Thunder News Flash – February 27-March 3

On Tuesday, February 28th we will be celebrating Shrove Tuesday with our pancake lunch for all the students.  Please note that primary students will be provided with a maximum of two pancakes and one sausage, and the intermediate students may have up to three pancakes and two sausages.  If your child requires more lunch than what will be provided, please send them to school with a larger recess snack to tide them over for the rest of the day.  The pancake mix is purchased at Costco and the sausages come from Davis Meats.  If your child has a severe food allergy you received an email from the school last week letting you know the specific brand of the pancake mix and asking you to let us know if your child could eat the food provided.  If your child will be bringing special food from home due to their allergies, please let us know so that we can make the necessary arrangements.

The following day is Ash Wednesday, and even though children are not required to follow the rules of abstinence and fasting, they are encouraged to do so.  This year we are once again going to bring the children to the gym for a special prayer service to help them understand the solemnity of this day.  We will then be asking the students to return to their classrooms in silence, and eat a very simple lunch brought from home in silence in their classrooms.  We would ask that the snack and lunch your child brings to school on Ash Wednesday be free from “treats”, be more simple than usual, and be smaller than usual.  If children come to school on Ash Wednesday with treat foods such as chocolate bars, we will be asking them to put them back in their lunch bag and take them home.  Please note that we would ask you not to bring fast food lunches to school on Ash Wednesday, and if you must provide this for your child we would ask you to take your child out for lunch as it would not be appropriate for your child to be eating this in the classroom.  We hope that with home and school working together we can help the children understand a little bit better the significance of this very holy day.

Please join us for our Ash Wednesday Mass at 9:00am at St. James Church on March 1st.  This special Mass will be led by the Grade 6 class, and we hope to see many of you there.

This year a special Lenten Calendar has been created by some of our senior students, and it will be coming home to each family on Ash Wednesday.  We would ask you to keep this calendar in a central location in your house, such as on your fridge, to help keep your family focussed on the activity or the donation suggestion for each day during Lent.  This calendar was designed to help us all remember how fortunate we are to live where we live, and have the wonderful things that we have.  A letter explaining this calendar will come home with the calendar on Ash Wednesday.

Student-led conferences will be taking place on Friday, March 10th, and a form will be coming home this week for you to request a time frame for these conferences.  Please check your child’s backpack for this form, and return it to the office as soon as possible, as the spaces fill up quickly and they are assigned on a “first come first served” basis.  Each family only needs to return one copy of this form.

Our next Work Bee will take place on Saturday, March 4th from 9:00am – 2:00pm.  Even if you are not scheduled to participate you may come and earn five hours of participation time.  Please remember to log your hours through the school’s website once the work has been completed.

It has come to our attention that some of our students are participating in online gaming at home, and many of these games include the ability to chat with other gamers.  This is just a reminder to parents to monitor what your children are playing, and who they are chatting with – it could be a friend from school, but it could be a complete stranger who may not have your child’s best interests at heart.

Re-Registration Packages will be sent home with the oldest child in each family on Friday, March 3rd.  The Re-Registration Package will contain a letter that explains the major changes and how to complete the package.  Completed Re-Registration Packages are due back on Wednesday, March 8th at the end of the Re-Registration/AGM Night (packages will not be accepted early).

Our mandatory annual Re-Registration/AGM Night will be held on Wednesday, March 8th from 6:30-8:00pm.  The Education Committee will be serving bowls of chili starting at 6:00pm in the gym and there will also be free babysitting available in the library for those families who are not able to leave their children at home.  Only completed Re-Registration Packages received at the end of the evening will be eligible for the discounted registration fee.  Please note that all completed packages must be returned by Friday, March 10th at the latest to hold your child’s space for the 2017/18 school year.

St. Ann’s Parish wishes to extend an invitation to all families interested in a special evening of music, praise and worship!  This event will take place on Saturday, March 4th from 7:00-9:00pm.  All proceeds from this special concert will be going to the Syrian Refugee Sponsorship at St. Ann’s.  Tickets are available at the parish and more information can be found out about Fr. Galea on the parish website and about the concert by clicking here.