Principal's Message
We are in the final stretch of the year; with many exciting activities taking place in June. Unfortunately, due to the bus strike – most of our field trips have been cancelled. The company let’s us know the week before if it will be cancelled. Teachers are planning other exciting events near the school that do not require transportation as an alternative.
Please ensure that your child comes to school with sunscreen already applied; and with a water bottle each day to be prepared for the summer weather. We also would like students to come with a metal spoon in their bag each day; as we do not have spoons to provide for our breakfast program – and we have a number of items that require a spoon (cereal, applesauce, yogurt, etc.)
We’d like to thank everyone who joined us for the Carnival – we had a fabulous turnout! A huge appreciation goes to the Home and School volunteers for all of their planning, purchasing and for working at a station. I’d also like to also extend a tremendous thank-you to the teachers and support staff who helped prepare during the day; and who worked at all of the stations. We are lucky to have such a great staff willing to help out for this community event.
RE-REGISTRATION FOR 2023-2024
Thank-you to all families who have re-registered online or by sending your form back to school. If you have not returned your re-registration from for next year, please do so as soon as your can. Even if you are moving on to Hadley or another school outside of WQSB we still need your form returned. If you do not re-register you might run into difficulties with starting school right away or having transportation arranged for next year. If you need a replacement form please contact Amanda at awells@wqsb.qc.ca.
NEW REGISTRATION FOR 2023-2024
If you, or anyone you know has a child turning five before September 30th, or who is moving into the area please let them know to make arrangements to register by emailing our secretary Amanda at awells@wqsb.qc.ca or calling (819)663-4842 extension 1.
REMIND APP
It is important for all families to sign up for our communication tool.
Events at School
SPLASH PAD FUN
Grade one and two classes will go/went to the splash pad as one of the events to replace their June trip.
CLOWN WORKSHOP
On June 1st, the Grade 1 classes will be taking part in a workshop put on by actress, singer, stilt walker, clown, and musician, Annick Detolle. She will be teaching the students different exercises in how to communicate, breathe, and act out different emotions in a fun and silly way. The students will take turns being actors and spectators and put on a great show using all the tools they have learned!
- Geisterfer- 8:55-9:30
- Sauve- 10:05-10:45
- Sanford- 11:05-11:45
- Carey- 12:35-1:25
Grade 5 students are excited to go to Upper Canada Village by coach bus! We will be wrapping up our unit on the Loyalists and Pioneer Living by visiting Upper Canada Village on Wednesday, June 14th. This trip will not be affected by the bus strike.
MONT CASCADES TRIP
On June 19th the Grade 6 classes hope to go to Mont Cascades for a day of fun at the water park. Their slides are widely recognized as the best in the world for safety, thrills, and fun!
BUS STRIKE CANCELATION OF TRIPS
If a trip is cancelled due to the bus strike an alternate plan will be made for that grade level to celebrate the end of the school year in a different way. Teachers will advise the class if this occurs.
LUNCH PROGRAMS
The last Mazzola meals will be served on Friday, June 16th and our Subway Lunch Program will be ending on Wednesday, June 21st.
Please remember to send a full lunch for your child for the remaining days of school.
CULTURE GRANT GRADE 5
On June 12th, 13th, and 19th Grade 5 students will take part in a three-day workshop that will connect them to the outdoors. Students will learn about ecological art projects around the world and will then create their own by incorporating living materials and hands on planting. They will create a space together that can be used as a gathering place for our school and community.
FRENCH COMIC BOOK WORKSHOP
Thanks to the FSL culture grant, Grade 6 students will explore the required steps to create a comic book in a workshop “La bande dessinée avec Eric Péladeau” on June 12th.
PERFORMING ARTS SHOW
On June 16th we will be showing off our talents in a two part show.
- 10:05 – Kindergarten – Grade 2
- 12:35 – Grade 3-6
GRADUATION
The time is fast approaching for our Grade 6 students to be graduating from Greater Gatineau School! The ceremony will be held on Thursday, June 22nd . There will be 3 different ceremonies:
- 8:30 – 9:30 AM: Ms. Fama’s class
- 9:45 – 10:45 AM: Mr. Birch’s class
- 11:00 AM -12:00 PM: Mr. Dooling’s class
After each ceremony, that class will have time to take pictures at a ‘photo booth’ and students can enjoy a pizza lunch with music and fun!
MONTHLY ASSEMBLY
Our next assembly will be on Thursday, June 15th, where we will celebrate the students who have shown the chosen virtue throughout the month.
- 8:55 – Grade 3 + 4
- 10:05 – Grade 5 + 6
- 10:55 – Kindergarten, Grade 1 + 2
Please remember to wear your GG Grizzlies 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!
PEACE LEARNING CIRCLES 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
Thank you to everyone who supported the Greater Gatineau Home and School Auction. It was a very successful event.
We would also like to thank Chris Dery, whose company provided a very generous cash donation to Greater Gatineau Home and School that will help us continue to support the school and help with the Carnival.
Fundraisers and Events
There is still time to place an order with Plantables. Plantables ships seedlings to addresses in Ontario and Quebec. Use promo code GGHOMEANDSCHOOL at checkout. Share with all your family and friends. We get 10% of all sales.
Carnival 2023 – The Carnival is back! Scheduled for Thursday, June 1. We hope to see all Greater Gatineau Families at the Carnival.
On May 15th we held our Annual General Meeting (AGM). Elections were held to determine the executive council for the 2023-2024 School year.
- President – Heather Phillips
- Vice President – Kara
- Treasurer – Catherine Racette
- Secretary – Diane Mineault
A huge thank you to Tammy Stafford who will be leaving the position of Treasurer after many years. Her son graduated Greater Gatineau a year ago but she had agreed to stay on to help GGHS.
We need new members to continue to operate an effective Home and School group. Please consider joining for the 2023-2024 school year.
If you would like to join us, please send us an email at gghomeandschool@gmail.com. We meet monthly for 1.5 hours. Time commitment varies depending on the events and fundraisers we run. You can decide how much time your schedule allows you to commit.
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.
Daycare
We have welcomed many extra children to the daycare during the bus strike. We thank everyone for their understanding during this time.
All students will be registered with the same expected attendance for next year. If your needs have changed please let us know. A student who is registered for 5 days/week will not be assigned a bus.
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) 663-4842 ext. 3 or e-mail jplaxton@wqsb.qc.ca
Remember to join @ggdaycare2 on the Remind app to get notices about daycare events.
Special Notes
JUMP ROPE FOR HEART
Thank-you to everyone who joined the fundraising efforts for the Heart and Stroke Foundation. We have raised over $1500 to help with research and support for people with heart related problems.
We also had over 160 students who spent time skipping during their recesses during the first two weeks of May. We learned some tricks and practiced our skipping skills on both the long and short ropes.
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 Amanda at extension 1, with your change of address so we can update our files for transportation.
BACK TO SCHOOL SHOPPING FOR LOW INCOME FAMILIES
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. More information available on the Back-to-School Sharing Store Letter.
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.
Anti-Racism Committee (ARC)
Land acknowledgement
The land on which we gather is traditional unceded Omamiwininiwag (Algonquin) and Anishinabewaki territory .
Featured version of O’Canada for the month of June
June is Pride Month AND National Indigenous History Month
National Best Friends Day – June 8th
National Best Friends Day is a day to acknowledge the role your best friends play in your life.
Father’s Day – June 18th
Father’s Day is a holiday honoring one’s father, or relevant father figure, as well as fatherhood, paternal bonds, and the influence of fathers in society.
First Day of Summer (Summer Solstice) – June 21st
The June solstice marks the astronomical first day of summer in the Northern Hemisphere.
National Indigenous Peoples Day – June 21st
National Indigenous Peoples Day is a day for all Canadians to recognize and celebrate the unique heritage, diverse cultures and outstanding contributions of First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples.
St-Jean Baptiste Day – June 24th
Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day and the National Day of Quebec, Francophones across the country show their pride by celebrating their language and their traditions.
Eid al-Adha Begins – June 28th
Eid al-Adha is a time for prayer, visiting with friends and family, and giving gifts in the Muslim faith. Some families also sacrifice an animal in remembrance of Ibrahim’s sacrifice.