General News
Greetings readership as we conclude another week of instruction at John Calvin School. Even though it was a four-day week, there was plenty to keep the students and staff busy. In addition to regular classroom work, they participated in a number of activities associated with our first theme week, Bullying Awareness. It was good to pay attention to this topic since there is no school that can say, bullying doesn’t happen here. We just spent the week focussing specifically on this topic; however, this needs to be a daily consideration. As long as there is sin in this world, there will be bullying. May our Heavenly Father continue to provide us with all we need as we go about our daily work and as we keep in mind what it means to let our light shine and to love our neighbour as Christ loves us.
We congratulate Mark and Valerie Plantinga with the birth of their son, Milo. He is a brother for Avalon (KB), Oden (2A), and Noah (4B). All is well with mom and son, and the rest of the family too. (“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 the Lord provide Mark and Valerie with all they need as they raise their children in the fear of His Name.
Today, Miss Jacqueline Jansema, one of our EAs, is getting married to Mr. Mitchell Jonker. May our Heavenly Father grant them a blessed day and a blessed marriage.
Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with all who need the Lord in a special way. We think of the D. Nobel family (Aiden, Carson, Isaac, Brynlee) who earlier this week laid to rest their grandfather/great-grandfather, Mr. D. Bergsma, in London. May they be comforted by His Spirit and Word.
A few items for your attention:
*Reminder: The past week or so, we have noticed that a number of parents are dropping off their children after school has started. Please note that school starts at 8:00. Thank you.
*Veggie Chop-Chop: The grade eight students along with teacher, parent, and grandparent help put together over 8500 cups of vegetables on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. We also thank the parents who put together hundreds of jars of red pepper jelly; all this to help raise funds for the grade eight students’ year end trip to Gatineau Park and the nation’s capital. We are again very thankful to the Niagara Gleaners for the opportunity we had to use their facility to chop the vegetables. We have plenty of extra; please contact the school if you would like to purchase a some, sold in $20 bags.
*On Monday, October 26, JCS is looking forward to welcoming a student teacher from Covenant Canadian Reformed Teachers College. Miss Kendra Schuurman will be teaching with Miss Hoeksema in Grade 4B. She is in her first year at the college. We wish her all the best and the Lord’s blessing during her practicum at John Calvin School. Kendra is hoping that a family in the area will host her for three weeks, starting October 23. She can be reached at
kschuurman20@covenantteacherscollege.com
Reminders:
*Final reminder from the Library:
*Please send back overdue books from last school year with your child/children as soon as possible. The librarians will appreciate it. Any books not returned will be presumed to be lost and students (parents) will be asked to pay whatever they owe for the lost books.
*Due date for News and Views contributions is Monday, October 19.
*The due date for picture orders was yesterday. Picture retakes are tentatively scheduled for November 4.
*Bullying Awareness Week: We had a very informative, interactive, and encouraging week as we dealt with this sensitive but very important topic. The week wrapped up today with a video recording of Grades K-3 singing This Little Light of Mine, and Grades 4-8 singing They’ll Know We Are Christians. The plan is to post them on the school Instagram page.
Things we learned this week include: bullying happens and we need to deal with it (don’t ignore it); What does the Bible say?; in all situations and circumstances, we must always be ready to answer the question, What Would Jesus Want Me To Do?; strive to be a light every day; “Do to others as you would have them to do you”; be a helpful bystander; show the Fruit of the Spirit; encourage one another and build each other up; and continue to be a servant to one another. Parents, ask your son or daughter about what else they learned, and please continue to spend time at home discussing this important topic with your children. Allow me to conclude by quoting from the JCS Bullying Awareness Protocol:
John Calvin School does not tolerate bullying in any form. We believe all our students are covenant children, created in the image of God. When a student is made fun of, bullied, or abused physically, verbally, or emotionally then we are doing the same to God. As long as there is sin in the world, schools (including John Calvin School) will have to deal with the issue of bullying. However, sin does not give excuse to bullying. We have to fight against it constantly. Because God loves us and we live in His grace, all members of the John Calvin School community will work together to create and maintain a safe learning environment for all His children. When staff, students, and parents work together against bullying we create a more inclusive, Christian environment at John Calvin School.
FYI, parents will be receiving the revised Bullying Awareness Protocol once it has been ratified by the school board.
*The annual Anchor Work Day is coming up in three weeks time (October 30). The usual information about the event was sent home with your son or daughter today. When considering job opportunities with your son or daughter, please keep in mind COVID-19 protocols. It is good for the students in Grades 7&8 to be involved in this community service for one of our Reformed institutions.
Have a wonderful weekend and a restful Sunday. The Lord willing, we will touch base again next week Friday.
G.Hofsink
Classroom News
Kindergarten
It was a short but busy week in kindergarten this week. One of the highlights from this past week was learning about bullying awareness. The students were quickly able to identify the characteristics of a bully and a friend. We had many discussions about how we could show that we are God’s covenant children by being friends to those at our school and in our neighborhood. We also read the story “How Full is Your Bucket” where the students learned that their actions have consequences on themselves as well as others. In Math we are continuing to learn all about patterns and next week we will be learning about more and less. The students are beginning to put sounds together to make words. Please take a moment with your child to use the letters that we have learned already to make words and have him/her read these words to you! Have a great weekend. JB/NV
Grade 1
We spent time as a school talking about bullying this past week. We also had some discussions in Grade 1 about the stories we read and videos we saw. We have become pretty proficient at singing our Bullying Awareness theme song: This Little Light of Mine. We have come to the end of another Bible unit. Grade 1A had a test on Friday and Grade 1B will have it on Monday. Monday is also the day that Grade 1A will have a Science test. Please remember that our water fountains are only functioning as water bottle filling stations during COVID. Students need to bring a water bottle to school so that they have a drink after their recess and lunch breaks. We have begun the challenging activity of counting by twos, fives and tens in Math.
Memory Work: Psalm 81:2 (Oct. 23, Sons of Jacob (October 29)
Spelling words: by had, one, word, or
Sight words: put pull push sure they
Grade 2
A short week this week! We participated in several activities focusing on Bullying Awareness which will culminate in the singing of “This Little Light Of Mine”. Hopefully, you will be able to watch it virtually at some point …stay tuned! Thank you for all of your donations for the food drive, they were very much appreciated. Don’t forget to pack extra socks ;o) LS/BV
Bible Test – Tuesday
Spelling – Review (see agenda)
Memory Work – Hymn 41:1 & Isaiah 9:2
Grade 3
We are so thankful to be back! We hope you all had a blessed thanksgiving. Grade three enjoyed the various bullying activities. We made crumpled hearts; ask us why! We also enjoyed dressing up in yellow and white! We sure were bright! Sunglasses needed! Thank you to the committee for the time spent in relating to us in videos and for the many activities provided. We really enjoyed the colouring contest too. In our Math classes we continued to work on adding strategies which included regrouping ones and tens, hundreds, and thousands! WOW! Ask us to do some at home for you. Or perhaps you can do the ones your child prepares for you. Our gym classes are lots of fun and we know how to dribble, kick, and trap the soccer ball properly. Hunting, fishing, and trapping were on the agenda with respect to our pioneer unit. Ask us all about it. Pioneers had to be creative in getting their food and clothing. They couldn’t just go to Foodland or Giant Tiger. Our pioneer day on Wednesday, October 28 is coming up soon. An email will be forthcoming regarding all the details. Let’s not forget our MusicPlay program! We have lots of fun songs and are learning about beat and form. Thanks to Miss Bee’s mom for coming in on Thursday and reading to us a story dealing with bullying awareness. We loved your expression and your mask!! Please remind your child to bring back the library books in his/her library bag. Thank you. That’s it for now. Have a safe and blessed weekend. J.B./M.P.
Words: pretty, prettier, prettiest, was,
Psalm 8:4,5; Text: Genesis 12:1-3
Library books on Thursday.
Mission $$ on Friday.
Grade 4
Just like that, we’ve reached the middle of October! We have much to be thankful for this school year. The Grade 4 students have been working hard and are moving along well with their work in the various subject areas. In Reading, we’ve been enjoying the novel Owls in the Family by Farely Mowat. In Science, we’ve been learning about some of the physics behind light and sound. What an intricate and amazing world the Lord has made! In Math, we are working on wrapping up our work with addition and are moving on to a unit about subtraction. In Bible, we’ve been learning about the lives of Saul and David and we’ve seen that the Lord chose David as the “servant after His own heart” from whose line the Saviour would also come one day.
For next week:
Tuesday: Grade 4A Math Quiz – Patterning and Addition
Thursday: Grade 4A Science Quiz – Light, 4B Science Quiz — Sound
Friday: Hymn 76:3/T: Ps. 100:1-3, Spelling Test Unit 7
Next memory work: Hymn 60:1,4
Spelling words: rode, cabin, sail, throat, camp, rope, said, know, boats, blow, alone, float, own, closed
Grade 5
It was good to spend time this week discussing and doing activities related to bullying. The students did a good job of making posters for the week, and those are on display in our classrooms. We were reminded once again of the great love that God has shown to us, and how, because of that, we have to extend that love to everyone around us. Next week in Social Studies, we will be starting the final section of our unit on Ancient Rome: the Punic Wars. We will also be making booklets for this, which will be done mostly (or all) at school. We are starting Unit 2 in Bible, where we will look at the early part of Jesus’ ministry on earth. Have a wonderful weekend and a blessed Sunday. RK/KV
5B Devotions: M. Chelsea, Tu. Connor, W. Mikenna, Th. Kingston, F. Sarina
Grade 6
Hello once again from Grade 6. This past week has been a busy one, with all the regular work we have been doing plus the extra activities that have been associated with Bully Awareness Week. But it has been wonderful devoting, chatting and working with the bullying concept and how we as Christians should deal with such situations. This week, once again, reminds us all to always turn to the Bible to discover what God wants from us in situations such as this. Thank you so much to the committee that organized so many wonderful activities for us. We have also done much work this week, including a couple of tests. While the majority have done quite well, there are a few students who need to remember that studying, and studying properly, are a requirement in order to succeed in Grade 6. Moms and Dads, it is always written in your child’s agenda when they have tests and when they have books home for study purposes. Please take the time to check the agendas, daily, in order to encourage your child in good study habits. Have a wonderful weekend and a blessed Sunday. SO/CV
Grade 7
Our study of what makes a good short story continues next week as we learn about setting; we’ll use Rip Van Winkle as guide. In P.E. we’ll move from soccer to flag football. After looking at forces and efficiency in Science we’ll look at stability and centre of gravity, including forces, failures and thrust lines. As we transition into fractions and decimals in Chapter 3 Math, we’ll begin by discovering what makes fractions equivalent. In History the King of France has a question; what will he do with his colony of New France? Will he encourage the fur trade or settlement? His answer next week… Enjoy your weekend.
Grade 8
Thanksgiving weekend has come and gone, as well as “Bullying Awareness” week here at school. Students and volunteers were busy chopping and packaging soup greens for most of Tuesday and Wednesday – way to go grade 8! We even made some extra packages, in case you missed out on ordering. Grade 8B had a geography test on population demographics, and we wrote our first math test in Regular math. Great job everyone! Get ready for a week full of learning next week. Have a great weekend! Mr. J & Ms. P.
© 2015 Canadian Reformed School Society of Smithville and Surrounding District
