Fern Ave. Public School Blog

We still have (4) openings available at 5:40pm (2) openings at 6:15pm and (3) openings at 7:05pm. Please sign up for this worthwhile cause, your support is greatly appreciated. Please see the attached information sheet and contact Liz Leason (l iz.leason@rogers.com ) to reserve your spot today. Thank you for your support!

Dear Parents/Guardians: Student Safety is of utmost importance and parents need to be notified as soon as possible if their child has not arrived at school. The Safe Arrival Program complies with the Education Act and related Ministry of Education policies in respect of student attendance in order to maximize students’ academic success and well-being.     Many of you are now aware Fern Avenue PS has moved to an automated safe arrival program.   Automation will allow our families to be contacted in a timely manner allowing us to confirm absences much sooner than using a manual system.   This system reports allows us to better track student absences/lates and also help to send messages to the parents/guardians regarding their child’s attendance in a timely manner.   The system call-out will work as follows:   Parents/guardians identified in TDSB’s Student Information Systems who has access to student records, and emergency contact with priority 1 or 2 will receive

Dear Students, Show your spirit and wear your PJ's to school tomorrow Friday, November 28th. Parents/Guardians now that the weather is getting colder please remind your children to dress appropriately for the winter conditions. (warm jackets, mittens/gloves, snowpants, boots, etc.) Thank you.

We are pleased to launch community consultations for the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) Draft Concussion Policy on Wednesday, November 26, 2014 6:00 – 9:00 P.M. Lawrence Park Collegiate, 125 Chatsworth Drive  Dr. Paul Comper, clinical neuropsychologist and research scientist at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, and Dr. Michael Hutchison, Associate Professor and Director of the Concussion Program at the University of Toronto will be presenting the latest in concussion research. TDSB students will speak about their personal experiences and the Ontario Brain Injury Association will speak to services that they have available to enhance the lives of those living with the effects of acquired brain injury. We encourage teachers, administrators, students and community members to arrive early to explore the interactive information carousel for resources from Toronto Public Health, community sports organizations and Parachute Canada and provide us with feedback on the TDSB Draf

Dinner and Dance Performance Thursday, November 27th 5:30-7:30 P.M. Fern Auditorium Admission: $5.00 B-boying, born in the early 1970s, is a dance form that now has a significant international following and reputation. In addition to its roots in funk music and African American culture (contemporary black history), the dynamic acrobatic aspects of B-boying (Breaking) make it one of the most unique dances in the world. This show takes the audience from the ’70s through the ’80s and into the ’90s with dramatic costume and music changes, building up to the dance form as it is practised today. Yvon Soglo (B-boy Crazy Smooth) brings together some of the best street dancers in Canada to present an interactive show that will amaze young audiences and adults alike, while educating them on the evolution of the dance. Avoid the frantic rush and buy your kids and yourself dinner before the show! We'll be serving Pizza, Empanadas, Churros, Fruit Cups, and Vegetable Cups at reasonab

This photograph from April 25, 1928 shows a city policeman escorting children across Roncesvalles Avenue from the northeast corner of Fern. Today, this is the location of the Hot Oven Bakery, but back then it was home to a grocery store owned by William Forster, who lived in the attached residence at 190 Fern Avenue. The Just Kids Safety Club was established in the spring of 1928 based on a King Features Syndicate comic strip  The Globe  was running at the time called “Just Kids.” In exchange for a pledge to “always look up and down before crossing the street,” some 300,000 children in Ontario alone received a membership button featuring one of the characters from the strip. Source: City of Toronto Archives , Globe and Mail fonds.

LAST CALL FOR YEARBOOK ORDERS! Friday, November 28th will be the last day to place your order for a yearbook. Please see Ms. Carter or Ms. Chakungal by that date. Any orders placed after this date will be hard to fill. Thank you!

Please click here for the Fern November newsletter.

Click here to view the latest Free The Children newsletter.

As we announced earlier, Maggie, Ferncliff Daycare’s long-time employee and cook, will be retiring at the end of December. Beginning in January 2015, TDSB Nutrition Services will take over Fern’s kitchen to cook for the lunch program in-house. Certified and trained TDSB staff will prepare lunches and kindersnacks in Fern’s kitchen for all program participants. To help the Food Committee plan for this new arrangement, we’d like to hear from Fern families, both those participating in the lunch program and those not. We have posted a short survey at and would appreciate it if you could take a few minutes to share your thoughts to help support the transition to the new model. Click here to take the survey. The survey deadline is Friday, November 28 . Thank you. Fern Food Committee

Dear Parents/Guardians, Please note the Safe Arrival function on our main telephone is currently out of service. We apologize for any inconvenience. Thank you, Vera

Message from the TDSB Trustee Liaison: Please note that the RSVP email address for this Parent Education event was incorrect in the last newsletter. To RSVP for this event, please email: kareneingram@yahoo.ca The rest of this newsletter is exactly what was published in the previous newsletter  except that this email address has been corrected. Thank you for your understanding.

Click here for information on the presentation of Fern's new playground design! 25 November 2014 7-8pm on 25 November Fern Avenue PS Staff Room

Please click here for information on upcoming Information Sessions on November 18th.

Dear Parents and Guardians, We have extended our due date for signing up for our Grade 8 Montreal Trip to Friday Nov 14th . Please note that at this point (and only if you have not signed up already) you can still sign up but we cannot ‘guarantee’ a spot for your child, as we have passed the original deadline. You will either be accepted for the first bus or put on a wait list for a possible second bus. To date we have : - Sent a letter home- mid Sept. - Held a parent info. night with a tour representative- end of Sept. - Posted on the Fern Blog- mid Sept. - Asked the students to write info in their agenda – 3 times, Sept and Oct - Offered brochures to parents during curriculum night – kept brochures in class for students - E-mailed our parents - Reminded our students about the due date- Sept and Oct. - Posted this note to the Blog If you require further information or any sort of support

Please click here for information on an upcoming seminar, Helping Boys Learn .

Parents please click here for information for a Parent Workshop on 15 November .

Tuesday 18 November Join us for the Parent Council Meeting - 6:30pm in the Auditorium. Childcare provided.

Wednesday 03 December 2014 Fern Avenue School Blood drive at Humberside School. Sixteen (16) spots have been reserved for Fern Parents. This means NO LINE UP. Please see the attached information sheet and contact Liz Leason ( liz.leason@rogers.com ) to reserve your spot today. Thank you for your support!

Annette St. PS is hosting Alyson Schaeffer on November 18th from 7-9. Alyson Schafer Workshop: EMPOWERING INDEPENDENCE, please RSVP to Karen Ingram Join us for a free workshop Tuesday Nov 18 @7pm with leading parenting expert and psychotherapist Alyson Schäfer. “Why is it so hard to get our children to be punctual, do their chores and manage their school work without our constant nagging and supervision. Which of your behaviours are hindering you from transferring responsibility to your children? Learn the correct strategies to employ and keep kids accountable.” ALYSON SCHAFER is a psychotherapist and one of Canada’s leading parenting experts. She is the in-house expert for The Marilyn Denis Show, CTV News Channel Express and CBC radio’s The World This Weekend. Alyson is a columnist for Today’s Parent Magazine and sits on the Health Advisory Board for Chatelaine Magazine. She is the best selling author of “Breaking The Good Mom Myth”, “Honey, I Wrecked The Kids” and her lates

Regular parent-teacher communication is an important part of student learning. Progress Reports go home on Tuesday November 11, 2014. Parent-teacher interviews are scheduled for the evening of November 13 and morning of November 14 (PA DAY). Some of our teaching staff have made other times/days available in addition to the regularly scheduled interview days. These interviews are your opportunity to ask questions about your child's progress and to discuss any issues. In addition to regular scheduled parent-teacher interviews, you can request a meeting at any time during the school year by contacting the school or your child's teacher directly.

To all Junior Kindergarten parents . . . If you are interested in hearing more about the Senior Kindergarten French Immersion Program please j oin us tonight: Monday November 3, 2014 7:00 P.M. in the Fern Auditorium. Learn about the on-line process and hear from our French Immersion Team about the immersion program. We look forward to seeing you there!