Principal's Message
Our return to school has gone well to date, with students following the new safety rules. The one rule we would like parents to review with your child is the “no touching” rule. Some students are forgetting this rule when they are outside playing, so a reminder from parents would be helpful.
Another concern for the school community is that we have some students coming back from the weekend explaining that they went to play at a friend’s house, or to sleep over. Please remember that we are in a red zone; and that the rules state that we are to remain with our own household members. Even if children are in a “class bubble”; it does not mean they are able to visit with a classmate outside of school, as per Public Health. Please consider the time that your child is at school as their time to socialize; and together if we all follow Public Health rules, we can slow the spread of the virus.
February is caring month, so we will be watching for students who are showing this Virtue throughout the month.
If you know someone who has a child starting kindergarten in the fall (5 years old by September 30th), please ask them to start the registration process.
It can take several weeks to get your child’s eligibility to attend English school. Contact admissions@wqsb.qc.ca to get started.
Events at School
SNOW SCULPTURES
- Feb 2nd – Ms Stone’s Class
- Feb 3rd – Mr Everson’s Class
- Feb 4th – Mr Schultz’s Class
STAFF APPRECIATION WEEK
Monday, February 15th to Friday, February 19th, is Staff Appreciation Week. Students are asked to remember to appreciate their teachers and staff at Greater Gatineau School.
VALENTINE’S DAY
Everyone is invited to wear red or pink on Tuesday, February 16th to celebrate Valentine’s Day. Unfortunately we will not be able to give out Valentine’s cards or share treats from home this year due to Public Health guidelines.
VIP PROGRAM
Throughout the month of February, all students will be taking part in the V.I.P Program as part of Greater Gatineau School’s Anti-Bullying, Violence Prevention Program.
The V.I.P. Program is also known as the Violence Intimidation Prevention Program. It has been developed by the city of Gatineau Police Force in order to help elementary school children learn about bullying and what to do if it happens to them or someone they know.
On February 17th and 18th, Greater Gatineau School will welcome Police Officer Stephanie Stuart to the Kindergarten and Grade 6 classes. Agente Stuart will be presenting the V.I.P. program to these classes. All other classes will be taking part in different activities that have been provided by the city of Gatineau Police Force.
MONTHLY ASSEMBLY
Our next assembly will be on Friday, February 26th, where we will celebrate the students who have shown the chosen virtue throughout the month.
Please remember to wear your purple GG shirt for all of our monthly assemblies. This creates a sense of community at school.
February is CARING month. We hope to see students making an effort to be caring towards one another. 
TRIBES AT HOME
“Now I Am” is a game to explore our feelings and recognizing those feelings in others.
- Whisper a feeling or emotion into a participant’s ear
- have them act out that feeling or emotion without using words
- other participants try to guess the feeling
- talk about the nonverbal cues we can see in others so we know how they are feeling
- talk about a time that you experienced that feeling or emotion
Some examples of feelings;
● fear ● nervousness ● frustration ● itchiness ● tired ● stubborn ● surprise ● embarrassed ● love ● anger ● happiness ● hope ● uncomfortable
Home & School
We have two fundraising campaigns currently running, Mabel’s Labels and Fundscrip. With the reduction of in person fundraising, these two options are a great way to support the H&S.
Staff Appreciation Week is February 15th-19th, each day we are planning little gifts for every staff member to show our appreciation for all their hard work. We need your help with one of our gifts. We have a link set up with a short questionnaire, please click here to access a google form. This link will also be sent out with the weekly teacher emails.
We are always looking for new members to join us or ideas for upcoming events, please contact us via email gghomeandschool@gmail.com or through our Facebook page.
We will continue to post on our Facebook page, if you haven’t done so already please follow us to stay up to date on upcoming events facebook.com/GreaterGatineau. We will have some new activities coming in the new year.
The next Home & School meeting will be on Tuesday, February 16th at 6:30pm. We hold our meetings through Zoom, please reach out to us via email if you would like to attend.
Daycare
We have three PD days in February. Monday, February 8th and Tuesday, February 9th are open to all Greater Gatineau students. Monday, February 15th is open to regular and sporadic students who were registered on September 30th. Please sign up for @ggdaycare on the Remind app to get the notifications regarding PD days.
Should you have any questions about our program or to register for the PD days please do not hesitate to contact Jennifer by phone at (819) 643-6365 or e-mail jplaxton@wqsb.qc.ca
Special Notes
WINTERLUDE 2021
Celebrate Canadian winter fun during the annual Winterlude festival in Ottawa-Gatineau, from February 5th- 21st!
The 2021 edition of Winterlude is being reinvented to allow you to celebrate Canadian winter fun, as well as Canada’s rich artistic and cultural diversity. During this free annual event, you can marvel at beautiful ice sculptures, skate on the world-famous Rideau Canal Skateway, and play till you drop in Snowflake Kingdom.
Most festival activities are free and take place in the urban Ottawa-Gatineau region during the first three weekends of February.
KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION
The Kindergarten registration will be the week of February 8th-12th.
Your child must be turning 5 years old before September 30, 2021 to register and attend Kindergarten.
Please email admissions@wqsb.qc.ca to request a registration package. Packages will be sent via email, and returned in the same manner.
To register you will require
- Certificate of eligibility of the child, parent or sibling declared eligible
- Child’s long form birth certificate with the names of both parents
- Canadian Citizenship for parent who will render the child eligible
- Quebec drivers licence, lease/deed and utility bill
- Child’s last report card if applicable
If you have a child who will be attending kindergarten next year, or know someone who has a child who will attend, you can prepare yourself in advance.
100th DAY OF SCHOOL
On Friday, February 12th we will be celebrating the 100th day of school.
Kindergarten and Cycle 1 teachers will be doing activities with their students to mark this day.
BUS SAFETY CAMPAIGN
It’s that time of year again when we have our Bus Safety Campaign that will run from February 1st 2021 to February 12th 2021.
We are living in very different times but it is also extremely important to ensure that our students and drivers come “Back To The Basics” when it comes to bus safety.
Keep an eye on the website for details of activities to come.