Robertson School April 2010 Newsletter

March was a very busy month at Robertson School and we certainly welcomed spring and the warmer weather with open arms! We hope that this warmer weather continues and all the students have many opportunities to spend time outdoors being active over the spring break and come back to school rejuvenated and excited for their final term of learning! Congratulations to the Robertson Singers for their wonderful performance at the Winnipeg Music Festival held in March and thank you to Mrs. Le Grand for helping them to prepare for this special event. Last week, we welcomed parents into our school for our Student Involved/ Parent/Teacher conferences. The turnout was excellent and the teachers had the opportunity to meet with families on an individual basis and children had the opportunity to share their wonderful work with their parents and guardians. Thank you for your continued support! Once again, our dedicated parent volunteer, Lisa Graham organized and ran a very successful Scholastic Book Fair in our library during our Student-Involved conferences. Thanks to Lisa for her hard work and enthusiasm and thank you for your support. It was a huge success and the money raised is used to purchase books for the library and for the classrooms! Merci Mme Oberton and grade 6 students for organizing our first French Café filled with fun and entertainment for all! Thank you also to all the parents who attended our N/K Parent information session held on the same evening. Every year Robertson School celebrates diversity and differences among our students and staff and our Cultural Day celebration on March 26th is a perfect reflection of this. Groups of students dance, sing and role-play to salute individual cultures. These special presentations provide an opportunity to all our students to learn more about other ways of life and to respect others. This year we added a Talent Show component to our celebration.

Students were invited to audition for the show and with the large response, only ten acts could be selected. We were very proud of all our talented, eager Robertson students who tried out for the show. Thank you to all the students who participated and to all the staff who helped out, especially, Desiree Richard, Tammy Ortynski and Susan Le Grand. This time of year is a good time to review personal safety rules with your children. When they are out in the community, they should always let a responsible family member know where they are, they should walk in groups, they should stay away from people they don’t know and they should stay on familiar routes. Do you have a family emergency plan so that your children know where to go should routine arrangements fail? Our final term promises to be a very busy time with lots of special events, activities and field trips planned. Thank you to our dedicated Parent Council for continuing to support these many activities. We are also looking forward to our Robertson musical “Oliver” on April 15 th . The sounds of familiar songs from this well loved classic have been echoing in our hallways at noon hours and recesses as Mrs. Le Grand and her hard working cast prepare for the musical. You are all invited to attend! Our grade 6 students in Room 105 have organized a litterless lunch week from April 19 th to the 23rd and they are asking us all to work at reducing waste in our lunches. I’m sure we can all help out with this! On behalf of the Robertson School Staff, we wish everyone a safe and happy Spring Break and we look forward to seeing everyone back on April 5th! Elaine Mc Kenna

HERD OF ROADRUNNERS?

Robertson School Newsletter “A community of learners—working together”

VICE-PRINCIPAL ’S MESSAGE

Robertson Roadrunners

Robertson School 550 Robertson Street Winnipeg, MB R2X 2C4 Ph: 589-4745 Fax: 589-7293

Robertson School 550 Robertson Street Winnipeg, MB R2X 2C4 Ph: 589-4745 Fax: 589-7293

Page 2 Robertson School Newsletter

Squad 2 will still be on duty the day the students come back from Spring Break. They will switch off with squad 3 during the 2:00 p.m. recess. The grade 4 students will be trained at the beginning of May. A presentation to grade 4 students will take place and then letters for grade 4 patrol candidates will be sent home just after the spring break. Patrols will have a movie and treat day on April 23rd . Patrols in grades 5 and 6 will be going on a trip to FUN MOUNTAIN on Thursday June 17th .

SAFETY ISSUE

Please do not park too close to the stop sign at Machray and Robertson. The patrols can not see beyond your vehicle to cross our children safely. Also, please do not stop in the “no-stopping” zones. Thank you. Mr. Sabatini Ms. Olson Patrol Supervisors

THANK YOU to all Robertson teachers, students, parents and volunteers for another successful Book Fair with total sales of almost $2,500.00, which allowed us to purchase close to $1,400.00 in books for our library. Congratulations to Asher B., Dwayne N., Cassidy S. and Dominic M. who each won $15.00 in books in the student draws and to Ashley P. who won the draw for the Family Event Door Prize - $25.00 worth of books for her classroom (P2) and $25.00 worth of books for herself. Lisa Graham Book Fair Chairperson

Thank you to Lisa Graham for organizing the Book Fair!

April Music News from Mrs. Le Grand

Spring is finally right around the corner and Robertson is bursting with beautiful music. The grade 1-3 classes continue learning new music and musical skills. The grade 4 students have finished recorder for this year and are learning about other instruments. The grade 5 students have started recorder picking up where they left off in grade 4. The grade 6 students will be looking at other aspects of music such as music in the media and the history of Rock. Congratulations to The Robertson Singers for their wonderful performance in the Winnipeg Music Festival. They sang with confidence and skill and received a silver standing. Thank you to the parent council for supporting us with the bus to the Symphony concert and financial help for “Oliver”. Their support is greatly appreciated. “Oliver” is coming to Robertson on Thursday, April 15 at 6:30 p.m. The Grade 4-6 choir is working very hard perfecting their singing, dialogue and choreography to perform for you. Recess and lunch times have been given up to practice but we are having a lot of fun and we are looking forward to a full house. See you in the gym!!

Oliver lives in the London Workhouse with all the Workhouse Kids, Assistants, Mr. Bumble and the Widow Corney. He never imagined that he could get into so much trouble just asking for a little more food! He runs away and meets up with Dodger, Fagin, Nancy and lots of wonderful friends, Fagin’s Kids and Girls. He has great adventures finally meeting his long lost grandfather, Mr. Brownlow.

“Oliver” presented by

The Grade 4-6 Choir

Thursday, April 15, 6:30 p.m. Robertson School Gym

Intramural Activities Many grade six students participated in intramural basketball during February and March. The emphasis of the activity was to develop basketball skills in a game setting, as well for fun and fitness. All students displayed a good level of fair play while participating. March and April are the months for floor hockey. This is the only competitive intramural sport, with scores being kept and a final game between the top teams in each division. Students in grades 4, 5 and 6 who showed interest have been participating. For both of these activities, it is wonderful to now have a full sized playing area for the students to develop their skills. It makes a huge difference to the quality, enjoyment and physical activity level of the sports. Interschool Activities Once the nicer weather is upon us we will be starting practices for both softball and the Fit Run. Students in Gr. 5 and 6 are able to sign up for softball while grades 4-6 can be involved in the Fit Run. More information will follow when the events draw closer. Mr. Brent Stacey Physical Education Teacher

Physical Education News


A huge THANK YOU to

Vivian Piche

for knitting beautiful, warm mitts, toques and scarves for our students to use. Our Robertson students will stay warm thanks to all your hard work.

SPIN Sport Programs in Inner City Neighbourhoods

SPIN Volleyball Program

Thursdays 6-7 p.m.

Ages 9 - 12 Program begins at Robertson School

on Thursday, April 8, 2010.


… by Alyssa Canada owned the podium and made history by getting the most gold medals in the 2010 Olympics! Canada achieved it’s goals for the 2010 Olympics. The athletes played their best in every event and stayed focused despite disappointments. The Olympics 2010 was very meaningful to me, having learned the spirit of friendship, dedication and perseverance. The hockey game between U.S.A. and Canada will be remembered by me the most. Joannie Rochette is a real inspiration for me; she did her best despite the pain that she felt for losing the most important person in her life, her mom. … by Ailla I think that Canada owned the podium because we got into 3rd place at the Winter Olympics, Canada got the most gold and the athletes did their best. That’s how Canada won! The Olympics is a competition held once every four years. It’s a great way to show your talent to people all around the world. The Olympics is important to me (us) because it doesn’t happen every year. It’s fun and exciting to watch athletes all over the world compete with each other. I think what I will remember the most about the 2010 Olympic Winter Games was when I watched the closing ceremony because it was a very special day for the countries/athletes to see who won the Olympics. I will also remember the day when Alexandre Bilodeau (Canadian athlete) won the first gold medal at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. I was inspired by Joannie Rochette, a Canadian figure skater, because before she performed on the ice, her mom died. So, she dedicated her dance for her mom. She had a lot of courage and even though her mom died, she didn’t give up and she even won a bronze medal at the Olympics. … by Angelica Canada did a wonderful job in the Olympics! Canada did not “Own the Podium”, but we got on the podium! That’s all that counts! Our athletes got us up there and to me, we did own the podium! Canada achieved its goal. We earned third place out of all the countries that participated. Canada wanted to be on that podium and they did. The Olympics meant a lot. It showed how proud we are of our country and how hard we worked to make things the way they are. These games brought several countries together and I’m proud that it was held here. I will always remember the closing ceremony, Crosby shooting the final goal and Charles Hamelin’s double gold. I wasn’t very inspired while I was watching. I would be concentrating cheering our team on! …. by Errol Sadly, Canada did not own the podium but Canada did win the gold podium and broke the record for most gold so that’s a good thing. I think that Canada did not achieve all their goals but they achieved a lot for being on the podium and in the top three. The Olympics meant a lot to me because we got our family together just like getting the countries together for the Olympics. I know that I’ll remember Alexandre Bilodeau winning our first gold medal on home soil, the pass from Jarome Iginla and a shot from Sidney Crosby to win a gold for Canada in hockey! One of the Olympians that really inspire me is Jarome Iginla and Sidney Crosby because Jarome and Sidney inspire me to love hockey.

Olympic Reflections


In the fall, our grade 6 students in room 105 collected and organized the plastic shopping bags that so many of you dropped off at our door. Take Pride Winnipeg collected the bags and turned them into Frisbees for us. Each classroom will receive a Frisbee and the remaining Frisbees will be given away to students as prizes for a draw during our Litterless Lunch Week campaign. From April 19-23, the students of room 105 will be checking out each grade during the lunch hour and looking for students who have found ways to be litterless. A litter-free lunch will earn the student a ticket for a chance to win one of the recycled Frisbees! One way we can help reduce the amount of waste is to become more aware of the litter that our lunches create. Here are a few suggestions: • Place food and individually wrapped snacks in reusable containers instead of using plastic sandwich bags or

plastic wrap. • Pack a fork or spoon that can be brought home and washed rather than thrown away. • Put drinks in washable, reusable containers rather than providing juice boxes. • Avoid processed, frozen or pre-packaged foods that come in their own container. While convenient, they

add to our waste.

Let’s look for ways to reduce our waste! N. De Luca Gr. 6 Teacher

LITTERLESS LUNCH WEEK………………

More information and registration forms

are available at the school office.

Registrations will be accepted until

Friday, April 9, 2010.

*Transportation from your home school can be arranged

for groups of 3 or more families.*


NURSERY - KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATIONS

FOR SEPTEMBER, 2010

Registration for the 2010 - 2011 school year will start on Monday, April 5th, 2010. You may pick up your application forms in the school office between 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Nursery students must be four years old before December 31, 2010, and Kindergarten students must be five years old before December 31, 2010. Please remember to bring your child’s birth certificate and your Manitoba medical card when registering your child. If your child is presently attending Nursery classes with Ms. Wendy Challis, please let her know of your intentions for next year, that is, whether or not your child will be attending Kindergarten at Robertson School.

HEALTHY FAMILY COOKING CLASSES

As part of our Parent/Family Room Program, parents have been participating in Healthy Family Cooking classes on Thursday afternoons at 1:00 p.m. These classes have included easy-to-make economical recipes for families. All participated in planning, cooking and eating foods we prepared. These classes were facilitated by Helen Lesser (an experienced foods teacher) and Nancy Adkins. Child care was provided. Our final class will be Thursday, April 8, 2010. Thanks to all who participated. We’ve had a great time! Fitness Program with a qualified instructor to begin in mid-April on Thursdays. If interested, please call Nancy Adkins at 589-4745 or drop into the Parent / Family Room 148. Hope to see you there.

Page 8

Thank you so very much to all of our volunteers. Many of our volunteers are busy helping out our classrooms with small group centre work, home reading organization, preparing and organizing classroom materials, small group work with math, and helping in the library and book room. We really appreciate your involvement and assistance by volunteering in our school and your children love having you here! Parent / Family Room 148 Our Family Room located in 148 continues to be a busy place. Many families are taking advantage of the opportunity to visit our room, meeting other parents in the community, sharing ideas, tea, coffee and snacks. Their children are enjoying the books and toys and look forward to seeing each other. It has become quite a gathering place for parents and children, especially at the beginning and end of the day. Feel free to join us, even if your children are older and more independent. There are lots of books, toys, games and computers. The Family Room is available for everyone, - not just the little ones. We look forward to seeing you soon.


*Now including Two-and-a-half Year Olds* Parent and Three-Year-Old Child Play Group

This program, for 3 year-olds and their parents takes place in the Family Room 148. This is an opportunity for parents and children who are two and three years old to get to know each other and provide learning opportunities in readiness for Nursery School next. Nancy Adkins, the Early Years Support Teacher, facilitates this Play Group. If interested, please complete the following form and return it to Robertson School and we will be in touch with you. Parent’s name________________________________________________________

Child’s name______________________________ Birthday __________________ Names of sibling(s) in School _________________________________________

You’re Invited to a “Parent Drop-In”

Thursdays at 10:30 a.m. in Room 148 – The Parent Centre

Come and listen, or talk with other parents. Share your ideas about topics for future drop-in sessions. You are welcome to bring pre-school children.

Look forward to seeing you!

Coffee and Snacks! Plus, a Weekly Door Prize!!

HOW TO READ WITH YOUR CHILD - AFTERNOON SESSION

This programs provides instruction on how to read with and assist your children in developing literacy skills. It is being offered Friday afternoons at 2:30 p.m. in Room 148 by Nancy Adkins, Early Years Support Teacher. (Feel free to bring your children.)

All are welcome - see you then!


Full Time Lunch Program Fees For April Are Now Due. 1 Child - $23.00 * 2 Children -$41.00 * 3 Children - $50.00

Part Time Daily Fees Send $2.00 daily

*Everyone who attends the lunch program must fill out a blue registration form and pay the $5.00 cash registration fee. * Please mark all envelopes: Lunch Program, Student’s Name, Room #, Date.

Milk Spirit Week Milk Spirit Week was a great success. Thank you to all the students, staff and parents/guardians for participating.

NOTES Students who are full time in the lunch program and will not be staying for lunch on a certain day need a note or give a verbal consent from a parent or guardian. If they don’t have a note or consent they with not be able to leave the school .

*Please remember to pack a spoon in your child’s lunch*

Thank You For Your Cooperation!

Sherry Bednarski

Cindy Griffin

Lunch staff love when students

bring sandwiches to eat!!!

THANK YOU FOR RESPECTING THAT WE ARE A PEANUT, NUT and SEAFOOD FREE SCHOOL.

Page 11

ROBERTSON SCHOOL PARENT COUNCIL ‘WORKING TOGETHER FOR THE CHILDREN”

550 Robertson Street 589-4745

Dear Parents/Guardians, I hope everyone was able to attend the Student-Led conferences. The staff put a lot of time and effort into their student’s report cards and I’m sure they feel great when they have so many parents come out to see their classroom and speak with them. A huge thank you goes out to Lisa Graham for all the hard work she put into the Scholastic Book Fair. This is a huge undertaking and she has great student volunteers to give her a hand. I hope that many of you were able to enjoy the French Café. Thank you to Madame Oberton for planning this enjoyable evening. Thank you to everyone who supported our Alantra/Donelli fundraiser in March. We were able to raise just over $500 with this fundraiser. I would like to say “great job” to all the students and staff who took part in the Cultural Day celebration. We have some very talented students and staff at our school. The next Parent Council meeting is Wednesday April 14th at 6:30 p.m. in the Library. This is our last meeting before our May election. It sure would be great to see some new faces at our meetings. We have three positions up for election this May, Co-Chair, Secretary and Treasurer.

On behalf of Parent Council, I would like to wish everyone an enjoyable spring break. Sincerely, Bonnie Janzen #589-4745

Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri

Day 6 5

Classes resume

Day 1 6

JUNGLE GYM NOON - ROOM 153

Day 2 7

Day 3 8

Nursery to MTYP 10:00 a.m.

“Goodnight Moon” & “Runaway Bunny”

Day 4 9

Day 5 12

Day 6 13

Day 1 14

Parent Council Meeting at 6:30 p.m.

Day 2 15

Gr. 4 - 6 Choir Musical

Production

“Oliver” 6:30 p.m.

Day 3 16

Day 4 19

Grade 6 Fun-a-thon p.m. only

Day 5 20

JUNGLE GYM NOON - ROOM P2

Day 6 21

Day 1 22

Manitoba Wildlife Rehabilitation Organization

to Rooms 150 & 151 1:00 - 2:00 p.m.

Day 2 23

Day 3 26

Day 4 27

JUNGLE GYM NOON - ROOM 159

Day 5 28

Day 6 29

Parent Council “Subway” lunch day

Day 1 30

NO CLASSES Teacher

In-service Day

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER

May 4 - Volunteer Tea - 1:00 - 2:30 p.m. May 7 - NO CLASSES - Teacher In-service Day May 24 - NO CLASSES - Victoria Day May 26, 27 and 28 - Gr. 6 students to Camp June 18 - NO CLASSES - Teacher In-service Day June 25 - Grade 6 Farewell -1:00 p.m. June 28 - Recognition Day - Grades 1 - 5 June 29 - Kindergarten Farewell June 30 - Last Day of School - 11:30 a.m. dismissal

Documents

Robertson School April 2010 Newsletter