General News
Hello again everyone as we bring another week of teaching and learning to an end at John Calvin School. We thank the Lord for the beautiful weather we could enjoy, especially during the latter part of the week; a bit of Indian summer before winter sets in. Remember what happened last year on November 11 & 12? May our good and gracious God continue to provide students, staff and parents with all that they need as they carry out their respective tasks at school and home in his service.
Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with all who need the Lord in a special way, whether they are grieving the recent death of a loved one, coping with serious illness or are dealing with difficult family circumstances.
Remembrance Day: On Wednesday of next week, our nation will be celebrating Remembrance Day; although in most places in a manner different than what they are normally accustomed to. Our plan for next week is that JCS will be represented by eight students and one staff member at the Smithville cenotaph. Originally, we were going to attend with a larger contingent but we have decided to attend with a smaller group. As a school contribution, those in attendance plan to sing a few stanzas of Hymn 54, O God Our Help In Ages Past (at the request of the organizers of the Remembrance Day ceremony). We thank our Heavenly Father for the freedom we can enjoy thanks to those who fought and continue to fight for that freedom, in ages past and in the present. We will remember them!
A Remembrance Day assembly presentation by Miss Breukelman and Mrs. Poort will be shared with the staff and students on Wednesday. Included in the presentation will be an interview with Mrs. Feenstra, sr. who shares some of her wartime experiences.
For a small donation to the Royal Canadian Legion poppy fund, students will be able to receive a poppy on Wednesday, November 11 to help in remembering why we pay attention to this important event.
A few items for your attention:
*Next week Friday, we plan to send home the mid-term progress reports of your child (ren). The following week, we are planning parent-teacher conferences on November 17 & 19. Here is the parent protocol that has been put in place for the conferences:
1. Parents are expected to wear masks/face coverings when in school for the conferences. If wearing a mask/face covering is problematic, arrangements can be made with the teacher(s) for a telephone interview.
2. Parents are to practise physical distancing from other parents when entering and exiting the building, and when in the school. Physical distancing will also be practised during the course of the conference.
3. If you are unable to attend the conference(s), please let the office know so that we can inform the teachers and, thus, alternate arrangements can be made.
4. We look forward to these important conversations about working together as home and school to help our covenant children learn to the best of their ability.
*Last month you received an email from the school regarding a research survey from Mrs. Joanna VanHof. This note is a reminder to please complete the survey, if you have not already done so, as it will serve the best interest of our Reformed schools. The survey shouldn’t take any longer than 5-10 minutes to complete and can be accessed via your mobile device or computer. Participation is entirely voluntary and anonymous. Just in case, here is the link to the survey: https://parentaleducationsurvey.questionpro.com/
It is Mrs. VanHof’s hope that the findings of this survey will help to demonstrate the positive experiences of parents in the independent school system in Ontario, as well as the continued dedication to quality educational experiences these schools consistently demonstrate, particularly through unexpected crises and challenging times. Our school’s participation is an extremely valuable contribution to this research.
*Two weeks of practicum are completed and that means one more week to go for Miss Schuurman in Grade 4A with Miss Hoeksema.
*Students in Grades 7&8 who have outstanding monies from the Anchor Work Day are encouraged to bring in the money next week as we would like to wrap up this fundraiser as soon as possible. Thanks for your cooperation in this matter and thank you students who have already brought in the money.
*Reminder: Niagara Public Health is not planning school-based immunization clinics at this time. Parents of students requiring immunizations are encouraged to follow-up with a health care provider. Updates will appear on the immunization webpage: https://niagararegion.ca/health/vaccinations/children/school.aspx
This means that the Grade 7 HB, Meningococcal and HPV vaccine scheduled for November will not be offered at the school.
*From the Library: Thank you to everyone who worked so hard to find their missing library books! We had more than 150 books still out of the library when we started the school year, and we received almost all of them back! A big thank you to those parents who paid for their child’s missing books so that we can replace them—this is especially important when books in a series have gone missing. As of this week, we have deleted all outstanding books that have been signed out since March. This means that each student has a clean slate and we can start fresh this school year! It’s best to return books weekly and to keep them in a select spot at home so that they don’t get lost. Take good care of your books and keep reading lots!
*Winterfest: More and more items are becoming available for purchase on the Winterfest website. Check them out at www.johncalvinfundraising.ca and then place your order.
*Mission Money: We continue to encourage students to contribute what they can (usually about a loonie per week), so that we can maintain the support of three children through CRWRF and two children through Word and Deed. We encourage the students to give spontaneously and joyfully. Let us share generously from our abundance.
*Triple Ball: Practices continue every Monday and Thursday leading up to the tournament scheduled for November 25. The boys’ tournament is planned for ACRES, and the girls’ tournament for Guido.
Reminders:
*Please continue to collect pop can tabs to help support children who are in need of a wheelchair. Our bucket is located in the foyer by the offices.
*Friday, November 20 is a PD Day for both John Calvin and Guido de Bres Christian high school. Students can enjoy a long weekend while the teachers at JCS will be busy with local professional development.
*The Fall Membership Meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, November 25.
Have a great weekend in continuing, beautiful weather and enjoy your day of rest and worship. We’ll be in touch again in a week’s time, D.V. G. Hofsink
Classroom News
Grade 1
Students should have taken home Bible tests this week. Both classes have begun telling the stories about how God delivered his people from Egypt. Many of our stories will focus on the activities of Moses and how the LORD used this man to deliver the Israelites. Mrs. deBoer is spending time looking at the lives of famous Canadians, while Mrs. VanEs will be teaching about living and non-living things. We are continuing our review of basic numeracy in Math. In Phonics we are beginning the exciting activity of putting our letter sounds together in order to read CVC words (consonant-vowel-consonant). We are practising writing sentences together, but soon we will be writing them on our own. Both in reading and writing, we are practising and reinforcing the left to right orientation of words and sentences. We will spend time talking about Remembrance Day in the coming week.
Memory Work: Hymn 54:1 Isaiah 9:2 (November 19)
sight words: there, who, any, many, been
spelling words: an, each, use, there, which
Grade 2
What a beautiful end to the week. God has truly blessed us with some spectacular fall weather! The students have thoroughly enjoyed recess the past couple of days. Next week looks even better! On that note, as the weather will eventually start getting chilly, please remember mittens and hats. We had a few blustery days with some cold ears and fingers. We started a new Bible unit this week continuing with Jesus’ Ministry. The students are really enjoying the stories about Jesus and His work. Ask them to tell you a parable. In Science, we are continuing our study on Health and Safety. What are the food groups? What are germs? How do we take care of the body God has blessed us with? We plan on wrapping this up next week with a unit test. Please remember to read daily with your child and don’t forget those math facts. LS/BV
Spelling words – move, every, where, jump, too
Memory Work – Psalm 92:1
Science Test – Thursday
Bible Test – Friday
Grade 3
We had a busy week filled with tests. The children have shown maturity when studying for a test; great job, boys and girls. Thank you, parents, for working with your child in this regard. You will find the tests and how your child has done in your child’s agenda. In Reading, we have begun to read the novel study “Stone Fox”. As we have finished the Bible unit about Abraham, we now turn to Church Life in Church History. Cool colours were used in Art. Catching and throwing keeps us busy in gym class. Have a wonderful weekend and a blessed Sunday.
Memory work: Ps. 34:3, text: Gen. 15:5,6
Spelling words: first, hopeless, journal, let’s, recycle
Library books in plastic bag on Thursday, Mission $ on Friday
Grade 4
Students are reminded to keep reading when possible at home (a minimum of 20 minutes daily is encouraged). Extra practice on math drill work is also very helpful.
Tuesday: Grade 4A Bible Quiz – Unit 2B (David)
Wednesday: Grade 4A/B Math Quiz – Subtraction
Friday: Psalm 21:1-2/Text: Psalm 100:4-5/Spelling Test, Grade 4B Bible Quiz – Unit 2B (David)
Spelling Words: dream, rest, please, friend, they, sleeping, chief, creek, piece, meet, believe, teach, yard, leave
Upcoming Memory Work: S: Psalm 56:1/T: Isaiah 9:6-7
Grade 5
Grade Five has been busy this past week creating their Punic War booklets. There are many talented artists in our class and it will be exciting to see the finished results! However, we are running out of class time to finish this project; some students may need to finish this up in their spare time or at home. For the next few weeks, our Phys.Ed. classes will be spent creating gymnastics routines. Our introduction to the unit this Wednesday was enjoyed by the students. There will be a mid-unit Bible test on Thursday. Devotions for the week are as follows: Gr.5A M – Chloe, Tu – Madelin, W – Evan, Th – Emersyn, F – A.J. And for 5B M – Kensi, Tu – Reuben, W – Ella, Th – Chelsea, F – Connor. Wishing you a blessed weekend! RK/KVL
Grade 6
We started the week off with our trip to the Warplane Museum. We are so thankful that this was still possible despite there being some limitations. The students enjoyed the activities, experiments (especially watching Mrs. Oosterhoff get covered with toilet paper!), the stories, and especially seeing the variety of planes up close. In Bible we continue with our study of Genesis. Our world map has a variety of labels with items from the classroom and home placed on where they have been produced. As we continue to learn more about trade, we will also be locating different countries in the world and learning their capital cities. Along with the reading of the novel we are learning about what it was like during the time of World War II which we will also remember next week. Have a blessed weekend. SO/CV
Grade 7A
This past week we’ve wrapped up our Bible History study of Samuel and King Saul. We’ll transition to Church History and begin our study of the Great Reformation. Our study will start with a monk in a wonderfully named town seeking to earn his own righteousness. Chapter 15, Stability and Centre of Gravity, in Science is coming to an end. Afterwards our unit,, Structural Strength and Stability, will conclude with a bridge building assignment. Be sure to ask your child what history unit ending project they are doing; interview, model, game or brochure. After our New France unit wraps up, we’ll learn about the British causing conflict and change in New France. After reading our books in Independent Study we’ll learn more about the authors with an, “Author Profile”; our child will need your permission when attempting to contact their author. Enjoy your weekend.
Grade 7B
We finished our unit this week on 1 Samuel, and have begun our Church History unit on Martin Luther. We will begin next week looking at the context of what is happening in Europe and will move into why we study Church History. In LA, we have been enjoying the presentation of our historical fiction stories, and will continue the presentations next week. In History, we are working on producing our projects in relation to Chapter 4, “Everyday Life in New France”. In Independent Study, we begin doing some research on the authors of our non-fiction books that we read, coming up with an Author Profile and hopefully being able to contact them about our topics! Enjoy your weekend!
Grade 8
We enjoyed a beautiful stretch of warmer weather this week, especially after the blustery conditions we faced last weekend. In History students continued working through their projects while in 8B the class welcomed its very own class pet! Both math classes continue to progress nicely, don’t hesitate to ask your child how they are managing and if, perhaps, they could or should consider a change. In P.E. students have started a new Volleyball unit in conjunction with the start of Triple Ball practices in anticipation of the upcoming mini-tournament. Next week we look forward to starting a novel study on The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Have a blessed weekend. Cheers, Mr. J & Ms. P
© 2015 Canadian Reformed School Society of Smithville and Surrounding District
