Woodlawn Early Years School

At this time of year, the staff start looking ahead to the next school year. We are working to get our staffing in place for the 2024-2025 school year.

In early June we will start to put together our class lists. This is a complex process and as in previous years we are seeking parental understanding and support of this process. It is our strong belief that the learning atmosphere in the classroom must be the first consideration in the formation of class groupings. Classes are organized to ensure Appropriate Education takes place for all students. We make every effort to minimize the potential for negative student interactions.

Staff teams strive to create classes that are heterogeneous and balanced in all respects. The following criteria (in no specific order) are considered when determining class lists:

• Student abilities

• Our knowledge of social interactions and dynamics between individual students and groups of students

• Student/teacher match

• Placement of students new to Woodlawn School

• Male/female ratio

• Parental information

• Approximately equal class sizes

Parents can assist the class formation process by:

• Helping their children to understand the importance of class formation

• Supporting placements that have been made

As part of this process we recognize that having a positive learning partner contributes to this success and engagement. Classroom teachers will be reaching out to parents this month to get input on who parents consider to be good learning partners for their children. We ask that you please discuss this with your child and respond to the classroom teacher by the date requested.

Given appropriate support at home and at school, it has been our experience that the vast majority of placements are successful. Where a placement is proving to be difficult, we ask that parents and students give it the time required for friendships and classroom community building to develop.

The name of your child’s teacher for 2024-2025 will be included with the June report card. Should you have any concerns, you are asked to put them in writing addressed to the principal. Concerns will be dealt with upon return in August. Once the lists are compiled, the administration tries not to make adjustments. However, certain circumstances may arise where placements need to be altered due to students leaving or enrolling, registration of new students with high needs etc. In these instances, parents will be notified in late August of the change in order to prepare your child.

Welcome Marla McEachren!

A big welcome to Ms. Marla McEachren who will be joining the Woodlawn team in September as the new Vice-Principal! Marla has been a teacher in The River East School Division since 2012. We are really excited for you all to meet her and we know she will be a great addition to our Woodlawn Team.

Dr. Becky Kennedy is a clinical psychologist and mom of three. At Woodlawn School the school counselling team has been inspired by the knowledge and informative podcasts and videos that Dr. Becky Kennedy has shared; where Dr. Becky takes on tough parenting questions and delivers actionable guidance—all in short episodes, because we know time is hard to find as a parent Dr. Becky has many informative videos here linked is The Power of Letting Kids Struggle

Just a few of the MANY great takeaways were:

• Try reframing your thinking to ‘What’s going on between me and my child that is getting in the way of listening?’ Instead of, ‘Why isn’t my child listening?’

• Try reframing your thinking to being on a team WITH your child against the problem instead of seeing your child as the problem.

• Consider seeing ‘not listening’ as a need for age appropriate skill building (learning to tolerate disappointment, transitions, etc), instead of ‘a listening problem’.

• Ask yourself ‘Where can I set clearer, firmer boundaries to avoid ‘a listening problem"?

• We need to build Connection Capital - an emotional bank account of deposits and withdrawals. We ask our kids to do a lot of things they don’t want to do. The more deposits you make, the easier it is to make a withdrawal. If we don’t make a lot of deposits the emotional bank account is going to be really low when we want to withdraw from it.

Two of the All-the-time Strategies we learned about to build Connection Capital were:

• PNP Time (play, no phone time) - play with your kid with no phone around. Our kids want our undivided attention. It tells them they are worthy, important and safe. Dr Becky calls this our best strategy because as a rule in all relationships, the more we feel connected to someone, the more we want to comply with requests. This can even be just 5-10 minutes. Let your child pick the activity or topic to discuss. Instead of asking questions or sharing advice, try to listen, nod, and voice-over what they are doing - ‘Wow, lots of different blues in your drawing’ or ‘What a great move you just made’.

• Let Them Feel in Control - Kids have so little autonomy in life! This fun game will give them control in the short-term, so you can build connection and cooperation in the long-term. Tell your child: ‘For the next 5 minutes, I’m going to let you tell ME what to do. You can tell me to do lots of silly things, and I guess I’m just going to have to do them (remind them that they can’t force you to eat, spend money or act unsafely!). Have fun with it! Model resistance before you give in: ‘I really don’t wanna put my shoes on the wrong feet, but you ARE in charge… I guess I’ll do it!’

If this type of parenting resonates with you, you may want to check out Dr. Becky’s book, Good Inside. If you enjoy listening to podcasts, her podcast is called Good Inside with Dr. Becky. We really enjoy listening to that and learn so much from her.

Enjoy the beautiful spring weather!

Sandy Caners Rebecca Mackie

scaners@hsd.ca rmackie@hsd.ca

3/4A is going to start working on Problem Strings as a numeracy routine to help deepen their understanding of subtraction. Our school goal this year is: By June 2024, 75% of all students will demonstrate grade level expectations in learning outcomes related to subtraction and counting backward.

Problem strings are an intentional set of problems used to help students build connections and relationships that will help deepen their understanding about a concept. The students do the thinking and talking and the teacher represents their thinking. We often rush to have kids "show their thinking", but in a problem string, the teacher listens to the students and models their thinking for the class.

If you want to learn more about Problem Strings, check out Pam Harris' blog post. Stay tuned for a follow up article in June to see what 3/4A students do with this routine.

Have you heard of Wordle? It is an online word game in which the player tries to solve the mystery word in six attempts or less. The player receives feedback after each guess to know if any of the letters were in the Wordle.

Here is a link for a Custom Wordle Maker. This is ideal for elementary students, as you can choose words within the range of your child’s reading/spelling ability.

Emerging readers could try Consonant Vowel Consonant (CVC) words such as SAT or PIN. Next might be CCVC or CVCC words that include blends such as SPOT or GIFT. You could then make Wordles with digraphs such as THEN, MUCH, SHOCK or GRAPH. Older students could practice vowel teams using words such as MEAT, RAID, SHOUT or TEETH.

As your child tries to figure out their next guess, they will be using and solidifying the phonics rules they’ve been learning. And they can use those rules to create a Wordle for you to try to solve!

Woodlawn School is excited to host Joe Lanceley (also known as Tipi Joe) as our Artist in the School this year. He will be with us from May 3 through to May 10. Joe will share life lessons that focus on the 7 Teachings, storytelling, and share tipi teachings, as he invites students to explore their learning through watercolour art. A member of the Mistawasis First Nation, Joe is well known for the full size tipi that he brings along and sets up (with the help of students and teachers) as part of his visit. Opportunities like this allow our school the chance to intentionally act on the strategies and actions outlined in the provincial Mamàhtawisiwin Indigenous Education Policy Document, and we can't wait to host him.

If a child has a fever, has vomited or had diarrhea in the past 24 hours, or has a very bad cough we ask that they stay home until they are well. The general rule of thumb is that students should be feeing well enough to participate in all daily activities including going outside at recess.

Please note that OVER-THE-COUNTER MEDICATION is not to be sent to school in your child's backpack or lunch kits. All over-the-counter medication needs to be administered by a parent/guardian.

In order for PRESCRIPTION MEDICATION to be administered by staff, parents need to bring the ORIGINAL container/box with the label on. There are forms at the office for parent/guardians to fill out.

On June 17 and 18, MPI is coming with their Bike Rodeo program. Students learn the rules of the road, hand signals, helmet fitting, and how to properly check if their bike is safe to ride. They will walk or ride through a course that will be set up on our back playground. All students K-4 will be invited to the assembly in the gym on June 17. Grade 1s and 1/2 classes will walk through the course. Grades 2-4 classes will be invited to bring their bicycles and helmets (proper bike helmets are required). Students without access to a bicycle or a helmet will go through the course on foot and still learn valuable skills. More information will be sent out closer to the event dates, including which day your 1-4 class will be participating in the rodeo.

Spring picture day is Wednesday, May 22. Forms will be sent home with students.

If you have a kindergarten child in KG1 or KM1 (attending on odd days), please bring them at 10 am.

We are so excited to be a part of your child's learning journey! Our Kindergarten Welcome Evening will be on Thursday, May 23 so please save the date. During this evening, you and your child will have the opportunity to meet some of our kindergarten teachers, take a tour of the school, play, and your child will even take a school bus ride! It is a short evening, but a great first meet and greet.

In the coming weeks, you will receive an email with the time your child will be invited to join the Kindergarten Welcome Night.

Woodlawn will be participating in the Jump Rope for Heart fundraiser this year. All fundraising will be online and more information on that will be available closer to the date. Some important dates to remember are May 24th that will be our kick off assembly and start of fundraising. Then June 7th which is our Jump Day and fundraising deadline. Thank you ahead of time for any fundraising

A friendly reminder, if your child will be away from school or will be late or will not be returning to school after one of the nutrition/activity breaks, please ensure you call the school at 204-326-6110 before 9:00 am, enter their attendance on Parent Portal or email woodlawn@hsd.ca to let us know. For your convenience, you may also leave a voicemail message before 8:00 am or after 4:30 pm. If you know ahead of time that your child will be absent please write a note in their agenda. When the school is not advised of an absence or late arrival, the office begins a call back procedure to parents and emergency contacts. Many of these calls can be avoided if parents call ahead to advise us of the absence.

Kindergarten Registration is open online. If you live in Woodlawn’s catchment area and plan to send your child to Kindergarten in September 2024 but have not registered your child yet, please follow the link on our website. Please pass this information along to any friend, neighbor or relative who may have children eligible for Kindergarten and who might not be aware of the registration process. To be eligible for Kindergarten children must be 5 years of age on or before December 31, 2024.

Here is some additional information for those registered for Kindergarten 2024 - 2025

• We are hosting a Kindergarten Welcome Night on May 23. Keep an eye on your email for details.
• We will be hosting our Stay and Play on May 27 where we will invite 10-15 new Kindergarten students to join our Kindergarten teachers for 30 minutes of play! More information will be emailed out.

In order to help us prepare for the next school year - if you know that you will be moving locations/returning from home school; you are welcome to call or email our office at any time before school starts at 204-320-2347 or email hsdtransportation@hsd.ca so we can ensure your child will have transportation set up for the school start up. We are open all summer long.

This week teachers are reviewing traffic safety with all our classes and practicing crossing the street safely. Here are some excellent resources for you to talk about traffic safety at home with your children.

http://www.elmer.ca/safety-village/traffic-safety

For over a decade, Woodlawn students and their families have been involved in harvesting root vegetables for Southeast Helping Hands. We started with a Woodlawn Community Garden, and have since transitioned to inviting our families to donate from their own gardens, or to purchase and donate vegetables in the autumn. These vegetables have benefited families in need from our local community.

We are inviting Woodlawn students and their families to participate in our annual: Grow a Row for Those in Need gardening campaign. We are looking for root vegetables like: potatoes, carrots, onions, turnips, beets, pumpkins and squash.

Participating families are asked to bring their produce to Southeast Helping Hands in the autumn, located at 525 Main Street in Steinbach.

If you don’t plan on having a garden, but would still like to donate some root vegetables, your contribution is greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your willingness to participate! We are excited to continue Woodlawn’s legacy of giving back to our local community and teaching children how to be generous, thoughtful, and caring citizens.

Are you looking for part time employment and want to start a new career? We are looking for spare school bus drivers for all areas of the division. You do not need experience or a class 2 license. We provide training with little cost to yourselves. You can drive as little or as much as you want. In the future regular positions can become available. Please call our office and talk to Robert at 204-320-2347 if you have more questions.

Email: woodlawn@hsd.ca
Website: www.woodlawn.hsd.ca
Location: 411 Henry St, Steinbach, MB, Canada R5G 0R1
Phone: 204-326-6110
Twitter: @WoodlawnHSD