Dear Winlaw Families,

Over the last two weeks teachers and students have taken advantage of the beautiful fall weather we have had and have headed outdoors to do their learning in the areas of Physical Health Education, Visual Arts, and Science.  We are so fortunate to have a forest, two soccer fields and an amazing playground for students to learn and play on!

Learning Highlights

• Primary classes have been integrating their learning around the fall theme- K/1 students are learning all about pumpkins. They were excited to be scientists in their class today predicting and then testing to see if pumpkins float or sink! Throughout this week they will be carving a pumpkin exploring its insides as well as doing more Halloween crafts, drawing and painting.
• Grade 2/3 students have been learning about metamorphosis with their science teacher Ms Peel and creating spider webs with their ADST teacher Ms Van.
• All the primary teachers are finishing up the 1:1 Early Learner Profile literacy assessment and have started the primary literacy groups on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday each week.
• Gr. 3/4/5 and Gr. 5/6 have been incorporating thinking classroom problem solving strategies where students work in teams of three to solve word problems in a variety of ways; this is based on the research and work of SFU Math Professor Peter Liljedahl. Learn more about his work to build math confidence and a positive growth mindset in students which is one of our objectives in our numeracy goal in our Winlaw School Learning Plan.
• We are so proud of all the students who joined the Winlaw Cross Country Running team this fall; 20 students from Gr. 1-6 attended the District Final with teacher coach Ms Van; Ms Van shared that students ran hard and cheered enthusiastically for their teammates! 
• Our Gr. 5/6 Student Leadership group meets with Teacher Leader Ms Peel; this week they are working with the PAC Hallowe’en Howler Committee to plan and organize the activities for this fun event on October 31st! 

Communicating Student Learning

The communication between home and school can take many forms. During the school year students and parents/guardians will receive at least 5 communications of student learning. At least three of these communications will be written in the form of a Written Learning Update or Summary of Learning. At least two of these communications will be in the form of an Informal Learning Update. This ensures all parents/guardians and students in the province receive regular, informative updates on where the child is at in their learning, and areas of further development. Our first written communication will be sent home on November 27th and the second will be in March with the summary report given at the end of June.

Parent Teacher Conferences will be held on the Early Dismissal Days November 15 and 16th this year.  Students will be dismissed at 1:00.  Teachers will send out an email in the next few days with information about signing up through a google form.  If you are unable to attend during the Early Dismissal days, please arrange an alternate time with your child’s teacher. These can be face to face meetings, a phone call, or virtual via the TEAMS platform.

ArtStarts Residency Pilot Program

We are so excited to be part of the ArtStarts Residency pilot program again this year which funds artists and musicians in schools. Music Educator Talon Nansel resumed teaching at Winlaw Elementary on October 6th. Talon will teach on Fridays for 16 weeks.  In addition, we are thrilled that Filmmaker Bryan Lye will be teaching filmmaking skills to our students starting in the late winter and spring term!

Safety Drills

Last week we completed our second Fire Drill and the Earthquake drill.  I am very pleased to share that our students exited the building in a quiet, timely, and respectful manner. Well done, Winlaw students and staff!  Our final fall Fire Drill will take plan on Monday, October 30th.

Upcoming Events

October 31          -Hallowe’en Howler  12:40-2:00

November 10      -Remembrance Day Assembly 10:50 am

November 13      -Remembrance Day Holiday

November 15      -Early Dismissal Day (Parent Teacher Conferences)

November 16      -Early Dismissal Day (Parent Teacher Conferences)

November 27      -Learning Update ( Report Cards) sent home

November 29-    - Hold and Secure Drill

December 14-    - Winter Concert 12:50

Monica Doyle

Principal, Winlaw Elementary School