General News

Celebrate1517: Solus Christus

During the months of November and December, we are focusing our attention on the second pillar of the Reformation: In Christ Alone.

“You know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin.” (I John 3:5)

As sinful creatures, we stand condemned before God. Our condemnation goes way back to the guilt we share with Adam and Eve, as well as to our own rebellion against God. We can do absolutely nothing to make ourselves right with God. We are all worthy of eternal separation from God.

It’s obvious, then, that we desperately need help, but what kind of saviour will do? The good news is that the Reformers saw that only Christ alone was qualified to be our Saviour.

Why is Jesus the only possible Saviour of humankind? God’s moral law requires perfect obedience and demands punishment for anything less. From His birth to His death, only Jesus was perfectly obedient to God’s law. Only in Him can new life be found. Scripture testifies that Jesus, the only perfect one, bore the results of our rebellion. While we were still dead in our sin, God provided the perfect Saviour, who alone can make us right with God.

Because we have known this good news for a while, we are to savour it anew. Let it wash over us each day and let it prompt acts of loving service to God and our neighbour.

Hello again readers as we wrap up the first full week of teaching and learning in December. We thank the Lord for His blessing and guidance during this past week and we pray that He will continue to provide for the needs of the students and teachers during the next couple of weeks before the Christmas Break.

Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with those who need the Lord in a special way, whether they are grieving, dealing with serious illness, or coping with difficult family situations. Today, we especially think of the family of Mr. Gerald Jans, who passed away earlier this week. He was the grandfather of Kara and Jordana Nordeman in our school and also well-known to many in the broader, Reformed community in the Niagara Peninsula. Visitation is on Monday from 2-4 and 7-9 in the Attercliffe Canadian Reformed Church, and the funeral is on Tuesday at 10:00 from the same building.

Parents, grandparents and other supporters of John Calvin School are invited to join us for the Christmas assembly planned for Friday morning, December 22 beginning at 11:00 a.m.

A few items for your attention:

*Apparently Sinterklaas paid a visit to the school this past Tuesday much to the delight of a number of students. He even left some candy behind, or was it coal?

*The next skating session at the Smithville arena is scheduled for Wednesday, December 13. Grade 3 will skate from 12:15-1:15 and Grade 6 will skate from 1:15-2:15. In the interest of safety and concussion prevention, students in Grades K-3 must wear helmets when on the ice. They can be either hockey helmets or bicycle helmets. Students in Grades 4-8 are encouraged to wear them. Those playing hockey must wear them.

*The Ladies Auxiliary is planning a Pizza Lunch (which will also include a drink, fruit, and a snack) for Friday, December 15. Hurray! No lunches to make. For those children who have allergies, the Ladies Auxiliary will look after heating up/preparing the food that they bring for lunch that day. Thank you very much Ladies Auxiliary!

*Lost and Found: Our lost and found box is pretty much filled to the top. If you are in the school at some point and time during the next two weeks, please check through the bin to see if any of your child (ren)’s missing paraphernalia is in there. Whatever is left in the box on December 22 will be taken to the GBF or BFM.

Reminders:

*News & Views materials are due on Monday, December 11.

*Grade 8 is scheduled to go skating on Wednesday, December 20, the final skating session.

*Grade 7 is planning to visit Kilean Lodge on Thursday morning, Dec 21.

*Friday, December 22 is a 2/3 day of school. Students will be dismissed at 12:00 and the buses will be leaving at 12:10. The Christmas Break is scheduled for December 25 to January 5. The first day back in January is Monday, January 8.

Enjoy your weekend and may the Lord grant you a blessed day of rest. We’ll touch base again in a week’s time, D.V.

G. Hofsink

Classroom News

Kindergarten

Next week we will be learning the name and (hard) sound of the letter Gg. Our new sight word will be “my”, and our colour word is still “white” (we LOVE this song!). In Math, we are working on the numerals 6-10. Please continue to practice counting things and also identifying and printing these numbers. In Bible, we will be learning all about the birth of our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Our new memory work is Hymn 21:1,6 which is also about Jesus’ birth. Please remember to send mittens/gloves to school, even if they are hiding somewhere in the backpack. Footwear should also reflect the presence of puddles and wet spots on the school grounds (which have magnetic powers over Kindergarteners). Have a blessed Sunday! NR & FVI

Grade 1

On Wednesday we will be finished our Bible unit and will send the notes home that day as well. It would be greatly appreciated if you could take the time to go over the stories to prepare for the Bible test on Thursday.   We switch from Bible to Church History in the coming week and will see how God cares for His Church. We have also completed our Pets and Puppets reader. The students will be taking home a copy of this as well. Please encourage them to read to you, their siblings, etc. Some students have not returned their copies of the Funny Surprises, and Kittens and Bears readers. Please have a look around the house and send them back next week. Thanks! Have a great weekend and a blessed Sunday.

Memory Work for Friday, Dec. 15: Ps. 100:2+4; John 3:16

Spelling Words (same words as last week): there, use, which, each, an

Grade 2

Spelling: Review

Memory work: Hymn 58:1, 2; Proverbs 3: 5, 6

Grade 2 had a great time skating on Wednesday! Thank you to all the parents/grandparents that came! Wow, what a great turn out!

We began a new Social Studies unit this week. We will be learning about communities across the world. We will begin with the cold communities in Nunavut before we turn our attention to the warm communities in the New Year.

Have a great weekend!

RG/JA

Grade 3

How was your week? Ours was busy and fantastic! Hope yours was too! We started a new unit dealing with the patriarchs. Ask your child who they are? In our math classes, we are now working with multiplication. Please continue to do your drill every week, Grade 3, and bring it back to school the next day too. Thank you. What are the complimentary colours? Thank you, Mrs. Poort (and daughter Julia), for introducing grade 3A to the artist, Henri Matisse. We can’t wait to paint with SCISSORS! Next week Wednesday, we are going to go skating from 12:30-1:30. Helmets must be worn. Don’t forget your skates! Parents are invited to join us. We hope to see you then! (There will be no hockey games). J.B./M.P.

Hymn 20:1,4, Text: Psalm 23:1-3

Words: anyone, are, can’t, don’t, won’t, wouldn’t

Monday and Thursday: gym clothes; Tuesday: library books and library bag

Friday: Mission $

Grade 4

4A: We will have a Math test on Friday, December 15. We continue with Solomon

4B: We start a Church History unit on John Hus

Spelling: chased, moving, scored, laughing, dressed, taking, laughed, coming, used, racing, missed, making, pushed, until

Memory Work: Psalm 52:1 (December 15) Psalm 35:1 (December 22) John 3:16-18 (Dec. 22)

Grade 5

Our condolences go out to the Jans family, whose opa passed away on Wednesday evening. We pray that the Lord will continue to grant them His peace and strength. Please continue to study multiplication tables with your child so they are able to improve their mental math skills. We are becoming a little more aware of all the things in our foods and how our diet affects our lives! On Tuesday (12th), we have a Nutrition Quiz on Lessons 1-4, and we will be having a quiz on Lessons 5-7 on the 20th. We also have a Bible test on December 21st. With the new rules in place for controlling our behaviour, we are really seeing an improvement in the students taking responsibility for their own behaviour. We had fun with making some Christmas decorations for the classrooms this week, and our fancy snowflakes really add a festive spirit to the rooms! Have a wonderful weekend and a blessed Sunday.

Memory Work: Ps. 73:1

Tuesday: Science Quiz (Lessons 1-4)

Devotions: 5A – M. Damon, Tu. Abigale, W. Eli, Th. Erin, F. Noah

5B – M. Jaxon, Tu. Kara, W. Jonas, Th. Ethan, F. Davis

Grade 6

As we began our new unit on the immune system we read Ps.139:13-15. We will be able to express the words that we are fearfully and wonderfully made often while we learn new things about our body. Did you know that there are more than 7 billion of microbes on our bodies and inside them? Thankfully most of them are harmless and we have an amazing defense system to fight against them. If the students are playing hockey during our ice time next week, please take along a helmet. Have a blessed weekend.

Grade 7A

We’ve finished our speeches in L.A.; we’ll put them to the side and revisit them during the upcoming “Public Speaking and Poetry Declamation” contest. Next in our study of public speaking we’ll work on gestures, listening, voice and vocabulary. On Monday we’ll have a Martin Luther test; students have their choice of questions to answer and may use a resource to help. In Math we’re working with expressions and equations working our way towards simplifying them. We’ll test the structural efficiency of our bridges next week and put the finishing touches on our History projects. Parents, please ask your child for the questions they’ll ask the person they’d like to interview. Enjoy your weekend.

Grade 7B

In Church History, we are coming to the end of Martin Luther. We will be having a Test on Thursday. In History, we are also concluding our projects on the Habitant Home, the Seigneurial System, and the relationship between the Habitants and the Seigneurs. In Independent Study, please discuss with your student about the interview process that we are going through and how it is going. They should have 2 people that they could interview, a template completed and signed for an interview request, and a list of open-ended questions that they can ask their interviewee. We also look forward to going to the ROM/AGO on Wednesday of next week! It promises to be a great trip!! Devotions – Kade VaderKooy. Enjoy your weekend!

Grade 8A

As we dig into December the pending Christmas break begins to rise on our horizon. There is much to do between now and then and the students have found themselves busier than normal. They have done well nonetheless. Next week we look forward to our inaugural trip to the ROM/AGO. It promises to be an exciting day and I leave two reminders here for you. 1). The students will need to bring an image taking device of some kind. 2). Students will be late returning back to school. I will be sending an email out when we are 1 hour away from returning back to school so that we can best predict when we will be back. Have a blessed weekend. Cheers, Mr. J

Grade 8B

We have had a very busy week in Grade with multiple tests and quizzes. So, we are looking forward to having a bit of a more restful week next week. Students continue to work on their I.R project. They are required to get a slip signed by their parent or guardian to allow them to interview an individual who is a professional in the career which they have researched. We are looking forward to going to the ROM/AGO next week, Wednesday as Grade 7/8 classes.

Wishing you a blessed weekend. KG