General News

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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.

Good Friday morning readership as we wrap-up another week of instruction at John Calvin School. We thank the Lord for the beautiful weather we could enjoy for most of the week, also for when we were standing at the cenotaph. We thank the Lord for the many gifts and blessings he has provided during the course of the first half of the first term. We pray that he will continue to provide for the needs of the students, the staff, and the parents during the remainder of the term. Progress reports will be going home with the students this afternoon. Parent-Teacher conferences are scheduled for Tuesday, November 16 and Thursday, November 18. The schedule will be emailed to you later today or on Monday morning. Here again is the protocol that has been put in place for the conferences:

• As per the JCS Return-to-School protocol, parents are expected to wear a mask/face covering when in school for the conferences.  If wearing a face covering is problematic, arrangements can be made with the teacher(s) for a telephone or Zoom conference.

• Proper distancing in the classroom will be enacted in agreement with the classroom teacher.  Please do your best to maintain proper distancing when meandering the halls of the school.

• If you are unable to attend the conference(s), please let the office know so that the teachers can be informed and, thus, alternate arrangements can be made.

• 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.

Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with those in our community who need the Lord in a special way.  In particular we think of the family of Mrs. Ruby Roza who passed away last week in her 100th year (she was the great-grandmother of Chelsea, John, and Hailey Bosscher); and the family of Mr. Bert DeHaan who also passed away last week.  He was a relative to a number of families in our school and church communities. May our Heavenly Father continue to surround these families with his care and comfort.

The Act of Remembrance

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old.

Age shall not weary them, nor do the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them.  We will remember them.

Yesterday, we remembered them at an assembly and at a ceremony at the Smithville cenotaph.  Thank you Grades 1&2 teachers for organizing and leading the assembly.  It was a beautiful assembly of remembrance.  Twenty-four students, three teachers and several parents attended the Remembrance Day ceremony at the Smithville cenotaph. We were able to participate with the singing of  two hymns, Amazing Grace and O God Our Help in Ages Past. Two students, Mason Evers and Jacob Lenting, were chosen to lay a wreath in behalf of John Calvin School but it was already placed at the cenotaph prior to the service, along with many others. We are thankful that we were once again able to actively participate in Remembrance Day ceremony. 

A few items for your attention:

*Here’s installment #8 of the service tasks carried out by the JCS Service Teams.  This week we will look at the services provided by the School Spirit team.  The School Spirit Team is made up of six students, one from each of the Grades 4-8 and one from Learning Resource Special Needs.  To be chosen for the team, all students from these grades interested in joining the teams must submit a letter explaining why they would consider themselves to be a good member of the team. The School Spirit team staff rep (Ms. Stoffels) and one of the members of the admin team spend considerable time reading through the many letters before making the selections. The term of service for each student is one year. This allows for more students to be selected to this team. The School Spirit Team is responsible for coming up with ideas for Spirit Days, e.g. 80s Day, and their organization.  This is another great service opportunity for a number of students in the school.

*Thank you Grade 4B for the Stones of Encouragement that you have left around the building.  Very thoughtful!

*We say farewell to Miss Enter and Miss Petter whose three week practicum was completed today. We trust that their practice teaching session at John Calvin School was a positive and beneficial experience.  We wish them all the best and the Lord’s blessing as they return to regular classes at the CCRTC. Next week, Miss Bouwman will be finishing up her practicum in Grade 5B. 

*Pretty much all the money from the Anchor Work Day has been brought in. I think only a handful of students still need to bring in money and then the fundraiser is over for another year. We extend a big thank you to all those in our community who “hired” the students to work for them. 

*Triple Ball:  Practices continue every Monday and Thursday after school and every Wednesday at lunch leading up to the tournament scheduled for Friday, November 26. The boys’ and girls’ tournament is planned for Guido de Bres Christian high school and the co-ed tournament for Timothy Christian School.  A schedule for the day will be sent our way in the near future.   

*Winterfest:  Soon the online silent auction will be coming to the Winterfest website. When it does, check it out at www.johcalvinfundraising.ca and then place your bid(s). A Kid’s Winterfest is being organized for the JCS students on Wednesday, November 17. An email from the school was sent out earlier this week describing the plan for the day. We are looking forward to it. Thanks for organizing the day Winterfest committee!

*Doorbell:  FYI, the school now has a doorbell outside the main entrance.  You no longer have to knock or use your phone to get the attention of the office. 

*Thank you Miss VanderLaan and Mrs. Elgersma for painting three more 4-Square boxes and repainting the existing 4-Square boxes behind the gym; and thank you Mrs. VanEs for coming up with the idea to do so.

Reminders:

*Picture retake date from Lifetouch is December 6, 2021. 

*Friday, November 19 is a PD Day for JCS.  Students can enjoy a long weekend while the teachers will be busy with local professional development consisting of convention workshop follow-up and curriculum work. 

*The Fall Membership Meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, December 1.  Members of the school society will soon receive the membership package for the meeting.

Enjoy your weekend and have a blessed day of worship.  We’ll touch base again next week Thursday, D.V..      G. Hofsink      

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Classroom News

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Kindergarten

This past week we spent time remembering and reflecting on the sacrifices that many men and women made for the freedoms that we enjoy today.  The students were eager to learn about the meaning of a poppy and wore their poppies as a reminder of the lives lost.  Thanks so much to the Grade 1 and 2 teachers for the assembly this past Thursday on Remembrance Day.  In Bible this week, we have been learning about the life of Joseph.  The students learned about the dreams that Joseph had where his family bows down to him but they also are learning about the hardships that Joseph encountered before the fulfillment of these dreams.  The students regularly remind each other that although Joseph may have been alone in the pit or jail, God never left him and God always does what He promises He will do!  In math this week, we have been learning about decomposing numbers using the strategy of part, part, whole!  The students have quickly grasped this concept using the number 5 and next week, we will be learning the numbers 6-10.  In Language Arts next week, we will be taking a break from learning new letters to spend some time on review.  The students will be coming home with the flashcards of the letters they have learned.  Please spend some time with your child reviewing these letters and having your child form 3 letter CVC (consonant, vowel, consonant) words using the letters they have learned!  Next week will be a short but exciting week as Wednesday the students will be spending a part of the morning in the gym celebrating Winterfest and Friday is a PD Day.  Thank you to the ladies who have arranged for this event.  The students cannot wait!  Have a great week everyone.  JB/SV

Grade 1

We learned a lot this week about what Remembrance Day means.  Grade ones were very proud to wear our poppies.  Hopefully we will have an opportunity to talk with each of our students’ parents next week.  Please let us know if you are unable to come during your interview slot.  Perhaps we can give you a call during your time slot and speak a few minutes over the phone.  Both grade one classes will soon be writing a Phonics test that marks the end of our second unit that deals with short vowel sounds. Look for specific dates in your child’s agenda.  We have noticed that some grade ones have a very difficult time distinguishing one vowel sound from another.  This skill receives some emphasis in our reading unit as well.  In spite of that, the children are very excited about beginning to use the first reader in grade one.  Ask them about the adventures of Beth and Nat in our Snap Shots reader.  A PDF of the reader is posted in the Google Classroom if you want to check it out for yourself. 

Memory Work:  Hymn 66:1 (November 18)   Ruth 1:16, 17a  (November  26)

Spelling/sight words:  all, but, not, were, what

Grade 2

We’ve had another great week in Grade 2! We learned a lot at the Remembrance Day assembly and we completed our poppy art. Next week we will be finishing up our Science unit on Health and Safety. Next we hope to start our first Social Studies unit on Nunavut. We look forward to seeing you next week at parent/teacher conferences. Have a great week and a blessed Sunday! RG & BV

Grade 3

Bonjour! Ca va bien! It’s been a busy week in grade three. On Tuesday, we wrote a Bible test. Well done boys and girls! We move on to Church History and the students will be hearing about a man named Thomas Cranmer. Ask them how the Lord uses weak and sinful people from all times and places in His work of gathering a church for Himself by His Word and Spirit. Math is all about subtraction strategies. Ask us about counting on or counting back. Ask us about the circulatory system.  We praise the Lord because we are fearfully and wonderfully made. On Thursday, we remembered all of those soldiers who fought for our freedom.  God keep our land,   glorious and free. Have a safe and blessed weekend.

Psalm 39:1; Text:  Proverbs 3:9,10

Words:  first, hopeless, journal, let’s

Library books in a plastic bag on Thursday.

Mission $ and Dictation on Friday.

Grade 4

Grade 4A said good-bye to Miss Enter today. We thank her for her work over the past 3 weeks, and we wish her the Lord’s blessings as she continues with her studies at CCRTC. We continue to learn all about rocks and minerals in Science. We are also enjoying our novel study, “Owls in the  Family”. Have a blessed weekend. YF/KO

Next Week:

Wednesday: Grade 4A/B Bible Quiz

Thursday: Lesson 11: garbage, became, jail, beside, orange, plane, job, broken, change, drove, jungle, where, cage, across

Memory Work: S: Psalm 56:1/T: Isaiah 9:6+7

Upcoming Memory Work: Psalm 60:1

Grade 5

We were thankful for the opportunity this week to pause and reflect on the sacrifice made by so many in our country for our freedom. Some of us were able to go to the cenotaph, and the rest of us attended the assembly at school. In Language Arts, we were able to wrap up the reading part of our novel study this week, and we will be finishing off our time with Call it Courage next week by doing a project with it. We are also finishing up our Social Studies unit on Ancient Rome next week with a project! We got to learn about the Punic Wars (between Rome and Carthage) this week, including how the results of those wars affect us today. Our project will be a poster size “booklet” about the wars, of which each group will be completing one “page”. We look forward to seeing you at Parent-Teacher interviews next week! Have a great weekend, and a blessed Sunday. RK/KV

Devotions for next week are as follows:

5A – M. Judy, Tu. Thomas, W. Paige, Th. Noah

5B – M. Jakob, Tu. Jasmine, W. Ryder, Th. Brooke

Grade 6

Another week has gone by quickly. We have enjoyed the beautiful weather during our recess breaks. We were able to either attend the assembly or visit the cenotaph for Remembrance Day. It is good to reflect on the sacrifices made in the past and to show thankfulness to God for allowing us to worship Him freely in this country. We look forward to discussing the progress of the students during the parent/teacher interviews next week. Let us continue to encourage each other in the education of God’s covenant children. Have a blessed weekend. IdV/CVA

Grade 7A

We’ve started several new projects this past week; a new Church History unit exploring the Reformation in Germany, a bridge building assignment in Science in connection with structural strength and stability, and a History project examining everyday life in New France. In Independent Study, we will transition to the medium of the documentary and we’ll eventually find a documentary applicable to our chosen topic area. Today the “Progress Reports” were distributed; see you at interviews next week. Enjoy your weekend.

Grade 7B

This week marks the first week where we had a full week AND everyone was present (at least they were at the time of writing!). The big news this week was our History project, ‘Life in New France.’ Some students are studying the seigneurial system, others are studying the food and recipes of New France, still others are creating their own New France Monopoly board! This was week one of three, stay tuned for final results! Another big project this week was our clay masks. This week students painted their masks, continuing to incorporate formal balance in their colour schemes. In our Independent Study unit we still have book reports trickling in while at the same time we are also wrapping up our ‘Author Profile’. Ask your child what more they have learned about their authors. Finally, we took some time on Thursday to commemorate Remembrance Day. Some of our students laid a wreath on our behalf at the Smithville cenotaph. Have a blessed weekend! Cheers, Mr. J & Mrs. Ludwig

Grade 8

Students are presenting their demonstrative speeches in class over the next few weeks. It’s always a good idea to practice ahead of time. Students should be working on their History Boards and the group work and research should be completed by the end of this week, and ready to go with presenting by next Thursday. We look forward to meeting and speaking with parents next week at conferences.  

Tuesday: Tom Sawyer vocab and comprehension quiz ch 1 – 5 

Wednesday: Math Test Ch. 4 (solving rational equations)

Thursday: Psalm 44: 1, 1 John 3: 1-3