Sudbury Catholic District School Board

Month: November 2014

St. Andrew shares anti-bullying message

Posted on by admin

On Tuesday November 18th, Officer H. Wilmount visited St. Andrew School and shared her message that it is okay to be different. We all need to stand up and be a friend. She took time to read Og and the Gruffalo to the primary children and My Secret Bully to the junior children. She also brought the school a beautiful banner with the school Thunderbird logo and the words “Take the Pledge…The Writing is on the Wall…Stand up Be a Friend…You are not Alone.”

All the students in the school will have an opportunity to sign the banner and then it will be placed in a strategic spot in the school.

Director Joanne Bénard in the hot seat at St. Bernadette

Posted on by admin

During her recent visit to St. Bernadette Catholic School, Director of Education Joanne Bénard sat in the “hot seat” with students in Grades 3 through 6.

The Director joined in as students used an application on their iPads called Puppet Pals to practise their French language oral communication skills. Students recorded themselves interviewing each other and they asked and answered questions “en français”. Once the interviews were over, students shared their creations with their classmates using the SmartBoard. Mme Perron (Gr. 3), Mme Chevrier (Gr. 4) and Mme Therrien (Gr. 5/6) have been team-teaching with a focus on increasing self-confidence, motivation and engagement for second language French Immersion students for the past school year. “Students are always enthusiastic to participate in authentic opportunities to use their oral communication skills. Using technology to enhance their performance is a very successful approach!”, stated Mme Perron. Mme Therrien said, “The students were thrilled when Mme Bénard partnered with Grade 5 student, Sabrina Crossthwaite! Interviewing the Director of Education, en français, a great opportunity to showcase how well our students are able to communicate in their second language!”

We all have a responsibility to look out for each other to prevent bullying

Posted on by admin

In celebration of bullying prevention week, a group of students gathered in the St. Charles College chapel at lunch today to speak about the challenges and pressures facing youth. Natalie Robert will be presenting about her teenage experience thus far at the Antioch weekend retreat this weekend. Natalie will be talking about building a community of faith and how we all have a responsibility to care for each other and ourselves.

Antioch is a weekend retreat to build relationships and spirituality.  It is being held this weekend and is held twice each year for incoming grade 9 students.

Deacon Steve Callaghan who leads the retreat says Natalie’s topic is fitting given this is bullying prevention week.  “If we are taking care of each other, that means we are saying no to bullying of every shape and form”.

Remembering the Fallen Soldiers of St. Charles College

Posted on by admin

A November 11 ceremony of remembrance honoured soldiers whose lives were lost in historic wars but also highlighted former students like Pvt. Andrew Miller.  Pvt. Miller graduated from St. Charles College and was killed by an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan back in 2010. 

Another fallen Cardinal was also honoured.  Cpl. Glenn Arnold was a medic technician who was killed by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan in 2006. 

The moving ceremony included both staff and students from S.C.C. and its sister school, St. Bernadette.

The ceremony also included songs presented by the S.C.C. choir.

St. John Remembers

Posted on by admin

Grade 8 students at St. John School held a Remembrance Day celebration to remember those who have served our country. They did a beautiful job of honouring our soldiers with a slide show, prayer candles, and proudly singing our national anthem. Pictured are two grade 8 students, Carter Gosselin and Ryan Frank, with the display that was created by their class. Thank you to Mr. Charlebois for organizing this touching, heartfelt celebration in honour of our country’s freedom.

Board celebrates faith community on PA Day

Posted on by admin

On Nov 7 2014, the Sudbury Catholic District School Board came together as a faith community. The PA Day began with a mass celebrated by His Excellency Bishop Jean-Louis Plouffe and many priests from the area. The day continued with the unveiling of the SudburyCatholicSchools mental health strategy – “Sudbury Catholic Schools… where your well-being matters”. The logo for the mental health strategy is a combination of the sun and a dandelion. The dandelion is regarded as a weed, despite it’s many beneficial health properties. A weed is to dandelion as words like crazy are to mental health. The warm colour and sun-like qualities promote positivity, brightness and growth. At the centre is a cross to symbolize how our faith is at the centre of all that we do.

The staff was also addressed by a current student who shared their own struggles. Student Rilie spoke from her heart and helped the staff understand what a caring adult can do to help students. The afternoon continued with Psychologist Adele Robinson whose topic was Emotional Coaching: Supporting the Emotional Health of Youth in Schools. SCDSB wants to thank each and every staff member who helps make a difference in the lives of our students everyday! Sudbury Catholic Schools… where your well-being matters

Learning to Drum

Posted on by admin

St. Francis student, Preston Patterson, was very excited to have the opportunity to drum on a traditional Aboriginal drum. Joel Agowissa, the board Aboriginal support worker, finished off the ABC program by bringing in items such as snapping turtle shells, animal skulls, furs, and traditional wooden games, just to name a few. When leaving the school, Preston was able to thank Joel by saying ‘miigwetch’ (thank you) in Ojibwe.

Fun with math!

Posted on by admin

With the recent delivery of several workshops highlighting new and fun approaches to practicing math facts and developing mental math skills, students at St James school are reaping the benefits. At the beginning of every math period, students are encouraged to use playing cards or dice to practice addition and multiplication skills independently and to test each other in fun math challenges. Primary and junior students are also learning the benefits of strategies such as decomposing or friendly numbers to add difficult numbers without the use of paper, pencils or calculators. Student engagement is obvious and real learning is happening!

St. Paul students learn about Down Syndrome

Posted on by admin

November 1st to November 7th is National Down Syndrome Awareness week in Canada. Lisa Wright, grade 2/3 F.I. teacher at St. Paul school has been advocating for people with Down syndrome since her daughter Holly was born 15 years ago. What better way to bring awareness about Down syndrome than to involve children in sharing the message? The students used the classroom iPads to research important facts about Down syndrome that were then put into a presentation. On Thursday, November 6th, they visited the grades 5 to 8 classes, sharing the information they had learned. The students in the classrooms that were visited were so attentive and asked some very good questions following the presentation. They were left with a much better understanding of people with Down syndrome and now know not to underestimate their abilities.

Mme Wright is extremely proud of each of her students and believes they will continue to share their knowledge and will make a difference in the lives of people with Down syndrome from this day forward. To learn more about Down syndrome, please visit www.cdss.ca and / or www.dsas.ca.

Register Now! E-mail Copied to Clipboard