Category: Community

Literacy Week

 

We had a fun literacy week! Our new principal, Ms. Ashton, read us a story, teachers changed classrooms to read their favourite children’s book, we read in the dark with flashlights and we had a book cover parade! A very special guest also read us a story.  Mr. Lee surprised all the kids with a pre-recorded video of him reading a story to the whole school!

Hope everyone enjoyed Literacy Week! Thank you parents for participating in the Family Bingo!

 

Ice-Skating

The students had so much fun ice-skating, many of them ice-skating for the first time! Here are some photos from our two ice-skating sessions at the rink.

 

Thank you again to all parent drivers and volunteers for making this trip possible. ❤️

 

Happy Lunar New Year

The children had a blast creating these lunar new year lanterns a few weeks ago. First, we colored the pictures with crayons. Then, we used watercolor paints to paint over the whole lantern. The crayons resisted the wax on the crayons and the colors “glowed” through the paint. You will see these on our windows!

 

For those who celebrate Lunar New Year,

恭喜发财  [Gōng xi fā cái / Kung hei fat choi]

새해 복 많이 받으십시오 [saehae bok mani badeusipsio]

Wishing you health, happiness and peace in the year of the rabbit!

The Ocean Wise Sea Dome Experience

On Wednesday, we had some wonderful visitors from Ocean Wise*. The guides brought a Sea Dome, an inflatable six-metre dome that projects a 360-degree cinematic video! We watched a short video on climate change and looked at animals in the ocean. We were able to view tropical reefs, sea ice in the Arctic, and many amazing animals up-close! We saw an octopus, a sea turtle, a whale, a shark, jellyfish and more.

After the sea dome experience, students were guided through two other stations, looking at artifacts and images. Our guide showed us turtles and coral reefs from around the world. Then, we looked at a huge Arctic floor map. Our guide talked about the loss of sea ice and its impact on the animals (e.g. Polar bears, seals) that lived there. We even saw and touched a 9 foot narwhal tooth!

Ocean Wise is a non-profit organization which aims to protect and restore our world’s oceans. Thanks to Ms. Sue for organizing this.

Ask your child, what was their favorite part of the presentation?

 

Winter Celebration Event

What a fun night of music, festivities, and gingerbread decorating!  It was wonderful seeing and connecting with so many of you at our school Winter Concert & Community event.  We noticed the decorated gingerbread men and women were creative and detailed, some with full outfits on.

 

Did you notice our classroom door?  Students had fun posing and pretending to play in the snow for these photos.  We will keep the door decorated in January as well, so please come and take a peek at it then.

 

 

Below is a short clip from the dress rehearsal, taken by Ms. Lai.

 

Thanks to Ms. Vaesen for coordinating, and all the parent volunteers who have helped to make this night possible!

We wish you and your family a warm and toasty holiday season filled with fun and laughter!

Remembrance Day

In class we talked about the importance of Remembrance Day.  It is a day to honour soldiers, veterans and families who have sacrificed their lives for our freedom.  Our school had an in-person assembly on Thursday. There were many thoughtful presentations and all the children were very respectful during the Remembrance Day assembly.  Division 11 recited the poem “Poppy Poppy” with Division 12 in front of the whole Parkcrest community.
Each class made a wreath for the wreath laying ceremony at the assembly.
We talk about why the poppy became a symbol for Remembrance Day and we made our own representations of poppies.  Here is an invitation to create poppies with loose parts:

We painted poppies on our hands

We also read “The Peace Book” by Todd Parr and talked about what peace means to us.