Week 18 - February 6, 2018
Important upcoming dates
Friday February 9 Ride to Work/School Day
Thursday February 15 No school for students
Friday February 16 No school for students
Tuesday February 20 End of Semester 1 Reports go home
Thursday March 1 Intruder in the school practice drill
Friday March 2 Model for a Night NOVA PTA Event
Monday April 2 Spring Break commences
Tuesday April 10 School resumes after Spring Break
Dear Parents,
It was very pleasing to see so many parents at the school on Friday to participate in the Parent Teacher Conferences. The feedback I received from both, parents and faculty was that the day was hugely successful and extremely well coordinated. Thank you for respecting the times that were allocated and for allowing your child's teachers to give you feedback about the first semester. While these days are important, please remember that as a parent, you don't need to wait for a formal Parent-Teacher Conference' in order to meet with your child's teachers. You are more than welcome to make an appointment with any of your child's teachers to discuss progress. After school is usually the most convenient time.
Entry Points for new IPC Units
Congratulations to Ms Jovanovski's Grade 3 class who conducted their Entry Point for their new IPC Unit titles "What's On the Menu". It was wonderful to see parents coming in to support the class and provide their expertise and knowledge. There are some photos below of the activity from this morning.
Grade 2 also conducted their Entry Point last week as they start their new IPC Unit - "They Made A Difference". There certainly is a buzz around the school with classes starting to introduce the new topics. There are also photos from their activity in the slideshow below.
I look forward to attending the Grade 5 Entry Point this afternoon as they start their new IPC Unit - "Being Human".
Arriving on time each day
Last week I discussed the importance of arriving on time to school each day and the impact it has on, not only has on your own child but also the disruption it has on other students when your child walks in late. I have been focussing on the tardiness of Middle School students this last week and I am happy to say that we reduced the amount of MS students being late from 66 last Monday to 8 on Thursday. That is a great improvement from the middle schoolers, so thank you to the students for showing that with a little effort we can make a change.
I will continue to focus on Middle School for this week but after that we will turn our attention to Elementary School students. I have noticed that there are many parents who buy a meal for snack-time for their child from the cafeteria in the morning despite arriving after 8.00am. In order to minimize the disruption to other students in the class and to ensure that your child gets the most out of the morning activities, we would request that if you are running late, please send your child to class first, and then go to the cafeteria to buy their snack and place it in their bag for them to eat later.
Please try to support us as we focus on this important issue. If you would like to read the article from last week about the impact of tardiness in schools, please follow this link.
Winter Bike to work day
This coming Friday is the annual 'Winter Bike to Work Day'. The forecast is for a sunny day of 12 degrees, so why not wipe the cobwebs off your bike, pump up the tyres and make the effort to ride to work or school on Friday. For more information or to register please follow this link.
NOVA PTA Parent Teacher Party
The PTA is planning a NOVA parent party themed "MODELS for A Night " with the goal of getting parents and teachers together for a fun evening of socializing, networking and dancing. As part of the evening program, we have planned a fashion show wherein parents teachers/admin and students are invited to sign up to be models for that night!
There will be a latino dancing segment a basic latino steps lesson by our dance teacher Ivan. Additionally, we will be offering a display of student art and photography or craft works to be auctioned off at the SILENT AUCTION fundraiser throughout the evening. More information will be coming soon but please mark the date in your calendar for Friday March 2, at the Stonebridge Hotel.
Air Quality at NOVA
I had a few parents asking me to clarify the school position regarding air quality lately, so I have decided to put a link to the week 8 newsletter where I discussed the procedures that we follow as per, 'US EPA' guidelines. If you would like to read the information please follow this link. There is also an article here about children with asthma which may be of interest when thinking about air quality.
Missing item from a student locker
Unfortunately, we had a Christmas gift go missing from a MS locker that had both a significant financial value as well as sentimental value. The item was a white ladies purse. If you have seen this or know anything about it, then please let the school know. It is unfortunate and disappointing that this has happened but also a timely time to remind parents that valuable goods should not be brought to school due to the risk of them being lost, damaged or stolen. Speaking of gifts, here is an interesting article about "gift etiquette".
Intruder Practice Drill - Thursday March 1 at 8.20am
As part of our ongoing preparedness for any situation, we will be conducting an intruder lock-down drill at the school at 8.20am on Thursday March 1. We understand that this may be stressful for some of our younger students, so we are informing parents of the timing in case you would like to bring your child to school after 9.00am on that day. This drill will follow up on the Fire Drill and Earthquake Drill that we conducted earlier this school year.
Weebly class pages
I try to feature a couple of class pages each week. This week you can see the Pre- K pages by following this link. www.preknova.weebly.com and the Grade 5 page by following this link. www.gradefivenova.weebly.com
I have now added a link at the top of this page so that you can access all class pages in one place. Simply click the "Class Pages" link at the top of this page and then select your child's grade level. All school Weebly pages have the same password which is novaparents
Student Services News
Dirty dishes. Messy bedrooms. Toys on the living room floor. Some days, there just isn't a good way to avoid the chore wars. But there is always tomorrow, and you can be proactive. Ask yourself, What chores are important for my children to learn, and what are they capable of doing? Read the rest of the article by following this link.
Tech Update
Students were assigned to create blogs and write three blog posts. Below is an A-Z The Best Places in the World to visit. This sample from Macie Kay Redell. Well done Macie on such a great effort. https://medium.com/@mr13653/a-z-the-best-places-to-travel-in-the-world-b9ff4d7112a
Robotics
I was fortunate enough to be able to observe an activity in the robotics class. I was very impressed with not only the skills they demonstrated in building the models but also their understanding of how things work. There are some photos in the slideshow below.
Choir trip to Sophia
Over the weekend our Middle School Choir participated in a number of workshops and concerts with other schools from around the region. Thanks to all the students and staff who represented NOVA at this important event. You can see some video excerpts below.
Maths Counts trip to Budapest
Congratulations to our MS Maths Counts team for winning third place at the CEESA Competition over the weekend in Budapest. There were 7 schools and 60 mathletes participating. Matej Stojmanovski was placed amongst the top ten individuals after the completion of the Countdown round. He ended up in 7th place. Our NOVA students made us proud, showed great team work, used well their math skills and knowledge, made a lot of new friends, and had fun in the beautiful city of Budapest. The faculty and staff from the American International School of Budapest was amazing, and we picked up a lot of hints about how to improve events we will host in the future.
Jolly Phonics program
In the Early Childhood section of the school, all students are engaged in an amazing program called "Jolly Phonics". All teachers have been trained in this program that helps children learn to read. Phonics is a way of teaching children to read skillfully. They are taught how to:
Almost all children who receive good teaching of phonics will learn the skills they need to tackle new words. They can then go on to read any kind of text fluently and confidently, and read for enjoyment. Children who have been taught phonics also tend to read more accurately than those taught using other methods, such as ‘look and say’. This includes children who find learning difficult to read, for example those who have dyslexia. Here is a weblink to the program and the link to a parent information sheet that explains what you can do as a parents to support your child when learning to read and also explains more information about the program can be found here.
Below you can find a lovely video of some of the students in PK4 independently reading by using the strategies they learnt from the Jolly Phonics program.
Photos this week
Once again we have a variety of photos that have been provided by teachers about fun and interesting activities that took place this week. Below are the teacher descriptions of what the photos are about and the photos are in the slideshow below. We hope you enjoy viewing them.
Teacher Descriptions of photos
Students in Kindergarten have been working hard on our Freeze It! unit. This week, we explored the melting points of different liquids as compared to water while using our tally marks to make predictions. Students are also building their communication skills while they work in small groups to plan, improve, and build a small ice cooler. Check in next week for the final products! Ms Sarah
Grade 2 conducted their Entry Point for their new IPC Unit - They Made a Difference. Students participated in a gallery walk as can be seen by the photos in the presentation below. Grade 2 Teachers
Grade 5BK young writers are learning how to develop subtopics for their informational books. They use different planning tools and draft paragraphs within each chapter. Later, they rehearse their writing with classmates and seek constructive feedback. They enjoy the writing workshop! Ms Babic
Kindest regards,
Russell O'Neill
EMS Principal
Important upcoming dates
Friday February 9 Ride to Work/School Day
Thursday February 15 No school for students
Friday February 16 No school for students
Tuesday February 20 End of Semester 1 Reports go home
Thursday March 1 Intruder in the school practice drill
Friday March 2 Model for a Night NOVA PTA Event
Monday April 2 Spring Break commences
Tuesday April 10 School resumes after Spring Break
Dear Parents,
It was very pleasing to see so many parents at the school on Friday to participate in the Parent Teacher Conferences. The feedback I received from both, parents and faculty was that the day was hugely successful and extremely well coordinated. Thank you for respecting the times that were allocated and for allowing your child's teachers to give you feedback about the first semester. While these days are important, please remember that as a parent, you don't need to wait for a formal Parent-Teacher Conference' in order to meet with your child's teachers. You are more than welcome to make an appointment with any of your child's teachers to discuss progress. After school is usually the most convenient time.
Entry Points for new IPC Units
Congratulations to Ms Jovanovski's Grade 3 class who conducted their Entry Point for their new IPC Unit titles "What's On the Menu". It was wonderful to see parents coming in to support the class and provide their expertise and knowledge. There are some photos below of the activity from this morning.
Grade 2 also conducted their Entry Point last week as they start their new IPC Unit - "They Made A Difference". There certainly is a buzz around the school with classes starting to introduce the new topics. There are also photos from their activity in the slideshow below.
I look forward to attending the Grade 5 Entry Point this afternoon as they start their new IPC Unit - "Being Human".
Arriving on time each day
Last week I discussed the importance of arriving on time to school each day and the impact it has on, not only has on your own child but also the disruption it has on other students when your child walks in late. I have been focussing on the tardiness of Middle School students this last week and I am happy to say that we reduced the amount of MS students being late from 66 last Monday to 8 on Thursday. That is a great improvement from the middle schoolers, so thank you to the students for showing that with a little effort we can make a change.
I will continue to focus on Middle School for this week but after that we will turn our attention to Elementary School students. I have noticed that there are many parents who buy a meal for snack-time for their child from the cafeteria in the morning despite arriving after 8.00am. In order to minimize the disruption to other students in the class and to ensure that your child gets the most out of the morning activities, we would request that if you are running late, please send your child to class first, and then go to the cafeteria to buy their snack and place it in their bag for them to eat later.
Please try to support us as we focus on this important issue. If you would like to read the article from last week about the impact of tardiness in schools, please follow this link.
Winter Bike to work day
This coming Friday is the annual 'Winter Bike to Work Day'. The forecast is for a sunny day of 12 degrees, so why not wipe the cobwebs off your bike, pump up the tyres and make the effort to ride to work or school on Friday. For more information or to register please follow this link.
NOVA PTA Parent Teacher Party
The PTA is planning a NOVA parent party themed "MODELS for A Night " with the goal of getting parents and teachers together for a fun evening of socializing, networking and dancing. As part of the evening program, we have planned a fashion show wherein parents teachers/admin and students are invited to sign up to be models for that night!
There will be a latino dancing segment a basic latino steps lesson by our dance teacher Ivan. Additionally, we will be offering a display of student art and photography or craft works to be auctioned off at the SILENT AUCTION fundraiser throughout the evening. More information will be coming soon but please mark the date in your calendar for Friday March 2, at the Stonebridge Hotel.
Air Quality at NOVA
I had a few parents asking me to clarify the school position regarding air quality lately, so I have decided to put a link to the week 8 newsletter where I discussed the procedures that we follow as per, 'US EPA' guidelines. If you would like to read the information please follow this link. There is also an article here about children with asthma which may be of interest when thinking about air quality.
Missing item from a student locker
Unfortunately, we had a Christmas gift go missing from a MS locker that had both a significant financial value as well as sentimental value. The item was a white ladies purse. If you have seen this or know anything about it, then please let the school know. It is unfortunate and disappointing that this has happened but also a timely time to remind parents that valuable goods should not be brought to school due to the risk of them being lost, damaged or stolen. Speaking of gifts, here is an interesting article about "gift etiquette".
Intruder Practice Drill - Thursday March 1 at 8.20am
As part of our ongoing preparedness for any situation, we will be conducting an intruder lock-down drill at the school at 8.20am on Thursday March 1. We understand that this may be stressful for some of our younger students, so we are informing parents of the timing in case you would like to bring your child to school after 9.00am on that day. This drill will follow up on the Fire Drill and Earthquake Drill that we conducted earlier this school year.
Weebly class pages
I try to feature a couple of class pages each week. This week you can see the Pre- K pages by following this link. www.preknova.weebly.com and the Grade 5 page by following this link. www.gradefivenova.weebly.com
I have now added a link at the top of this page so that you can access all class pages in one place. Simply click the "Class Pages" link at the top of this page and then select your child's grade level. All school Weebly pages have the same password which is novaparents
Student Services News
Dirty dishes. Messy bedrooms. Toys on the living room floor. Some days, there just isn't a good way to avoid the chore wars. But there is always tomorrow, and you can be proactive. Ask yourself, What chores are important for my children to learn, and what are they capable of doing? Read the rest of the article by following this link.
Tech Update
Students were assigned to create blogs and write three blog posts. Below is an A-Z The Best Places in the World to visit. This sample from Macie Kay Redell. Well done Macie on such a great effort. https://medium.com/@mr13653/a-z-the-best-places-to-travel-in-the-world-b9ff4d7112a
Robotics
I was fortunate enough to be able to observe an activity in the robotics class. I was very impressed with not only the skills they demonstrated in building the models but also their understanding of how things work. There are some photos in the slideshow below.
Choir trip to Sophia
Over the weekend our Middle School Choir participated in a number of workshops and concerts with other schools from around the region. Thanks to all the students and staff who represented NOVA at this important event. You can see some video excerpts below.
Maths Counts trip to Budapest
Congratulations to our MS Maths Counts team for winning third place at the CEESA Competition over the weekend in Budapest. There were 7 schools and 60 mathletes participating. Matej Stojmanovski was placed amongst the top ten individuals after the completion of the Countdown round. He ended up in 7th place. Our NOVA students made us proud, showed great team work, used well their math skills and knowledge, made a lot of new friends, and had fun in the beautiful city of Budapest. The faculty and staff from the American International School of Budapest was amazing, and we picked up a lot of hints about how to improve events we will host in the future.
Jolly Phonics program
In the Early Childhood section of the school, all students are engaged in an amazing program called "Jolly Phonics". All teachers have been trained in this program that helps children learn to read. Phonics is a way of teaching children to read skillfully. They are taught how to:
- recognise the sounds that each individual letter makes;
- identify the sounds that different combinations of letters make – such as ‘sh’ or ‘oo’; and
- blend those sounds together from left to right to make a word.
Almost all children who receive good teaching of phonics will learn the skills they need to tackle new words. They can then go on to read any kind of text fluently and confidently, and read for enjoyment. Children who have been taught phonics also tend to read more accurately than those taught using other methods, such as ‘look and say’. This includes children who find learning difficult to read, for example those who have dyslexia. Here is a weblink to the program and the link to a parent information sheet that explains what you can do as a parents to support your child when learning to read and also explains more information about the program can be found here.
Below you can find a lovely video of some of the students in PK4 independently reading by using the strategies they learnt from the Jolly Phonics program.
Photos this week
Once again we have a variety of photos that have been provided by teachers about fun and interesting activities that took place this week. Below are the teacher descriptions of what the photos are about and the photos are in the slideshow below. We hope you enjoy viewing them.
Teacher Descriptions of photos
Students in Kindergarten have been working hard on our Freeze It! unit. This week, we explored the melting points of different liquids as compared to water while using our tally marks to make predictions. Students are also building their communication skills while they work in small groups to plan, improve, and build a small ice cooler. Check in next week for the final products! Ms Sarah
Grade 2 conducted their Entry Point for their new IPC Unit - They Made a Difference. Students participated in a gallery walk as can be seen by the photos in the presentation below. Grade 2 Teachers
Grade 5BK young writers are learning how to develop subtopics for their informational books. They use different planning tools and draft paragraphs within each chapter. Later, they rehearse their writing with classmates and seek constructive feedback. They enjoy the writing workshop! Ms Babic
Kindest regards,
Russell O'Neill
EMS Principal
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