Fern Ave. Public School Blog

Thank you to the  Fern Arts Collective for their support in organizing and hosting Professor Wick's Incredible Magic Factory. Over $1000 was raised, GREAT JOB everyone!!!

Click here for the updated December Lunch order form. A reminder that orders are due by Monday November 16th for lunch starting December 1st.

Dear Parents/Guardians, PLEASE JOIN US TOMORROW OCTOBER 29, 2015 FOR A PERFORMANCE BY YOUR CHILDREN IN KINDERGARTEN!!! We've been doing something special in kindergarten for the past week.  Dance artist Jessica Runge has been a guest in our school, working with all of our English Kindergarten students in a dance residency supported by the Ontario Arts Council and Fern's School Council. Jessica is a Toronto based professional dance artist who has over fifteen years of experience teaching creative movement to children (more at jessicarunge.com). In her classes children learn a variety of age-appropriate movement based exercises and games. During this visit to Fern, the children are imagining they are astronauts.  Each class is working in small groups to create outer-space themed dances. Thank you Jessica, and thanks also to all who have made this program possible for our students! PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE: 12:50-1:50 PM   Room 110 Performance 1:50-2:50 PM     Room 109

23 October 2015 Dear Parents/Guardians, We are writing to update you about the continued impact of the ongoing, province-wide legal job action currently being undertaken by members of three unions:  Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) which represents elementary teachers  Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) which represents school support staff including custodians, school office staff, Educational Assistants, Early Childhood Educators and others Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF), Professional Student Services Personnel Unit which represents education workers (not teachers) including Attendance Counsellors, Child and Youth Counsellors/Workers, Social Workers, Speech-Language Pathologists and others These unions are currently in contract negotiations with the Government of Ontario and the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association . Details of the duties and services no longer being performed during this job action can be found at www.

Grade nine information nights at high schools are proceeding as planned.   Click here for dates and times.

Claude Watson School for the Arts is a TDSB grade 4-8 school focused on the arts. Each year they audition Grade 3 students for entry into their Grade 4 program. Parents and students who are interested in auditioning for CWSA are encouraged to attend one of their information sessions. Claude Watson School for the Arts Parent Information Sessions: Monday, November 2, 2015 or Tuesday, November 3, 2015 130 Doris Avenue (Yonge and Sheppard) 7:00PM Please note:  Parking is limited

Mark your calendars for the next Parent Council meeting on Thursday November 5th at 6:30pm in the auditorium.

Senior Students :  Our Senior students will be having a Halloween Dance on the afternoon of Friday October 30th in the Auditorium.  There will be great music and lots of cool dancing. Students are encouraged to dress up for the dance. Our senior students also have the option of participating in our annual Halloween parade occurring at 10:30am on October 30 th . Junior Students :  Our junior students will be participating in our annual parade. Students will be participating in our parade along our outdoor track at 10:30am on Friday October 30th. For the remainder of the day, the juniors will remain in their classrooms and may celebrate through organized activities when not in rotary classes or swimming. Primary Students:   Our primary students will be participating in a parade along our outdoor track at 10:30am on Friday October 30, 2015. For the remainder of the afternoon, primary students may be playing games/activities and eating snacks in their classrooms when not in ro

Click here for important information on the ongoing, province-wide legal job action currently being undertaken by members of ETFO, CUPE and OSSTF.

Click here to read the October 2015 Fern Newsletter.

Our fourth annual food drive, We Scare Hunger is just around the corner! Your children can drop off canned goods to the box in their classrooms,  starting October 21rd, running to October 30th . Food Banks Canada has suggested a few key items: •canned fish •canned meat •canned stew •canned soup •canned beans •canned fruit •canned vegetables Food banks are an important method of addressing hunger in Canada. Each month, close to 850,000 people turn to food banks for help; more than one-third are children and youth. Thanks for supporting We Scare Hunger! Members of Fern's FTC

Opens: Monday November 2, 2015 Closes: Thursday December 3, 2015 The application process for all Early French Immersion programs is on line . The website for the one-line applications is: www.tdsb.on.ca/pars All applicants who apply on time are guaranteed an offer of placement in the program but not in a particular school. Fern is hosting their Senior Kindergarten French Immersion information night on: Wednesday November 18, 2015 6:30-7:30pm in the Auditorium

Join us on  Thursday, October 29th   for  Professor Wick’s Incredible Magic Factory! This show is a wonderful blend of mechanical wizardry, music and comedy delivered by an outlandish cast of “steampunk” characters! — The magic carpet ride starts at 6:30 pm! — Tickets are $5 and can be purchased in the office, from an Arts Collective member in the schoolyard or at the door! — A light dinner and home-baked desserts will be for sale in the foyer beginning at 5:45! — Bring Your Own Water Bottle! — Invite your friends and neighbours! “ How many impossible things have you believed in lately ?” - Professor Wick Professor Wick's World of Wonders — Majinx www.majinx.com/world-of-wonders

Please click here for information on upcoming Secondary School Information Evenings for Grade 9.

Please click here for information outlining French programs and application deadlines.

For those interested families, photo retakes will take place on November 4th beginning at 9:00am. Please return proofs to the school with a note to indicate that retakes are requested. Thank you.

Junior Boys Book Club The teachers would love to have more members join them. They have lots of exciting things planned this year! Cookies are served at every meeting. They meet every other Monday at lunch (remind your child to listen to announcements). The next boys book club meeting will be on Monday, October 26 . The book they are starting with is The Hunchback Assignments by Arthur Slade. Every boy interested should find a copy through the public library, from a book store or from a friend. They can start reading up to the end of chapter 20 by the next meeting. If any of the boys have questions they should speak to Ms. Douglas or Mrs. Heller.

Just a reminder that Friday October 9th is the deadline to drop off backpacks for Malawi! Fern Ave P.S is proud to be working with Canadian Musician Feist to deliver backpacks to children and teens with HIV/AIDS in Malawi. A collection bin has been placed outside of the office and we would love for you to drop off your gently used and new backpacks. The backpacks can be large or small, new or used - the bags will be used by students with HIV/AIDS to carry books and medicine to school and it is important that they are all unique so that kids are not singled out for carrying "medicine bags". Our goal is to collect 100 backpacks and so far we only have around 40 so please drop off a backpack if you can. For more information you can contact Kim Morrison at kimmymorrison39@yahoo.com

Wednesday, October 7th 6:30 to 8:30 pm Fern Auditorium Childcare will be available in Room 105 on the main floor. Look forward to seeing you there!

Phew! Has your family finally settled into a routine? School, homework, hockey, gymnastics, music lessons….Let us take care of one meal for you with a heathy, nutritious - and delicious - hot lunch every day. The Fern Food Committee has been receiving positive reviews from the lunch program participants, after some menu changes took effect this Fall. Items such as vegetarian pizza, chicken cacciatore, and crispy panko-breaded sole have been popular. Simply sign up for Fern’s hot-lunch program for lunches starting in November. To save even more time, sign up for the rest of the year right now! Click here to download the order form and here for the menu. Hard copies are also available on the bulletin board outside of room 103. The deadline for your order is Thursday, October 15th to begin lunch on Monday, November 2nd. If you’d like to learn more about Fern’s lunch program, click here or contact fernlunchprogram@gmail.com .

Please note due to permit issues the Parent Council Meeting to be held on Wednesday, October 7th from 6:30 to 8:30 pm has been re located  back to the AUDITORIUM  and not the STAFFROOM as initially posted. Child care will be available in  ROOM 105 on the main floor. We apologize for any confusion and look forward to seeing everyone at the meeting. Thank you.