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Astral Drive Elementary
http://astral.ednet.ns.ca
Safe Arrival Line: 462-8500 extension 1
SAVE THE DATE
STAR monthly focus: I will value others’ contributions, ideas and
activities
Christmas Concerts
Congratulations to the students, staff and everyone
who worked on this year’s concert, "Frosty
Adventure at Astral".
Jan 5
Jan 10
First day of Classes after Break
We Act bottle drive
Jan 13
Jan 20
Jan 28
Jan 29
Jan 29
PTO meeting, 6:300pm, Library
Dr. Daniel Chorney Presentation:
Helping Children with Anxiety
SAC meeting, 5:30pm, Library
Stadacona Band Presentation: all
students
Family Fantastic Fitness
Food Bank Thursday
Concrete Roots Dance group
Jan 30
Jan 30
Feb 2
Feb. 12
STARS Assembly
Multicultural Day
Primary Registration begins
French Immersion Information Night
Jan 26
Jan 27
TRAFFIC SAFETY from HRSB
There have been a number of car accidents
involving pedestrians in the HRM in the last
week, including some involving school-aged
children. With winter approaching, we would
ask that you take the time to discuss with your
son or daughter the importance of personal
safety when walking or playing outside. The
Halifax Regional Police have some great traffic
safety
tips
on
their
website
at:
http://www.halifax.ca/Police/Programs/traf
ficsafety.html .
A huge thank you goes to Mrs. Bergeron, Ms.
Neufeld, Mme. Joubert and Mr. Casey for making
the concerts an event to remember to students,
parents/guardians, family and friends.
This was a new venue for us; however all the
feedback was positive. We heard that you liked
having just two programs and that you could hear
and see all the children. If all goes well, I think we
will try to secure the venue for future years.
Special recognition goes to Mrs. Steele and her
Sound Crew for producing the sound.
The entire event was a resounding success!
Winter and Playground Safety
Due to weather conditions, areas around our
playground may become slippery, especially the
upper field which belongs to HRM. We ask parents
to remind students to stay off the ice and use the
sidewalks to access school property.
We also have a number of students
who are coming to school early; and
are staying after school to slide on the
hill or wait for older friends and siblings.
For the safety of our students, please encourage
your child to go directly home after school and
not arrive too early.
Please to be reminded that an extra change of
clothes each day would help your child/ren be more
comfortable at school. And of course please make
sure they have adequate hats, mittens, scarves and
snow pants.
Safe Arrival
Our Safe Arrival Program is essential for student
safety; please remember to inform the school if your
child is sick or away.
If you know your children will be away, please send
an e-mail to the school as well as the teacher. This
will ensure that you will not receive a call home if
your child is not marked as excused absent from
school.
Registration 2015-2016
February is registration month for new primaries.
This year’s primary students must be five on or
before December 31, 2015.
When you come to the school to register please
bring the child’s birth certificate and proof of
address.
Please pass this information on to any neighbors in
your area that may have a child starting school in
September. It is very important that we have all
registrations completed in February as these
numbers determine staffing for the next school year.
For those parents considering the French
Immersion program there will be a meeting at the
school on February 12th at 6:30 pm in the library.
Out of area French Immersion registration begins
on April 1, 2015.
Junior High Registration Forms for the school
year 2015-2016 will be sent out to our grade six
students in February. Please fill in all information,
including the back of the form and return to Astral
Drive Elementary. More information will be
included in February’s newsletter.
Information for grade six parents:
When a student registers for Late French
Immersion (starting in Grade Seven) and cannot be
accommodated at the area school, placement will be
determined by the Supervisor of Staffing and
Resources in consultation with school principals
and area staff.
Scent and Nut Aware
Please remember, Astral Drive Elementary is a
scent and nut aware school. For the safety of
our students and staff, please do not send foods
containing nuts, or wear scented products at school.
Some of our students and staff members have life
threatening allergies to nuts.
Thank-you for your care and diligence when
sending in snacks and lunches.
Please refrain from wearing scents or using
scented laundry products while at the school. We
appreciate your support in keeping our school safe
and our students and staff healthy.
PARENT VISITS
There will be days when due to weather conditions
students will be permitted to come in to school at
8:10am. If you bring your child to school, please
leave them at the door. It is very confusing and
crowded to have adults in the building along with
the students especially since the breakfast program
will also be in progress right inside the doors. Your
children will be cared for once they enter the
building. Also, if you come to school during lunch
to drop something off for your child, please come to
the office and we will have your child paged. It is
never okay for parents to enter the building and go
directly to the classrooms.
PTO News
The PTO has decided to send out their own special
update this month. Please be on the lookout for it.
We want to take this moment to thank the PTO
under the leadership of Tara Cross, Tim Cleary,
Michelle Boniface, Shelley Phinney and Jeff
Trafford for their continued support. It is amazing
the number of hours these volunteers and their
families devote to every event that occurs at the
school. Thank you to them and the team of
volunteers who back them up. It truly is a shared
responsibility.
RESOURCES NEEDED
2015: It’s out with the old and in with the new!
January is the most popular month of the year for
organizing our homes and purging items that our
children have outgrown or are no longer used. The
Department of Education and Early Childhood
Development is promoting moving to a more based
model for learning in the primary-grade 1
classrooms.
With that in mind we would like to ask that if you
have any items in your home that you are purging,
please check with your children’s teachers to see if
they could use them before sending them
somewhere else. Below is list of a few items they
are looking for:
Sparks Fly is an initiative to put silent exercise bikes in
classrooms to be used by students during class time to
assist
in
self
regulation
(http://www.selfregulation.ca/sparks-fly/). Students who are having
difficulty due to attention problems and anxiety have
the opportunity to use these bikes and refocus their
attention and relieve their anxiety without ever leaving
their learning environment. The benefits of using these
bikes in the schools are numerous and encourage
positive stress release by children and fitness as part of
a healthy lifestyle.
At ADES we have had 2 bikes in our school for the past
month or so. Restless students in need of a break ride
the bikes with positive results. We look forward to
having even more of them to meet the needs of our
large population.
PHYSICAL EDUCATION UPDATE
*blocks
*play food
*puzzles
*lego
*dress up clothes
*board games
*dolls
*automobiles
*train table,
train set
*big blocks
*cash register, play
money
*play dough
*puppets
*play tent
*toy animals
*tinker toys
*action figures
*toy storage
*toy phones
*tool box and tools
*water table
*play kitchen
*cars
*sand table
REVOLUTION FITNESS
Revolution Fitness hosted a 23 day Tour de France
cycling challenge to raise money for the Sparks Fly
initiative. We recorded participant’s distance in km for
the duration of the event and a grand prize of a bike
donated by The Bike Pedaler was awarded to the
participant who completed the most km for the
duration of the event. Participants raised over $5000 in
pledges and personal donations that was in turn
donated to the HRSB for the purchase of SparksFly
brain bikes for local schools.
During the month of January, we will be working on
outcomes related to educational gymnastics (balance,
strength, rolling, etc.)
Later in the spring, the grade 4-6 classes will be
creating and presenting a dance video in PE class. This
unit is very popular with most students. One challenge
we face when working on this project is finding creative
ways for students to hear the music while they are
practicing. We share 3 music speakers and players
among the groups. If you would like to donate an old
iPod or speakers (including computer speakers with a
headphone jack) that are not being used, they would
help each group have more time to prepare for the
presentations. The iPods only need to hold a playlist of
less than 30 songs.
Mrs. Steele is collecting receipts from Boston Pizza with
the goal of eventually purchasing a new crash mat for
the school. Boston pizza will donate a certain
percentage of all receipts passed in to our school.
Family Fitness Night, Wednesday, January 28th
Be on the lookout for a Family Fitness Night invitation
later this month. Bring the whole family for a special
evening of fun and fitness. Start the New Year off on
the right foot!
GUIDANCE SUPPORT
Child Friendly Military Presentations
The Military Family Resource Center is going to be
offering more presentations at the school to help
support students who have family members serving in
the Military. We are hoping to have 4-5 thirty minute
presentations throughout the school year during
school time.
*Please note the main goal of these talks is to let
military children know they are special and we
appreciate them. Families do not have to be
experiencing deployment, reunion etc., at the current
time in order to enjoy these presentations.
If you think your child could benefit from this please
contact the guidance counsellor Mrs. Pope via email:
kpope@hrsb.ca or phone: 902 462-8500 ext 6021003
to sign up. Please state your child’s full name and class
teacher.
Here is some feedback from the first session:
“Thank you so much for beginning this program. My
boys, Aiden and Noah were thrilled to take part
especially with their father currently deployed. They
were so excited after school; it was wonderful to see
them so happy and proud to be military children.”
Many thanks,
Melissa Walsh
“There are unique stressors growing up in a military
family and I wanted to take a moment to sincerely
thank you for recognizing the need to discuss some of
these challenges with our children and recognizing the
affect it will have (and has had) on their lives.
Too often the contribution and sacrifices our kids
make is forgotten; it isn’t easy changing schools often
and being the new kid on the block nor is it easy on
them to have a parent away on deployment then
return to a period of reintegration within the home.
Many of our kids are learning to cope with an injured
parent or losing a parent in combat – the impact that
has on their lives is profound.
By taking the time to give our children an opportunity
at school to meet other military kids, share
experiences and have open conversations about
military life gives them practical and creative tools to
deal whatever they are feeling.
While our children don’t wear a military uniform, they
are serving their country too. This is exactly what
they need. Thank you. “
Warm regards,
Vanessa Roman
Helping Children with Anxiety:
Presentation for Parents
Please join us in welcoming
presenter
Dr. Daniel Chorney,
Chorney a
leader in clinical psychology
and children’s mental
health
Parents of elementary and junior high aged children
are invited to hear Dr. Chorney speak on this topic.
Dr. Chorney has a particular interest in helping
people identify and overcome anxiety in children
and adolescents. Come hear his presentation to learn
about anxiety and some practical parenting
strategies to help your child.
The presentation will be:
6:30-7:30 PM
Tuesday, January 20th, 2015
At Astral Drive Elementary School, 236
Astral Drive, Dartmouth, N.S.
Coffee and snacks will be provided
beginning at 6:15 pm.
For more information please contact the
school counsellor
Krista Pope at (902) 462-8500 ext
6021003
kpope@hrsb.ca