St. Peter the Apostle Catholic School

Who will be Canada’s Most Active Community?

This June, St. Peter the Apostle will be participating in the ParticipACTION Community Better Challenge, the physical activity challenge that rallies communities to get moving.

From June 1 – 30, let’s get active to support Parry Sound’s quest to be Canada’s Most Active Community and win $100,000 for local physical activity initiatives.

Participate by downloading the (FREE) ParticipACTION app where you can track your activity and contribute to the challenge.

Every move counts!

• https://bit.ly/3fSDE21

You don't need a special login or password - it will all be tracked through your postal code.

www.participaction.com

Today is Earth Day!
Once again, we are celebrating this day at home, but what better place to start?

At St. Peter the Apostle, we focus on two big issues - slowing global warming and reducing the use of plastics.

Today would be a great day to collect litter from around your yard, or if you are out for a walk. Reduce your personal greenhouse emissions by eating local, and eating less meat. Conserve water and electricity. Find ways to carry and store food other than plastic. Design a pollinator garden. Live stream a zoo or aquarium, or watch a documentary to study the diversity of animals. Create an Earth Day Poster. Create a commercial to support an environmental action.

Check this one out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUbTpvbwR_s
(The commercials we remember are often those who make us laugh or make us cry.)

Happy Earth Day!
Please share your Earth Day actions with us at the school:
[email protected]

2017 Kia Niro “Hero’s Journey” Starring Melissa McCarthy Super Bowl 51 Commercial Being a hero isn’t always the easiest job, but Melissa McCarthy is willing to put in a valiant effort in order to save the planet in Kia’s new Super Bowl com...

What a lovely day it is - a beautiful taste of spring, and of the good weather to come. We have had a few wonderful weeks. March 11 was the Big Crunch, promoting healthy eating and buying locally. March 19 was Outdoor Education Day. Literary Character Day was March 29. We do not have photos of every event - we were too busy enjoying them, but we do have some.

You will see a lot of Science pictures. This has been a particular focus of late - something about which I could not be more delighted. The 6/7s were learning the basics of tools when designing and building wooden paper plane launchers. (Many thanks to the Parry Sound Rona for their help with that.) The 7/8s designed and built cardboard boats. The 4/5s excelled at a series of labs around rocks and minerals and changes of state in matter. The 5/6s have done everything from learning how to use triple beam balances and microscopes to multiple design challenges and experiments. The 2/3s explored the possibilities of Coke and Mentos - always an explosive experience. The 1/2s are studying forces. The Kindergartens and 1s have been studying the melting of snow and the flow of water and mud (sometimes studying REALLY closely). We have planted seeds, in preparation for our soon-to-be-built garden.

I have had the pleasure of working very closely with the 4/5s and the 5/6s, and I am constantly amazed and inspired by the students' curiosity, their growing ability to solve problems when they are not immediately given the answer, and their total engagement in the lessons. The time spent with these classes, and all of the time spent with our students on the yard, have been a source of tremendous joy.

Things are happening at St. Peter the Apostle!

Yearbook
We are now assembling a yearbook team - one or two students from each class to document this extraordinary year, with photos and anecdotes. All those interested in helping should contact Ms. Eccleshall.

Hockey
Mr. Kidd has started up floor hockey in the gym! Each week he works with a different class (in order to maintain cohorts). Everyone wears masks and eye protection, but at last we are burning off some steam inside. Stay tuned for more intramural (by cohort) sports!

Ecoschools
We have been awarded a $1000 grant from the Jane Goodall Institute, to be used for the creation of a school garden. We will be creating the garden and reporting on this by mid-June.

Students will be involved in the project, from planning to implementation. (Adults are welcome to act as advisors and coaches, but it should be the students who work to solve the design challenges. We do our students no good if we do not allow them to create strategies and then persevere with problems and revisions.)

Students are now invited to submit suggestions to [email protected] for the following:
1) Where in our yard shall we locate our garden? We are thinking of a minimum area of 5 meters X 7 meters. If the garden is that size, we will need the capacity to add on later. We will need access to irrigation (a hose), and would like to be able to drive up to the site with heavy materials or to harvest the vegetables we will be growing. It can be (but need not be) on flat ground. It will need to be in an area of the yard that is either full or mostly sun. It must be out of the areas where snow is piled or landscape trucks access the rest of the yard.

2) What design and materials should we use for our garden? We want it to last. We want to build it well, using the least amount of materials. We want to be able to have several people working easily in the garden at the same time.

Students are also invited to talk to Ms. Eccleshall about environmental projects they would like to lead or work on as a team. Our local concerns, according to our environmental partner, the Georgian Bay Biosphere Reserve, are global warming and plastics in the environment. Reduction of one or both of these would be a priority.

Now is a great time to get involved!

We are looking for a lunch hour supply person in the office. This is a paid position. Please contact [email protected] if you can even work one or two days each week. We have additional hours available if you are willing to be a recess supervisor. All COVID safety training will be provided.

Yesterday, the Premier of Ontario announced expanded lockdown restrictions in the province as well as a stay-at-home order, which begins on Thursday and will be in place for 28 days. In the education sector, much of the direction remains the same as what was previously announced. For the time being, schools that fall under the northern public health units, which includes St. Peter the Apostle, will remain open for student learning. We will continue to keep you updated if any new information becomes available from the Ministry of Education that impacts our school community.

Another important update from the Ministry of Education was the decision to expand mandatory mask-wearing to include students in Grades 1 through 3. We also very strongly encourage our Kindergarten students to wear masks, as it is sometimes difficult for them to remember physical distancing rules. Any concerns that we had at the beginning of the year regarding the ability and willingness of our youngest learners to wear masks (even for long periods of time) have subsided. We have learned how incredibly adaptable and resilient our students are, and after almost a year in this pandemic, mask-wearing has become commonplace for everyone, including young children. We are encouraging families to send their children with a supply of masks that are comfortable and fit well. (They get a bit wet and nasty during play outside.) We will also have a supply of disposable masks available.

We would like to remind our students and families not to congregate at the beginning and end of the school day. The government has noted that by-law and police officers are expanding enforcement efforts during the 28-day extended lockdown and stay-at-home order.

As always, please continue to complete the daily screening before school each day and keep your child home if he/she is exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19. School staff will continue to be diligent about health and safety protocols, including hand-hygiene, mask-wearing and physical distancing.

I want to thank our staff and student community for its ongoing support and patience. You have all been phenomenal. I could not be more proud to be a part of this school family.

If there are any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact the school directly. We are here for and with you.
[email protected]

Please note that the following message has been posted for clarification. St. Peter the Apostle is unique in our school board, in that we WILL be open on Monday.

Dear St. Peter the Apostle Students and Families,

Members of the staff of St. Peter the Apostle have thoroughly enjoyed connecting with you this past week virtually - thank you so much for your participation online and positive feedback.

We look forward to seeing all students back in class on Monday, January 11. Our school falls in the Northern Public Health Unit designation and so we will be open for business as usual.

Please take particular care in your COVID self-assessment before coming to school by completing the COVID-19 school screening each day.

We keep our school family safe through unswerving vigilance and care for others. If you have symptoms, please err on the side of safety and stay home. From the bottom of our hearts, we thank the many families who have protected our community, so far, by doing just that. We know how difficult that must have been for you, but your selfless actions are deeply appreciated.

Once here, students will be reminded to wear masks, socially distance, and sanitize often. COVID numbers have been increasing across the province, and we hope that our school will remain open - possible only if every single person within the building consistently follows safety protocols.

I speak on behalf of our entire staff in saying that we can’t wait to see you on Monday. School is not the same for us without the joy that our students bring.

Warmest regards,

Susan Eccleshall
Principal
St. Peter the Apostle

P.S. Please don’t forget your indoor shoes, and, for the little ones, a change of clothes.

Our first photography contest took place this month, with a theme of "Wildlife", in honour of Wildlife Conservation Day. We had a limited number of submissions, but they were excellent. Check them out.

Congratulations to Curtis (Primary Winner), Austin (Junior Winner) and Ben (Intermediate and Overall Winner). Thank you so much to everyone who participated!

Friday was Outdoor Education Day for December, and the theme was Mountains, raising awareness about the importance of taking care of mountain ecosystems.

Just as a bonus, Mr. Kidd got to clean mountains of mud out of the hallways after the event. :-)

Help St. Peter the Apostle to build a mountain of food for those who are local and in need.

Our students are creating Christmas ornaments for sale (on SchoolDay, in bundles of 3 for $5.00). Money raised will support Harvest Share, Parry Sound.

If you would like to donate a turkey dinner to a family through The Salvation Army, please donate to the Rotary Club Turkey Christmas Hamper program ($30, and you receive a tax receipt)
at https://portal.clubrunner.ca/217/Stories/turkey-christmas-hamper .

Thank you so much for your kindness to others.

Turkey Christmas Hamper A donation of $30.00 buys Turkey Dinner for a family of six.   DonateHere   $30.00 buys Turkey, aluminum roasting pan, potatoes, onions, carrots, cranberries, stuffing, gravy mix