Dear Parents & Guardians,

It’s hard to believe that we have been together for three months already! Our Fall term has been a productive and busy one. While we have had to navigate the “Work to Rule” situation, we were still able to collect money for Terry Fox, participate in extra-curricular activities and meet with parents to discuss student improvement. As we transition to regular activities, hot lunches have begun, our older students have participated in volleyball tournaments and we’ll be meeting shortly as a staff to refine our school improvement plans. Progress reports will go home December 9th for students in Grades 1-8. These Progress Reports will provide you with information about your child’s strengths and what they can do to improve their skills and achieve further success. There are no interviews scheduled after these progress reports but teachers are committed to on-going communication with parents/guardians regarding student progress. In keeping with the central agreement between ETFO and the Ontario Government, students in JK and SK will not be receiving a progress report at this time. Cobden has a terrific community spirit. Thank you for your continued work and support. Sincerely,

Mrs. M.A. Mullen, Principal

COBDEN DISTRICT PUBLIC SCHOOL

DECEMBER 2015

N E W S L E T T E R

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@cobdenps

School Cash On-line

For safety and efficiency reasons,

The Renfrew Country District School

Board would like to reduce the

amount of Cash & Cheques being brought to our

schools by students, and the amount of classroom

time being spent collecting fees. Items available to

purchase online are milk, class trips, special lunches,

and more. Click on the online payments tab on the

left side of our website to see more information and

step by step instructions. It‟s easy,

convenient, safe and secure.

Welcome Back Winter Staff on recess supervision always monitor the cold temperatures and the comfort and safety of students. Please dress your children for the weather– hats, mittens, scarves, snow pants and BOOTS! It is important that children have out-door playtime even for short periods.

We would encourage you to mark items with the child’s name so we can identify lost items of clothing. Thanks so much!

Farewell

& Welcome

Farewell

& Best Wishes

to Mme

Sara Graham &

welcome to Mme

Desiree Chartrand

who will be

replacing her.

Crazy Hair Day!

Serious

game of

checkers!

Mrs.

Crozier‟s

Grade 2/3

class learns

about

magnets. (photos left &

right)

School Lockdown Practice

At Cobden District Public School, we take the responsibility of protecting our students and staff extremely seriously. Providing a safe and secure learn-ing environment for all is what we are committed to accomplishing on a daily basis. As part of our Emergency Response Plan and consistent with the Ren-frew County District Board of Education policy, staff and students of Cobden School will be participating in a “Lockdown” in the near future. Over the next several weeks, teachers will be explaining to students the procedure which each class will follow. As per our normal procedure, following an announcement indicating the beginning of our lockdown, all classroom doors will be shut, window blinds will be drawn and staff and students will quietly wait in their classrooms in a position away from windows and doors. As is presented in the Policy, the Fire Alarm may be pulled during this exercise. All students, staff and visitors will remain within their classes until provided with the „all clear‟ signal. Con-tingency plans will be reviewed should a class be outside of the classroom – e.g., library or gymnasium. Creating safe schools is a community effort. We cannot accomplish this task alone, but we will always do our very best to ensure a safe and produc-tive learning environment. Parents can play an important role in creating school safety by talking to children about what to do in the event of a crisis. Even the youngest children should be taught to follow instructions and to stay calm in an emergency situation. Please contact the school if you have any questions.

MILK & JUICE

The following items are available for purchase at Nutrition Break: at 11:25 am:

Milk, Chocolate Milk .75¢ Milk Tickets - Available at school OR on-line

Milk tickets: 8 milk for $5 Canned Juices from machines $1.00

Milk tickets are available for $5.00 each which will give the

student 8 milk. Milk tickets are also available on-line. Student’s names will be put on the milk ticket

and returned to the student when the ticket is complete. Thank you.

The CDPS Grade 8 Volleyball Team had an amazing day at RCI and made it to the County Championships on Tuesday, December 1st. Congratulations to team members: Hilary D (missing from photo), Daniella B, Beatrice H, Katie B, Jordan M, Kaitlyn B, Natasha K, Taylor O, Sydney B, Brynne D(missing from photo). Thanks to our helpers Marianne Bourgeois & Dave Dobson.

Request for Information

JK Students for

September 2016

In order to help us with our organization for next year, we would appreciate

knowing if you have a child eligible for Junior Kindergarten in September 2016

(born in 2012) OR if you know a relative or neighbour

who has a child that would be eligible. This is not a commitment to enrol but is

simply information-gathering for planning purposes. If this applies to you,

please fill out this form and return it to the school.

Name of JK Student for Sept. 2016:

______________________________

Parent’s Name: _________________________

Phone #: __________________

DECEMBER DRAW

PLEASE SIGN BELOW TO INDICATE

THAT YOU HAVE RECEIVED

THIS NEWSLETTER AND

RETURN TO THE CLASSROOM TEACHER.

______________________________ Student’s name

______________________________ Parent/Guardian’s Signature

Thanks Mrs. McEnery

for being an

awesome coach

Food Bank Drive Mrs. Oakes‟ Grade 3 class is once

again collecting for the Cobden

Food Bank. They are asking that

you send in goods during the week

of November 30th to December 4th.

Don‟t forget to check the expiry

dates! Thank you for all your

support this year!

HEAD LICE! At any time of the year, head lice can be-

come a nuisance. We encourage children

not to share hats, or personal grooming

items (brushes, combs, hair and head

hands, etc). We strongly recommend that

parents check children‟s hair frequently to

catch this in its early stage. Information

regarding head lice treatment, prevention,

facts and myths can be obtained at local

health units and on many websites.

The Grade 8 Boys’ Volleball Team played an amazing day

of volleyball at SJHS. They worked together as a team

and it payed off as they ranked first after the round-robin

portion of the tournament. They continued to play strong

and maintained a positive attitude as they advanced from

the quarter finals, to the semi-finals, and to the finals

where they played some nail-biting volleyball and won!

They are the 2015 East Division Champions!

Congratulations to all of the team members!

Congratulation to team members: Tyson T, Kougar D, Joe M,

Theo E, Ethan P, Ethan J, Josh H, Patrick H, Andrew B

The Grade 7 Boys’ Volleyball Tournament at Opeongo high school had a rough start against Fatima, but we still came quite close. In game two, we were victorious against St. Joe’s with some awesome teamwork and plays. In game three, a few mistakes were made but we worked our way back in, we recovered and won the game. In game four we played RCIS White, though we were defeated, the team played a very intense, hard fought game. We moved to a match of three after ending third in our pool. In the semis, EDPS won the first game but we came back and won the second game bringing us into a third tie breaker round. Though we lost in the last of three games, it was a very good day with amazing sportsmanship. Congratulations to team members: Wesley P, Joel B, Devan P, Tim P, Tom P, Connor R, Brent R, Travis R. Congratulations Guys!

Keys to Reading Success Inferring… What does it mean to infer and why is it important to do as we read?

Inference is using facts, observations, and logic or reasoning to come to an assumption or conclusion. We sometimes call this

“reading between the lines.” Children and adults have to merge their background knowledge with clues in the text to come up

with an idea that is not explicitly stated by the author. For example, if a child reads/looks at a picture that shows a ball field with a

group of children surrounding someone sitting on the ground and an adult holding large bandages, they can infer that someone got

hurt playing a sport. The author doesn‟t say so exactly but the reader can use their background knowledge and the clues to infer

this is what happened.

Playing word games, reading riddle books, and listening to rhyming songs are fun ways to set the stage for inferring for

younger students. Children also love playing “Twenty Questions” This familiar word game helps build inference skills. As your child develops

skill with the game, encourage him to avoid asking direct questions like, “Is it a dog?” Rather, encourage him or her to ask

broader questions, “Does it walk on four feet?” Then, when your child figures it out, ask them to tell you the clues that led to

the right answer. For our older students, comic strips and cartoons are a great way to encourage inference thinking.

In order to understand the joke, students need to read the words and look at the pictures. It takes

both of these to understand what the author is inferring.

What do students say about inferring...

“It helps me understand the humour, and that helps me understand how characters are feeling.

I‟m part of the book.”

“I’m inferring when I get the feeling of something going on in the book, but the author

hasn‟t really told me in words.”

Resource: 7 Keys to Comprehension: How to Help our Kids Read It and Get it! – Zimmerman and Hutchins

Thanks Mrs. Wylie

for being an

amazing coach! Thanks Mr. Covell

for being an

inspiring coach!

Legion Contest

WINNERS

Theme Day:

Ugly Christmas

Sweater

SUN MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT

Nov 30 1 2 3 4 5

6 7 8 9 10 11 12

13 14 15 16 17 18 19

20 21 22 23 24 25 26

27 28 29 30 31

December 2015

Cobden District Public School 16 Cowley Street, P. O Box 130

Cobden, Ontario K0J 1K0 Phone: 613-646-2271

Fax: 613-646-2194 Principal: Mary Ann Mullen

Office Manager: Philippa Bell Head Custodian: Irene Mousseau

Ministry of Education Website

www.edu.gov.on.ca

Theme Day:

Red/Green

Theme Day:

Frosty NO Theme Day

Theme Day: Christmas Morning

NEWSLETTER WINNERS December Keira Baker

Lydia Hoffman Scotia Davidson

Skylar Bakhuysen

Cobden

Christmas Farmers’ Market

@ Two Locations Cobden Fairgrounds

Legion Hall

December 4th 12 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.

December 5th 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Over 120 Tables Lots of variety

- - FREE DRAWS - - Find a gift for

everyone on your list! Food Bank Donations

Cobden

Santa Claus Parade

Saturday November 28th

1:30 p.m.

Watch the CDPS Band marching & playing

in the parade!

CDPS Christmas

Concert 12:30 pm Thursday,

December 17th All classes will be participating

D E C E M B E R B R E A K

D E C E M B E R B R E A K - Back to School on Monday, January 4th, 2016

Grade 5 Swimming

HOT DOG DAY

PIZZA DAY

Christmas Concert 12:30 pm

Melissa Bishop Day

@ Opeongo HS

Gr. 7&8

Poster Colour - Grade 7,8,9

1st - Michelle C 3rd - Renie T

Posters Colour - Grade 4,5,6

1st - Emma P 3rd - Emma M

Posters B&W - Grade 4,5,6

1st - Emily R 2nd - Yzer T

3rd - Grace G Posters B&W - Grade 7,8&9

1st - Michelle C 3rd - Annelynn M

Essays - Grade 7,8,9

1st - Michelle C Poem - Grade 6,7,8,9

1st –Michelle C 2nd - Sydney F 3rd - Travis R

Poem - Grade 4,5,6

1st - Yzer T 2nd - Bronwyn H

Remembrance Day @ CDPS

“ZINC SAVES LIVES”

Battery Re-cycling Campaign!

Each year, nearly 450,000 children die due to complications associated with zinc deficiency. One AA battery contains the amount of zinc that can save the lives of six children. The company Teck has partnered with Call2Recycle to help keep batteries out of landfills and help get zinc to the children who need it most. For every battery recycled, Teck will donate the value of zinc it contains to UNICEF in support of our Zinc & Health partnership. As part of our “WE DAY” initiative, the Grade 8 students will be collecting your dead batteries. Please bring them to school in a baggie & drop them at Ms. Leavoy’s room. We will bring them to a collection depot to be recycled.

Together we can change lives.

Grade 5 Swimming

Still a few spots left on Monday afternoons for

PIANO LESSONS with Julie Resmer. For more info, please call

613-432-7045. A perfect present at Christmas… the gift that keeps giving!

F O O D B A N K D R I V E A L L W E E K

SAVE THE DATE! February 11th

WINTER AWAY

DAY

Donate old batteries to save lives… take them to

Ms. Leavoy’s class.