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Tuesday 27 January 2015

Learning French in the Ottawa Catholic School Board - options

Please review the following poster advertising an evening of information regarding French instruction in the Ottawa Catholic School Board

Pathway to French Information session

Friday 16 January 2015

Kids and Mental Health

Please review this Ottawa Public Health information on mental health and our kids:

One in five children in Ontario has a mental health problem. Changes to your child’s mental health may not be obvious.

Warning signs to look for:

 Mood swings and changes in eating habits.

 Headaches and sore stomach.

 Low energy and not sleeping well.

 Missing school and/or having trouble at school.

 Spending less time with friends and family.

 Wanting to be left alone.

 Feelings of anger and rage.

Remember:

 Listen to your child and trust your judgment.

 You are the best person to notice changes.

 Talk to your child’s teacher, he or she may have seen some changes too.

 It’s okay to ask for help and talk to your family doctor.

For more information on kids and mental health please visit www.kidsmentalhealth.ca ,

www.cheo.on.ca/en/cheomentalhealth, or Ottawa Public Health at 613 580-6744,

www.ottawa.ca/health.

Monday 12 January 2015

Family Services Ottawa - Courses for Parents/Guardians

Information on courses for parents and guardians - please visit their website for more information.

Did you know…
that you don’t have to have problems with your kids to take a parenting course
that lots of dads come to our parenting programs
that lots of couples come to our parenting programs


Join us for  Effective Parenting through Positive Discipline SEMINAR  on Thursday January 22.  There are a few spots available but they’re filling up fast!

FRIENDS for Life (an anxiety prevention program for children 10-12 years with mild to moderate anxiety) starts Wednesday January 28. (Offered only once a year!!)

Parenting through HIGH CONFLICT Separation and Divorce starts Tuesday February 3.

  
For information and registration, please contact us at 613-725-3601 ext. 207 or visit us atwww.familyservicesottawa.org to register online.

Wednesday 7 January 2015

Summary of our St. Patrick's School Council Meeting January 6th, 2015

Thank you to those who attended our School Council meeting last evening.  A number of topics were discussed and it is our intention of providing you with a synopsis:

  • School Councils across the province are able to apply for Parents Reaching Out (PRO) and Parent Involvement Committee (PIC) grants to assist with school support.  The St. Patrick's School Council secured both modes of funding, and it was our intention at our meeting to begin the allocation process.  Our first order of business was supporting a "Newcomer Welcome" package that we have been providing to families new to St. Pat's.  These re-usable gym bags contain supplies for students as they begin their studies at our school (pencils, pens, binders, pencil case, erasers, etc.) as well as community information for our parents (parks and recreation schedules, banking information, public health updates, etc.).
  • School Council is also supporting the students and staff at St. Patrick's as we replace a stove in the Cooking and Learning area of our school.  This will allow students to work on preparing meals and snacks as part of the program across a number of subjects and activities.
  • Further spending support projects will be pursued later in the year.  These initiatives include further family engagement activities at the school, technology awareness sessions, and support of our Grade 8 Closing Ceremonies.
  • Stay tuned as we will be looking to bring in one of our School Board representatives who will be coaching us around the new technological approach in education.  We will provide further information once this session has been formalized.
  • Watch for the St. Patrick's School Council display at our parent/teacher discussion evening on February 19th (following our term one report cards).  Members of the school council will be available that evening and would be happy to answer any questions or provide you with additional information about the council's direction.

Sunday 4 January 2015

St. Patrick's Blog Week of January 5th, 2015

St. Patrick's Blog
Week of January 5th, 2015


Happy New Year!
I would like to take this opportunity to extend a Happy New Year to all of you in our St. Patrick’s community.  I hope that our Christmas holidays provided you with an opportunity to relax and spend some time with family and friends.  From experience, the second half of the school year will roll out quickly, and we will be emphasizing goal setting and organization with our students.  We have a number of initiatives planned to assist students with meeting the expectations at the end of term 1 and beginning of term 2.  

Advent Liturgy / Christmas Mass
During the last week of school before Christmas, Ms. Baril’s class led us in a beautiful Advent liturgy that focused on the importance of Hope, Preparation, Joy and Love as we continually invite God into our lives.  We continue our Christmas celebration with a Mass on January 28th that will revisit the birth of Christ as well as the Epiphany and remind our community of the importance of this special time of year.  Thank you again to Fr. Greg who generously makes himself available to lead our school masses.

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St. Patrick’s Christmas Hampers
We recognize that our strength as a school community can be seen when we work together with good intentions in mind.  This quality was at the forefront of our Christmas Hamper initiative this December.  All of our grade 7 and 8 classes came together to contribute to Christmas packages for those in our community who might not otherwise have food and gifts at this time of year.  The amount of goods that our students and staff contributed was overwhelming.  A big thank you to everyone who participated in any way they could.  Our community is thankful!
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St. Patrick’s Career Fair
On December 16th, all of our grade 7 students had the opportunity to visit our Career Fair, organized by our Student Services Department.  We had community representation from several vocations and agencies including firefighters, police officers, colleges, bank employees and electricians to name a few.  This is an opportunity for our students to ask questions and get additional information on career opportunities as we encourage them to begin the planning process for high school and beyond.  Thank you to those in our community who gave of their time to provide information at the fair.

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Shamrock Fashions Consignment Store
A group of students, supported by our Student Services Department, has opened our Shamrock Fashions Consignment store at the school.  We opened our doors before Christmas so students could find some gifts for family and friends ahead of the holidays, and now we are having our Boxing Week sale!  This Thursday, January 8th at lunch, students are encouraged to get a pass that will allow them to go shopping at the consignment store.  Our parents and guardians are also encouraged to visit and shop on Thursday between 11:45 and 12:15 after signing in at the main office.  We are also continuing to look for donations to keep our inventory up.  We have asked students to bring in any gently used clothing or accessories which can be dropped off in our students services department.

School Council Meeting
We will be having a school council meeting on Tuesday, January 6th at 7:00 pm in our Learning Commons.  Our emphasis is always on providing information to our parent and guardian community on what is going on at St. Patrick’s.  I would certainly encourage you to attend to get some information or to ask questions.  Our meeting minutes and other news are posted on our website at  http://spe.ocsb.ca/catho.

Band Concert
We will be collaborating musically with St. Patrick’s high school on January 14th (at the high school) for a band concert evening at 7:00 pm.  The concert was to take place before Christmas but was postponed due to inclement weather.  Come and join us - it is a great way to keep the spirit of the season alive!

Have a great week;
Sean Kelly