Remembrance Day at Rankin School of the Narrows

Our ceremony was held in the gym with the student body and staff along with a large number of community members in attendance. All students participate by presenting poems, songs, artwork or in creating our wreath of poppies. Our students taking art class create wonderful drawings depicting what remembrance means to them.   Our own choir and award winning pipers complete the program.   

Members of the Grandona Legion and other veterans from our community join us in making this a very special day at Rankin.

Monthly

Report

November - Keptekewiku's - novembre - Samhain -  2019

Message from Regional Executive Director.....2

Literacy............................................................................3

Mathematics.................................................................4

Well-Being.....................................................................5

Memorial High.........................................................6/7

Sydney River Elementary....................................8/9

Rankin School of the Narrows............................10

Jubilee Elementary...................................................11

Coxheath Elementary......................................12/13

Shipyard Elementary .......................................14/15

Tweets from Schools...............................................16

Professional Development...................................17

Word of the Month..................................................18

Contact Information...............................................18

What's Inside

Message from the Regional Executive Director

November is also a time when schools hold Remembrance Day assemblies with students to honour our veterans, and to say thank you to all of those who make our freedom possible.  During these school events, students take part and demonstrate their skills in art, drama, music, public speaking and many other areas that link to our curriculum.  It also enables them to demonstrate gratitude, kindness,  respect, a sense of community and many of the virtues that we want for these, our youngest citizens. 

In this report, we have asked schools to send in highlights of things that took place during November.  This month we have pages from Memorial High School, Sydney River Elementary, Rankin School of the Narrows, Jubilee Elementary, Coxheath Elementary, and Shipyard Elementary.   This will provide an opportunity for everyone to see the uniqueness of each school community and for the schools to showcase their achievements.    Throughout the year, every school will have the opportunity to do this at least twice, so if you don’t see your community school this month, stay tuned. 

I would like to close with a ‘shout out’ to the students and staff of Greenfield Elementary School who have been working since last February, with their local Sobeys store, on a project around the topic of ‘Sensory Friendly Shopping’.  This project has grown from a local project to an Atlantic Project to a National Project!  Sobeys has just released their National video which features students from Greenfield Elementary School.  Please click to view video.   Well done Greenfield Elementary! 

Take good care everyone, until next time.  

Susan Kelley

It is now the end of November, and we are almost one third through the school year.  During November, teachers were busy preparing report cards and parent-teacher sessions were underway.  This is a time to pause and reflect on how our children are doing and to think about our goals for their success. 

Each school in NS has a plan for the success of all students.  This year every region/board also has a regional plan that aligns with the goals of our schools for all students.  The CBVRCE plan has goals for well-being, numeracy, and literacy with a focus on equity in each of these.  Throughout the year, we will stop and assess how we are doing and make adjustments where needed.  If you would like to read the plan it is posted on our website  or click logo below to access directly:

Grade primary students at Shipyard Elementary take time to remember our veterans during their daily writer's workshop.  The grade primary students completed an interactive writing piece with their teacher, Mrs. Gillis, before they had time to practice their independent writing

Interactive writing experiences at the elementary level is an essential component in Writers Workshop.  During this instructional time, teacher shares the pen with students.  It can happen as part of small group instruction or with the whole group of students.

Elementary

Middle School

Middle school students at Baddeck Academy participated in guided reading and small group instruction.  Engaging in these best practices promotes student achievement in reading comprehension and  written response.  The teacher is focused on instructing a small group of students while others are practicing a strategy.

High School

Students at Riverview and other local high schools made curricular connections when they attended a performance of Dracula at Cape Breton University.  This play was specifically selected for inclusion in the University's Festival of Plays because it is frequently studied in grade nine English classes.  Students were exposed to the theatrical arts, practiced their Reading & Viewing and Speaking & Listening skills, and followed up with opportunities to write about connections they have made between the text and the performance.  What a worthwhile learning experience!

Mathematics through the Grades

Our mathematics team continues to support our students and teachers. Supporting students' mathematical thinking development  from concrete to abstract takes time and with the use of manipulatives and technology this transition can become easier for the student. Representing numbers and concepts in different ways also solidifies a deeper understanding of mathematics concepts.

An array is a way to represent multiplication. They help to transition into area and then move to application to real word problems. The students were finding all the different rugs they could get for their room if the rug had to fit within 16 tiles. At home, you could practice giving your child a different number of blocks to create different sized rectangles.  Counting floor tiles also supports the understanding of area.

In Grade 8 students continue to learn about integers, which are a set of whole numbers and their opposites. Grade 8 students at Whitney Pier Memorial were presented with a scenario using Break Out Boxes during which the students had to solve problems using their integer skills.  The students had to multiply and divide integers to solve the scenario and break out.   

The grade four class at Harbourside Elementary works with square tiles to form arrays. They also use grid paper and the Pearson Interactive Tools. 

Grade 10 students at BEC (right) are extending their understanding of area using algebra tiles, a concrete manipulative, to model the products of two binomials. Also, they used algebra tiles to factor a given trinomial in small groups within the class. At home, view here to practice using algebra tiles:  

Blossom supports well-being by promoting a healthy food culture, active living and positive relationships across the Cape Breton Victoria Regional Centre for Education. 

Some examples of what Blossom has funded:

• Yoga equipment, disc golf, curling supplies, snowshoes 
• PAT (Physical-Active-Time) kits
• Skills classes – e.g. highland dance, hip hop, knitting  
• Youth in Motion/CBU
• Fruit/veggies at sporting and other school events
• Water refill stations 
• Sensory paths 
• Cooking skills for youth and parents.  

Our Blossom joint committee comprised of CBVRCE, NS Health Authority and NS Communities, Cultures and Heritage membership, will provide information to School Advisory Committees to further promote the potential of our Healthy Promoting Schools grants.

Many thanks to Mary Lou Andrea, Active Healthy Living Consultant and Debbie Madore, CBVRCE Dietician, for working with schools to promote these programs. Our students' well-being is a definite focus and supports student success. 

Memorial High School's Fall Focus on Well-Being 

This fall at Memorial High School, there has been a concerted effort in our co-curricular activities to focus our attention on student health.  Specifically, this fall we have worked to address the physical, emotional, social, mental and environmental health of our students.

Our "Me to We" students (above) organized a massive food drive and raised over 4300 items for the local Northside food bank.  The group challenged every homeroom class to bring in the most food items and the competition was on!  There was an overwhelming response and the food bank staff were overjoyed to say the least.

Our Youth Health Centre organized a Youth Health Expo, which was held on October 29th.  At this event students had presentations from the Youth Health Centre, Schools Plus, Caper Base, school social workers, guidance and attendance support.  The event allowed time for both presentations and questions and answers at various booths.

Me to We

Youth Health Expo

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Our headstrong group, together with our guidance counsellor and guidance teacher, attended the High School Headstrong Summit on Nov 13.  This one day conference empowered students with breakout sessions on de-stigmatizing mental health, identifying issues around mental health and substance abuse, and learning how to help a friend.

Our students have also been active in the community, taking leadership roles and helping out where needed.  The picture above shows a group of hockey playing students, including members of our hockey team as they assist in coaching the  “initiation program” for the Northside and District Minor Hockey Association. This is one of the many community volunteer activities in which our students are involved.

On November 7th, the Health Canada “Consider the Consequences of Vaping” Tour visited Memorial. The tour had our students work through a 400 square foot maze and complete four activities to uncover the hidden dangers of vaping.

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Sydney River Elementary Celebrates RESPECT

Little Henry has had many challenges in school.  Working together with his parents, support has come in many forms.  Last year, he received Early Intervention programming and this year was a carry-over for Reading Recovery.  One moment experienced by his parents on the weekend seemed to make the struggles all worthwhile.  Henry’s mom told us, “It was Saturday night and we weren’t hearing any noise in Henry’s room.  Finding this very unusual, we looked in on him to find him in bed reading.  I can honestly say, I never thought there would come a day that I would have t o tell him to put a book away and go to sleep!” Henry says his goal is to read a Harry Potter book!

Respecting the Process

Respecting our Service Men and Women

at our Remembrance Day Service

Mrs. Andrews welcomes former SRE students from Malcolm Munroe band who come back each year to help celebrate the service at SRE.

Student, Liam Sakalauskas, led the choir in singing the Mi’ kmaq Honour Song to open the service.  Special thanks to Brian Marshall who took the time to teach the whole choir the song.  Liam drummed and led the song while the choir backed him up after acknowledging that our service was taking place on Mi’kmaq territory.

Students shake hands with community guests when leaving the service.                         

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Student of the Month - Respect

Student of the Month awards were given out in each grade recognizing students who go out of their way to show respect

Respecting Differing Learning Styles

Respecting Different Points of View

Grade 5 students lay out cloth strips to get a "hands-on" understanding of area and perimeter.

Grade 3/4 class learned about the importance of understanding "points of view" through literacy.  After understanding it this way, they also learned the value of respecting different viewpoints within the classroom and in life!

Diversity Friendship/Art Group - Designed Respect Posters

Through a Blossom-Health Promoting Schools grant, the students from the Diversity Friendship Group have joined with an after-school art project to create themes and words around respect that will get turned into paint projects throughout the school.  To date, approximately 40 students are participating.

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Rankin School of the Narrows Highlights

Students and staff at Rankin School of the Narrows have been participating in a morning walk for more than 10 years now. It is an opportunity for the school community - pre-primary to grade 12 -to engage in discussion, get some exercise and continue to build multi-age relationships. For many years the walk was held first thing in the morning. This year we have changed the walk time to 10 am to serve as transition between classes that allows us to clear our minds, stretch our legs and refocus while we listen to upbeat music and when it rains we walk in the gym!

Boat Builders Association of NS visits Rankin O2 Classes.  (Below) The Nova Scotia Boat Builders Association presentation was a hands on workshop that helped develop teamwork skills and problem solving while giving the students a chance to acquire the roles of boat builders, marine service technicians, and designers. This workshop gave students an overview of career opportunities in the boat building industry.

Rankin’s GSA Group organized Rainbow Day - a day to celebrate and respect our differences. Various activities took place including our older students reading story books to the younger classes along with activities about respect. Madonna Doucet was our guest speaker and presented to Gr 7-12.

Jubilee Elementary - Flexible Seating

Jubilee Elementary has been focusing on making their school more inclusive for all learners.  One of the areas identified in their Student Success Plan to explore further was the idea of flexible seating.  Flexible seating allows movement and collaboration during learning experiences. Some students require movement to help them learn and by providing seating options, it engages the students in a fun yet relaxed environment while lowering their stress or anxiety levels.  By allowing students to choose where they work, they have some control over their environment and therefore can do their best work.

Jubilee Elementary partnered with the Kiwanis Club who donated $1104.51 to purchase some flexible seating options for our classrooms.  Shown in the pictures are students enjoying the various types of flexible seating purchased as well as a photo of the Kiwanis Club members presenting the donation.  

Coxheath Elementary Highlights

School Goals:

1.  We will improve our writing this year.  (Organization)  We will also use various transition words to make our writing flow.

2.  We will improve in mathematics.  We are focusing on using manipulatives efficiently and mental math and number of the day...every day.

3.  We will improve our student well being.  This is creating a growth mindset culture.  We believe in the Power of Yet!

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We use the sign for school communication with upcoming events, but a very important part is the Growth Mindset Messages we send our students, family and community.  We feel that if it brightens someone's day or gives them a boost, then it is all worth it.

Our students are sorted into "Houses" just like in the Harry Potter novels.  The houses represent the animals - beaver, wolf, bear and eagle and are translated into Mi'kmaw.  Each house includes approximately 75 students.  Houses sit together for assemblies, and we are developing a growth mindset curriculum that will work on each month.

We are building a plastic bottle green house.

Time to plant!  We recycle with a purpose.  We will also add a rain barrel to save the amount of water.

Take your Child to Work Day  was on November 6th.  Grade 9 students from Riverview came to work for the day at Coxheath Elementary.  We hosted four students, and they all did a great job.  Maybe future teachers?

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Shipyard Elementary Highlights

Mrs. Gina Murphy's grade two class had visits from our "helpers in the community."  Constable Jamie Dawson from the CBRM Regional Police and several members from Sydney Fire Services made visits to the classroom for an interactive discussion with the students.  These visits help enhance the Social Studies curriculum and helps connect our students to the people in our community.