Lochearn School News

December 2012
From Your Administration Team . . . . Happy December! Children and adults alike are sharing in the excitement this month holds! The holiday season is upon us and we have much to be thankful for. We hope that you and your family have many opportunities to share quality time with family and friends. Have a safe and enjoyable holiday and we will see you back on Monday, January 7th, 2013! Mrs. Spencer and Mrs. Sinclair Christmas Concert Dates . . . mark your calendar Christmas Concert on Wednesday, December 19th at 12:00 noon for all parents of K1, K1B, Grade 1 and Grade 2 to come and enjoy! Christmas Concert on Thursday, December 20th at 12:00 noon for all parents of K2, K3, Grade 3, Grade 4, and Grade 5 to come and enjoy! Please bring a donation to the Food Bank! Newsletters are online . . .
Starting in January, we will be reducing our paper consumption for this year by putting our monthly newsletters and calendars online instead of sending out paper copies to the homes. Please plan on checking the schools website at least monthly for information. If you do not have a computer at home and need to have a paper copy of the school newsletter and calendar, please contact your childs teacher and one will be sent home with your child. School newsletters and calendars will be uploaded on the schools website by the last day of each month.

The BeGreen habit for the month of December is Put First Things First. This is defined as: work first then play I spend time on things that are most important this means I say no to things I should not do I set priorities, make a schedule and follow my plan I am organized. Whole School Literature Project Have You Filled a Bucket Today? Throughout the months of October to December, all students at Lochearn School have participated in a whole school literature project with the books: Have You Filled a Bucket Today? (grade 1-5) and Happiness for Kids (ECS). The purpose of the whole school literature project is to promote positive relationship choices as outlined in the Alberta Curriculum across grade levels and to support the 7th Habit of Seek First to Understand and to be Understood. Students learn to be bucket fillers (using positive words of kindness and being aware of the feelings of others). Several classroom activities with discussion and modelling of positive interactions have occurred. This big question under study is what is happiness? From February to May, our literature project will extend with the same theme, only this time with the question, how can we bring happiness to others?

Lochearn School News . . . page 2 December 2012 Emergency Plans at Lochearn School . . . Lochearn School, like all schools, has two basic emergency plans - a plan to evacuate the building and a plan to stay in the building. Both are practiced and fine-tuned each year. We have already had two evacuation drills (fire drills) this year. It is important that all staff and all children understand and practice what to do if we need to evacuate so that this can occur in a smooth, efficient and safe manner. Children need to know what to do if they are not with their class (they are on their way when the fire bell goes). A part of this evacuation plan is a relocation plan in the event that an emergency forces us out of the building for an extended period of time. If this were to occur, our school would evacuate to Pioneer School or the Rocky Christian School. We have begun practicing our emergency plan to remain inside the building, which is called a lockdown. For this type of emergency plan, we lock the exterior front and back doors, so that the entire perimeter is locked and we lock all the classroom doors as well. There are many reasons why a lockdown may be called: an animal in the building, a serious accident where we dont want 400+ witnesses, an unusual smell in the hallway, a loud argument, etc. Your child may come home and explain that they had to remain locked in their classroom for a period of time as we fine tune this emergency plan. If you have any questions or concerns about our emergency planning, please contact the office at 403.845.3721.

Nut Safe School . . .

We have students at our school that have very severe, even life threatening allergies to nuts. We feel the best way to provide a safe environment for these students is to, once again, enlist the support of parents to help make the school a nut safe environment. This means that each child is asked to bring snacks and lunches free of any nuts.

Parents . . . have you changed your address or phone number(s) or have your family circumstances shifted? If yes, please contact the school with your updated information. When we have correct information on our student record files, we are in a better position to help your child(ren).

What Is a Successful Learner? A successful learner is a student who: can apply the knowledge to new situations has a deepening knowledge of the facts and skills taught is able to evaluate his or her learning success and set goals for future learning is developing intellectually, socially, and emotionally is engaged in the process of learning both alone and with others How to Help Your Child Learn . . . read to or with your child make sure that your child gets a good night's sleep and eats a nutritious breakfast before going to school provide your child with a quiet, well lit place to study take an interest in your child's schoolwork make sure your child knows what to study for tests and quizzes (if your child is unsure, ask the teacher for advice go to the parent/teacher interviews to get detailed information about your child's progress.

Lochearn School News . . . page 3 December 2012 Please note. . . Any visitors to our school must check in at the office first and sign in. Parents taking their children at any time during the school day are required to sign them out in the Student Sign In/Out Book. Both books are located on the front counter in the Main Office. Thank you for your assistance with this and it is very important to be able to account for everyone that is in our school! Safe Phone . . .
Please remember to phone the Safe Phone if your child is absent for any reason before 9:00 a.m. 403.845.4068

Thank You . . . to our Parent Council for arranging dinner for our teachers on November 20th before Parent Teacher Interviews!

School Fees . . .
Thank you to everyone who has paid their $40.00 school fees! If you have not paid your fees yet, please make payment arrangements as soon as possible. Cash or Cheque (payable to Lochearn School). Sorry, no debit machine!

A big thank you to Suncor Energy for providing hot lunch for all of our students in December!

PURDYS CHOCOLATES . . . Please pick up your Purdy Chocolates from the old kitchen on:
Dec 5 8:30-10:00 a.m. / 2:30-4:00 p.m. Dec 6 8:30-10:00 / 11:30-1:00 / 2:30-4:00

Healthy Challenges for December . . . December 3 7 Do 10 sit-ups with a Santa or reindeer hat on doing them with the entire family! December 10 14 Do something fun in the snow . . . build a snowman, a snow fort or make a snow angel! December 17 21 Make a healthy change to your lunch . . . example water instead of a sugar drink, no processed food, and change from white bread to whole wheat bread!
Reminder . . . School Council Meetings are now the 1st Thursday of every month. Our next meeting is Thursday, December 6th, 2012 at 12:00 noon in the Art/Science Room, Room 197. See you there!