St. David Catholic School works diligently to involve parents and the community in the education of our youth. The school recognizes that student achievement increases when parents play an active role in their children’s education, and that “good schools become even better schools when parents and community members become involved”.
The grade 5/6 class at St. David worked with the staff at the Killarney Outdoor Education Center and with school parents and local Aboriginal Elders to allow the students to experience real life learning. Parents, community members, students and staff learned about traditional Aboriginal hunting and fishing practices, scientific states of matter and the food chain and it’s relationship to biodiversity — then they spent a day ice fishing. Although no actual fish were caught, parents were actively engaged in supporting their children’s success at school. Parents and students were motivated to learn as a team, each supporting each other in an active hands on learning experience.
Category: Topic
St. Mary finds 100 things to celebrate!
On the 100th day of school St. Mary students, staff and families took part in an evening celebration. The school community sat down to a wonderful pasta dinner and then broke off into stations where numeracy and literacy games were lead by teachers and the principal. “It was really neat because everything was about the number 100. Even the books and writing activities were about the number 100,” said student Matthew Roy.
Parents were also invited to an information session in the library where they took part in group discussions about how to help their children with homework, how to engage their child in reading and the importance of parents in the education of their children. Parents left with 100 practical literacy tips and homework bags to use at home.
Later on this year parents will be participating in St. Mary’s “Families with a Kick Program.” Students will be kickboxing while parents will be invited to read articles and dialogue about how they can help their child improve in literacy and numeracy at home.
“John Hattie has suggested parents are important to the academic success of their children. Therefore, we need to provide our families with opportunities to network and share ideas with each other,” said principal Sherry Bortolotti.
St. James Safe School Council Awarded “Speak Up Grant”
St. James Safe School student council, named C3 – Catholic, Community and Culture– was awarded a Government of Ontario “Speak Up Grant” for their inclusive education campaign. The C3 council gives students a voice in making St. James a place where everyone feels welcome and therefore students are provided with ample opportunities to participate in school decisions that will shape their lives and the lives of their peers. In organizing activities the C3 aims to create a caring and safe school environment and messaging the importance of inclusion and respect for everyone at St. James School.
Some of the C3 endeavours include: designing and playing a school-wide inclusive education P.A bingo, the creation of an exclusive St. James Safe School button and several community outreach projects.
St. Anne Student Celebrates Valentine’s Day with “Smiles From The Heart”
A day filled with excitement and the anticipation of receiving cards from your classmates who like you is a big deal to Noah Legault. Noah is a student in the English E.L.K.P. classroom at St. Anne School in Hanmer. Noah transferred to the Valley school within the Sudbury Catholic System just before Christmas. Making new friends can be hard. He told his teacher, “I like my friends”. From the looks of the smile on his face as he opens his Valentine cards, Noah has had no problem working his way into the hearts of his classmates. His special messages tell him that his friends “like him too”! Noah has not only joined the St. Anne Angels, but he has joined the list of someone who can be and who is a very, very special Valentine!
St. David Catholic School Welcomes the Magic of “The Amazing Rene”
St. David Catholic School proudly welcomed the magic of “The Amazing Rene” aka Rene Lacourciere. The Amazing Rene captivated the attention of the students of St. David School with his unique style of slight of hand magic. During his magic show, The Amazing Rene integrated the importance of learning through reading and emphasized the valuable resources available at the Greater City of Sudbury Public Libraries.
The Amazing Rene has been performing magic throughout North America for the past 32 years and has preformed at such venues as Canada’s Wonderland and Santa’s Village in Bracebridge, Ontario. He is also a qualified teacher and is originally from the Sudbury area.
“Slight of hand magic allows me to connect with students and teachers and model the importance of effective oral communication” stated Rene. “They see how effective oral communication skills are important in real life situations and in career choices”.
St. David School students and staff enjoyed the interactive magic show, comedy act and hands on learning experience with The Amazing Rene.
Shrove Tuesday at Pius XII
The students at Pius XII School celebrated Shrove Tuesday with a little help from some special guests, The Holy Redeemer Knights of Columbus Council #10888. Gerry Baronette facilitated the event and brought 9 of his brothers with him to prepare delicious homemade pancakes for the 320 students. The students were all very excited and appreciative that the Knights took the time to volunteer and donate the supplies to make them a fabulous pancake lunch. The students are already eager for the next visit from the Knights!
Celebrating Pierre the Penguin’s “Hatch Day” on February 16th
Students in the French Immersion JK and SK class at St. Charles Catholic Elementary school dove into the story of a lovable African penguin that resides at the California Academy of Sciences’ aquarium. The children first enjoyed the book “Pierre the Penguin” by Jean Marzollo which tells the true story of Pierre’s unique experience. Alarmed when Pierre lost most of his feathers, an ingenious biologist designed a little wetsuit for Pierre which allowed him to swim in the cold pool with his fellow penguins. His feathers regrew shortly thereafter. Through this story, students learned about compassion to all, including animals.In the afternoon, the students watched the celebration of Pierre’s “Hatch Day” (birthday) on a live stream from a webcam at the aquarium in California. Pierre turned 29 on this day! Teacher Michelle Robinson said: “Pierre’s live “Hatch Day” celebration on the Internet offered a great opportunity to use technology for a literacy activity – and the children loved watching the penguins swim and eat fish!”
It All Adds Up To The 100th Day Of School At St. Anne
The students of St. Anne School in Hanmer have been celebrating their 100th day of school in a number of different ways. Teachers within both the Primary and Junior sections decided to have their students rotate from classroom to classroom to allow the children to participate in all kinds of activities that added up to 100. The primary wing had games such as stringing 100 fruit loops, sticking 100 stickers to a crown, racing to pick up 100 pennies, and repeating ten exercises ten times. The junior wing recognized all numbers to 100 as they played Bingo, rolled dice and counted on a 100 chart, played an auction game on the Smartboard with money up to $100.00, and tried to create 100 movements to different styles of music. Both the students and their teachers within the Sudbury Catholic System agreed that there are more than 100 reasons why the number 100 can be pretty exciting!
Sixth Place Finish for St. Charles College Improv Team
SCC’s Improv team competed at the 2012 Sudbury Regional Improv Games Thursday, February 8th and placed 3rd in the preliminary rounds. This qualified them for the Wild Card Round on Saturday, February 10th. After a very talented showing, the team placed 2nd and, unfortunately, missed the finals and placed 6th overall in the tournament. Team members are veterans ETHAN ROY, ALISON SMITH, and COLIN LAGACE and new this year are SHELDON DAOUST, BLAIRE MICHAUD, COLE THOMPSON, SEAN LYNOTT, MARC GREENE, and BEN CORTOLEZZIS. Most of these students have had roles in past SCC drama productions. Team Coaches Nancy Daoust and Angela Hodgins are extremely proud of the team performance and their dedication. We are already looking forward to next year’s Improv season.