Norway Junior Public School

Family Update - February 18

I hope you all had a wonderful Family Day weekend ... between the rounds of shovelling snow! There has been a lot happening at Norway recently. The snow alone has been a source of joy, and the excitement at the recent Dance-a-Thon was palpable. The proceeds from the highly successful School Council event will go toward building decodable book libraries in the primary classrooms. A big thank you to Norway families for your generosity and participation. 

As I visit classrooms and other teaching spaces, I am looking to see how students are engaged in what they are learning. From phonics lessons focusing on long vowels, to analog and digital coding lessons, to research on the various treaty acknowledgements across Canada, there has been so much great learning happening for Norway students. In athletics, the girls’ volleyball team and boys' basketball team continue to improve and make strides as teams. The Primary and Junior choirs continue to practice weekly, and the musical practices are coming together in preparation for the performances on April 15 and 16.

Periodic Table of Black Canadian History

You will likely have noticed an interactive display in our front foyer in recognition of African Heritage (Black History) Month. The display highlights the successes and accomplishments of Black Canadians from a variety of fields and professions. Designed like the periodic table of elements, this ‘Periodic Table of Black Canadian History’ has QR codes for each person on the table which links to a biography in the Canadian Encyclopedia. Come and check it out to learn more! You can read more about the Periodic Table here. 

Library News

  • Norway's Forest of Reading program continues at recesses in the library. Younger students are reading the Blue Spruce picture books and junior students are reading from the Silver Birch fiction list. You can check out the nominated books that students are reading here. 
  • A reminder that this Thursday is book exchange day! Be sure to bring back any books you have at home so that your child can take out a new book to read. 

Canadian Children's Book Centre Grade One Book Give-Away

Each year all grade 1 students across Canada receive a book as part of a national reading initiative, coordinated since 2000, by the Canadian Children’s Book Centre (CCBC), in cooperation with school boards and libraries across Canada. The goal of the program is to help all Canadian children develop a love and a passion for reading by providing each child with a book of their own to take home. This year’s book is Violet Shrink, written by Christine Baldacchino, illustrated by Carmen Mok and published by Groundwood Books. You can read more about this years’ book at  https://bookcentre.ca/pages/td-grade-one-book-giveaway. Each book is meant to be taken home by Grade One students to read with their caregivers. The books are not intended for classroom or school libraries. We will be giving these out some time in March.

Grade 6 Visit to Bowmore 

Tomorrow morning, Tuesday, February 19, Grade 6 students will be visiting Bowmore for their tour and Grade 7 Open House. We will be leaving Norway just after 9:00 am and returning by 11:00 am. Grade 5 students will stay back with their classroom teachers. Parents/guardians are welcome to join us here at Norway at 9:00 am to walk over together, or meet us at 9:30 am at Bowmore. A separate visit to Glen Ames will happen in the spring for those students who will be attending Glen Ames next school year with more details to follow closer to the date. 

Saliva Testing Kits

Since October, Norway has been participating in an initiative by SickKids to provide voluntary testing for RSV, Flu and COVID 19 through the use of Saliva Testing Kits. These kits are provided by SickKids and are available for pick up in Norway's school office. If your child is ill, you can pick up a kit, complete it at home, and bring it back to the school where SickKids picks up kits every day. SickKids will contact you within a few days if your child tested positive for any of the three viruses - RSV, Flu or COVID 19. The results remain confidential and are not shared with the school in any way. 

Battery Recycling Program

This week, Norway launches a Battery Recycling Program. Used, single-use batteries can be dropped off in a battery recycling bin located in the main office starting this week. Before you send those batteries to school, please tape the terminals on all 6V, 9V, button cell and primary lithium batteries. To learn more about how to store batteries at home and how to prepare them for recycling, please visit:

www.rawmaterials.com/page/education/prepare-batteries/

Winter Activities and Snow Pass

After a successful and fun ski trip, along with a ton of snow that is not likely to go away any time soon, making the best of winter activities seems like a good decision for everyone's health and well being. Families interested in a more accessible skiing experience for their children might want to look into Snow Pass. For those who want to skate, Love Crescent skating rink, Fairmount Park skating rinks, and Kew Gardens skating rink are all local favourites that attract lots of interest from the community for beginners and experienced skaters alike. Of course, we are lucky to live so close to the Beaches where this year's Winter Stations art installations are running along the beach south of the Boardwalk. 

Upcoming Events and Important Dates

  • February 19 - Grade 6 Open House and Tour at Bowmore
  • February 27 - Provincial Election Polling Station in Norway's Gymnasium
  • February 28 - Black History Month Assembly
  • March 3 - School Council Meeting @ 6:00 pm
  • March 4 - Grad Retake Day
  • March 6 - Pizza Lunch #6
  • March 10-14 - March Break 

Term One Reports

Provincial Report Cards (Grades 1-6) and Communication of Learning (Kindergarten) go home on Wednesday, February 12. Report cards should not contain any huge surprises about how your child is doing. Teachers work to talk with parents if a child is having particular difficulty. An open, ongoing conversation is the best way to manage everyone’s expectations, and best support your children. If a teacher has a concern about your child’s progress, they may request a meeting. Some teachers have already reached out to families, and others will be doing so in the coming days. As always, you are welcome to ask for an interview or meeting if you have any questions or concerns about your child’s progress this school year.

Some children have strong feelings about report card time. Here are some suggestions for making report card time a little less scary and a little more productive.

    • Become familiar with the grading system. The Ontario Curriculum uses letters A, B, C, D on the report card that match with numbers 4, 3, 2, 1.  Keep in mind that a B grade, or level 3, means “meeting most or all curriculum expectations.” -- Levels of Achievements
    • You will notice one overall mark for Language. This is a recent change to the Provincial Report Card. Read the comments about each strand, or skill, to learn how your child is progressing. Also, understand the 4 levels of achievement. Relative strengths and areas of growth within the one mark will be described and differentiated in the comment box.
    • Make sure you understand the different competencies on the report card. Look for qualities such as ‘appropriateness, accuracy, logic, fluency, flexibility, depth and breadth’.
    • Resist the impulse to jump directly to an area with a lower score. Find an area with a good grade or score and focus on that first. “You did a great job in _____! You must be so proud of all your hard work.”
    • Once you’ve focused on the positive, talk about areas in which your child’s grade was lower. “Tell me how things have been going in Science lately.” Start a safe, open dialogue with your child about the difficulty they might be having with the subject matter.
    • Together, develop strategies to help in subject areas that are difficult for your child. Is there a textbook that can come home more frequently? Is there a website that can help with math fact drills? If you’re not sure how to best help your child, call the teacher to set up a conference.
    • Last, let your child know that they are more than just a report card. Remind them of all the things that make them special and important in your family. Too much of a focus on grades can only increase the amount of stress your child feels.


The Language Curriculum (Grades 1-8)

The expectations in the Language Curriculum are organized into four distinct but related strands:

    • A. Literacy Connections and Applications
    • B. Foundations of Language
    • C. Comprehension: Understanding and Responding to Texts
    • D. Composition: Expressing Ideas and Creating Texts

The program in all grades is designed to ensure that students build solid foundations in language and literacy, develop their analytical and critical thinking skills, and reflect on their learning. Acquiring the knowledge and skills described in the expectations in the four strands of the language curriculum will enable students to understand, respond to, appreciate, and create a full range of texts, including digital and media texts. 

Strand A is an overarching strand that focuses on literacy connections and applications that will enable students to transfer skills and draw on knowledge from each of the other strands, other subjects, and wider contexts. In strands B through D, students integrate Strand A expectations as they develop and apply their understanding of strand-specific concepts. The chart below illustrates the relationships among all four strands of this curriculum.

The 4 Levels of Achievement (Source: Ontario Curriculum Documents)

The achievement chart also identifies four levels of achievement, defined as follows:

    Level 1 represents achievement that falls much below the provincial standard. The student demonstrates the specified knowledge and skills with limited effectiveness. Students must work at significantly improving in specific areas, as necessary, if they are to be successful in a subject or course in the next grade.

    Level 2 represents achievement that approaches the standard. The student demonstrates the specified knowledge and skills with some effectiveness. Students performing at this level need to work on identified learning gaps to ensure future success.

    Level 3 represents the provincial standard for achievement. The student demonstrates the specified knowledge and skills with considerable effectiveness. Parents of students achieving at level 3 can be confident that their children will be prepared for work in subsequent grades or courses.

    Level 4 identifies achievement that surpasses the provincial standard. The student demonstrates the specified knowledge and skills with a high degree of effectiveness. However, achievement at level 4 does not mean that the student has achieved expectations beyond those specified for the grade or course.

    Note: The qualifier limited is used for level 1; some for level 2; considerable for level 3; and a high degree of or thorough for level 4. Hence, achievement at level 3 in the Thinking category for the criterion “use of planning skills'' would be described as “[The student] uses planning skills with considerable effectiveness”.

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