OCTOBER 2016 NEWSLETTER

Peel District School Board

Dolphin Senior Public School 18 Brookside Drive, Mississauga, ON L5M 1H3

TEL: 905-826-4247 FAX: 905-826-9931

http://schools.peelschools.org/1553

“Our Mission is making a difference for all students.”

P. Wilson Principal C. Yorrick Vice-Principal T. Maxwell Office Manager G. Solomon-Henry Superintendent of Schools 905-366-8800 R. Williams Trustee, Ward 5 905-814-6180 R. Crocker Trustee, Ward 6/11 416-528-1312 N. Dakroub Baig Trustee, Ward 9/10 647-707-7320 Transportation www.stopr.ca 905-890-6000 PDSB SafeArrival 1-855-209-6155

pdsb.schoolconnects.com

SafeArrival mobile app

Dear Dolphin Community,

I hope this newsletter finds you doing well. It has been a terrific start to the school year and students have settled in nicely! I would like to thank all of you who attended our Open House and BBQ, it was great to connect with everyone.

Our first School Council meeting will be held on Monday October 17th from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. We will take time to decide on school council leadership positions and I will update the council on school initiatives and school success goals for the year. Please join us. I look forward to working with our council with the goal of providing more outstanding academic and extra-curricular opportunities for our students.

In school success news...our Grade 6 2015-2016 EQAO results are in.

There are numerous ways to explore EQAO data. It is important to look at qualitative data to help us move forward as a school. For example, the student questionnaire reveals some interesting information relating to student engagement in mathematics. Students indicated that: 53 % like mathematics; 47 % sometimes or never like mathematics; 52% believe that they are good at mathematics; 46 % believe that they are sometimes or never good at mathematics; 41 % say that they are able to answer difficult math questions; 59 % believe that they sometimes or are never able to answer difficult questions. Our Theory of Action and School Success goals for math aligns well with the qualitative data and we will continue to focus our professional development around developing rich learning and assessment tasks with the goal of creating greater engagement leading to greater achievement in mathematics.

As always, feel free to see me if you have any concerns or questions.

Peace,

Phil Wilson

Reading Writing Math Dolphin

79%

Peel

81%

Province

81%

Dolphin

82%

Peel

82%

Province

80%

Dolphin

51%

Peel

50%

Province

50%

Principal’s Message

twitter.com/DolphinSeniorPS

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COOPERATE … EDUCATE … CELEBRATE

NEWS FROM GUIDANCE

In preparation for their important decisions regard-ing Secondary School program selection, our Grade 8 classes will begin the process of investigating the various secondary Schools and programs available to them. Mr. Jaworski, the Guidance Counsellor, has visited all Grade 8 classes to share the latest information from the Secondary Schools and students have brought home handouts regarding the Information Nights. Please review and plan to attend the Information meetings.

Students will be using MyBlueprint, an educational planning tool that students in grade 7 and 8 use to create an Individual Pathways Plan (IPP). Setting goals, exploring opportunities and completing in-terest inventories are part of the program that helps students to make decisions in planning towards their initial postsecondary destination. Grade 8 students will use MyBlueprint to submit their selection of secondary school courses.

On October 12th Dolphin will have a presentation from Wes Williams (aka Maestro Fresh-Wes) for our first full school assembly. Wes explains the 3 steps to "stick to your vision" based on his book Stick To Your Vision: How To Get Past The Hurdles and the Haters To Get To Where You Want To Be.

On November 1st, there will be a presentation to our grade 8’s by "Skills Canada" on career opportu-nities in the skilled trades and technologies. The purpose of the presentation is to increase students' awareness of the skilled trades and technologies as viable, first-choice career options. The ministry expectation on career education states that students explore and obtain information about educational and career opportunities by investigating and comparing a variety of jobs, occupations, and careers. This is an informative and interactive presentation and will be about 35 minutes in length.

For further Guidance information please visit the Guidance link on the school website.

Peel High School Information Nights Learn about the Peel District School Board advantage and your local Peel board secondary school at an upcoming parent information night.

For dates and times, visit www.peelschools.org/schools/informationnights or call the school directly. To find out which secondary school your teen will attend, call 905-890-1010/1-800-668-1146 ext. 2212 or visit www.peelschools.org/schools/findyourschool.

**Please note that dates and times are subject to change. For the most up-to-date information, please contact the school directly.

DOLPHIN LIBRARY LEARNING COMMONS

The Dolphin Library is ready for another year of learning and fun! We have a growing inventory of graphic novels, books, and resources, and a long list of activities that we are planning for the year, including the Library Committee, Library Tech Club, the Forest of Reading program, Scholastic Book Fairs and much more! Students should listen for upcoming announcements about these and other programs. If you would like to volunteer in the library or with Scholastic Book Fairs this year, please contact Mr. Steeves at 905-826-4247, ext. 106, or by e-mail at P0072222@pdsb.org.

You can also access the Dolphin Library LC website from the Dolphin home page or at:

https://sites.google.com/a/pdsb.net/dolphin-library-lc/home

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INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC - Time to PRACTISE!

Dolphin's newest instrumental musicians have received their instruments and should be spending time at home practising their new skills! The early days of learning an instrument are full of squeaks and squawks; your patience and encouragement are the best ways to ensure your child's success. Students who need additional assistance are welcome to attend a lunch remedial session with Mrs. Suidan. Remedial is in Rm. 222 from 11:30 to 12:00 on Days 1, 3, and 6. Many thanks to the Gr. 7 and 8 mentors who have already offered their expertise to Dolphin's beginning instrumen-talists - your leadership makes a difference!

Senior Band rehearsals will begin on Wednesday, October 5th. An information letter will be sent home ahead of the first rehearsal. Please remember to drop off your child at the front en-trance of the building for 7:15a.m. Band mem-bers are expected to be in their seats with instruments set up and ready to play by 7:30a.m.

The Junior Band will begin practising near to the end of October. An information letter will be sent home a week prior to the first rehearsal.

Stage Band auditions will be held from October 11th to 14th.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR! Dolphin's Winter Concert will be performed at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, December 7, 2016.

VOCAL MUSIC NEWS

A brand new year for the Choir has begun! We had our first Choir practice on Monday September 19th, and we had quite a few new faces from the grades 6 to students in grades 7 and 8 who decided to join this year. There is still room for new members! If students would like to join, Choir rehearsals will be

held every day 4 at lunch, with a few extra re-hearsals being announced closer to performanc-es. Our first performance will take place at the Remembrance Day assembly on November 11th. Ms. Burnett asks that students who join make an effort to attend every rehearsal as attendance does affect overall performances.

Auditions for Choir accompanists took place during the second week of school. As always, we had many talented students who auditioned for both Choirs. Congratulations to Angela and William from 80E, who will be our choir accompanists this year!

Auditions have also taken place for the Choir En-semble, a smaller choral group of 18 students who sing more challenging three and four part music. Again, many talented students auditioned, and the list was posted on Monday outside of Ms. Burnett's room. Rehearsals for Choir Ensemble will take place on Tuesdays after school from 2:30 to 3:45.

TERRY FOX RUN

On September 30th, Dolphin Senior observed Terry Fox Day. Students watched their teachers compete in several very exciting tricycle races and some got the opportunity to pie a teacher (and the principal) in the face.

To end the activities, students walked through the community to celebrate Terry’s legacy and help keep his dream alive of finding a cure for cancer!

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Train More. Rehearse More. Learn More. New Peel District School Board program offers flexible school options for student athletes, artists

Does your child/teen have an intense sports or arts training and competition schedule that makes it difficult to attend school regularly? The Peel District School Board’s new Peel Region High Performers Program will offer flexible timetabling to accommo-date student athletes and artists with demanding practice, competition, rehearsal and/or perfor-mance schedules.

Peel Region High Performers Program will open in September 2017, and will be offered at:

Britannia Public School (grades 4 to 5)

Dolphin Sr. Public School (grades 6 to 8)

Mississauga Secondary School (grades 9 to 12)

For more information and a program flyer, visit www.peelschools.org/HighPerformers

180:Fuse 2016-2017 Update

We are excited to be launching another year of 180:Fuse events at Dolphin Senior Public School for the 2016-2017 school year! For those parents that may be new to Dolphin, or whose child has not attended one of our events, we wanted to provide you with a brief overview of our program.

180:Fuse is run by a local Mississauga youth charity, Global 180 Student Communications. In the Winter of 2011 Global 180 began working with the administration of Dolphin Senior Public School as we started our middle school focused events called “180:Fuse”. Our events run once a month on a Saturday evening from 6:15pm-8:30pm and they are only intended for youth in grades 6, 7 and 8. These evenings allow youth to hang out in a safe environment with friends and leaders, have fun with some of our games and be entered into our nightly draw for a prize. Our events are free to attend, however students are invited to bring a couple of dollars if they would like to purchase a snack from our Snack Shack.

Our first event is scheduled for Saturday October 22, 2016 and it will be our Carnival Kickoff! We have a variety of games planned, prizes we’ll be giving away, fresh popcorn and even a special guest appearance by Gold Medalist, Natalie Wideman of the Senior Women’s National Softball Team.

In order for your child to attend our program, we require a signed permission form from the parent/guardian. Permission forms are available at the office of Dolphin Senior Public School or on our website, www.global180.com

Here is a list of our 180:Fuse dates for the 2016-2017 school year at Dolphin:

October 22, November 19, December 10,

January 21, February 11, March 25, A pril 22,

May 13

In closing, we would like to personally meet you and introduce ourselves to you, so please stop in during one of our 180:Fuse events and introduce your-self! In the meantime if you have any questions about 180:Fuse please email our program director at krysten@global180.com or check out our website, www.global180.com or social media accounts (Facebook / Twitter / Instagram).

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Get involved in your child’s education

Research shows parent involvement positively affects student success. Becoming more involved brings many benefits. You will get to know teachers, the principal and other parents better. You will be able to share your talents, experiences and ideas. You will inspire youth—and be inspired by them. You will show your child how much you value education. You will gain insights that can help you to boost your child's learning. And you could develop skills and knowledge that can help you in your own career.

There are many ways to be involved. Attending the Peel District School Board's annual parent confer-ence on Saturday, April 1, 2016, volunteering at your child's school, talking to your teen about their school day and reading with your child at night are all forms of parent involvement. Visit www.peelschools.org/parents/involved to learn more.

Schools use many strategies to keep children safe

Peel schools provide a safe environment for staff and students to work and learn. The board has many procedures to ensure safety. To keep students safe, schools use many strategies including:

-requiring all parents and visitors to check in at the main office and obtain visitor passes

-the use of a "buddy system" – students can only leave the classroom if accompanied by another student (for example, going to the washroom)

-assigning teachers to supervise inside and outside the school during recesses, before and after school

-locking all exteriors doors, including the main entrance, during school hours (elementary schools only)

-encouraging staff to regularly review street proofing skills with students

-expecting staff and students to report unidentified individuals to the office immediately

-holding fire drills and "lockdown" rehearsals

-having evacuation plans in place

-ensuring that all staff and volunteers have up-to-date criminal record checks

-working with the police to provide education on street-proofing

We feel that it is important that you also take this opportunity to review safe procedures with your child. Peel Regional Police have provided the following safety guidelines:

Tell your children to never go anywhere with a stranger, not to talk to strangers and never take any-thing from them. You also have to teach them what a "safe stranger" is in case they need help. A safe stranger includes a police officer, a cashier, a fire fighter.

Develop a "what if" game for children to get them thinking about how they would respond if they felt threatened or afraid.

Know who your children play with and where they go. This includes keeping a list of their friend's addresses and phone numbers.

Do not leave your child in unsupervised locations, such as cars, parks, public washrooms, arenas, malls and plazas, etc.

Teach your children where and how to get help. Go with them on their regularly travelled routes. Your child's body is private. Tell your children that no one may touch the area their bathing suit covers. If someone tries to touch them, they should tell you immediately.

Teach your children to talk to you immediately when someone does anything that makes them feel strange or uncomfortable. Listen when your children are trying to tell you about something that bothers them and provide them with support and understanding.

For more information about safety at your school, review your school handbook or speak to your principal or teacher.

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Peel schools will pay tribute to bus drivers on Bus Driver Appreciation Day on Oct. 19, 2016. The day will be celebrated with special activities and events that provide teachers, students and parents an opportunity to thank the people who safely transport over 36,000 students to and from school each day.

If your child rides the bus to school, take this opportunity to thank the bus driver for his or her contribution and ask your child to do so too. The Peel board appreciates the important job bus drivers do each school day and Oct. 19 provides an opportunity to give these individuals the recognition they deserve.

Join our school council - share your ideas Every Peel school has a school council—a group fo-cused on helping students succeed. School councils provide a voice for parents and the community and offer advice to the school principal on a number of topics.

Please attend our first school council meeting on Monday, October 17th at 6:00 pm.

BE A SMART TRICK-OR-TREATER

Halloween is a fun and exciting time, but safety should be the number one concern. Here are some safety tips for children:

Wear a properly fitted costume that is bright and non-flammable. Use reflective tape on your cos-tume so you can be seen in the dark.

Use face makeup or enlarge the eyes on your mask so you can see well. When wearing a mask, push it up on your head while walking.

Teach children to visit the front door of well-lit homes and never go inside.

Help your child plan a route and a time to be home.

Remind children to always walk on the sidewalk, and obey traffic and pedestrian signals.

Have an adult check treats at home before allowing children to eat them.

Younger children should go trick-or-treating with an adult. Older children are reminded to trick-or-treat in groups.

Teach children their home phone number and how to call 9-1-1 if they have an emergency or become lost.

NEWSLETTERS

Our Dolphin School Calendar is attached to our School Newsletters on our school website. Please refer to it for school events and dates. The Calendar tab on our school website is a Board Calendar and will not contain our indi-vidual school items/dates.

Monthly Newsletters are posted on our website:

http://schools.peelschools.org/1553

Oct. 19 - Say 'THANK YOU' to bus drivers

Page 8 of 8 SEPTEMBER 2016 Dolphin Sr PS Calendar

Day 1

Day 2

Day 5 Day 4

Day 6

Day 5

Day 1

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Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1

2 3 4 5 6

7 PL Day

(No school for

students)

8

9 10 Happy

Thanksgiving

Day!

11 12

13 Pizza day

14 Girls’ Flag

Football Tour-

nament @

Mentor College

15

16 17

School

council meeting

6pm

18 19 20 Pizza day

21 Boys’ Flag

Football Tour-

nament @

Mentor College

22

23 24 25 26 27

Pizza day

28

Recognition

Assembly-

‘Responsibility’

29

30 31

Happy

Halloween!

Please note: For those students who choose to wear a costume, please remember that costumes should not include masks as these can impair vision, muffle speech and impact student safety. Also costumes should not include accessories, or any type of weapon (i.e. replica guns, knives, etc.) that can impact safety or mobility.

Day 3

Day 3

Day 2 Day 6 Day 5

Day 4 Day 2

Day 1

Day 2 Day 4 Day 5

Day 1

Day 1

Day 3 Day 6