Sir Edgar Bauer Elementary School

660 Glen Forrest Blvd., Waterloo,

Ontario

Kindergarten Registration

Principal’s Message

Parents/Guardians and Students,

Happy New Year!! On behalf of the entire staff at SEB, I’d like to welcome you back!! We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and had many opportunities to spend some very special time with your family and friends.

Ms. Muller and I would like to thank the parents, and students for their generosity shown by the many heartfelt wishes and remembrances extended to us during the Christmas season. Your recognition is very much appreciated.

With your support we were able to help a lot of people who were in need of assistance during the Christmas Season. I’d like to pass on many thanks from the residents and staff at Marillac Place, to whom many wish list items were donated by the SEB community, and Nutrition for Learning, to whom our candy gram donations went. We raised $611.99 in total. For as we all know, the true spirit of Christmas is that of giving.

I wish you all the best in the New Year.

Ms. K. Peace

Kindergarten Registration for 2017-2018 will take place in February of 2017 for children born in 2012 (JK) and 2011 (SK.). Our registration day will take place Wednesday February 1 from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm.

You will need to bring a baptismal certificate, birth certificate and a copy of your child’s immunization.

Page 2 Volumn 4, Issue 4

Winter Weather Update

When we experience cold weather throughout the year families often have many questions. In light of this we are informing the community of the policy that is followed when deciding to keep students indoors for winter. Students will remain inside when temperatures, including wind chill, are at or below –19°C. When the temperature is between –15°C and –19°C, students may remain outside for no longer than 20 minutes at a time. Otherwise all students will go outside for recesses and lunches. Students must dress for the weather and be prepared to be outside before school, during the two 15 minute recess and the 40 minute lunch break. Please check the weather each day before students are sent to school and ensure that they are coming to school dressed to go outside every day.

In the event of severe weather, please listen to the local radio stations for school closure or bus cancellation information beginning at 6:00 a.m. Announcements are made approximately every quarter hour. Additionally, all cancellation updates can be found on the WCDSB website (http://www.wcdsb.ca/), under the Cancellations tab.

Term one report cards go home on February 16th.

St. Michael Parish School Community Skating Social

When: Sunday February 19 (2:00 —

3:00 p.m.)

Where: Albert McCormick E. Arena,

Waterloo

Who’s invited: Students, families

and staff of SEB and St. Nicholas

CES

Cost: It’s free!!

NEW to SEB for 2017!! Sibling Picture Day. Photographers from Lifetouch will be here on Thursday , January 12, 2017 to take Sibling photos and pictures of our Grade 8 Grads.

COLD & ILLNESS

Thank you for keeping your children home when they are sick. It is very easy to pass on colds and flu in a school environment. Children who do not feel well, do not learn well. If students are well enough to be at school, then the expectation is that they go outside for recess. Unfortunately, we do not have staff on duty inside during recess times to supervise students who are not well.

Sir Edgar Bauer Elementary School

Follow us on Twitter! Sir Edgar Bauer School Library is on

Twitter – follow our feed at

https://twitter.com/@sebrlibrary

for our latest news and updates.

Primary Literacy Website Activities

If you’re looking for a website for

your child in grades JK-2 to practice

their letters, words and sounds, you

may want to try Read Write Think

(http://tinyurl.com/c87d4u6).

There are several free interactive

games there including matching and

word construction activities.

Free Rice Website A big “thanks” to the many students who have been using

the website Free Rice (www.freerice.com) with our

school login (sebr) and password (bauer).

So far we have earned 87830 grains of rice by answering

math and language questions. The website then do-

nates the same amount of real rice to

needy countries around the world.

Great job; let’s see how many we can

get before the end of the school year.

Today, more there 805 million people in

the world who do not have enough food

to lead a normal, active life.

Citing Sources Citing information sources is an important step in research. A

useful website for both Intermediate elementary and high school

students is www.citationmachine.net. This site allows you to simply

select what type of information source you’d like to cite (website,

book, magazine article, etc.) then fill in a simple form and voila —

your citation will appear ready-to-use in both MLA and APA

formats!

Scholastic Book Fair Coming Soon

We will be announcing the dates for our Scholastic Book

Fair later this month. Stay tuned for more information!

Word Cloud Websites

Students wanting to create “Word Clouds” can use the

websites http://www.wordle.net/ and http://

www.tagxedo.com/. Students using Chromebooks can use

the World Cloud creator at www.abcya.com. Word Clouds

are great to use as printed title pages or title slides, or

they can be saved as images and imported into PowerPoint

or Google Slide presentations.

Learning Commons Evolution

Our Library Learning Commons is continuing to grow and

evolve this year as we continue to adopt the Learning

Commons model and move further away from some of the

traditional ideas of what a “library” is.

Learning Commons spaces are modern, open, learner-

centred spaces which encourage students to explore,

collaborate and engage with their learning.

There’s a place in the Learning Commons for technology

(computers, Chromebooks, personal devices, e-books,

databases etc.) as well as traditional printed books.

This year, our students have used the LC space to create

crafts, build robots, write poems, update their D2L

portfolios, do coding, play and write music (even using

bananas!), and create videos using Green screen, in addition

to doing traditional research and borrowing books.

We are also incorporating new discovery centres this year

to encourage inquiry as well as adding Makerspace elements

including Technology “deconstruction” (i.e. taking apart a

clock radio to see what makes it tick). We’re also working

at creating craft and

cardboard creation

centres, and maybe

even sewing and

knitting areas. Stay

tuned for some ex-

citing developments!

Council Corner

Happy New Year to everyone – we hope your time off with your family was restful and enjoyable. 2016 was a great year and 2017 is shaping up to be an even better one at SEB! Here are some updates and information to get you started on 2017!

Playground update We will be holding another fundraiser towards our playground replacement goal of $45,000. Last year the school raised over $10,000. We have a long way to go towards 2018 but the “Stars” will get us there! Stay tuned for details about the fundraising event happening in June and how you can participate.

Pancake Tuesday Pancake Tuesday – February 28th, 2017 We will continue with the tradition of cooking a pancake breakfast for the students on Shrove Tuesday. We are looking for assistance with cooking the pancakes beginning at 7am. Also if you have an electric griddle, or can lend us a griddle please let the office know. Pancakes are nut free, but unfortunately we are not able to accommodate other food allergies.

Mark your calendars!

All are welcome! Thursday January 12th – Parent Council Meeting (6:30pm – SEB Library) Tuesday February 28th – Pancake Tuesday Thursday March 2nd – Parent Council Meeting (6:30pm – SEB Library) Wednesday March 8th – Family Movie Night and Pajama Party

School Council Co-chairs Jason Gorrie and Julie Kalbfleisch

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8 9 10 11 12 Grad photo &

Sibling Photo

6:30 School

Council

13 14

15 16 17 French

Immersion

Parent

Meeting 5:30

18 19 20 Pita Pit Day

Bring your

stuffie day

21

22 23 24 Grade 8

Pathway

Parent

Meeting @ St.

Luke’s 6:30

25 26 27 PD Day

28

29 30 31 8:55am

Virtue of the

Month

Assembly

January 2017

Did You Know?

This math question is taken from the 2015-2016 Junior EQAO Mathematics booklet. What would your response be, and why?

Which of these expressions has a value of 0.555? ● 55.5 ÷ 100 ● 55.5 ÷ 1000

● 5.55 × 100 ● 5.55 × 1000

For more information about EQAO assessments, see www.equao.com

Healthy Active Schools Hand washing, when done correctly, is the single most effective way to prevent the spread of infection during the winter season.

Set a good example and encourage your children to wash their hands regularly.

Vacations and appointments If you are going on vacation we do not need the “Intent to be Absent Form” filled out unless it is 15 days or more. Just let the teacher and the office know of the dates you will be gone. When your child has an appointment, please send a separate note that can be sent to the office. If it is put in the agenda, the office does not usually see it. Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.

PRIMARY GAMES CLUB RETURNS!

Grade 1, 2, and 3 students are welcome to join each Wednesday until March Break. You must bring a home board game and a friend to play it with. Come to room 15 after eating on Wednesdays.

*If it is an indoor recess, Games Club will be cancelled.

What are the benefits of a litter-less lunch? They… Reduce waste from packaging Placing less burden on landfills and waste management systems

Reduce food waste Allowing you to pack just the right amount of food and use leftovers

Save money Making your own food is less expensive than buying prepared, individually-packaged foods

Support eating well Providing opportunities to eat more fresh, whole foods like vegetables and fruit, whole grains,

legumes, milk and alternatives and lean protein choices Relying less on processed foods, which typically have more fat, sugar and salt than food you would

make at home

How do you pack a litter-less lunch?

Here is what you will need to have on hand: Reusable lunch bag or backpack Reusable containers in a variety of sizes for holding different food items Refillable water bottle or beverage container Reusable cutlery (made from bamboo or stainless steel, for example) Cloth napkins

Step 1 – Pack individual portions of each food into reusable containers. Remember to include at least one item from each food group!

Step 2 – Simply add a water bottle, cutlery, a cloth napkin, an ice pack (or frozen water bottle) and pack it all up in the lunch bag.

Other Helpful Tips

Set aside a few minutes to pack lunch the night before to avoid a morning panic.

Keep fresh fruit and vegetables on hand as well as easy to pack items such as dried fruit, whole grain crackers, hummus, roasted chickpeas or nut-free trail mix.

Buy items like yogurt in larger (bulk) containers instead of single serving portions.

To save time, portion leftovers from dinner directly into reusable containers for lunch the next day. Freeze any extra containers and defrost them overnight in the fridge on another day!

January FitBit 2017

Litter-less Lunches

What is a litter-less lunch?

Also called a waste-free lunch, a litter-less lunch is a meal that is packed without any disposable containers or packaging.

Healthy, Active Living Fit Bit

STARS-2017 Girls’ Volleyball

Congratulations go out to the following students who will represent Sir Edgar Bauer as our volleyball stars this season: Grade 8’s – Kiona B., Claire H., Megan H. and Leanne K.; Grade 7’s - Autumn B., Julia B., Kate F., Michelle K., Jessica K., Julia P., Sarah R., and Hailey T.; Grade 6’s – Carlene J., Kara L., Basis S., Lisa T., Aliya U., Amy C., and Emylie Z.; Grade 5`s – Lilly B., Megan B., and Addy C.

Please wish our STARS luck as they practice and play against a number of other teams this season. As always, we plan to leave our competition star-struck with our team work, volleys, spikes, sets and serves.

Sports Corner

Boys’ Intermediate Basketball 2017

The boys basketball season is poised and ready to take to the court starting Wednesday January 18, at St. Luke’s. The team can’t wait to start the season. Good Luck boys!

FRENCH IMMERSION FOR SK STUDENTS

PROGRAM REGISTRATION Will your child be entering Grade 1 in September? Have you considered enrolling them in the French Immersion Program? We will be hosting a Parent Information Evening on Tuesday January 17th at 5:30pm here in the school library to answer any question you may have about the Immersion Program. Online registration is currently open at www.wcdsb.ca and closes on January 31st.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Will our child be at a disadvantage because my spouse and I don’t speak French? No. It is not necessary for parents or guardians to know or speak French. If you don’t speak French, you can still make your child’s French-language experience positive. Be supportive and enthusiastic. Research shows that students whose parents have positive attitudes toward French do better in immersions.

My child already speaks 2 or 3 languages. Will the addition of another language be too overwhelming? No. The more languages one speaks, the easier it is to master new ones! Students who arrive in Canada speaking a language that is neither French nor English have an advantage over students from English- only homes when learning French. These children are five times more likely to complete high school French than Canadian born students!

My child has special education needs. Can they register for the French Immersion program? Yes. Children with all types of academic ability can succeed in French immersion, not just above-average students. Studies show that students requiring accommodation or modifications do as well in Immersion as they do in English programs. Every student can have the same opportunity, and the advantage is that they all have the potential to become bilingual.

Will my child’s performance in English suffer? Learning subjects in French does not interfere with English-language development. In fact, it improves it. Research shows that learning a second language has a positive effect on first-language achievement. Immersion students match and often exceed the English skills of other students by Grade 4 or 5.

Calling all Families! Send in a CLEAN and DRY outer Milk Bag!! Our ECO TEAM will cut and weave them into blankets that are sent to Refugee Camps around the world. These blankets are easy to clean and keep people warm and off the ground. They even act as umbrellas!!

SEB ECO Club

Me-to-We

Our Me-to-We Crew would like to send out a very sincere thank you to our Sir Edgar Bauer family community for the wonderful support in our “WE are Rafikis” fundraiser. We sold over 200 rafikis and donated the money to support health care in Africa. Thanks for helping to take action and create change in our world!