October 2016
Portland Estates
Elementary School
902-433-7100
http://pes.hrsb.ca/
Important Dates to Remember
o October 5- Picture orders due
o October 3-7 – Grade Three & Four Assessments
o October 6 – SAC – 6 pm / PTO – 7 pm
o October 7 – PJ Day for the United Way!
o October 10 – Thanksgiving – No school!
o October 11-14 - Grade Six Assessments
o October 11 – Bus Evacuation Practice
o October 20 –Picture retakes
o October 27- Fall Family Dance
o October 28- Provincial Conference Day – No school for students
SAFE ARRIVAL
Safe Arrival is designed to help ensure the "SAFE ARRIVAL" of your child. It is very
important for parents to inform the school when your child is absent or late for school. If you
know that your child will be out for several days, please leave a message and the date you expect
him/her to return. The school secretary, Mrs. Ryan, will be calling the homes of absent children.
When students arrive late, they need to check in at the office to let Mrs. Ryan know they are
here. This helps to prevent Mrs. Ryan from placing unnecessary phone calls. There is a sign in
sheet inside the office.
Since parents sometimes know in advance that their child will be absent they can eliminate
phone calls by:
1. Sending a note in advance (i.e. appointments) to the teacher and the office
2. Sending a note with another child of the family (for illness)
3. Telephone the school safe arrival line (902) 433-7100 extension “1” to inform us of your
child’s absence.
ELECTRONICS
Students are not permitted to have mobile phones, mp3 players, video games, etc. at school. If
children must have an electronic device for any reason (such as after school arrangements) they
must be put away safely in backpacks and not taken out on the school property. Any electronics
being used on school grounds will be confiscated and sent to the office. Portland Estates
Elementary is not responsible for lost, damaged or stolen electronic devices.
Happy Thanksgiving!
FIELD TRIPS AND VOLUNTEERS
Periodically throughout the year, teachers may take their classes on field trips. In order for this to
happen, chaperones are often needed. Please be mindful that if you would like to accompany a class
on a field trip, a child abuse registry and criminal records check need to be completed. It is suggested
that if you are a caregiver who would like to chaperone and do not have the necessary paperwork that
you consider going through the process as soon as possible as it often takes time to get notification
back. The criminal records and child abuse registry only need to be done every three years, and we
keep this on file at the school for you. If you already have had the forms done in the last three years,
please send in a copy for the school if you have not already done so.
NOVA SCOTIA’S ACTION PLAN FOR EDUCATION
The 2016-17 school year marks the start of many new and exciting changes in classrooms across the
province as a result of Nova Scotia's Action Plan for Education introduced in January, 2015. The
Action Plan was based on the feedback of more than 19,000 Nova Scotians, including teachers,
students, school support staff, school boards, universities and the business community.
Some highlights this year include:
• a streamlined and innovative curriculum with a stronger focus on teaching math and literacy for
Grade 4- 6 students,
• more hands-on learning activities for students to develop their technology skills, including Brilliant
Labs and,
• more math mentors working with teachers to support higher student achievement and a new career
education framework for grades 4-12 students, and
• Core French programs that use interactive and conversational teaching methods
For more details on changes coming in 2016-17, visit www.ednet.ns.ca. Follow the Department of
Education and Early Childhood Development on twitter @NSEducation.
SAC (School Advisory Council)
We are looking for 2 community members for our SAC. School Advisory Councils should
function with the following general objectives in mind:
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To place the overall interests of students first.
To advise the principal.
To help all parents and partners share responsibility for student success.
To enhance parent and community involvement.
To promote effective relationships among home, school and community.
To provide a forum for discussion on school success.
To help parents and community members share their views.
To promote positive attitudes towards public education.
If you know of anyone in the community who would be willing to serve on this committee that is
not a parent or grandparent at this school, please invite them to contact the school at 902-4337100.
RUNNING CLUB NEWS
We have only 2 races left this year for the Youth Running Series. Portland Estates is currently
sitting in 1st place in Nova Scotia. We had 71 runners at 'Glow on the O'. It was a great night,
even with the rain. The next race is Saturday, October 8th at Acadia University in Wolfville. It's a
2pm start time. The Race is NOW full. Congratulations to those of you who registered early. All
runners get a medal and a t-shirt. Could be a nice day to pick apples or go to the corn maze.
Here is the link if you wish to register your child. I hope to see a lot of you there.
Also, they asked if there were any parents from our school who would like to volunteer on the
course. It would be from 1:30-3:30. Email me at [email protected] if you are interested.
The last race will be “Scary Beazley” on October 30th, 12:00 start at Beazley Field.
Chris Smith, Phys. Ed. Teacher
Portland Estates Elementary
CUSTODY & ACCESS- This is a reminder that School board policy requires a copy of any
written court order pertaining to custody and access to be on file at the school. In the absence of
a court order, custody is assumed to be 50% with both parents able to have equal access to their
child.
Math Moments/Routines
Math moments are 5-15 minute activities designed to preview, reinforce and review Math skills.
Math skills are distributed throughout the school year, so math moments are an effective way to
build and maintain fluency while developing conceptual understanding of these skills.
Try these when you are driving in the car on the way to hockey, dance, music, soccer or maybe
waiting in line ups while shopping. They will help build math language and the ability to
communicate math thinking. Routines such as this lead children to become excited about Math.
They really enjoy just “messing with numbers”.
Number of the Day – Tell me everything you can about the number 12.
Children might respond with:
It is one more than 11
It is two more than 10
It is half of 24
It is a dozen
It is one ten and two ones
You can buy donuts in boxes of 12
It is 3 x 4
It is 2 x 6
It is 5 + 5+ 2
It is an even number
It is the number before 13
It is ten more than 2
It is my older sister’s age
It is on a clock face
The number of kids on my soccer team
Etc
Counting Routines
Start with a number and go forwards or backwards. Try skip counting by 2’s, 5’s or 10’s. Start at
a number such as “275” and say “I am 275 – two hundreds seven tens and fives ones” – your
child would say “ 276 – I am two hundreds seven tens and 6 ones”. You could skip count with
this version as well.