September 15, 2023
We can be Heros!
We come from good people. At ST’a7mes school we use our strengths to support one another; we are all connected. We show kindness, treat others with dignity and respect. We care for people in need. We are connected to and we represent our family, ancestors, and community. We work with exertion and diligence.
Ha7lh Skwayel Families -
We are off to some great adventures in learning. Students are learning new classroom routines; how to engage and use their voice in learning conversations. Lots of imaginative projects have evolved. Miniatures are showing up all over the school – mini lockers, mini pop-its, mini pencils, mini slime! One student found a beautiful branch and went to replant it as a tree, another student joined in the engineering to get it properly situated, then another joined in to create a magical small world for her toys.
We are learning of the blankets of resilience. This is a model developed by Indigenous Author, Nurse, and Educator Monique Grey Smith. The blankets are: self, family, community, and language, land and culture. The theory that this model represents is that when one is well connected to these 4 realms in their life, they have strong resilience for navigating the world. At the beginning of the year, we start with the core of understanding self, developing a strong sense of self: how one learns, how one plays, what one likes, what makes one feel good, what makes one feel bad. . .etc. Activities in all classes at this time of year are directed around discovering and expressing self, and figuring out how we learn best, so we can move with this strength as we learn throughout the rest of the year.
Math in the real world!
We have a focus on building our math skills this year, and now math is showing up everywhere. Even at our school BBQ we noticed a bar-graph appear and skip counting and multiplication was employed to understand how we can meet the needs and the wants of our guests. Students are finding different ways to make numbers, and finding relationships between different numbers.
Introducing our Culture, Language and Indigenous Support Staff -
Maureen Baker will join our school this year as a Skwxwu7mesh Language teacher.
Nicole Baker will continue to work with us as Indigenous Support Worker.
Roxy Lewis will be with us as Language and Culture teacher.
Great to See You!
It was wonderful to see families last night at our Year Start BBQ! Thanks for coming out. A special shout out to Gavin for bringing the Salmon that he had caught to cook and share out. We raise our hands to you for your generosity.
Partners in the Learning; Family Homework and reminders from the Principal:
Connect with your kids learning from this week. Ask them:
What was the highlight of your week? What are you looking forward to most about this school year?
Reminders:
PAC Meeting: 5pm – 6pm Tues Sept. 20th
Forms - Please review and sign the verification forms that were sent home with your child this week. In addition, please log into your School Cash Online account and complete the forms attached to your child's account.
School Supplies - This year your child's teacher has pre purchased school supplies in bulk. We are asking each family to contribute $35 for supplies. You can purchase supplies on your school cash online account or send cash or cheques made out to St'a7mes School to the school office.
As you go into this weekend, I hope your family is able to enjoy some relaxation and down time, reconnecting after such a full week.
Most Sincerely,
Alysa Patching, Principal.
CHEN CHEN STWAY (STUDENT OF THE WEEK)
- This week Matteo Hould was honoured. Thank you for being so awesome!
ST'A7MES ATHLETICS - GR 3 - 7
This year Sta7mes school will participate in the district wide athletics. This includes cross country in the fall, basketball in the winter and track & field / mountain biking in the spring. Practices will be Wednesday at Lunch held by Ms.Kye. Competitions and games are typically Wednesday and Thursday after school hours. Our school attending competitions and games will depend on how many participants we have as well as parent volunteer drivers. There may be options to bus with other schools. Please contact Ms.Kye, or return the athletics form (handed out to students last week) if your child wishes to participate ([email protected]). Cross country practices start Wednesday September 20th.
This year we would like to streamline our procedure around after school bussing for our Cultural Journeys students. It can be a challenge for young students to remember their afterschool plans. Please try to make a point of communicating plans with your child each morning, even if they are on a set routine. Often, we have students coming to the office at the end of the day, unsure if they are supposed to be on the bus or not. This can lead to a lot of anxiety and the potential to miss the bus entirely. Going forward, we will assume that children registered for the bus will ride it every day and our after school supervisors will escort them to the bus. If your child will not be riding the bus on set days, please let your child and your child’s teacher know. If you have a change to your usual routine, that you are not able to advise your child of before they leave for school, please email your child’s teacher before noon to ensure the message is relayed to your child and the after school supervisors. Thank you :)
