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From the desk of the Principal, Mrs. Brown

Thank you for a wonderful first term! Ashley Oaks has grown in numbers, in achievements, and in experiences in all areas this term. The school improvement goals are being carried out across the curriculum and in all grades. We are monitoring academic achievement from provincial and school testing and progress reports. We are excited about the high standards shown here at Ashley Oaks. Athletic achievement this term has been exemplary! Your children have become involved in sports in larger numbers than ever before. I think that you must be encouraging an active and healthy lifestyle. Way to go, Aces! Thanks Coaches! I know the coaches motivate your children to participate more fully. We appreciate all the extra hours coaches invest in our students. Thanks to our entire staff for all of your continuous dedication to quality learning for the students at Ashley Oaks. It has been an excellent year so far as we continue to develop and deliver high quality programs for your children. The year is flying by and the holidays are fast approaching. For the month of December, Ashley Oaks will accept donations under the Christmas tree for our food drive. Donations will be given to Operation Christmas Hamper Program and other families in the community. We are asking for can and dry goods as well as toiletries. Thanks to the Student Council for organizing this generous activity. Ashley Oaks is always

such a giving community and we look forward to being able to help support other families over the holidays. Our Holiday Concert will be on Tuesday, December 12 at 6:00 p.m. in the gym. We look forward to seeing you there. We ask that parents and caregivers supervise their children. Children are not permitted to run around the gym during the event. Please ensure you put your phone on vibrate. We are seeking parents to be part of the School Council. Our next meeting will be Tuesday January 14 at 6:00-7:00 p.m. Please come out to support your students and our school. School Council needs to only meet 4 times in a school year, usually the first Tuesday of the month. We know families are busy but this is not a huge commitment. Our School Council steadily contributes to Ashley Oaks students, assisting in making for a caring, learning community. Thanks for making a difference! Please consider volunteering your time. Our first term is quickly coming to a close with a flurry of activities. Speaking of flurry, please be sure that your child is coming to school dressed prepared for our blustery Canadian winter weather. As the year 2019 comes to a close, let us look back and reflect on this past year and set goals anew for 2020. Let me take this opportunity to wish everyone a peace-filled, safe and Happy Holiday season! Merry Christmas. May you enjoy beautiful time with family. “Peace is a daily, a weekly, a monthly process, gradually changing opinions, slowly eroding old barriers, quietly building new structures.” John F. Kennedy

Sincerely,

Mrs. Brown, Principal

Ashley Oaks Public School We make a difference through the 3 R’s: Respect, Responsibility and Recognition

December 2019

Principal: L. Brown Vice Principal: D. Squire Superintendent: P. Skinner

Trustees: S. Polhill and L. A. Pizzolato

Ashley Oaks P.S. Website: https://ashleyoaks.tvdsb.ca/en/index.aspx

December, 2019

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From the desk of the Vice Principal, Mrs. Squire

It’s hard to believe that the holiday season is once again upon us. Preparations are underway for our annual concert, the tree is decorated in the front hall and there is a lot of excitement in the air! Our student council has been tallying canned goods that have been donated for Christmas hampers. We thank everyone who has been able to support this cause. Our focus for the month of December is compassion. Compassion is about showing kindness and forgiveness. It’s about helping others and making a difference. We encourage our students to be compassionate toward others. The cold weather has now arrived and it is important that students come prepared for the outdoors. Hats, mitts, snow pants, boots and winter coats are needed to keep warm when they are playing outdoors. Students are also reminded to have a pair of indoor running shoes to wear for gym and around the school. Students are not allowed to wear bare feet or sock feet indoors. We have been dealing with a number of problems with students inappropriately using cell phones at school. Student cell phones should be left at home as they are not needed at school. Effective January 1, 2020 student cell phones will be banned from Ashley Oaks. It has also come to our attention that some of our intermediate students are vaping. Vaping products are not permitting on school property and vaping is not allowed at school. We have brought the MLHU in to speak to classes so that students are aware of the dangers of vaping at a young age. If you have a child in Grade 7 or 8, please have a conversation with them about this topic. We’d like to wish everyone a happy holiday season! Happy Hanukkah to our families who are celebrating the Festival of Lights from December 22nd-30th this year. Merry Christmas to those who celebrate on December 25! The last day of class for 2019 will be December 20. We look forward to seeing everyone back on January 6, 2020!

Mrs. D. Squire, Vice-Principal

Ashley Oaks PS dismissal time is 3:30pm. Parents who would like to sign their children out are required to come into the office to do so. After school arrangements must be made in advance of the school day. Please keep in mind that every minute of instruction is valuable learning time. We therefore request that you limit early sign-outs to appointments and/or special circumstances. Pizza Days

Pizza Days will happen on a WEEKLY basis from September - June. Proceeds from pizza sales will be used to support student activities such as Breakfast Program, Snack club, crafts, fieldtrips, team sports & equipment and miscellaneous items at Ashley Oaks Public School. We would like to thank Maycourt London, Tim Hortons, Food Basics, Ontario Nutrition Student Program and PC Financial for their ongoing support as well as Laureate Beta Epsilon for our breakfast and snack program. Watch for forms to be sent home and place your order online or please send back to office with exact cash!

Dates to Remember Pizza Day – Dec 5, 12, 19 Holiday Concert – Dec 12 @ 6pm Grades 6-8 Dance – Dec 18 @ 2:20-3:30 Kindergarten Concert/Social - Dec 19 @ 2pm

December, 2019

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Making Good Choices

A current advertisement promoting recreational vehicles and camping suggests that we, as parents, put down our devices, get outside with our children and offer them more opportunities to take risks and play. Our children benefit from being free to explore, make choices, and, perhaps get a little dirty!

This message aligns closely with the supportive conditions necessary for children to learn mathematics: opportunity, appropriate challenge and risk-taking with a supportive adult presence. One of the mathematical process skills that educators and parents support children to develop is selecting tools and computational strategies. When selecting tools successful students will: ● Understand when mental arithmetic or a pencil-and-

paper calculation or estimation is more appropriate than technology.

● Use an appropriate tool when: ~ An exact answer is needed. ~ Computation involves several numbers or numbers with more than one digit. ~ The numbers are not easily calculated mentally.

● Use technology to explore, gather, display, manipulate, and present data in a variety of ways.

● Use math tools and/or technology to develop understanding.

When selecting computational strategies, successful students will: ● Develop and use personal benchmarks for

measurement, e.g., 1 cm is approximately the width of a baby finger.

● Select different computational strategies depending on the numbers involved, e.g., 25 × 16, 23 × 16, 19 × 16.

Try This At Home

What model or strategy would help you solve this? ● Gr. 4: Our trip to Barrie will take about 4 hours. We

have to be there by quarter after 3. What time should we leave? (e.g., number line, clock)

● Gr. 2: 14 + 9 = ____ + 3. What’s the missing value in this equation? (e.g., Cuisenaire rods, connecting cubes)

● Gr. 7: Last week, Morgan was on the ice for 7 goals against his team and 4 goals for his team. How could you show whether he was ‘positive’ or ‘negative’ last week? (e.g., blue and red counters, number line)

● Gr. 3: How might you handle 53 – 47 differently than 53

– 9? (e.g., I will count up from 47 in one case and count back 9 from 53 in the other to make the questions easier to do)

Final Thoughts and an Online Resource:

Our children benefit from opportunities to engage in

mathematical thinking and choice-making before we

take on the thinking for them. We know that students

who choose their own math tools and representations

and choose ways of operating with numbers are

higher achievers –more numerate—in math. They

become these high achievers through experience and

feedback. To access online tools to help your children

think through, and solve, problems with

understanding, consider exploring Mathies.ca with

your child. (www.mathies.ca/learningtools.php )

Home Connections in

Mathematics

Our Ontario Curriculum, Mathematics (2005) states that “students will select and use a variety of concrete, visual, and electronic learning tools and appropriate computational strategies to investigate mathematical ideas and to solve problems.”