St. David students continue to learn how numeracy is everywhere in the real world. St. David School teaches mathematical skills across the curriculum and this includes the Core French program taught by Mr. Louis Mailloux. “The students have the opportunity to build flower boxes and build their confidence. They have fun, see real world math skills in action and learn a second language all at the same time”. These hands-on opportunities contribute to the development of a broader and deeper understanding of numeracy.
Category: St. David School
St. David School Uses Cooking and Math to Teach Valuable Life Skills
Authentic experiences that allow students to make real life connections will help them to grasp general mathematical principles and will help develop future math success.
At St. David Catholic School, the Intensive Support Facilitator, Lynsie Royer, leads a bi-weekly math focused cooking club for students in Grades 3 – 6. Each week, students receive a recipe and a math learning goal. Each weekly goal is connected to the Ontario math curriculum. For example, doubling ingredients in recipes, inquiring about ratios and the favourite of most students, using division to share the delicious treats equitably.
“The after-school math and cooking club is hands down the most rewarding educational experience of my career,” said Lynsie Royer, Intensive Support Facilitator at St. David Catholic School. “It joins my two passions – math and cooking and my enthusiasm for both of these activities has transferred to the students. We have lots of fun, laugh a lot, eat a lot and learn a lot.”
The School is proud to not only support the math curriculum in this extracurricular opportunity, but also to help develop a life skill that will ensure student success in the kitchen.
“Cooking Club is super fun. Before cooking club, I really didn’t understand how to divide but Miss Royer taught me how using chocolate chips and measuring them into cups. It turned out that I could divide and it was actually easy,” exclaimed Grade 3 student Ethan Webb.
St. David School is looking forward to continuing this new and exciting initiative in the upcoming 2017-2018 School Year.
Families Engage in the Learning Process at St. David School
Staff, parents and students at St. David Catholic School believe that reading is fundamental to school success. Families continue to support student success by sharing their love of reading with their children at home in the school’s “read at home program” and at school during the “learn together mornings” program.
St. David families were co-learners alongside students during the school’s “learn together morning” which took place during Catholic Education Week (April 30-May 5, 2017). Family members spent the morning learning with their children demonstrating their love of reading and using it as an effective to tool to teach reading.
“It was a wonderful morning. It’s always great to see students so excited to read. Parents and family members were very proud of their children and the children were fantastic hosts”, said Colin Lapalme, the school’s vice principal.
“Me to We – Youth in Action” Award Winner visits St. David’s Students to talk about preserving water!
St. David Catholic Elementary School was greeted by “Me to We – Youth in Action” award winner, Autumn Peltier, from Wikwemikong First Nation who visited the Native Language class students.
She and her mother Stephanie talked about her travels around Mother Earth fighting for water, including representing Canada in the Children’s Climate Conference in Sweden, meeting our Prime Minister, and kicking off this year’s Water Walk.
The group then sang Water Song and offered tobacco to the School’s brook, which was named after Autumn. Students enjoyed the discussion and activities and can’t wait until their new friends visit again!
To all parents of first time school bus riders
The Sudbury Student Services Consortium in cooperation with school bus operators invites all Kindergarten and first time bus riders to a School Bus Safety Awareness session to be held at College Boreal on 21 Lasalle Boulevard in Sudbury.
Sessions will be held on August 25 and 26, 2017. For further information and to register and secure a spot, visit http://businfo.ca/en/safety/ftr/
The Easter Bunny arrives early at St. David School
Full day kindergarten students at St. David School took the inquiry model one step further. The students and their teachers spent the morning on school trails exploring spring’s effect on our natural environment. The students participated in a hands on literacy and numeracy based activity.
Using their spatial awareness skills and their pre-reading abilities, each student located an “Easter Egg” that was created specifically for them. They explored and noted the seasonal changes happening in nature as they hunted for eggs containing special Easter treats.
Staff members took this opportunity to educate students about the dangers of fast moving water and the importance of stewardship.
St. David School reminds all families to register for the fall of 2017. (705) 674-4096, 549 Frood Rd., Sudbury, Ontario.
St. David School staff thanks 92.7 Rock and A & W
The staff at St. David Catholic School was excited and thankful to be recent recipients of “92.7 Rock Caffeine Kickstart”. Kindergarten teacher, Jennifer Gran submitted the school’s name and applied for the opportunity for her fellow staff members. Mrs. Gran shared how appreciative she and her co-workers are for the newly build school. “The school staff can always be counted on to go that extra mile. Our newly built school building now matches the vibrant energy that the staff, students and families have always carried”. All staff received warm apple turnovers and fresh coffee from A & W. Thank you Mrs. Gran, 92.7 Rock and A & W. Everyone enjoyed the nice treat!
Family reading morning at St. David School celebrates student success
All schools want family members to be active participants in their children’s education. It has been proven statistically that students with parents that take an active role in their education, achieve more and display generally more positive attitudes towards their education. Developing truly effective and equitable partnerships with families requires that school staff members work to create an educational environment that welcomes families into the school culture. Family members might also need training on how to become involved and how to reach out in supporting their children academically as well as socially and emotionally.
St. David Catholic Elementary School continues to partner with parents and family members to support student improvement in reading. Families participate in a nightly “read at home” program. This program greatly supports improved reading achievement as well as reading confidence.
St. David Catholic School hosted an annual “Family Guided Reading” morning. On this morning all families were invited into the school to participate in guided reading lessons with their children. Parents learned about how the school determines student reading levels and what reading level their child was reading at. Most importantly, the children read with their parents and conferenced about their individual reading goals.
Colin Lapalme, St. David School vice principal stated, “successful home / school relationships are built over time. The more opportunities families have to be in the school and witness for themselves the great learning that is happening each day, the more trust develops. We are appreciative of the families that come to these special mornings hosted by their children. We know the kids love having special guests in the school and we hope that the parents enjoy it as much as we do.”
Inquiry based learning in the rain at St. David School
The new St. David Catholic School is blessed to be built on a site nestled in nature. One of the school’s blessings is a natural stream that runs through the location. During the first springtime rainy day, Ms. Michel and Ms. Ross’ kindergarten class inquired about how boats float and which structure would float the fastest down the stream. Students, with support from teaching staff, built boats and floating devices for the challenge.
At St. David School, this simple kindergarten inquiry exploded into a full divisional spectators sport. Students from the other two kindergarten classes as well as the grade 1 class all gathered, some inside the school viewing through the oversized windows on the second floor and some bearing the weather to cheer on the boats outside in the rain. Secretarial and support staff also gathered for the challenge.
With the help of Mr. Lapalme, the school’s vice principal, the boat challenge was on. Students cheered and laughed as some boats got caught up on rocks and debris while other boats sailed on through towards Frood Road. Near the end, Mrs. Waugh even through some rubber duckies into the race. It was a great way to spend time outside, even on a rainy day.
The Full Day Kindergarten program at St. David Catholic School is based on the inquiry model which means that kindergarten students “drive their own learning”. Kindergarten students are encouraged to ask questions and then investigate to find answers. St. David School has also taken advantage of the school’s natural site to promote outdoor learning every chance it gets.
St. David School Kindergarten ECE, Angela Ross states, “When students are outdoors in nature surrounded by trees and rocks and even streams, they seem more invested and engaged in their learning. They are excited by nature and we count ourselves lucky each day that we are blessed with this beautiful school on such a natural site.”