Upcoming SAC and Foundation Meeting
On Monday May 27, the St. Martin’s School Advisory Council (SAC) and the St. Martin’s Catholic School Foundation (Foundation) will be holding their final meetings of the school year.
The SAC will meet at 7:00 pm in the school library and the Foundation will meet immediately following the SAC meeting.
The Foundation meeting is particularly important as a new executive will be voted upon. All parents are invited to attend.
In order to make it easier for parents to attend, babysitting service will be available. The cost is $4 per child per hour. Please contact Stacey Bond at 632-3674 today so that appropriate staffing can be arranged.
St. Martin’s Volunteer Appreciation
At St. Martin’s Catholic School, we love volunteers. Volunteers make the job of teachers so much easier and truly add to the experience of students within the school. As a token of our appreciation, we our holding our Volunteer Appreciation “Drive-Thru” on Wednesday May 29, 2013 from 7:45 – 8:45 am. Please come and visit the school and enjoy a doughnut and a coffee. We we be serving our volunteer treats on the south and west sides of the school.
If you are unable to join us on Wednesday, please know that we are so very thankful for your commitment to St. Martin’s.
Face2Face: Knowing and Experiencing God
Jon and Masson from Face2Face Ministries.
Jon Courchene and Masson Normand of Face2Face Ministries joined the students of St. Martin’s Catholic School this past Friday for a spiritual retreat. Sponsored by the REAL Foundation, the title of the event was Awakening. The event featured songs, games, and testimony from Jon and Masson about the Holy Spirit. The part that struck me as I watched was the statement that Masson made. He said that it was one thing to know about God, but a completely different thing to experience God. For me this was a powerful statement. I can know the Bible and all of the stories of Jesus, but until I act like Jesus and follow in his footsteps, I do not truly know Him. This is the challenge everyday for all Catholics.
The Cycle of Life: A Butterfly Story (Part 2)
It is now 72 hours since the last post. The grade 3′s are extremely excited about their caterpillars. The first thing that is extremely noticeable is the growth of the caterpillars in just a few days. To give you some perspective, consider the following. Think of a time when you did not see a young nephew or niece or the child of a family friend for 6 months or even a year. How different did the child look? I am assuming quite different. This is what the grade threes experienced this week. No longer did we have toddler sized caterpillars, rather we had teenaged sized ones.
As mentioned in the previous post, our caterpillars eat a lot of food and as any parent knows, when there is eating…there is “pooping”. Our caterpillars do just as much waste secretion as they do eating, but the grade 3′s are awesome at cleaning up after their little friends.
Great job grade 3′s, keep it up!
Andrew with his caterpillar, “Gyna”
“Gyna” hanging out on the side of her container.
Swimming, Swimming, just keep Swimmimg
It is the time of year when swimming lessons are in full swing at the Vegreville Aquatic and Fitness Centre. Students in grades ECS, two, and five are learning to float, different swim techniques, and how to enjoy the water. Swimming is a life long skill and it is very beneficial for students to have exposure and experience in an aquatic environment. Swimming also meets a number of curriculum outcomes from the Alberta Program of Studies.
Students in grades one, three, four, and six will also have an opportunity to swim recreationally in June.
Thank you to the St. Martin’s Foundation for assisting with swimming and transportation costs.
PAT Dates
Further to my blog post of a few days ago on PATs, I just wanted to highlight a few dates:
Tuesday May 14: 9:00 – 10:10 am – Grade 3 English Language Arts Part A
Wednesday May 15: 9:00 – 11:00 am – Grade 6 English Language Arts Part A
Tuesday June 11: 9:100 – 10:00 am – Grade 3 English Language Arts Part B
Thursday June 13: 9:00 – 10:00 am – Grade 3 Mathematics
Monday June 17: 9:00 – 10:00 am – Grade 6 Language Arts Part B
Tuesday June 18: 9:00 – 10:15 am – Grade 6 Mathematics
Wednesday June 19: 9:00 – 10:00 am – Grade 6 Science
Thursday June 20: 9:00 – 10:00 am – Grade 6 Social Studies
Just a couple of tips to go along with the dates:
- As a staff, we do look at the results and make teaching accommodations to help students do the best they can in future years, so it is very helpful if students are in attendance on these days.
- Getting a good nights rest the night before and the days leading up to the PAT is helpful to the students.
- Having a good breakfast is important. The last thing you want for your child is a “rumbly tumbly” when the need to be focusing on the aerodynamics of an airplane or the process for determining the perimeter of a rectangle.
Thank you for supporting your child in all the ways that you do as the end of the school year quickly approaches.
The Cycle of Life: A Butterfly Story (Part 1)
Yesterday afternoon our school population had a dramatic increase. Bill, the Elk Island Catholic Schools “internal mail delivery guy” dropped off two packages. One of the packages was for 3 Cowle, the other was for 3 Kallal. The packages contained Painted Lady caterpillars.
Aly taking a peak at our new friends in grade 3.
The first task was to get the caterpillars into their individual shelters (one ounce clear Solo cups with lids). Prior to putting the caterpillars into their new homes, a small amount of food needed to be added. According to the teacher’s guide, caterpillars have poor sight and small brains and if the food is not underfoot, the caterpillars could starve, “wandering around in circles looking for food”.
Below is a picture of the caterpillars in their new homes:
A super close look at our painted lady caterpillar
Caterpillars require 3 things in order to stay alive:
- Food
- Water
- Shelter
The food is provided by a compressed, spongy feeling mixture made from the mallow plant. The is high water content in the food and the shelter is in the form of the small cup. We must be cautious to keep the cups out of direct sunlight as the water in the food can evaporate and condense (form water bubbles) on the side of the cup. The reason we need to be cautious is that caterpillars are so small that they can drown in a single drop of water.
The students are very excited to be working with the caterpillars. Today we will be giving each student the responsibility of naming their own caterpillar and “cleaning up” after it.
More learning and more sharing over the next couple of weeks…stay tuned.
2013 Grade 3 and 6 Achievement Tests
About this time every year, teachers and students are getting the final preparations for the Provincial Achievement Tests ready. This involves looking at previous PATs and other PAT style questions. The PAT is a test that is developed by Alberta Education and administered to students in grades 3 and 6 throughout the province.
To access previous Provincial Achievement Tests for grades 3 and 6 in the subjects of Language Arts, Science, Social Studies, and Mathematics go to http://education.alberta.ca/
Click on Parents – under Resources for Parents, click on Achievement Tests and Diploma Exams where you will find Parent Guides – click on More information on Provincial Achievement Tests – scroll down and click on Released Materials where you will find a list of all the released PAT exams from 2008-2011. Exams must be printed off and the answer key is located at the back of the exam.
An online test bank available through the Alberta Education website is Quest A+. This is Alberta Education’s new digital testing solution. This application contains released tests for various subjects. Quest A+ can be accessed from https://questaplus.alberta.ca/ . Quest A+ contains practice exams available to the public.
Website Feedback – We Want Yours!
The purpose of a school website is to provide a way for schools to communicate with parents, students, the community, and families interested in coming to the school community.
Mr. Coles is currently sitting on a district committee looking at revamping school websites with a new design. In order to get the most effective website possible, we are seeking feedback.
What information do you need to be on a school website?
Please e-mail your comments to Mr. Coles or leave them in the comment section below.
Thanks!
MODEL Project at the Legislature
Thank you to Ryan Veldkamp, MODEL Project Coordinator for sharing this link with the school. Below is the text from Ryan’s e-mail:
On April 11, 2013, David Dorward had an opportunity to address a question in the Alberta Legislature to the Minister of Health regarding the Mental Health Capacity Building Initiative. You can watch David’s question and Minister Horne’s response at this link: http://mypcm.la/15bvnMb
Based on Minister Horne’s comments, the future looks bright for the MODEL Project.
