On January 27, the students from St. Francis Catholic Elementary School celebrated Literacy Day. Students in kindergarten to grade six were asked to donate gently used books from their home and trade them in for“new” books. The event was organized by Special Education Resource Teacher, Ms. Graziella Visentin who encourages the use of technology to assist with reading as well as the use of traditional hardcopy books to practice reading skills. The school cafeteria and gathering room had a wide variety of book titles on display for students to choose from. Students also donated English and French books. The book swap originally began between two primary classrooms and eventually grew to involve the whole school over the last few years due to its success. The book swap provided an excellent opportunity for students to exchange books within their school community, encourage the love of reading and recycle books. Students enjoyed selecting free books to take home for Literacy Day.
Category: St. Francis School
Technology Now Night at St. Francis
There was a line up to get into the building at 4:30 on Thursday, January 14 as students at St. Francis Catholic Elementary School eagerly led their parents into the gymnasium to show them all the ways that they use technology in their classrooms.
Approximately 180 people attended the Technology Now night, which was planned by the St. Francis Catholic School Council with support from a government Parents Reaching Out grant. The goal of the event was to show parents how technology is used to support student learning. There were 10 tables set up around the gymnasium where students could show their parents how much they knew about iPad apps like Book Creator, Music Tutor, Explain Everything and Minecraft as well as more subject specific apps that support math, fine motor skills and literacy. Primary Special Education teacher Meghan Dopson also had a Smartboard demonstration in her classroom.
Catholic School Council Chair Kimberley Swain-Bellmore was impressed with the evening, “The children enjoyed showing their parents and siblings some of the things they do in their classrooms, and having a chance to see some of the apps they will be using in years to come,” she said.
For more information, please visit the St. Francis school web site at http://st-francis.sudburycatholicschools.ca/
Social Skills for Student Success
Jarah Preston from the Learning Disabilities Association of Sudbury was invited to St. Francis Catholic Elementary School on January 13, 2016 to deliver a presentation entitled, Social Skills for Student Success. The LDAS presentation is targeted to address students in grades 4 to 5. Topics such as emotional awareness and non-verbal awareness were discussed with the junior students. A number of appropriate social skill strategies were provided to students on how to handle various scenarios at school with their peers such as turn taking, sharing and respecting each other’s personal space. The students were engaged during the presentation as many audio- visuals were provided to students to demonstrate examples. The school’s Special Education Resource Teacher, Graziella Visentin, has also invited Jarah Preston to return to the school to present, Victors of Transition, in an upcoming week to all grade 6 students who will be transitioning onto grade 7 at either Marymount Academy, St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School or St. Charles College in the fall.
Technology Now Night at St. Francis
There was a line up to get into the building at 4:30 on Thursday, January 14, 2016 as students at St. Francis Catholic Elementary School eagerly led their parents into the gymnasium to show them all the ways that they use technology in their classrooms.
Approximately 180 people attended the Technology Now night, which was planned by the St. Francis Catholic School Council with support from a government Parents Reaching Out grant. The goal of the event was to show parents how technology is used to support student learning. There were 10 tables set up around the gymnasium where students could show their parents how much they knew about iPad apps like Book Creator, Music Tutor, Explain Everything and Minecraft as well as more subject specific apps that support math, fine motor skills and literacy. Primary Special Education teacher Meghan Dopson also had a Smartboard demonstration in her classroom.
Catholic School Council Chair Kimberley Swain-Bellmore was impressed with the evening, “The children enjoyed showing their parents and siblings some of the things they do in their classrooms, and having a chance to see some of the apps they will be using in years to come,” she said.
For more information, please visit the St. Francis school web site at:
St. Francis Rocs Their Mocs
St. Francis Catholic Elementary School staff and community partners participated in ‘Roc your Mocs’ campaign. The campaign is helping a resurgence of pride in North American Tribes. In support of this campaign, even ‘Baby Riley’, Roots of Empathy baby in the FDK class wore her mocassins during her monthly visit to the classroom.
Flames and PumpkInferno
St. Francis Catholic Elementary School Flames students in teacher Christine Boudreau’s Grade 1/2 French Immersion class were very excited to decorate pumpkins for Dynamic Earth’s “PumpkInferno”. PumpkInferno is an enchanting outdoor award-winning exhibit created by Upper Canada Village, featuring thousands of hand-carved pumpkins set against a glowing Sudbury back drop on the grounds of Dynamic Earth. Their pumpkins will be displayed along the walkway leading to Dynamic Earth from October 9th-30th. Visit sciencenorth.ca for further details.
SCDSB Cheers on LU
Sudbury Catholic District School Board elementary students were invited to cheer on their local Laurentian University Voyageurs hockey team during one of their season games. Students from St. Francis, Holy Cross, St. David, Holy Trinity, and St. Benedict packed the arena as they cheered on the Voyageurs as they won a victory over Nipissing 3-2 in a shootout.
Thanksgiving Feast at St. Francis
St. Francis Catholic Elementary School Life Skills and Communication classes celebrated Thanksgiving with a feast at the school. The students were given the opportunity to participate in preparing the delicious meal — turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and corn. The students decorated the room with beautiful artwork posters of what they are thankful for during this blessed occasion. Life Skills student, Shane Dempsey, stated that ‘I am thankful for my teacher and her sister to help make the delicious turkey’.
Summer Camp with a Spin
This year, the Sudbury Catholic District School Board is running a three week summer camp for students in grades 1-5 until July 24th. As well as offering programming for literacy and numeracy, there is also an Aboriginal Art and Literacy camp, which is designed to include literacy games and activities with culturally relevant curriculum including the Seven Grandfather teachers, Métis history, culture and the Pow Wow experience. All three programs are infused with technology and are geared to meet the students’ individual needs. What gives this summer camp its unique spin is that the board was able to hire some of its own students as youth counsellors. These counsellors are given the opportunity to learn as well, while getting on the job experience working with the younger students. Some of these students are currently enroled in the SCDSB Peace program. The PEACE program, which stands for Personalized, Experiential, Alternative, Catholic Education, is an alternative program for secondary students who are disengaged, on a long term suspension or expulsion, or are behind in credit accumulation. The students learn techniques to overcome obstacles all while earning credits towards their secondary school diploma and are supported with their social and emotional needs, and learn how to give back to the community through community partnerships. “We are so fortunate that the Ministry of Education was able to fund this program allowing for our students to gain on the job experience,” Christina Raso, Special Education consultant for the SCDSB stated. “These elementary students enroled in our programming are having so much fun with all of their hands-on learning, and our students who have been hired as counsellors are really gaining great work experience that they will be able to take with them to their next job opportunity.”
The camp currently has 95 students enroled with 6 teachers, 6 student tutors, 8 youth counsellors. The students also get 45 minutes of physical activity a day with 6 taekwondo instructors teaching the students.