General News
The purpose of John Calvin School is to assist and support parents in the education of their covenant children to the glory of God. In accomplishing this mission, the vision of John Calvin School is to provide excellent Christ-centered education in service to God and our neighbour.
Greetings everyone as we bring another busy week of learning and teaching to a close at JCS, albeit an abbreviated one because of tomorrow’s PD day. We thank the Lord for his blessing and guidance on our work throughout the past week and we pray that he will continue to provide for needs of the students, staff, and parents for the remainder of the term. We are so thankful that we were able to get together as teachers and parents on Tuesday and Thursday evenings to discuss the progress of the students at the mid-point of the first term. It was good to speak about matters that may help us to teach your son or daughter more effectively and for you, as parents, to support the teachers on the home front. Please feel free to touch base with your child(ren)’s teacher any time should you have a question or concern about their progress. Teachers’ emails are published every other month on the back of the front page of the News and Views. May our Heavenly Father continue to bless this important communication between home and school as together we instruct his covenant children in the fear of his Name.
Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with those in our community who need the Lord in a special way. May he continue to surround them with his love and care.
We congratulate Ben and Rachel Helder with the birth of their fourth daughter, Hope Isabelle. She is a sister to Daeton (7B), Addison (4A), and Kingston (2A) and, of course, we can’t forget Isaac and the others. All is well with mom and daughter. (“Our children all are gifts of God, our sons and daughters his reward—each one a blessing from the LORD, as heritage on us bestowed.” Psalm 127:3, BoP). May our Heavenly Father provide Ben and Rachel will all they need as they raise their children in the fear of his Name.
Tomorrow, the teachers will be professionally developing themselves as they follow-up on the Teachers’ Convention workshops they virtually attended, continue with work on Math and/or Music curriculums, and engage in other curriculum work specific to their grade or division level. Students (and parents) may enjoy a three-day long weekend.
A few items for your attention:
*Here’s installment #9 of the service tasks carried out by the JCS Service Teams. This week we will look at the services provided by the School Beautification team. This team is the responsibility of an intermediate class. They would look after in-school displays at special times and decorate the school on special occasions. An additional great service opportunity for the senior students in the school. Another project we are looking into is a Roadside Clean-Up Team (also for senior students). These students with a teacher advisor would be responsible for maintaining a section of road and keeping if free of garbage. Contact was previously made with the township of West Lincoln but nothing has materialized as yet.
*We say farewell to Miss Bouwman whose four-week practicum was completed today. We trust that her practice teaching session in Grade 5B at John Calvin School was a positive and beneficial experience. We wish her all the best and the Lord’s blessing as she returns to regular classes at the CCRTC.
*Now that all the money has been returned, the final numbers are in for the annual Chocolate fundraiser. A total of $8,725.33 was fundraised for school trips, both field and year end. Excellent job by all the participating students. Recognition was given to the top seller in each class from Grades 4-8 who sold a minimum of three boxes. The following classes received a 5 lb chocolate bar for their exceptional efforts. Nicely done!
*I think all the money from the Anchor Work Day has been brought in. If there are any stragglers, please get it in asap. With much thankfulness we can report that $3260.00 was raised in support of the Anchor Association. Excellent job all participating students! We extend a big thank you to all those in our community who “hired” the students to work for them.
*Triple Ball: Two more practices for the Triple Ball teams next week and then tournament time at Guido de Bres Christian high school (boys’ and girls’ teams) and Timothy Christian School (co-ed team). A bus will be bringing the athletes to the tournament but parents will need to pick up their children from either Guido or Timothy at the end of the tournament which will be determined by the success of the teams. Players will be receiving a tournament schedule early next week. Covid protocols for students and coaches from both Guido and Timothy were sent to the participating schools. The students took them home today so they could share them with their parents. All the best at the tournament athletes and coaches (Miss Vis, Mrs. VanBrederode and Mrs. Groen, and Mr. Hofsink).
*Winterfest: The online silent auction is just about ready to go on the Winterfest website. Check it out at www.johcalvinfundraising.ca and then place your bid(s).
Thank you very much Kids Winterfest organizing committee (Mrs. Cindy Beukema, Mrs. Rachel Blokker, Mrs. Melissa Post and Mrs. Jacqueline Groen) for putting together an amazing day of fun and games (bouncy castles, Halaloo the balloon guy, minute-to-win-it games) . You did a lot of work in making the day the success that it was. Students and staff thoroughly enjoyed the activities, the snacks, and the goodie bags. Great job Kids Winterfest committee!
Reminders:
*Lifetouch was in contact with the school and retakes are scheduled for Monday, December 6.
*The Fall Membership Meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, December 1. Members of the school society will be receiving their membership package for the meeting in the next week or so.
*The Ladies Auxiliary is planning a Pizza Lunch for Wednesday, December 8. Yippee! No lunches to make. For those children with allergies, the Ladies Auxiliary will look after heating up/preparing food that they bring for lunch that day. Thank you very much Ladies Auxiliary!
May our Heavenly Father continue to refresh us physically and spiritually over the course of the weekend. The Lord willing we will touch base again next week Friday.
G. Hofsink
Classroom News
Kindergarten
A short but busy week in the kindergarten classroom! A huge thank you to the Winterfest ladies who set up Kids Winterfest in the gym for our students. The students loved the balloon animals and the bouncy castles! They were so excited with their loot bags! Thank you so much Winterfest ladies. In language arts this week we spent time on review and assessment for the letters that we have learned. Many of the students are learning at the expected kindergarten level though I do encourage all parents to continue practicing the letter sounds we have learned and to try to use these sounds to make small CVC words! In math, the students have been working on learning how to decompose numbers by looking at part, part and whole. This skill will be especially helpful when we start learning addition! In Bible, we are continuing to learn about the life of Joseph. The students are able to recognize how the Lord was with Joseph and how the Lord took care of Joseph even when he was in prison! That’s all from the kindergarten classroom this week! Enjoy the extra long weekend! JB/SV
Grade 1
Wow! Kid’s Winterfest was a blast! The children are grateful for the activities and the treats. Winterfest ladies took quite a few pictures and have promised to forward them. We will try to post them on the google classroom. Grade 1B is having a test about the senses next week. Check agendas for specific dates. Grade 1A will have a Phonics test and probably a Math test too. Again, specific dates will be in the agenda. Sometimes it takes just one extra day to be sure that everything is thoroughly completed before test day. We have met with about half of the parents by the time of this writing. It is good for us to touch base with you and nice to be able to put (part of) faces to names for those we have not met before. Many of the grade ones are certainly ready for an at home day on Friday.
Memory Work: Psalm 81:5, Ruth 1:16,17a
Spelling/Sight words: can, said, we, when, your
Grade 2
What a fantastic morning we had with the kids’ day Winterfest activities! Thank you so much to the Winterfest committee for arranging this! The balloon man was very entertaining and the students were pleased with their abilities to make a balloon dog. In our Science classes this week, we completed the unit on Healthy Living. We will turn our attention to a Social Studies unit for the next few weeks. We will be learning about a cold weather community (Nunavut). Learning about other cultures is always very enjoyable. It was good to meet with you this past week for parent/teacher interviews. Thank you so much for all your encouraging words and prayers as we continue in the task of teaching these covenant children to His glory. Have a blessed weekend! BV/RG
Grade 3
We had a short, busy week. The children thoroughly enjoyed the story about Thomas Cranmer in Church History. One student commented that this story is so encouraging for us as the Lord is always at our side giving us the courage to speak His truth. In Science, we continue to stand in awe of how God has made us fearfully and wonderfully. We have been doing some silent reading assessments in class. In due time, the children will take home their packages. Learning to regroup in subtraction and memorizing the times tables keep us busy in math class. The children will take home times table flashcards to practise next week. Make it fun, do a race with your child. Thank you Winterfest committee for the fun activities and goodie bag! Thank you so much parents for coming and talking with us about your child’s progress. Thank you also for encouraging us to continue to work for His Glory. This is our prayer for you as well. May God bless you this long weekend.
Memory work: Ps. 15:1 Text: Ps. 23:1-3 (two weeks)
Spelling words: their, there, they’re (children need to know when to use the proper word), went, when
Thursday: Library books in plastic bag Friday: Mission $
Grade 4
Thank you to the ladies who organized a fun afternoon of Minute-to-Win-It games and treats yesterday afternoon. We also enjoyed our Math Market that took place this morning. A few things to note for this coming week:
Thursday: Grade 4A/B Science Quiz (Rocks and Minerals)
Friday: Spelling Test: said, know, too, off, because, friend, where, chief, piece, surprise, write, please
Memory Work: Psalm 60:1/T: Isaiah 9:6-7
Upcoming Memory Work: Psalm 5:1
Have a blessed weekend. YF/KO
Grade 5
Another busy week has been completed! We have created new book covers for our Call it Courage novel study. We have also worked on a storyboard showing what we have learned about the Punic Wars. Expect to see Bible folders coming home this week to study for the test on Friday. Grade 5B would like to say thank you to Miss Bouwman for all her work with us. Wishing her all the best as she finishes Teachers College! Devotions for the week are as follows: for 5A – M. Timothy, Tu. Caleb, W. Gideon, Th. Augie, F. Georgia. And for 5B – M. Benjamin, Tu. Reanne, W. Evelyn, Th. Reece, F. Tara. Have a great weekend! RK/KVL
Grade 6
The students have been busy with a variety of items: paragraphs about the bird they researched, a new art project, reviewing math concepts, such as squared and square root, to name a few. They also enjoyed a fun-filled afternoon for their Winterfest. Thanks to the ladies who organized the activities and treats. It was very much appreciated. Have an enjoyable weekend. IdV/CVA
Grade 7A
This week, in 7A, we learned more about Luther’s struggle to become righteous before God and about the breakthrough which God led him to through Romans 3. Our Science unit, “structural strength and stability”, came to a formal end and next week we’ll begin the unit project. Also, on the topic of projects, the History, “Everyday Life in New France” project, is certainly cooking up as students create monopoly board games, land use models and create menus and cook items. Thank you to the parent volunteers who went shopping with us and who will help us in the kitchen on Monday. What a wonderful opportunity, “Parent/Teacher Interviews”, where; home and school work with the same foundation and goal. Enjoy your weekend.
Grade 7B
What a blessing to be able to conduct parent teacher interviews this week. Thank you to all the parents who took the time to come out and meet with us to discuss progress reports. We are beginning a new chapter in Math; working with Expressions and Equations. In Church History we finished up the early years of Martin Luther’s life and will now look at the work he did to begin the Great Reformation. Weekly vocab tests continue as does our short stories unit. We read a couple stories that focus on the development of character and next week we will explore setting.
Have a great long weekend. MJ, A
Grade 8
This week, we plan to start on presenting our History Projects on the various colonies and why they did or did not join confederation. Just a heads up, there will be a science quiz in the next two weeks. We are currently powering through Tom Sawyer. In art, we are beginning a unit on Human Portraiture. Have a great weekend!
Tues: 8A Tom Sawyer Comp and Vocab quiz ch 6-10
Wed: French Quiz Avoir Expressions and Location Expressions
Memory work: 1 John 3: 1-3, Hymn 69: 3
© 2015 Canadian Reformed School Society of Smithville and Surrounding District
