Principal's Message
Although January was a cold month, students have been thoroughly enjoying the outdoors. Our “Ski at School” cross-country skiing program is going well; our grade 3 students participated in outdoor Ecology games; and the grade 5 students will be building snow sculptures this month. Please ensure that your child has warm outdoor clothes to enjoy the winter outdoors, as February is expected to be a cold month as well.
The students have been doing a great job at following the safety measures at school and we are looking forward to this continuing. We have asked students to not talk while they are physically eating (between 10 – 20 minutes), as we are unable to space the students 2 meters apart. We are also reminding students to change their mask at any point during the day if their mask becomes wet.
Thanks to all parents who supported Kayden by purchasing a pizza at Domino’s last week. The fundraiser was held in 4 different Domino’s locations, and raised $17,000! The family now has the funds needed for their journey to Toronto and Boston. Good luck Kayden! A special thanks also goes out to our local Domino’s (25 Chemin de la Savane and 662 Boulevard Saint-Joseph) pizza owner, Stephane Levac for supporting this event.
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 mcomple@wqsb.qc.ca to get started.
Events at School
SNOW SCULPTURES
STAFF APPRECIATION WEEK
Monday, February 7th to Friday, February 11th, 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 Monday, February 14th 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.
SKI AT SCHOOL
We have an instructor coming from Ski at School/Ski à l’école to teach our children to cross country ski. The equipment is provided and the cost is free!
February Dates
- February 3 – Bush, MD, Given + Carey
- February 10 – McClelland, Weir + Schindel
- February 17 – Cusin, Plue + DV
Everyone from grade 1 to 6 will get a chance to learn this fun activity. Unfortunately the program is not available for Kindergarten.
MAZZOLA HOT MEAL PROGRAM
We will continue to offer our hot meal program on Mondays and Fridays. Here is the Mazzola Menu for February + March 2022. Click the Mazzola link to order.
VACCINATIONS FOR 4-11 YEAR OLDS
The vaccine will be offered through the school on Tuesday, February 15th. Students will be bussed from the school to the Palais de Congres to receive their first or second dose of the vaccine. More information will be sent home.
REPORT CARDS
Report cards will be available on February 11th on the portal.
Please contact Katharine kandriano@wqsb.qc.ca or (819) 663-4248 x1 for assistance in accessing the portal.
SCHOOL FEES
The school fees are now available on the portal under the FINANCE tab. Payments can be made online this year, and are due for February 18th.
See School Fees page for details about cost breakdown and “how-to” sign up with your online banking.
Please contact Michelle at mcomple@wqsb.qc.ca or (819) 663-4842 x2 with questions, or if you would like to set up a payment plan.
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 22nd and 24th, 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 25th, 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. 
PEACE LEARNING CIRCLES 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 a couple of fundraising activities coming up, we will share more details on our Facebook page. Stay tuned…
Staff Appreciation Week is February 7th-11th, each day we are planning little gifts for every staff member to show our appreciation for all their hard work.
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 be holding our Annual General Meeting on May 10th, all executive positions will be open for election. H&S currently has only 5 member and a few members will be moving onto other schools next year. Positions open for election:
- President
- Vice President
- Treasurer
- Secretary
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.
The next Home & School meeting will be on Tuesday, February 15th 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 two PD days in February. Monday, February 7th and Tuesday, February 8th are open to all Greater Gatineau students who register before the deadline.
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) 663-4842 x3 or e-mail jplaxton@wqsb.qc.ca
Special Notes
WINTERLUDE 2022
Typically we celebrate Canadian winter fun during the annual Winterlude festival in Ottawa-Gatineau, from February 5th- 21st.
The 2022 edition of the annual Winterlude festival has been cancelled due to COVID-19 concerns. However, all Canadians can enjoy the National Ice-Carving Championship and vote online for their favourite creation made by pairs of carvers in all 10 provinces.
And you can still celebrate Canadian winter fun by skating on the Rideau Canal Skateway (weather depending), enjoying a variety of wonderful winter activities, and attending special events taking place throughout the region!
KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION
The main Kindergarten registration period will continue until February 18th.
Your child must be turning 5 years old before September 30, 2021 to register and attend Kindergarten.
Please email mcomple@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 Thursday, February 17th 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.
WQSB NOTIFICATION APP
With the Western Quebec School Board mobile app, parents can quickly get bus transportation updates specific to their children’s school.
We also packed the app with features and resources relevant to parents, students and staff, like the Mozaïk Parent Portal, the school calendars, the pay portal or our Virtual Library.
TECHNOLOGY RETURN
We are asking families to return all borrowed chromebooks/iPads to school. Please do not return them on the bus with your child.
Parents will need to return them to Katharine at the front office between 8:30 AM-2:00 PM, or to Jennifer at Daycare between 3:00PM – 5:00 PM.
Since we have a large number of devices that went out to families, we are asking certain grades to bring device on a specific week to help with the collection of technology :
Kindergarten to Grade 3: January 31st to February 4th, 2022
Grade 4 to Grade 6: February 9th to February 11th, 2022.
*Please put your child’s name on the device on a piece of masking tape.
SPARE CLOTHING NEEDED
Do you have some extra pants that your children have grown out of? We would love to have them here at school as our spare supply has run out.
Often when children get wet outside or from a spill, they do not have a change of clothes here at school. We would like to be able to provide them a change of clothes.
Please consider donating 1 pair of clean and gently used pants to the school. All sizes welcome!