Orange Shirt Day

ORANGE SHIRT DAY:  October 2, 2019 at Nellie McClung P.S.

The orange shirt day movement started in 2013 to highlight the pain and suffering of thousands of Indigenous children who were sent to residential school throughout the last century. The colour of the shirt is connected to the experience of Phyllis Webstad who was sent to Cariboo Residential School near Williams Lake, BC, in 1973.

Six-years old at the time, Phyllis went to her first day of school wearing a new, bright orange shirt. New clothes were a rare thing for the young girl, who was being raised by her grandmother. However, upon arriving at the school, the nuns stripped her of the shirt, forcing her to wear the school’s institutional uniform.

Ms. Webstad has felt the impact of that event long after it occurred, “That feeling of worthlessness and insignificance, ingrained in me from my first day at the mission, affected the way I lived my life for many years. Even now, when I know nothing could be further than the truth, I still sometimes feel that I don’t matter.”

The orange shirt has since gone on to become a symbol of a national movement that recognizes the suffering of Indigenous children at residential schools across the country and to show a renewed commitment to ensure that every child matters.

Recognize the resiliency and bravery of Residential School Survivors by wearing something orange (e.g., shirt, ribbon or anything orange) on October 2nd!

Note:  Orange Shirt Day is officially September 30, 2019, but we will be honouring it on October 2, 2019 to avoid overlap with significant faith days.

Rosh Hashanah Greetings

To all our families who celebrate Rosh Hashanah, we send you wishes for a good new year!

(Just a friendly reminder:  if your child will be away for the holiday, please remember to report the absence to the school  through Edsby or by phoning the school at 905-303-8113.  Thank you.)

Terry Fox Walk

On Thursday, Sept. 26th, the Kindergarten classes of Nellie McClung P.S. participated in the Terry Fox Walk/Run by walking around the school three times as they chanted, "Who are we walking for?  Terry Fox!" and "Who's our hero?  Terry Fox!" 

As a school, we raised $1408.00 (as of Sept. 29th).  Thank you to everyone who was able to make a donation to the Terry Fox Foundation on behalf of our school.

Terry Fox Walk at Nellie McClung Public School

On Thursday, Sept. 26th, our school will be holding our annual Terry Fox Walk.  Our Kindergarten class will join in by walking around the school field a few times.  You may even hear us chanting while we walk:  "Who are we walking for?  Terry Fox!"

If you have not already done so, please consider making a donation on-line at the following link:  http://www.terryfox.ca/NellieMcClungPSMaple

You may also send cash donations to school in your child's communication bag.  A loonie or twoonie would be wonderful.  We will forward all donations.

Together we can reach our school goal of raising $2500.

Thank you!

Kindergarten Trip to Forsythe Family Farms

On Tuesday, October 8th, the Kindergarten classes of Nellie McClung Public School will be visiting the Forsythe Family Farm.  Please go to School Cash Online in order to give consent for your child to go on the trip and to pay for the trip. Here is the link:  School Cash Online

We will be leaving the school around 9:30 am on trip day so please make sure your child eats a good breakfast at home.  We will eat our lunches at the farm.  Please send a litterless lunch and a reusable water bottle with your child on trip day. We should be returning to the school by 2:30 pm.

We will be outside for most of the day while on the farm trip.  Please make sure your child is dressed for the weather that day.  This is a 'rain or shine' trip so we will be going regardless of the weather.

We are able to take a few parent volunteers with us.  You can indicate your interest in volunteering when you go to School Cash Online.  Please note that all school volunteers must have a 'police check', i.e., a Vulnerable Sector Screen Test on file at school in order to join us on the trip.  (If we get more than 3 offers of parent volunteers, we will randomly pick names.)

If you have any questions/concerns, please let us know, and we will do our best to address them.

Lost and Found Items

We have found 2 items in our classroom and none of the children recognize them.  Here are pictures of the thermos lid and a hoodie sweater (size 4):

If either one or both of these items belong to your family, please let us know, and we will send them home.

Welcome Back & Welcome to Room 110

Hello and welcome to our classroom blog!  We are Lina Guerriero (aka Ms. G.) and Jesica Mateo.  We are the teaching team for Room 110 at Nellie McClung P.S.  We have a combined Senior Kindergarten/Year 2 and Junior Kindergarten/Year 1 class, and we currently have 28 students in our class.

We have had a good start to the year, and most children are settling in well.  A big thank you to the returning Kindergarten students who are doing a great job of helping the new students in our room.

Some start up information:
Extra clothes ... thank you to the families who have already sent in extra clothing for their children.  If you have not done so yet, please plan on sending extra clothes with your child as soon as possible.  Please make sure to label the clothing bag with your child's name.

Parent Contact Pages & Office Forms... thank you for returning the various forms for your child.  If there are any outstanding forms that need to be submitted, we will let you know this coming week.

Library time ... our class will be visiting the library this week for the first time.  They will start borrowing books next week.  We will send home a letter with the children's first library book.  Please look for the letter and keep it as a reference for the dates of our class library visits for the year.  We will be visiting the library on Day 5s of our school schedule.

Gym time ... our class has use of the gym on Day 4s of our school schedule.  Please make sure your child has a pair of running shoes for gym days.  Your child may keep an extra pair of running shoes at school to be used as 'indoor shoes'.  Please do not sent shoes with laces unless your child is able to tie up his/her own shoes.

Communication Bags ... thank you for sending the plastic communication bag each day with your child.  If you have any questions/concerns, one of the best ways to reach us is with a note in the communication bag.

We're looking forward to meeting you in person soon at our school Curriculum Night on Thursday, September 26th!