Division 7

   Students in Division 7 are gearing up for their Seaforth Student-Led Conferences this week! They are coming up on Wednesday March 11th, from 2:00 to 6:00. These conferences take place in an “Open House” format, where several students are in the classroom with their families at the same time for their 15-20 minute meetings.

As it is a “student-led” conference, your child’s role is to take the lead to guide you through the learning they have done throughout the year and share evidence of growth. Ms. Coutts worked together with the class to brainstorm some things students might want to share with their parents. We put together a long list of options! From the list, students self-select what they will show you, and may share their learning in a variety of ways: written form, explanation, or demonstration. During your visit, it’s a great idea to ask your child questions to clarify, challenge, and help them crystallize their thinking. You can also offer feedback that they can build on.

Some questions to prompt student reflection are:

• What is something from your learning that makes you proud?
• What are you still working on? What skills are you still growing?
• How can you practice the skill you’re growing in?
• How do you contribute to a group task? What does it mean to be a productive group member?
• What is one way you self-regulate throughout the day? What helps you focus?

We look forward to seeing you on Wednesday in Room 14!

Happy 2026 everyone! Welcome to a new year and a new term. Even though we are already in our fifth month of school, it always feels like a fresh start once we come back in January. In class we talked about the metaphor of a new sheet of paper, or a blanket of fresh snow across the ground, to represent the new year and new term. They hold possibilities and potential to start anew, or to continue your story from the last page.

In the busy-ness of Friday, I forgot to post this note that usually goes home with printed out reports. But with online reports at Seaforth, it slipped my mind!

Dear Families of Division 7,

     Term 1 is always a time of transition and new experiences as we come together as a new class. During this term, we review and learn new expectations and routines and meet new people. It takes time to get to know our new class identity as we have students coming from different classes (and even other schools) in order to compose our new group. Especially for our grade 4 classmates, Term 1 is a very new experience as this is their first time in an intermediate classroom—curriculum changes, more students in our shared space, and increasing independence and expectations. During this Term, all students take time to adjust to these changes. Also, students are working with a variety of staff: Ms. Coutts (new to Seaforth), Ms. Vankadari (also new to Seaforth, and co-teacher while Ms. Coutts does Head Teacher duties), Mr. Brockerville teaches Physical and Health Education, Mr. Clift teaches Music, and the students also see Ms. Bogunovic (also new to Seaforth) for Library. We also share our classroom with Ms. Bola, our Educational Assistant. It’s a busy time with many different people!

While every day feels like a busy day at Seaforth, moving into term 2 usually feels more settled as we are picking up on more of those new routines and expectations. We will use learning tools through Microsoft 365 more often, including Teams, Outlook, and Word. Students have already been learning how to access our class Team to communicate with Ms. Coutts and classmates and to access information. Moving into Term 2, students will continue developing their independence and ownership of their learning. There are many ways to support the overall learning skills of your child and help set them up for success. A few ways to support your child at home are:

• review and use the planner as a checklist for monitoring due dates
• arrive to school on time in order to begin the day with the rest of the class
• invite participation in conversations about the media they watch/read; encourage them to share      opinions backed up with why they hold that position
• encourage pro-active problem solving before defaulting to asking an adult for the answer; finding their way through a little struggle builds confidence that they are capable!

We look forward to continuing to work with and support your child in their academic, social, and personal development as we move into Term 2. Wishing you all a very restful and warm winter holiday. See you in January.

With Care,
Ms. Coutts and Ms. Vankadari