Sydenham Storm Updates
- It was so great to see everyone at Open House!! We know that this was just a short meet and greet with your child's classroom teacher. Please feel free to connect with us if you wish to chat further about your child's learning.
- Many classes participated in activities in their classrooms about why we wore orange shirts yesterday. Please ask your child about the stories and activities they did to honour National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and to further their (and our) understanding of this important day.
- Visit the School Day app/website to order hot lunches - we are trialling having hot lunches 3 days each week (Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday) with orders being due on Sundays. We use the funds raised from hot lunch to assist in paying for experiential learning opportunities for our students such as field trips, guest speakers, materials for special projects and so much more!
- 89.5% of our Storm Kiddos were at school for a minimum of 90% of the school days in September! This is a great feat and we are so proud of you all for making this happen!! Read our Attendance Matters Section below for more information on how important attendance is.
- Our Storm Families are fundraising with a flurry for Terry Fox - please visit our school page to donate by clicking this TERRY FOX SCHOOL LINK!
Rain or Shine
We value and appreciate our time outside as a much needed brain break from learning. We will go outside for most recesses even if it is raining. In the event of heavy rain (or storm), we will call an indoor recess. October can often be rainy, so please consider having your child wear or bring a water resistant coat. Extra clothes in the backpack is a great idea in case there are muddy puddles to play in!!
School Advisory Council Update
Our first meeting had an amazing turn out! Thank you to all who joined us! Our next meeting is Tuesday, October 21 at 5:30 pm - babysitting provided! and we will be discussing preparations for our Boo Bash on Friday, October 24, from 5:30-7pm.
Update on Learning:
LITERACY
Staff are continuing to target word attack strategies as we work on developing reading skills for our Sydenham Storm Kiddos.
Soon information will be coming home with grades SK-2 students around the school board's early literacy screening strategy. Sydenham Storm Staff did this screening in the first three days of the school year - and as you know, Sydenham Storm Staff always go above and beyond - we are using this screening strategy across all grades as we mentioned in our September Newsletter. With this early screening, we have been able to identify and target each child's area of need. Using this early screening strategy and targeted intervention, we are already seeing growth and improvement in our Storm Students' reading skills. The graphic below shows some of those word attack strategies we are working on. We love to talk literacy! Reach out to any one of our amazing Storm Staff if you want more things you can do to support your child's literacy journey at home.
Click Here for a copy of the document with clickable links ---->October Literacy Clickable Links
MATHEMATICS
Mathematical reasoning sounds scary - especially if you didn't like math or struggled with math growing up! But it is really about thinking - and we all think everyday!! We can practice this with our kids (AND help our kids to understand that thinking and talking about thinking is really what math is all about) by beginning to talk about things that don't seem like 'math'. Try this example below (second graphic) with your Storm Kiddo! It's all about the thinking and the discussion - not about who is right!
Calendar of Events
Please click this link to our school's calendar of events - we will keep this calendar updated with events happening at Sydenham. From time to time we will also give you a heads up in our newsletters - but in a pinch, you can always go to the calendar if you can't find the newsletter the info was in.
Terry Fox Event - October 9 - 2pm
PA Day - October 10 - No School - Teachers will be in professional development
Thanksgiving - October 13 - No School
Picture Day - October 15
Cross Country @ Fort Henry - October 16
Diwali - October 20
SAC Meeting - October 21 - 5:30pm - All Welcome! (Babysitting provided)
Boo Bash - Friday October 24 - 5:30-7:00 - families are invited to join us for family and community building time organized by our amazing SAC committee! Students must bring their grown up(s) with them as this is a family function! Wear a costume, black and orange, or your regular clothes-we just want to spend time with you!
Every Day Counts!
Did you know the impact of missing a day or two each month? Check out the info on the left! Each time your child is away or late, they are missing valuable learning time.
Our school board's goal is to have every student at school for at least 90% of the school days. Our Sydenham Storm Staff may reach out to families to see if support is needed to help improve attendance if we start to see your child begin to dip below this goal line. This is not punitive! We want to help you and support where we can so that we can have every minute possible with your child and for their education!
If students are feeling well enough to participate at school, then they can come to school - even with a little sniffle or cough! Please refresh your child's memory on how to cover up a sneeze or cough when they have a little cold.
There are very few reasons schools ask students to stay home - we do follow public health school health guide lines that ask students to stay home for fever, vomiting or diarrhea.
If you ever wonder - 'Should my child go to school today?' - give us a call - we are happy to chat with you to figure it out together!
[The section below will be at the end of every newsletter - so if you have arrived here - thank you for reading our full newsletter - we appreciate you!]
How Do I Report An Absence?
Please use the Safe Arrival system to report your child's absence; if you need to call to report an absence, please call 1-855-257-9349 (see instructions below)
If your child will be late, please report a full day absence and then we will sign them in when they arrive.
Computerized call outs occur around 9:30 for students absent with no reported absence in our system. This call out system is a mandatory safety feature to ensure you know your child is not at school and can follow up as needed. For this reason, if your child is late, it is important that they stop into the office so that Mrs. Thompson can change their absence to 'Late' so that you don't receive an unnecessary and worrisome phone call that your child is not at school
How to report your absence:
1. Toll-free telephone
- Call 1-855-257-9349 toll-free to report an absence using the automated phone system.
2. School Messenger App
- Use your mobile device to download and install the free SchoolMessenger blue app from the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store, the SchoolMessenger website portal, or from within the LDSB mobile app.
- The first time you use the app, you must select Sign Up to create your account. Please ensure you use the same email address your student’s school has on file. If you do not use that same email address, you will not be able to create an account, or may not be able to see the "Attendance" option. You may have already created an account when we introduced the Communicate broadcast system.
- Select Attendance, then select Report an Absence and follow the prompts.
3. SchoolMessenger SafeArrival Website Portal
- Visit the SchoolMessenger website portal.
- The first time you use the app, you must select Sign Up to create your account. Please ensure you use the same email address your student’s school has on file. If you do not use that same email address, you will not be able to create an account, or may not be able to see the "Attendance" option. You may have already created an account when we introduced the Communicate broadcast system.
- Select Attendance, then Report an Absence and follow the prompts.