Captain Michael VandenBos P.S. Flying High for Excellence

MISSION STATEMENT OUR SCHOOL COMMUNITY

WILL CREATE A SAFE AND

MOTIVATING LEARNING

ENVIRONMENT THAT EMPOWERS STUDENTS TO

BECOME SUCCESSFUL

LEARNERS AND TO ACQUIRE THE SKILLS NEEDED

TO BECOME RESPONSIBLE CITIZENS OF TOMORROW

3121 Country Lane Whitby, Ontario

L1P 1N3 Safe Arrival Line

4pm to 8am 905-665-2001

Karin Schmidlechner

Principal

Jayne Krattiger Vice Principal

Voula Phillips

Carolyn Copithorne Susan Blakley

Admin. Assistants

John Bowyer Superintendent 905-666-5500

Anne-Marie Laginski

Admin Officer 905-666-5500

Kimberly Zeppieri

905-668-7782 Christine Winters

905-430-6050 Trustees

JUNE 2011

June is now upon us and even though my arrival at CMV has been quite recent, it didn’t take me long to appreciate the wonderful programming and activities that keep the teaching and learning alive and well for our students. This month starts off with our SCC Spring Fling and the Provincial Primary and Junior EQAO assessments. Then June just doesn’t slow down. Track and field competitions, baseball, soccer, garden club, Charac-ter Education assembly, Primary Play Day, Wonderland band trip, year end trips and SK and Grade 8 Graduation are just a few of our exciting VandenBos events planned. Our Snowbirds have been participating in DDSB initiatives which help students to make responsible choices and encourage good character. Digital Citizenship continues to be a vital component to the learning process for all students. Grade 5’s participated in Racing Against Drugs where they examined the dangers of substance abuse and the importance of personal safety. Of special note, our Philanthropy Club was recognized at the Wonderful Whitby celebration for their positive contributions to the school community by promoting equity, inclusion and social justice. Teaching and providing opportunities for children to make sound, critical and moral choices will help them to thrive in a world where technology, media and globalization is changing life at an unimaginable pace. Report Cards go home on Tuesday, June 29 and we strongly encourage our fami-lies to take time to read it with your child focusing on summer learning suggestions. Read-ing is certainly a pastime that should be a daily practice. Visiting the library, e-books, magazines, worthy computer time and books are just a few of the many ways which im-prove literacy skills. One thing is for sure, I am so very proud of our VandenBos students, staff and families for bringing a sincere smile, positive attitude and a can-do spirit to school each and every day. How fortunate am I?

NEWSLETTER

Dates to Remember June 1 Spring Fling June 1,2 & 6 EQAO Gr. 6 June 3 PA Day No school June 7, 8, 9 & 10 EQAO Gr. 3 June 7 Victory Dance June 9 Gr. 7 & 8 Band @ Wonderland Jnue 10 Track & Field Area’s June 14 Pizza Day June 15-17Gr. 6 to Camp Wenoneh June 16 Track & Field Regional's June 22, 23 & 24 Ottawa Grad Trip June 22 Kindergarten Grad 6:30 June 23 Primary Play Day June 24 Primary Play Day Rain Date June 27 Gr.8 Grad Ceremony 7:00

June 27 Reports cards go home June 29 Clap out @ 2:15 for grade 8 students only June 29 Last Day of School for students June 30 PA Day Dates of Significance June 16 Martyrdom of Guru Arjan Dev Ji (Sikhism) June 17 World Day Against Child Labour June 19 Father’s Day June 21 National Aboriginal Day June 24 La Fete National St. Jean Baptiste June 27 Multiculturalism Day

JUNE 2011 Page 2

TIPS FOR PARENTS

Digital Literacy and Citzenship Fact: children spend more time online, texting, watching television and movies, and playing video games than they do in school or with their parents. As a result, a new term has come to the forefront: digital literacy and citizenship. What exactly do these terms mean and how do we communicate their importance to our children.

Digital Literacy and Citizenship means the ability to:

♦ use technology competently

♦ interpret and understand digital content and assess its credibility

♦ create, research, and communicate with appropriate tools

♦ think critically about the ethical opportunities and challenges of the digital world

♦ make safe, responsible, respectful choices online

At Captain Michael VandenBos P.S., we have begun these discussions with our grade 6-8 student population. A discussion at home will help to open the doors to honest conversations on what are safe, responsible and respectful choices online.

www.commonsensemedia.org/digitalliteracy

Julie Payette Community Information Night June 7, 2011 Come and meet your staff and learn about your school! We will be hosting two sessions: Time: 6:30 - 7:15 pm or 7:30 - 8:15 pm Location: DDSB Education Centre, Boardroom 400 Taunton Road East, Whitby Please check the Julie Payette PS website, we are frequently updating it with new information.

Request to CMV Families from the Phys. Ed. Dept. If you have any of the following equipment that your family no longer needs: treadmill stationary bike stepper ...we would gratefully accept any such equipment which will be utilized in our phys. ed. programming. We thank you in advance for any donations.

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All allergies have the potential of being life threatening. As we have a number of students with life threatening allergies, we ask that all parents assist in our students’ safety by reading the labels on all lunch products to ensure that they do not contain nuts or traces of nuts. Even trace elements could cause death. Thank you for your assistance in ensuring our students’ safety.

Medications

Just a reminder to parents to pick up any medication that you may have sent to school with your child. Epipens have to be renewed yearly. Please make sure to check the dates on the Epipens during the summer.

It’s that time of the year when we are asking students to return all texts, library books, team shirts and any other items belonging to the school. Please have a look around your home, your cubbies, backpacks and lockers. Thanks

If you know that your child/ren will not be returning to CMV in Sep-tember, we would appreciate it if you could inform the office as soon as possible. Thank you!

We continue to be safety conscious here at CMV. Thank you volunteers and visitors for signing in and signing out when leaving the school. The parking area should remain clear as it is not a drop off zone. Our students are also reminded to look both ways when crossing streets, and entrances of the parking area. Students walking home MUST cross Country Lane at the cross walk. Please parents discuss road safety with your son/daughter, and the dangers of crossing roads between parked cars. We must not let convenience, or letting our attention down, create a safety concern for our children.

Dogs on School Property Please leave your dog at home, or keep it a secure distance from students to ensure student safety. Even a puppy can be having a ‘bad day,’ and it is best if dogs are not on the property. Many of our students feel unsafe around dogs, large or small. Thank you.

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On May 18th, six intermediate students from the Philanthropy Club traveled to Sinclair S.S. to par-ticipate in the Wonderful Whitby Celebration. This special event allowed our young leaders the op-portunity to share best practices in character and equity education, and learn from leadership initia-

Building Character Education This month’s feature…

. The focus for the month of May has been honesty: being truthful and sincere. Our philanthropy club has been putting cut-outs of children on the walls as you enter the school. Each one

has the name of a student who has been recognized for having demonstrated a random act of kindness. There is a different feeling that comes from doing something that was the right thing to do rather than what was expected of you. Honesty and charity are such treasured traits.

June’s focus is perseverance: having the determination to work hard and complete tasks, even if they are difficult. As the school year comes to a close and the temperature outside continues to rise, it becomes progressively more difficult to remain focused and on task. We all need a little encouragement to persevere, especially when we would prefer to be outside enjoying the weather than being indoors working hard. Remember, the end is near; don’t stop working hard and continue to be the best you can.

On May 16th & 17th, VandenBos staff put on a show like no other to impress students with their singing talent! Teacher Karaoke was a hit, and raised almost $700.00 to support the Red Cross in relief efforts for the victims of the earthquake disaster in Japan. School spirit was high, and we had fun! Mr. Barrow definitely stole the show!

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Students are looking forward to the Grade 8 trip to Ottawa which is scheduled for June 22-24, 2011. Watch for information about suggested items they need to pack and the departure time. Grade 8 graduation will be here before we know it! Monday, June 27, 2011 at 7:00pm is the big event for all grade 8 students and their parents at Captain Michael VandenBos Public School. Due to fire regulations at the school, we must limit the number of attendees. Each grade 8 student will be given 3 tickets for their guests to attend the graduation ceremony. The ticket will be required for ad-mittance to the gym. The Clap-0ut ceremony for our Grade 8 graduating class only will be on Wednesday, June 29, 2011 at 2:15pm. Parents are invited to attend.

Getting Ready For High School Grade Eight students and parents - please stay tuned for information about a “Getting Ready for High School” week long opportunity this August. The program runs from Monday, August 22nd to Thursday, August 25th (8:30 am to 1:30 pm). This program is open to all students entering Grade Nine and provides them with a brief introduction to the Grade Nine English and Mathematics curriculum, as well as study skills, time management, and steps to success. More information is also available through www.dce.ca (Durham Continuing Education). Grade 7 & 8 Language Arts & Mathematics Upgrading This program provides students who have completed Grades 7 or 8 with remedial support in upgrading their skills in language arts and mathematics. The program will run from July 4th -28th (no Fridays) at: Dunbarton HS, O’Neill (Oshawa) and Sinclair (Whitby). Bussing is available for students attending the full day program (Language in the morning and Mathematics in the afternoon). Students requesting a half day program are responsible for transportation at mid-day. More information is available through www.dce.ca.

If you are eligible for bussing please refer to our Durham Student Transportation Services automated telephone system. As of August 17, 2011 the 24 hour service will provide student transportation information for September 2011, this will include bus number and pickup/drop off locations as well as the times. The automated line numbers are: 1-866-908-6578 or 905-666-6979. In order to access student transportation information parents are required to have your child(ren)'s OEN number or his/her student number and your child(ren)'s date of birth. Both the OEN number and Durham student number are located on your child’s report card. If parents require information, please contact Durham Student Transportation Services at 1-800-240-6943 or 905-666-6940.

Congratulations to the Gr. 7 and Gr. 8 Bands for outstanding performances at the Kiwanis Music Festival. The Gr. 7 Band was awarded a silver medal and the Gr. 8 Band was awarded a gold medal! Wow VandenBos musicians! Thank you for your hard work and dedication throughout the entire year. Bravo!!

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Look What We’ve Done! We did it! We have been registered as an Eco School for the third year. Although we know we are an Eco school, we won’t know what level we are until June. Stay tuned!

Here are the things that we accomplished this year: � Reduced some of our waste � Improved on turning monitors off � Continued our boomerang lunch program � Reduced the amount of paper used by using both sides of paper � Reduced our energy by turning the lights out when not in use � Collected batteries to reduce toxic waste � Eco Club successes (media, crafts, science, gardening, etc.) � Recycled juice pouches to be made into bags, wallets, purses, etc.

Where Do We Go From Here?

� Further reduce our waste by using limited garbage containers � Further reduce our paper waste by using both sides of paper � Provide paper product compost (tissue and paper towel compost) � Further develop our boomerang lunch program � Classroom incentives for the most eco efficient class � Continue our battery drive � Initiate a greening project (shaded area for students) � Waste audits to determine the amount of recycling going into waste � School wide eco art project

We are Going for Gold! You can help make it happen! Over the summer, buy additional reusable containers to be used for Boomerang Lunches, use the school website to get all the information you need and help reduce the amount of paper used and continue to bring in your used batteries for proper disposal!

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Math is alive and well at Captain Michael VandenBos Public School. Many students from grade 4 to 8 took the personal challenge to participate in Math contests this spring. Congratulations go out to the following students for their excellent results:

Grade 4 Math League First Place-- tie—Aidan Doyle, Amelia Panjawani Second Place-- tie-- Ryan Hayter, Benjamin Christie Third Place-- Dylan Indar Grade 5 Math League First Place-- Jasjeet Rana Second Place-- Melina Mohamed Third Place-- Peter Stefanidis Grade 6 Math League First Place-- Cole Renton Second Place-- Meera Prasad Third Place-- 4-way tie—Jessie Major, Thulasi Arulanatham, Alexandre Dafoe, Jaya Campbell Grade 7 Math League First Place-- tie-- Danny Graham, Riva Daway Second Place-- Hilary Cameron Third Place-- Alanna Doyle Grade 8 Math League First Place-- Jacob 'tMannetje Second Place-- Rohan Saigaonkar Third Place-- William Lavery Grade 7 Gauss Math Contest First Place-- Kyle Di Sante Second Place-- tie-- Nolan Wright, Sonja Neidermaier Third Place-- Julia Wakelin Grade 8 Gauss Math Contest First Place-- Rohan Saigaonkar Second Place-- Jake Becker Third Place-- Jacob 'tMannetje Congratulations also go out to the following students who represented Captain Michael VandenBos Public School with pride at the Math Olympics on May 5 at Durham College: Jacob 'tMannetje, Rebekah Pregent, Riva Daway and Danny Graham.

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SAVE YOUR SUBSCRIPTIONS THE QSP FAMILY READING MAGAZINE FUNDRAISER IS COMING THIS FALL!

WAIT TO RENEW YOUR SUBSCRIPTIONS THROUGH OUR SCHOOL

If you order directly from the publisher, the school does not benefit.

Also, SAVE those publisher coupons, as QSP accepts all price discount offers.

IF YOU WISH TO ORDER A GIFT SUBSCRIPTION, YOU CAN LEND SUPPORT TO OUR SCHOOL ANY TIME OF THE YEAR BY ORDERING ONLINE AT www.qsp.ca

School code 9838

Remember, if you have a question regarding

your QSP magazine orders, please call QSP Customer Service at 1-800-667-2536.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT!

Thank you to everyone who participated in the Dance a thon. Your efforts raised over $5500. That’s amazing! Congratulations to Camron F. in Mme Fleet’s class for raising the most money. And congratulations also goes out to the following top earning classes: Mme Fleet, Mme Glover, Mr. August and Mrs. Belmonte Enjoy your gift cards and light up rings. Thank you for your support

The boys are back from Vancouver with Gold in their pockets!!

Jacob T., William L. and Caleb M. are part of the Durham Elementary Jazz Band that just won gold standing at he Canadian National Music Fest on May 18th. They were invited to attend after win-ning gold at the Southern Ontario Jazz Band Fes-tival this past February. Congratula-tions DEJB and “Way to go boys!!” We are proud of you.

Congratulations to Alisha V. on wining a free cookbook for submitting her beautiful artwork. Another free cook-book also goes to the Larocque Family for sending in their recipes way back in September. Thank you to eve-ryone for your contributions, the cookbook is at the printer’s and will delivered as soon as we get them back.

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Camp Garnier is a French summer day camp in which the kids participate in many different activities all in French. Every week has a different theme to which we plan related outings, as well as arts and crafts and outdoor activities. Our field trip is every Tuesday, and we also go to a swimming pool on Thursday’s. We are open 7 weeks starting from the first week in July. The camp hours are from 9 am to 4:30 pm. There is also a before and after care service offered from 7:30 am to 9:00 and from 4:30 to 5:30 pm at an extra $ 7 per child per day.

For parents interested and requiring further information, you can also visit us on the web at www.CampGarnier.ca, or look for our pamphlet coming to your school soon.

Summer Camp Programs in Whitby. The Whitby location will be running summer camp pro-grams throughout the summer. Every week there will be special guests and lots of fun. For more information please go to www.theappletreepreschool.com

The use of technology at the point of instruc-tion and at the point of learning is a focus for the Durham District School Board and as we move forward in planning for the future addi-tional information and input is required. To this end parents, guardians and grades 3 to 12 students will be invited to participate in surveys that will provide feedback and valu-able information regarding their attitudes, be-liefs and abilities with regards to computer technology. As a system it is important for all Durham schools to gather information about the type of hardware students and parents are using at home, whether they are internet connected and how the use of technology can support and affect their learning in the classroom. Between June 1 st and July 15 th , parents and students will be invited to visit the Durham District website (www.ddsb.durham.edu.on.ca ) in order to participate in this survey. Throughout the

month of June, parents and guardians may also fill out surveys in paper form at their lo-cal school.