John Norquay Elementary School
4710 Slocan Street, Vancouver, BC V5R 2A1
Telephone: 713-4666    Fax: 713-4668

Date: Monday, November 3, 2003   Newsletter #3
Area Superintendent - Mr. Tom Grant  604 713-4590
Principal - Ms. Gail Wynston
Vice-Principal - Ms. Kim Nemeth
Liaison Trustee - Mr. John Cheng
School Consultative Committee Chairperson: Mrs. Anne Miller
Visit Norquay School on the Web at norquay.vsb.bc.ca

COMING UP  AT NORQUAY...
Photo Retakes
Wednesday November 5th a.m. the photographers will return for photo retakes.  Pictures will be taken of students who were absent for the first photo day and  those whose photos were unsatisfactory.   The portrait package must be returned on Wednesday in order for another picture to be taken.

If your child was absent, he/she will need to bring an order package for the photographer.  These are available in the school office.

Remembrance Day Assemblies
Parents and other adult family members are invited to attend one of our two Remembrance Day assemblies on Monday November 10th.  Both assemblies will have the same content.  The 9:45 a.m. assembly will be attended by students in Kindergarten, Grades 1 and 2.  The 11:00 a.m assembly will be attended by students in Grades 3, 4 and 7.  All Grades 5 and 6 students and some grade 7 students will perform as members of the choir in both assemblies.  Because of the nature of these assemblies, please do not bring pre-schoolers who cannot sit silently for half an hour.    There will be no school on Remembrance Day – Tuesday, November 11th.

BRAIN RESEARCH
On our professional development day on October 3rd, we attended a workshop by Dr. R. Aiken, a college professor whose area of interest is current brain research and the implications for teaching and student learning.

Here are some ideas we learned about from Dr. Aiken:
•       each new experience makes new connections in the brain.
•       the more connections that the brain makes, the more able a learner the student becomes and the better he/she does in school.
•       going to new places, seeing new things, talking about them, all contribute to the development of the brain.
•       watching television and playing computer and other electronic games do not aid brain development .

The school can provide many brain-enhancing experiences, but a child’s life is much more than school.

Children’s lives are spent   14% in school
                                        33% in sleep
                                        53% at home and in the community.

How to help your children do better in school:
•       take them somewhere new – the Science Centre, a museum, to see a play, to hear a concert, etc.
•       teach them to play games – cards, board games such as chess, checkers, Monopoly, etc.
•       limit the amount of time they watch television, play electronic and computer games.

CROSS-COUNTRY TEAM
Thanks to our dedicated coaches, Mr. Lovering, Mrs. Hughes and Ms. H. Paris, our students were again offered the opportunity to be part of the Norquay Cross-Country team.  They had an enthusiastic and successful season, ending in a very, very wet final meet.  Congratulations to members Matthew Sarmento, Chris Prosser, Samantha Trinh, Nora Tong, Stephanie Hill, Jessica Lee, Shirley Su, Shelbie Bilodeau, Godfre Molemba, Deidra Hall, Carol Tang, Samantha Chenatte,  Jeffrey Nguyen, Ivan Huynh, Emmanuel Rosales, Hassan Haque, Mitchell Agostinho, Quinton Vigh, Kenny Tran, Gurjita Gadey, Jade Paul, Keane Yu, Jasbinder Basra, Nicole Choi, Janice Leung, My Dung Phan, Tony Fan, Suchin Pawa, Jared Chow, Jonard Mendoza, Jarone Mendoza and Ronnie Che.

ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE
One the goals in our School Growth Plan is in the area of Social Responsibility.  We intend to improve the students' care of the environment, beginning with the school and the school grounds.  To that end, Mr. Smith, has formed the Environment Committee, consisting of student volunteers in grades 4 through 7.  These students are meeting out of school hours to plan activities for the whole school that will increase awareness of our responsibility to take care of the school.  We are proud of the caring and commitment shown by members Akshey Thakur, Mitchell Agostinho, Essai Mead-Rodriguez, Farisha Buksh, Kayla McTaggart, Jerry Fan, David Shih, Nam Bui, Gagan Mahil, Hassan Haque, Eric Valdez, Christina Mao, Meenah Park, Nancy Huang, Ruth Kwon, Cassandra Santos, Ryan Lee, Jennifer Lin, Sharon Pham, Gurjita Gadey, Samantha Chenatte, Rhoda Fong and Jared Chow.

COLDS AND FLU
At this time of the year colds and flu are very common.  Most people with colds and flu get better quite easily but some do not.  Sometimes complications like pneumonia develop – especially in people who already have a health condition such as asthma.  

Things parents can do to reduce the spread of colds and flu:
•       Encourage the habit of regular hand washing – especially after wiping your nose, using the bathroom and before and after eating.
•       Keep your child at home if he/she has any of these signs:
        -       fever
        -       very sore throat
        -       earache
        -       frequent sneezing and coughing combined with feeling sick or tired

SCHOOL CALENDAR
Wed. Nov. 5              Photo Retakes
Mon. Nov. 10            Remembrance Day Assemblies (9:45 and 11:00 a.m.) Parents are invited
Tues. Nov. 11            Remembrance Day (School closed.)
Tues. Nov. 25            Parent Conference request forms sent home
Mon. Dec. 1              Report Cards sent home
Wed. Dec. 3 &  Thurs. Dec. 4        Report Card Conferences (Students dismissed at 2:00 p.m.)
Fri. Dec. 19                Last day of school before Winter Vacation (full day)
Dec. 22 - Jan. 02       Winter Vacation
Tues. Jan. 5                First day of school after Winter Vacation