Tantallon Junior Elementary School

NovemberNewsletter
Happy November everyone!
October flew by with many activites including field trips and a special performance by Symphony Nova Scotia on October 21.
It is going to be a busy month here at Tantallon Junior.
Tantallon
Junior Elementary
Thanks for taking a few minutes to read our newsletter.
Safe Arrival:
826-1205
Sign up for Parent Teacher Interviews
Please use the link on our webpage soon to sign up for a Parent Teacher interviews—which
are taking place November 17(afternoon session) and 19th(evening session).
Picture Retake Day!
Picture retake day is on November 6. Please be sure to let your child’s classroom teacher
know if you want your child to have a retake. Thanks. :)
Remembrance Day Assembly
We will be joining Tantallon Senior for a combined Remembrance Day assembly Monday,
Novemeber 10, at 10:45am. A huge thanks to Mrs. Dunn for organizing this on behalf of both
schools. Students who are in Cubs, Scouts, Sparks, Brownies, etc., are invited to wear their
uniforms on this day. We invite parents who serve or have served our country, as well as
protection agencies, to our assembly. We respect the call not to wear uniforms when off
duty.
Our hopes are high. Our faith in the people is great. Our courage is strong. And our dreams
for this beautiful country will never die. –Pierre Elliot Trudeau
School Advisory Council (SAC)
A School advisory Council is a legally recognized body composed of the principal and representatives of teachers and support staff, parents, and community members who work together in an advisory capacity to increase the quality of education being provided by the school,
to support School Improvement , and to advise the principal on school policy and related issues. Importantly as well, to ensure that all students receive the best possible learning opportunities by engaging all partners in an ongoing process of problem solving and shared decision making.
For more information on SAC’s:
http://hrsb.ns.ca/content/id/1022.html
http://www.ednet.ns.ca/files/school-advisorycouncils/NovaScotiaSchoolAdvisoryCouncilHandbook10-2011.pdf
We would like to welcome and introduce the TJE School Advisory Council: Alan MacMullen
(chair) Condea Krewenki (parent) Heather O’Quinn (staff) Julie Marchand (staff) Ali Raynor
(TESPA) Larry Phillips (Community) Lindy Rutley (parent) Melanie Ross (parent) Karla Wolfe
(principal) Natalie MacDonald (Vice-Principal). The SAC met on September 17th and October 15th. The next scheduled SAC meeting is Novemebr 26th.
When educating the minds of our youth, we must not forget to educate their hearts .–
Dalai Lama
Tantallon Junior Elementary
Dressing for the Weather
We try very hard to get the students outside whenever possible. It makes a big difference in their
day if they’ve had some physical activity and fresh air. With this in mind… and with the cold
weather fast approaching, we would like to remind everyone to please ensure your son/daughter
is dressed for the season.
Please check the weather on a daily basis and encourage your son/daughter to come to school with clothing appropriate for the day (Raincoat and boots, warm jacket, hat and mitts, etc.) . At this time of year, the weather can be
quite variable! Layering is a good idea! Thanks! Typically students will be expected to go outside if the temperature
is not colder than –10 —so please be prepared.
Please put student’s names on each piece of clothing, they can easily get lost at school. We already have many Lost
and Found items collected.
School Closure on Account of Inclement Weather
As November arrives, so does the winter season. A reminder of the School Board policy for school closure due
to inclement weather or as the kids say ‘snow days’.
The decision to close schools is made by the School Board and should be announced via radio by 6:30am.
Schools may be cancelled as a whole board, family of schools or by individual school. We are classified as being
in the Sir John A. MacDonald Family of Schools.
As well, you can check out up to date school closures on the Board’s website (www.hrsb.ca), through the school
cancellation number – 464- INFO (4636) , on our School web site or via twitter. You can also sign up on the
School Board web site to receive school closure announcements by email or text message.
LaMontagne Fundraising Campaign
Many thanks to all of those who supported us in our recent fundraising campaign. The total sales for
our school were approximately $7,000.00(that’s not counting online sales) which translates to a profit
of $3500.00. This money will be spent on technology upgrades in our classrooms. Thank you for your
support!
TESPA Wreath Campaign;
The campaign will run from November 3rd through to November 14th. Please see notice send home,
explaining the ordering details and TESPA’s annual Christmas fundraiser. Thanks!
Tantallon Junior Elementary
Nut Smart
Another friendly reminder that we are a Nut Smart school. This means that products that contain nuts, as
well as peanuts, should not be sent to school. This includes Nutella. Thank you!
A friendly reminder :
We are so pleased and fortunate to have many parents volunteering to chaperone our field trips! A friendly
reminder that in order to chaperone a group of students, we require that you fill out a Criminal Records
Check and a Child Abuse Registry form.
•“Parents belong at the center of a young child’s education. The single best way to improve elementary education is to
strengthen the parents’ role in it, both by reinforcing their relationship with the school and by helping and encouraging them
in their own critical job of teaching the young. Not all teachers are parents, but all parents are teachers.”
-Bennett , W.J First Lessons: A Report on Elementary Education.
Important Upcoming Dates in December:

Assessment and Evaluation Day-December 1st.-No school for students.

Report Cards home—December 11th

Holiday concerts—December 9th and 10th

Last day of classes before Christmas Break—December 19th
Tantallon Junior Elementary
Some October memories….
Tantallon Junior Elementary
Tantallon Junior Elementary
Home and School links to Literacy:
At Tantallon Junior, our Literacy Goal for Continuous School improvement is:
‘Students will strengthen early Literacy skills to demonstrate improved reading comprehension’.
These early Literacy skills include developing and strengthening phonological awareness. Teachers
are examining their practice around these skills to improve student achievement.
Supporting Phonological Awareness in the Classroom may look like:
Shared Writing-Teacher and students work together to write a message or story. The teacher, who does the writing, demonstrates
how writing works. The teacher may model rhyme analogy to spell a word(e.g. “I know how to spell ‘cat’, so how would I spell
‘hat’? The teacher may ‘share the pen’ when composing a story-Interactive Writing.
•Morning Message activities.
•Sentence Building-cut up stories.
•Games-Word and sound detectives/hunting.
•Singing –Adapt familiar songs, e.g. ‘A hunting we will go. A hunting we will go. We’ll find an /s/ and add an /un/ and now we have
a ‘sun’.
Parents can also easily help develop these skills.
Supporting phonological awareness at home can look and sound like:
•Playing with Rhyme
•- Share nursery rhymes, sing songs, or read books that have rhyming words.
•Name things you see when your driving or shopping, and think of words that rhyme.
•Play ‘Can you read my mind?’ Riddles. ‘I’m thinking of a word that rhymes with…’
•Playing with Syllables
•-Play a guessing game with syllables. Say a word by syllables and have your child guess what the word is. Ex: oc-to-pus
•Take the syllable away-Say a word of 3 or 4 syllables and leave out the first syllable.
•Playing with Sounds
•Say a word and ask your child to tell you the sound(not the letter) that it starts with.
•Ask your child to tell you the sound at the end of the word.
•Talk about things around the house or in a book that start and end with the same sound.
•Play ‘I Spy’ but give your clue using the sound at the beginning of the word, rather than the letter.
Little games in the car, at the rink, at the supermarket, can make a difference!
Tantallon Junior Elementary

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