Principal's Message
We are in the final month of a challenging year, and we are very proud of how our students and staff have managed with all of the Public Health guidelines for Covid-19. A big thank-you goes out to the parents for all of your support throughout the year; and for assisting with online learning.
June is always a month where a number of special activities take place; and we have organized a number of events to make the end of the year special. Each grade has planned a special day; and we also have 4 school-wide special days: Pizza Day, Chocolate Milk Day; Freezie Day; and Ice Cream Sandwich Day.
Students have been enjoying outdoor learning in the past few weeks; as we have set up some outdoor learning areas for classes to enjoy. We are also purchasing some trees and log benches for more shade; made possible with the help of Home and School and a grant from the Ministry.
Our 12 year old students will be receiving vaccines this month; and more details will be sent out once the information is available.
We hope that everyone enjoys the June weather this month; and are wishing students, parents and staff a fruitful last month of school.
REGISTRATION FOR 2021-2022
If you have not registered for kindergarten next year, or if you know anyone who has a child turning five before September 30th, or moving into the area please make arrangements to register by emailing our secretary Michelle at mcomple@wqsb.qc.ca or calling (819)663-4842 extension 2.
REMIND APP
It is important for all families to sign up for our communication tool.
Events at School
COLLECTION OF SCHOOL FEES
We sent out a message with this link to signupgenius.com to give parents a chance to sign up for an appointment to pay their school fees for this year. Payment dates were May 27th, 28th, 31st, June 1st and 7th. Appointments still available!
School Fees & Supply Lists
If you were unable to book an appointment please contact our finance secretary Michelle Comple mcomple@wqsb.qc.ca, to make arrangements to pay your school fees.
MEET THE AUTHOR
Cycle 2 will have an opportunity to work with Catherine Austen, who is an author who has written many fiction books from comics to drama for children and young adults.
We will be reading one of her books and having a “Meet the Author” session where she will discuss how she came up with the idea for the book and do a small writing project with the students. Sessions will occur on June 2nd.
GRAD PHOTOS
Grade 6 students get your best smiles ready for grad photos as they have been rescheduled for June 3rd.
Third time is a charm!
SUBWAY LUNCH PROGRAM
Our Subway Lunch Program will be ending on June 10th. This is a Thursday, not the usual Wednesday date.
Please remember to send a full lunch for your child for the remaining days of school.
PERFORMING AND VISUAL ARTS SHOW
On June 11th we will be showing off our talents in a virtual show. Videos were sent in by our students and compiled by Ms. Boersma. The link to the show will be sent out so that everyone can enjoy the show!
STORYTELLER WORKSHOP
The grade 4’s are excited to welcome Sylvie Belleau, a storyteller, who will do a virtual workshop on The Art of Storytelling.
She will meet with each grade 4 class individually and talk about legends from around the world as well as how important the spoken word is still today.
We can’t wait for her visit on June 15th!
SPECIAL YEAR END ACTIVITIES
Each Grade will be participating in some fun activities to mark the end of the school year.
- Kindergarten – Bubbles Activity
- Grade One – Activity Centers
- Grade Two – Lunch at the park
- Grade Three – Sidewalk chalk + Ice Cream Sandwiches
- Grade Four – Snack at the park
- Grade Five – Party at the park
SPECIAL DAYS AT SCHOOL
To make the last few days of school special we have planned special treats for all the children.
- Freezie Day – June 18
- Chocolate Milk Day – June 21
- Ice Cream Sandwich Day – June 22
- Pizza Day –
- June 18 for Grade 6
- June 23 for Kindergarten to Grade 5
AWARDS FOR GRADE 6
The grade six year-end awards will be presented to the children on June 18th.
The award ceremony will be recorded at school and the link will be sent along with the link for the pictures from the graduation at some point after the graduation.
GRADUATION
Graduation will be a Drive-By Ceremony this year. Please feel free to decorate your vehicle! We will be taking time to acknowledge each of our graduating students as they receive their certificates using the following schedule:
Tuesday, June 22nd
9:00am – Ms. Fama’s Class
10:30am – Mr. Birch’s Class
Wednesday, June 23rd
9:00am – Ms. Sauvé’s Class
10:30am – Mr. Dooling’s Class
11:45am – Online Students
Vehicles will line up along rue Napoléon-Groulx beginning at rue Alice. One by one, vehicles will be signaled ahead to the school’s main entrance on rue Alice. Here, students and their families will exit their vehicles. Students will walk up the path to receive their certificates, receive a gift, and be acknowledged by attending school staff. A brief opportunity for pictures will be available before the next vehicle is signaled ahead. A staff member will be taking pictures and those pictures will be made available on the afternoon of Wednesday, June 23rd.
MONTHLY ASSEMBLY
Our next assembly will be on Friday, June 18th, 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.
June is CITIZENSHIP month. We hope to see students showing us what great community members they are both at school and out in the larger community.
Represent Greater Gatineau wherever you go!
TRIBES AT HOME
CREATIVE STORYTELLING
Start by sitting in a circle around the dinner table or living room. The set-up is “we are going to make up a group story”. The leader starts the story with a setting and characters.
Example “Once there was a family who were going on vacation. They couldn’t decide where to go so they…”
Add to the story one or two sentences at a time. Each person takes a turn around the circle to add to the story. Encourage everyone to listen to each other and be creative when it is their turn to add to the story. You can decide to make it a funny story or a serious story in advance. Or you can let it take you where it wants as you go.
It can be an oral story that gets told once, or you can write it down and illustrate it afterwards so you can read it again.
Home & School
H&S Annual General Meeting is coming up. If you want to join next year’s team or hear what we did this year, join us!
Our school is fortunate to have a dynamic Home and School Association which organizes many events and fundraising activities. We are always in need of more parents to help plan and run our events and fundraising. Please let us know if you are able to help.
We are holding an election for the positions below, if you would like to nominate someone for an executive position, please send us an email with your nomination.
2021/2022 Elections
Vice President | Secretary | Membership Chair
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.
The next Home & School meeting will be our Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Tuesday, June 15th at 6:30pm. New parents welcome! We hold our meetings through Zoom, please reach out to us via email if you would like to attend.
Daycare
It has been a busy year at daycare. Some of you will be moving on next year and we wish you well. Some of you will be returning and we are excited to see what next year brings. We will enjoy the final days of this year with our students. June is a great month!
New Rate for 2021-2022 school year has been announced. Regular students who attend three or more days per week will pay $8.55/day.
All students will be registered with the same attendance for next year. If your needs have changed please let us know.
Should you have any questions about our program or to register for daycare next year please do not hesitate to contact Jennifer by phone at (819) 643-6365 or e-mail jplaxton@wqsb.qc.ca
Special Notes
VIRTUAL OPEN HOUSE
This year we will be having a virtual open house on June 16th for our new kindergarten students who will be starting school next year. We will be sending a video which will include messages from our office staff, a tour of the school, a glimpse into a day of kindergarten, a special presentation from staff, and more!
KINDERGARTEN PACKAGE PICK UP
Parents of our new students will also be able to pick up a kindergarten bag on June 18th which contains important information regarding our program, as well as some fun learning materials! Between 8:30 and 10:30 parents can park on Napoleon Groulx in front of the gym doors near the big tree. The bags will be brought out to you.
ARE YOU MOVING?
As we prepare for next year, it is very important that you notify the school if you are moving. Please call the school at 819-663-4842 and speak to Katharine at extension 1, with your change of address so we can up-date our files for transportation.
BACK TO SCHOOL SHOPPING
The Maison de Quartier Notre-Dame is once again participating in the shared store/back to school program. This is a Centraide Outaouais community program based on the values of dignity, sharing and solidarity. To see if you qualify check here
Information on how to register below
GIFTS FOR STAFF MEMBERS
If you wanted to send a year end gift we have designed a plan to meet Public Health guidelines.
- Gifts must be dropped off by parents and cannot be sent in with students
- We will quarantine the gift before delivering to staff
- Homemade food items cannot be accepted but store bought and packaged items can
- The deadline for dropping off gifts is Wednesday, June 16th
Gifts are not expected. If you do feel like sharing year end joy, your happy thoughts and well wishes are more than enough to uplift our spirits.
TRIBES BUCKET REWARD LUNCH
The tribes bucket was full before we left at the beginning of April. Some classes have had their special FREE meal paid for by our Nutrition Grant. The last few classes will enjoy their meals soon.
Lunch Dates below
Tuesday May 25 | Thursday May 27 | Friday May 28 | Tuesday June 1 |
Boersma | Hooker | Birch | Bush |
Allen | Given | Fama | Stone |
Sanford | MD | Sauve | Plue |
Carey –rescheduled | McClelland | Dooling | Everson |
Golding | Weir | Schultz | DV |
| Carey | Cusin | Schindel |
NATIONAL INDIGENOUS PEOPLES DAY
National Indigenous Peoples Day is a day recognizing and celebrating the cultures and contributions of the First Nations, Inuit and Métis Indigenous peoples of Canada.
The day was first celebrated as National Aboriginal Day in 1996, after it was proclaimed that year by the Governor General of Canada to be celebrated annually on June 21st. This date was chosen for many reasons, including its cultural significance as the Summer solstice, and the fact that it is a day on which many Indigenous peoples and communities traditionally celebrate their heritage. It was renamed National Indigenous Peoples Day in 2017.