St. Patrick's Blog Week of October 19-23

Mental Wellness Sessions

In our commitment to the mental well-being of all our students, on Wednesday, October 21, we will hold some sessions for our grade 8 population (the grade 7's will partake in this opportunity next week). Students will be able to choose from a variety of life-balancing sessions including running, walking, yoga, baking, hacky sack, visual arts, and dance. I will be in charge of the running session and I'm really looking forward to taking a group of our students who signed up for this on a 5K-8K run around our community.

Individual Education Plan (IEP)

On Tuesday, IEP's will be sent home. If your son or daughter has an IEP, please have a look at this very important "live" document. Should you have any questions or concerns, please contact our Resource Department and they will be able to answer any questions or address any concerns you may have.

Homework Club

Our Homework Club has been up and running for a few weeks now. For those not familiar with this, on most Mondays and Wednesdays after-school, from 2:15 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., students can go to the Learning Commons to work on homework and to receive help on anything they are struggling with academically. This is a great way to meet new friends and to get work done at the same time.

Don't Forget to Check Our Website

Just a reminder to remember to check our website (spe.ocsb.ca) often, especially on the HomePage under School News and Announcements. Often, in this area, I place notices for important upcoming events that may be of interest to parents, such as topics on drug awareness, concussions, test-taking strategies, etc. I try to post events as quickly as I receive them so please check back often.

Have a good week.

Don Murphy
Principal

This Week

Thursday, October 22:

• Talk on The Gift of Reading at St. Pat's High School at 7 p.m. http://www.ottawacspa.ca/images/announcement_flyers/2015-16/Gift%20of%20Reading%20Oct%202015.pdf
  

St. Patrick's Blog Week of Oct. 12-16

Terry Fox Run

Our community did a fantastic job fundraising for the Terry Fox Foundation as we exceeded our goal of $5000.  Students and staff raised money to help support the foundation as they continue their work to support cancer research. Our run culminated with a high energy assembly that saw each of our homebases decked out in their Catholic Value T-shirts.  Our top-fundraising students took turns throwing pies at our staff members. Thanks to all those who helped organize and support the Terry Fox Foundation.

Moms for Mental Health

On October 16, from 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m., in the Adobe Building, 343 Preston Street, the YSB (Youth Services Bureau) is presenting a speakers' series about youth and mental health in Ottawa. This is a free event and a light breakfast will be served. For more information and to register, please access the following link:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0ByrlYMrTjslHZzRFc09SQ2J0emJqSm4zRERQQ21TcEh2c0xj

Thanksgiving Liturgy

On Wednesday we celebrated our Thanksgiving Liturgy. I'd like to thank Steve Sweeney and his class for putting on such a spiritual event, as well as our chaplain, Paul Kozak, music director Mary Reilly and our Youth Group. To witness such a faith-strong community is very inspiring, to say the least.

I wish everyone a wonderful short-week.

Don Murphy
Principal

This Week

Thursday, October 22:

• Talk on "The Gift of Reading" at St. Pat's High School at 7 p.m. http://www.ottawacspa.ca/images/announcement_flyers/2015-16/Gift%20of%20Reading%20Oct%202015.pdf
  

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St. Patrick's Blog Week of Oct. 5-9

Opening Mass

A big thank you to Fr. Greg, Mr. Kozak, and our many student volunteers for participating in our first school mass of the year.  Fr. Greg spoke to the students about exercising discipline in order to avoid sinful situations. Mary Reilly led the singing and did a great job with the music.  We appreciate Fr. Greg taking the time to celebrate mass with us.

Terry Fox Run - Thursday, October 9th

We have been encouraging students to assist with fundraising for our Terry Fox run this coming Thursday.  In order to support our fundraising activities, we have put a number of incentives in place to get students to enlist help from friends and family.  Our goal this year is $5000. This is a great community building activity that goes to a very worthy cause.  

School Council Update

We had our first School Council meeting on Monday. I would like to congratulate all members of our School Council, being: Mr. Cees Artz (chair), Ms. Glynis Hughes (vice-chair), Mr. Dejan Roganovic (treasurer), Ms. Dayna Helmer (secretary), Ms. Sherisse Al Sabeh (CSPA rep), Ms. Sandra Cunningham (parent rep), Mr. Sam Al Sabeh (parent rep), Ms. Lisa Wilson (community rep), and Ms. Tilly Corriveau (School Rep). Our next meeting is Tuesday, October 27 at 7 p.m. in our Learning Commons.

A reminder that CSPA is putting on an event entitled The Gift of Reading with educator David Bouchard on Thursday, Oct. 22 at 7 p.m. at St. Pat's High School. Please access this link for more information:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0ByrlYMrTjslHVTl6NXRFazZZWS1hbWlMRXB3ODY0MTBEOUNZ

Professional Development Day on Friday

Just a reminder that this coming Friday there is no school for students as staff will be taking part in Christian Community Day at the Shaw Centre. This day is always productive as we learn of overall Board-wide goals and set direction to meet those goals.

In some ways, I cannot believe we are into October already. I'd like to thank our entire community for their ongoing support and wish everyone a very happy Thanksgiving weekend.

Don Murphy

Principal

St. Patrick's Blog Week of Sept. 28-Oct. 2

School Council Meeting - Monday, September 28

I would strongly encourage all members of our school community to join us at our first School Council meeting of the year this Monday evening at 7:00 p.m. in our Learning Commons.  This is an opportunity for us to share information about our student activities, our school and the learning experiences we are offering.  Our meeting on Monday will be an opportunity to review information from last year as well as to fill positions for the St. Patrick’s School Council for the 2015-2016 school year.  As mentioned at our Meet the Staff evening, the focus for our school council has always been the mutual sharing of information.  Please come out and provide us with an opportunity to speak more about our plans for the school year.

Terry Fox Run - Thursday, October 8

We have been encouraging students to assist with fundraising for our Terry Fox run which is coming up in October. This is a great community building activity that goes to a very worthy cause. We are hoping to raise $5000 this year.

Homework Club

Homework Club starts up again this coming Wednesday from 2:15 p.m. to 3:30. This provides students with an opportunity to complete assignments right after school and to obtain help from staff if necessary. Transportation home after Homework Club is the responsibility of the student.

Follow this Blog by email

Please remember that you can enter your email address on the right hand side of the blog and be informed when a new blog post has been added.  Remember to scroll down to the bottom of the blog page to access the St. Patrick’s calendar for student activities and important events.

This Week

Monday, September 28:

• 7:00 pm - School Council meeting

Have a great week,

Don Murphy

Principal

St. Patrick's Blog Week of September 21-25

Meet the Staff Evening

I would like to thank all of our parents and guardians who joined us for our meet the staff evening last Thursday.  It was great sharing our direction for the year with such a large crowd.  If there is any information that you require between now and our first set of interviews on November 12, I would encourage you to contact the school.  Teachers do not have voice mail at St. Patrick’s; however, our office administrators would be happy to leave a message for you.

School Photo Day

Students will be called down during the day for school photos on Thursday, September 24.  There is no need to send money ahead of time, students will receive picture proofs, and parents can make decisions about ordering later on.  For helpful hints from Edge Imaging, simply click here:  

Photo Day Information

Dine Out Ottawa Sept. 22

For information on Dine Out Ottawa, which supports various Ottawa school Breakfast Programs, please click on the following link: 

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0ByrlYMrTjslHbEhhTllvemxQamoxS0FPNmVFYWFKNGtrekNn

Homebase T-shirts

Students are encouraged to purchase a homebase t-shirt this week through their homebase teacher. The shirts are worn during intramurals when classes play against each other.  We also put them on for our Terry Fox run on October 8.  It’s a great opportunity to see all of our classes represented by different colours.  The cost of the t-shirts is subsidized by the school and they only cost $5, with some gently used ones selling for $2.

Grade 7 and 8 Math Diagnostic Testing

Our grade 7 and 8 students will all be involved in a diagnostic Math test on Tuesday (7's) and Wednesday (8's) of this week.  The students are told that there is absolutely no preparation or study required for the session. This is a baseline test to provide information to the staff regarding the learning process of our students.  Most of the information on the test will be a review of concepts learned prior to grade 7.

Student Verification Sheets

Student verification sheets will be sent home on Monday. Please have a look at this important information and make any changes necessary. The forms are due back to the school on Friday, September 25.

Dress-Down Day on Friday

On Friday, for a small donation of $2 which goes to charity, students will be able to wear appropriate non-uniform clothing. This will be mentioned at our Monday Morning Assembly as well as what constitutes appropriate and inappropriate clothing items.

Wishing everyone a great week,

Don Murphy

Principal

St. Patrick's Blog Week of September 14-18

Opening Week

We had a great first week at St. Patrick’s Intermediate.  There were a number of orientation sessions for students so they could quickly become comfortable in their surroundings.  Grade level assemblies gave us an opportunity to speak to students about being kind to each other and steps to take if bullied or if a witness to bullying.  We have a strong tradition at St. Patrick’s of demonstrating care and concern for each other.  This doesn’t happen by accident - we need to continually review our approaches and make sure we are all content both in and outside the classroom.  

Boot Camp Organization

Our annual “Boot Camp” provided a separate morning for grade 7’s and 8’s to review expectations in 4 different areas.  Our staff outlined information and answered questions in the areas of Respect and Responsibility, Community Resources and the use of Technology as a learning tool.  Mr. Murphy and Ms. Burgoyne spent time in the fourth session reviewing routine expectations and speaking to goal setting.  Mr. Murphy also spent some time explaining that the $25 student fee is used to help offset costs completely related to student activities throughout the year. It would be greatly appreciated if student fees could be paid as quickly as possible and via the new online payment system. Any questions regarding student fees may be directed to the school.

Monday Morning Assembly

For our grade 7 students, our weekly Monday Morning Assembly will be a new experience in organization and in building spirit.  We gather Monday mornings as a full community to listen to our Glee club sing O Canada, to pray and reflect, and to review the weekly agenda.  Another part of our assemblies include student presentations that shine light on learning skills, gospel values and our Catholic Graduate Expectations.

Meet the Staff Night

We are hoping all of our parent/guardian community is able to join us on September 17th from 6:00 to 8:00 pm for our Meet the Staff evening.  It provides us an opportunity to introduce staff, discuss school priorities and answer any questions that our community might have.  Please contact the school if you require some language support for this evening.

Have a great week.

Don Murphy

Principal

St. Patrick's Blog Week of September 8-11

St. Patrick's Blog

September 8-11

Welcome Back to School!
I would like to extend a very warm return to our grade 8 students and families, and an enthusiastic welcome to our grade 7's.  We are excited to begin the learning process within our school community thisyear.  

On Tuesday, we will have a special schedule providing some additional time in homebase so that teachers can provide students with information about the school year, and distribute a number of forms that we are asking students to bring home to their parents/guardians.  Included in this package is a welcoming letter from the administration which is also on our website.  

Our staff met last week for a liturgy and to review directions for the school year, and I had the opportunity to thank a number of people at that time.  I would also like to share with our entire community our appreciation of the custodial staff, led by Mr. Joanisse, as well as our office administrators Ms. Clarke and Ms. Foley for their extensive work preparing for the start of this year.  

Our Welcome BBQ for new students and families last Thursday was a huge success. The weather was perfect, giving everyone the opportunity to remain outdoors and meet. I'd like to thank our School Council for all their hard work and effort. The first School Council meeting is Monday, September 28 at 7 p.m. I encourage those interested to come out and get involved.

It is exciting to start another school year. One initiative that I will continue will be to keep students, parents and guardians up to date with school news through this blog.  There are other modes of communicating with the school found on the welcoming letter from the administration that your son/daughter will bring home on Tuesday.  Please review this and feel free to contact the school anytime.

Have a great first week back.

Don Murphy
Principal