Dr. Charles Pascal visited Sudbury on May 20th and stopped in to see the St. Francis Best Start Hub. Dr. Pascal was appointed by Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty to be his special advisor on early learning in November 2007 and was asked to recommend the best way to implement full-day learning for four- and five-year-olds.
On June 15, 2009, Dr. Pascal presented his report, “With Our Best Future in Mind: Implementing Early Learning in Ontario”. The report contains 20 recommendations on how to introduce full-day learning to Ontario students, how to improve education for children up to 12 and how to increase supports for young families. Dr. Pascal interacted with the families at the St. Francis hub and also dropped into one of the senior kindergarten classes to participate in the circle time and story. He visited a number of other Hubs in Sudbury, including Pius XII Best Start Hub as he was in town to see the many great initiatives that support early learning within schools.
Category: St. Francis School
St. Francis S.K’s Sing Ole
The French Immersion Senior Kindergarten class at St. Francis Catholic Elementary School recently participated in a group activity in which they learned the e sound. The students learned a song that incorporated this sound – the song “Ole ” As well, they reviewed the letter C and the letter H. In order to review all of these lessons, their teacher, Lise Mallette thought that they could pull all of these together by supporting a great Canadian Hockey team – the Montreal Canadians. The students also integrated, cutting, pasting writing, singing and drama by decorating Montreal Canadian headbands and then visiting a few classes to perform what they had learned.
St. Francis Hosts Fun Fair
St. Francis held a Spring Fair on Thursday, May 6th in the evening. A great time was had by all who attended. All the feeder schools to St. Francis were invited as well. Estelle Scappatura allowed herself to be placed in our “St. Francis Jail” for a few minutes as part of the fun!! There were various games and activities to participate in.
Technology Showcased at St. Francis
Sudbury Catholic District School Board Trustee Estelle Scappatura stopped by St. Francis Catholic Elementary School recently. She was invited to join teacher Lyanne Marion’s Grade 5/6 French Immersion class as they worked with Tina Timpano, a Sudbury Catholic Teacher Integration Mentor teacher. The class was learning how to use different programs like Comic Life on the macbook as well as incorporating different technology like the ipod and digital video cameras into the classroom. Trustee Scappatura was amazed at how well the students could utilize the technology and was quite proud of their accomplishments!
St. Francis Student Thinks “Green”
Students in teacher Lyanne Marion’s Grade 5/6 French Immersion class at St. Francis Catholic Elementary School had the opportunity to learn a great recycling idea recently. Classmate Brooke Sagle demonstrated to the rest of her class the “green” wallet. Brooke taught her peers step by step how to create wallets using only empty juice cartons. Lyanne Marion said it was a great opportunity for her students to learn from one another as well as being a really creative recycling idea!
St. Francis “A” Basketball Team Bring their “A” Game all Season
The St. Francis “A” team, coached by teacher Brendan Bradley, won the Greater Sudbury Board of Basketball Officials Tournament recently. In total, this team of top-notch players have won three tournaments including their latest as well as the Macdonald Cartier and Bishop Alexander tournaments. They came second in the St. Charles College tournament (losing by one point) and third in the St. Benedict tournament. The staff and students of St. Francis Catholic Elementary school are very proud of the team and congratulate them on their excellent season!
St. Francis on Board With Supporting Haitian Relief
St. Francis students raised $356 for Haitian relief on January 19, 2010. This was made possible through the partnership with St. Patrick’s Church Youth Group who baked ginger snap cookies to sell. All of the money will be forwarded to the Catholic Organization for Development and Peace. The Knights of Columbus of St. Patrick’s parish will be matching donations up to $2000. Many thanks to the bakers and the students who participated by buying cookies and/or donating money to a worthwhile cause.
St. Francis Students Win Top Honours in Remembrance Day Contest
Students from St. Francis Catholic Elementary School participated in the Canadian Legion Branch 564 Lockerby Remembrance Day contest and walked away with several of the top spots. Mrs. Rinaldi – the Grade 5/6 teacher encouraged her students to enter the competition.
Justin Pappano – Third Place Story
Livingston Boyd – Third Place Poetry and Second Place Poster contest
Logan Dube – Second Place Poem
Perer Boylan – First Place Story
Perer’s story will be going on further in the competition with other branch participant winners. Congratulations to all of the participants!
St. Francis Flames Basketball Teams Perfect on the Season
The St. Francis Flames Grade 7/8 Boys’ and Girls’ Basketball teams went undefeated during the 2008-2009 regular season. The ultimate crowning touch – both teams won the Greater Sudbury Board Basketball Officials Tournament in Round Robin play.
The St. Francis Flames girls’ team played St. Denis in the final to a win while the boys’ played Northeastern Public School and won in overtime by three points.
Congratulations to all the players, coaches, parents and staff at St. Francis Catholic School for another spectacular season.