Hello families!

I hope you had a great weekend. With the shift in weather it is clear that fall is here to stay! We are entering the cold and wet season so a reminder for students to come to school prepared. An extra set of clothes at school is always appreciated! 

Having said that, this is a beautiful time to still enjoy the outdoors – the crisp early mornings and noticing the daily changing of colours. I know we all love watching to see those first signs of snow on Elephant Mountain as we eagerly await the onset of winter. 

Halloween is coming up this week! This is a time of excitement for students as they plan their costumes and have extra events to attend. Keeping a regular family routine and continuing to eat healthy foods will help your child still maintain a sense of balance during this time. Please be mindful of your child’s costume for school and send them with an extra change of clothes for the afternoon. 

Some highlights from the last few weeks include:

• Early dismissal days – Thanks to so many of you who came to the school for class open houses and parent-teacher interviews. It is such a pivotal time of year to make a good connection with your teacher and be informed how your child is doing at school. This is part of our communicating student learning cycle. 

• Cross country run – Our school participated in the district wide cross country run on Friday Oct. 17. Despite some very rainy weather, students were proud of themselves for running the race and had a great time. 

• Pumpkin carving – Mrs. Sparks class is in the fall spirit already! They spent an afternoon carving pumpkins. There was so much creativity shown by all in their creations. Mrs. DeSousa’s class will be carving pumpkin this week.

• Ecosystem dioramas – Mrs. Bonikowsky’s students have been very focused on making their dioramas. The grade 3’s are making a diorama of a local ecosystem and the grade 4’s are making a diorama of a biome. 

• Renewable/Non-renewable resources – Mrs. DeSousa’s class is focusing on renewable and non-renewable resources. They are working on independent projects to show their understanding the form of a slide show, poster, diorama or other option of their choice.

• Descriptive/persuasive writing – Classes are working on their writing to include detail, supporting information, and formatting their writing into an introduction, middle and conclusions. There are lots of letters of opinion and spooky stories being written in story workshop this week!

• Indigenous education – Mrs. Corner visits classes weekly for cultural indigenous lessons. Recently, she  been teaching about the  Cree Medicine Wheel. Students have been deeply engaged in meaningful discussion and reflection

• Practicum students – We have a couple practicum teachers starting at our school this month. It has been a pleasure meeting them and integrating them into our South Nelson community. Students gave them a very warm welcome. We have a fantastic team of teachers to share their knowledge and practice with these students. 

• Gr. 4 FSA (Foundation Skills Assessment) – Gr 4 students have been steadily working away on completing these provincial assessments that help us monitor progress in literacy and numeracy. 

   

A few reminders for you: 

1. Dress for the weather! There has been a significant shift in the weather and we are now entering cooler days of fall. Please ensure your child is coming each day dressed warmly and with extra gloves/toques tucked into their backpacks. Our classes often go outside for extended periods of learning so it is good to be prepared for the weather each day

Some upcoming dates (you can also find these posted on our calendar: https://southnelson.sd8.bc.ca/events/calendar)

1. Oct. 28 – Picture retake day
2. Oct. 30 – Lock down drill
3. Oct. 31 – Halloween activities at school
4. Nov. 10 – Remembrance Day assembly (9:30am)
5. Nov. 11 – Remembrance Day holiday – No school 

Finally, some family learning! 

1. Want some fun Halloween themed learning activities for kids this week? Check out some of these Halloween themed crafts that are good for kids of all ages
2. Concerned about trick-or-treating this year? Here are some great suggestions for some family friendly activities with or without the candy!

That’s all for now!

Have a wonderful week! 

Mrs. Snell