Author: nbdoe

December 19, 2013

11 School Avenue,
Rothesay, NB E2E 1Z9
Telephone: 847-6206 Fax: 847-6267
Mrs. Bonnie Hierlihy Principal
Mrs. Julie McNamee,
Vice-Principal
Mrs. Tara Cowan,
Admin. Assistant

Become an ELF Volunteer
Give the gift of literacy by becoming an Elementary Literacy Friends volunteer. ELF is looking for volunteers to read with grade two children at Fairvale Elementary. We’re asking you to give one hour, twice a week, after school, for ten weeks. ELF will supply you with training, materials, books and support to help you have a positive and lasting influence on a young person’s life.
A training session is scheduled at The Saint John Public Library, Wednesday, January 8, 2014 from 1-4 PM
To become an ELF volunteer register today at ELFNB.com

Monday, January 27, 2014 is Family Literacy Day! With the cold snowy weather in January, this is a good time to make literacy a part of your daily routines.
ABC Life Literacy Canada (www.abc-canada.org) are encouraging Canadian families to have "15 Minutes of Fun" learning together. Learning can happen at any time. Practising literacy together every day has tremendous benefits for both children and parents. Here are some great ways to get started:
Make a list, check it twice: As a family, write out lists together –shopping lists for birthday parties or for groceries!
Watch a book: Many classic holiday stories have been adapted for the big screen. Read these stories with your children first, then watch the movie equivalent; The Chronicles of Narnia, Mr. Popper’s Penguins, and Charlie and The Chocolate Factory are classic favourites.
Dear Grandma: The holidays are a great time to write a letter or email to a loved one.
Make reading a key ingredient: Following a recipe is a great way to practise reading comprehension, and math skills. By baking cookies or cakes, you can get the whole family involved.
Jack Frost nipping at your nose: On cold winter days, snuggle by the fire with a good holiday book and a cup of hot chocolate. Don't forget the marshmallows!
As part of Family Literacy Day at FES, we plan to invite grandparents and parents to read their favourite book to their grandchild or child’s class. That evening, we will be encouraging families to take part in our “Books and Blankets Family Literacy Night in the gymnasium. Please bring a blanket and your favourite books to read together and enjoy a story or two read by Mrs. Hierlihy, Mrs. McNamee, and myself. We will have draws for door prizes of books and gift certificates to use at our next Scholastic bookfair.
Remember to check out the Parents’ Literacy tip board on the wall in the school’s library. Mrs. Gillis, EST- Literacy
These at home literacy activities and our “Books and Blankets” Family Litercy night support Ends Policy #2 which is “Students at FES will demonstrate continuous improvement in literacy skills, striving to meet or exceed the standards set by the Province of New Brunswick. “

Math Corner—Problem Solving Strategy of the Month: MAKE IT SIMPLER
What do you do if you have a problem that seems to be very complicated? It may have a lot of large numbers or too much information. One approach is to create a simpler problem like the one you need to solve. As you solve the easier problem, you may see the way to solve the more difficult one. Or you may discover a different process that will work with the harder problem. The trick is to be sure that your simpler problem is enough like the original one that the patterns or process you use will help you with the harder situation. Make a simpler problem first as you solve these:

We do a lot of work daily in math and we know it is important to share strategies with parents . This allows the parents to help support ENDS POLICY #3—“Students at FES will demonstrate continuous improvement in numeracy skills, striving to meet or exceed the standards set by the Province of New Brunswick”.

F.E.S Families Care!
Thanks to the generosity of the students, parents, and staff of F.E.S., we were able to donate many toys to the Kennebecasis Valley Fire Department’s toy drive initiative.
We also contributed hundreds of nonperishable food items and other household essentials to the KV Food Basket.
This year we also took collections for the Animal Rescue League. We collected dog food, cat food, toys, brushes, etc. and a lot of Canadian Tire money.
It was wonderful to see the children making a difference in our community. Thank you parents for helping to teach our children about generosity and the joy of giving.

Drama at F.E>S
The Fairvale Drama Club has begun rehearsals for The Little Mermaid. We are looking for parents who are interested in helping with costumes, sets, and or props. If you are interested, please contact Mrs. McNamee. We will be performing in April.

Counsellor’s Corner : Building Skills at Home in January Habit 3: Put First Things First –The Habit of Integrity and Execution
The focus for the month of January is Habit #3 “Put first things first.” This habit suggests that what is important may, in fact, be very different from what we call urgent. One way to differentiate important from urgent has to do with the end goal. Situations or tasks that are urgent tend to demand your immediate attention, and need to be dealt with promptly. However, urgency is generally rooted in the demands or goals of others, often in opposition to your own professional, family, or personal goals. Important activities are those that, once completed, help you achieve your goals.
Steven Covey suggests that one of our jobs as parents is to help move our children (and ourselves) from what he calls the Procrastination Phase to the Prioritization Phase. The Procrastinator is addicted to urgency. He tends to put things off until things turn into a crisis. The Procrastinator easily gets lost in day to day distractions and is unable to see the big picture.
The Prioritizer, on the other hand, takes a good look at what needs to be done and plans ahead. By doing his homework on time and writing papers in advance, the prioritizer avoids the stress and burnout that comes from cramming. The adult Prioritizer changes the oil in his car regularly, stops at the gas pump before the gauge reaches empty and has learned how to say “no” politely to people and things that will ultimately only distract him from his true goals.
How to Be a Prioritizer
Use a Weekly Planner and follow these three steps:
Step 1: Identify Your Big Rocks
At the beginning of each week, brainstorm the things that you want to accomplish in the upcoming week. Ask yourself, “What are the most important things I need to do this week?” Covey calls these your big rocks. The big rocks are smaller goals, that once accomplished will help you achieve your desired outcome.
Step 2: Block out Time for Your Big Rocks
During your weekly planning, block out time for your big rocks. The big rocks represent your most important goals for the week, while the pebbles represent your daily chores. Try the following experiment with your children. Get a bucket and fill it half full of small pebbles. Then try to put several big rocks in the bucket, on top of the small pebbles. Let’s imagine that the big rocks won’t fit. Now, try putting the big rocks in first, followed by the pebbles. The pebbles neatly fill in the spaces around the big rocks. The difference then is the order in which the rocks and pebbles were placed in the bucket. By putting the big rocks in first, everything fits.
Step 3: Schedule Everything Else
Once your big rocks are in place, begin to schedule your daily tasks and appointments. Remember, pebbles fit nicer in your bucket when they are surrounded by your bigger, value-driven goals.
Next time you or your child feels stressed about a time-constraining related issue, there are three critical questions to ask:
1. Does this activity need to be done at this exact moment? Are we putting first things first?
2. Does this activity offer my family and me greater balance, or will it be all-consuming?
3. Will the activity we are about to participate in make a significant positive impact in our lives or the lives of others?
Quote: Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least. ~Johann Goethe
Jane Perkins Love
Guidance Counsellor
Rainbows groups in need of a facilitator - At the present time there are 8 groups ready to begin in January. If you know of anyone who would be interested in being trained as a Rainbows facilitator and in volunteering to do a group at FES, please contact Jane Perkins Love @ 847-6304.

Jan. 7 First day back at school for students
Jan. 15 Grade 5 Pancake Breakfast
Jan. 16 PSSC Meeting @ 7:30 in the library
Jan. 18 Healthy lunch website opens
Jan. 19 Fit-tastic with Sky Athletics begins
Jan 20 Home and School Meeting 7:30
Jan. 21 Child Wellness Night for Parents
Jan. 27-31 Literacy Week
Jan. 24 Family Literacy Day– visitations from parents, grandparents, babysitters
Jan 27 Food Period #5 starts

Page #

Date	9:15-10:00	10:00-10:30	10:30-11:15
Jan 9, 16, 23, 30	5 McRae, 5 Walsh,	K Harroun, K Palmer	2 Shillington, 2 Urquhart, / 1-2 Creamer

Home and School News
December was a very busy month for the home and school! We would like to thank all the families that supported us with our two fundraising campaigns and a big thank you to everyone who purchased tickets for both our VIP and gift basket sales. Congratulations to all of our lucky winners!!
We would like to extend a big thank you to Amy McCombe who took on the task of creating our wonderful holiday gift basket and to Erica Scott who gave of her talents to make our seat overs for our VIP seating.
We are pleased to welcome Kim Wright as our new Fit-Tastic co-ordinator. Kim is busy planning some exciting programs for all of our kids. Our first Fit-Tastic program of the new year will be with Sky Athletics. This program will begin on Sunday January 19th and will run for 4 weeks. More information will be coming home with your child in early January.
Making Sense of Anxiety in Children Course
Mrs. Perkins Love will be offering a 4-week course beginning Wednesday, January 29th entitled Making Sense of Anxiety in Children and Youth. This course will be based on the work of Dr. Gordon Neufeld, a developmental psychologist from Vancouver, B.C.
Dr. Neufeld brings a fresh and promising perspective to one of our most troubling and perplexing human problems. Dr. Neufeld sheds light on this age-old problem, paving the way for natural interventions that can actually get to the root causes as opposed to just managing symptoms.
This course will be held January 29th, February 5th, 12th and 19th from 7:00 – 9:00 pm. It will be comprised of videos and group discussions. If you are interested in attending this course, please contact Mrs. Perkins Love at jane.perkinslove@nbed.nb.ca or call 847-6304. If your child suffers with anxiety, you’ll be glad you did!

Making Sense of Anxiety in Children Course
Mrs. Perkins Love will be offering a 4-week course beginning Wednesday, January 29th entitled Making Sense of Anxiety in Children and Youth. This course will be based on the work of Dr. Gordon Neufeld, a developmental psychologist from Vancouver, B.C.
Dr. Neufeld brings a fresh and promising perspective to one of our most troubling and perplexing human problems. Dr. Neufeld sheds light on this age-old problem, paving the way for natural interventions that can actually get to the root causes as opposed to just managing symptoms.
This course will be held January 29th, February 5th, 12th and 19th from 7:00 – 9:00 pm. It will be comprised of videos and group discussions. If you are interested in attending this course, please contact Mrs. Perkins Love at jane.perkinslove@nbed.nb.ca or call 847-6304. If your child suffers with anxiety, you’ll be glad you did!

Child Wellness Night
Tuesday, Jan. 21st 7:30-9:00pm
Fairvale Elementary School’s Music Room
The PSSC (Parent School Support Committee) is pleased to offer a seminar on child wellness for the Fairvale parent community. We will have district specialists speak on childhood anxiety and nutrition at school and home. It will be an interesting and informative night that we hope you will enjoy! Refreshments will be served.

2nd Annual Christmas Dinner
Our Christmas Dinner was a huge success again this year. Thanks to the many volunteers who helped with preparations and with serving and assisting the children. Mrs. Hierlihy’s vision for this community building event was made possible through the support of our wonderful FES families and the partnerships with Saint John Alehouse and KV Superstore. The food was absolutely delicious and the children were so excited to be eating together as a large group.

Visiting Authors
This fall we have had three New Brunswick authors visit us. Mr. Robert Rayner, author of Walkers’ Runners, Abby On Strike, and many others read from several of his books to students in grades 2-5. In the afternoon, he provided small groups of students ideas for writing. Jennifer Roos, contributor to KV Style met with kindergarten and grade one students to ‘build’ a snowman. This week Louys Pitre, a storyteller from Caraquet, came to share his lively story of “Minouche- Le Petit Renne” with Immersion and Intensive French Students. What great literacy enrichment for all.

School Closures
Now that winter is upon us, on questionable days please check the following sources to see whether school is open as usual, buses delayed by one hour, or closed.
Local radio stations prior to 6:30 am
The district website (www.asd-s.nbed.nb.ca)
Follow us on twitter http://twitter.com/ASD_South
The district information phone line (toll free 1-855-535-7669)

	See full-size image.

The Transition to Kindergarten for our 2010-2011 kindergarten students continues this month. During the week of Jan. 17-21st all children will be given the Early Years Evaluation: Direct Assessment (EYE-DA). It is an individually administered direct measure of the developmental outcomes of children aged 3 to 6 years. The EYE-DA evaluates aspects of early child development in four areas that are closely related to emergent literacy skills. They are:
-Awareness of self and environment
-Cognitive Skills
-Language and Communication
-Gross and Fine Motor Development
All parents with a child commencing Kindergarten in the Fall of 2011 were contacted in December to set up a time. All assessments will take place at Saint Mark’s Catholic Church on Pettingill Road.

K - 2	3 - 5	Challenge!
Six soccer players will shake hands before the game begins. How many handshakes will there be? (Suppose there are only three players; four / players.)	The pages in a book are numbered from 1 to 256. How many times is the digit 4 printed?	The houses on Cox Avenue are numbered consecutively from 101 to 950. How many house numbers contain at least one digit 5?