information is available on a fridge magnet that has been sent home from the school.

Hour of Code

Students from the Junior and Primary classes participated in the Hour of Code. The object was to complete 14 levels of instructions using blocks of code to

problem solve each event. Students who were able to complete the 14 levels success-fully were able to receive a completion certificate to recognize their achievement. Grade six students used the Hour of Code as a foundation to learning Scratch for the development of their Science themed video games in the Coding Quest program.

Blessing of the Lanterns

Students from Grade 6-2 were delighted to have Father Xavier De Pinto come to their classroom for the blessing of their lanterns. For the past six weeks the

students had worked on their lantern design to produce a battery operated lantern. Many challenges were experienced by the students, particularly in the inclusion of an electrical circuit for the light. Father Xavier reminded the students about the importance of the symbol of light during Advent, which represents the coming of Jesus at Christmas. We thank Father Xavier for blessing our lanterns, so that we can take them back to our homes for the celebration of Christmas.

Grade Five Class Activities

Ms. Stoneburgh’s grade five class exchanged letters with their pen pals from Canadian Martyrs’ School. Our

classroom was filled with joy and excitement as we read our letters received on Wednesday, December 12, 2018.

On Thursday, December 13, 2018, Ms. Stoneburgh’s grade five class and five students from Ms. Gill’s class participated

in a Human Body Workshop with Scientist in the School. The afternoon was a huge success with students making curriculum connections through their hands-on learning.

On November 21, 2018, Ms. Stoneburgh’s grade five class en-thusiastically participated in the National Ballet’s Workshop.

Students had a blast learning the movements, choreography and history of ballet.

We wish to express our heartfelt gratitude to the Book Bank who has generously donated nine cases of books

to Precious Blood in the past four months.

Remembering 100 Years since the End of The First World War

Students wear the poppy as a symbol of the men and women who have died in war.

Farewell to Ms. Thompson

A very special thank you to Ms. Thompson who will be leaving

for an exciting new position. Her contributions to the Precious Blood Community over her many years will not be forgotten by all those whose lives she has touched.

Christmas Concert

The Christmas Concert was another awesome production by Mrs. Soraine and her talented performers.

The entire cast provided incredible songs, dances andfine acting performances. Mrs. Soraine, under herprofessional direction, encouraged students to perform at their best during the rehearsals and night of performance on Wednesday, December 12. We wish to thank her for the many hours of preparation that wentinto making the Christmas Concert a success.

Grade Seven Science

For this year's structures and mecha-nism's unit the Gr. 7's were asked to

create bridges that could withstand 25 textbooks. All nine groups created excep-tional bridges and were able to withstand our grade learning goal. The tie breaker to determine the winner was to have one student sit on the bridge for 10 seconds, followed by standing for 10 seconds. The successful team was Sarah G, Vera A, Liam S and Alexa L. Great work Gr7's!!Mr. Sedef

Kindergarten Registrations for 2019Registratio n for the 2019-2020 school year begins January 16, 2019 at 10:00 a.m. E.S.T Apply for registration at soar.tcdsb.org or visit your local Catholic school on January 16th.