September 15-19, 2025
September 30th is a National Day for Truth and Reconciliation meant to commemorate the history and legacy of Residential Schools in Canada. On Friday, September 26th, students are encouraged to wear an orange shirt or something else with orange to recognize Orange Shirt Day and the National Truth and Reconciliation Day.
Students will be engaging in learning next week to honor this important day. Through read alouds and activities, students will focus on understanding what they each need to feel safe and cared for at school and to consider this question: “What action can each member of our school community do to make sure every student feels safe and cared for at school, everyday?” This week is an opportunity for Northern Lights students and staff to come together in the spirit of reconciliation to show their support of a safe, respectful and caring school community.
Make sure you read our blog posts next week to learn more about the activities and learning students are doing in our classroom.
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- We learned how to say and print the sounds /d/, /f/, /v/, and /i/. Learning how to properly pronounce these words helps us to use them properly when we want to spell words!
- We learned about heart words. Heart words are irregular English words that have a "tricky part that we have to know by heart". These words were: a, the, and I.
- We practiced writing about our weekends. This will be a routine that we follow each Monday to help us start writing for the week.
- We read "The Dot" by Peter H. Reynolds. This story is about not being afraid to start a project and that it's important to just "make a mark"! Monday, September 15 was "International Dot Day" so we practiced making our marks in different dots.
- We continued to practice our patterns. This week, we focused on making sure we identify the core, identify the pattern rule (i.e.: AB, ABC, ABCD), and extending our patterns to repeat three times.
- We revisited "The Colour Monster" and "I am Happy-Sad Today" to guide us with our emotions. We created our own emotion jars and used different colours for things that make us happy, sad, calm, mad, fearful, or loving.
- We had an amazing Terry Fox Run! Thank you to everyone who donated. Our class donated a total of $88.85!
- We practiced subitizing with our buddies! When we subitize, we begin to recognize quantities of numbers quickly without needing to count.
- We had our library orientation and met our wonderful librarian, Mrs. Barrowcliff! We learned how to take care of our books. We will be having our library days on Tuesday's. This means that every Tuesday, your child will need to bring their library book back in order to get a new one.
- In preparation for our learning around Orange Shirt Day next week, we learned about the Seven Sacred Teachings. We focused on the teaching of respect, which is represented by the buffalo. We brainstormed what it feels like to be respected and what makes us feel respected.
IMPORTANT UPCOMING DATES
September 24 - Subway Fun Lunch (order at healthyhunger.ca if interested in participating)
September 25 – 5:00 – 7:00 – Welcome to the New Year Open House
September 26 – Orange Shirt Day
September 29 – Non-Instruction Day – NO SCHOOL for students
September 30 – NO SCHOOL – National Day for Truth & Reconciliation
October 2 – Picture Day
FIRST FIRE DRILL
Our first fire drill will be this coming week. Although teachers have spoken with students about safety procedures, this drill will be a fully announced drill as students new to our building have not heard the alarm before. Students are reminded to go directly to the muster point they will continue to practice going to with their teachers and to not plug their ears when they hear the alarm. Although it seems loud, the Calgary Fire Department has tested the decibels to ensure it is safe for our students’ ears. We practice without plugging our ears so that important announcements could be heard in the case of an actual emergency evacuation.
MINOR INJURIES VS. MAJOR INJURIES
If you child has a minor scrap, paper cut or small bump, our staff may provide them a band-aid or an ice pack if it makes the student feel better. They will not contact parents or guardians over minor injuries.
If your child has a bump to the head or a more major injury, we will call parents or guardians to inform families about the incident.
We will only call parents or guardians if we feel the injury warrants further attention or monitoring after the child leaves the school.
THURSDAY IS OUR ‘WELCOME TO THE NEW YEAR’ OPEN HOUSE
Please join us on Thursday, September 26 sometime between 5:00 - 7:00 to drop in during our ‘Welcome to the New Year’ Open House.
Although we will have a 2-hour window of time available for families to come in, approximately 15-minutes per child is all that is needed. (You do not need to sign up for a specific time to come, just drop in at a time that works for your family.)
This drop in evening will give you a chance to:
- take a walk through the school to see our various learning spaces and the fantastic documentation panels that classes have created outside of the classrooms
- see the inside of your child's classroom
- say hello to your child's homeroom teacher
- see a few things that your child will share about classroom routines, structures and activities
- meet / visit with other families outside on the playground / courtyard area.
**Please note, this Open House evening is not intended as a time for teachers to sit down to discuss how each child is doing, as school will only been in school for a few weeks and teachers are still getting to know their students**
NATIONAL DAY FOR TRUTH & RECONCILIATION / ORANGE SHIRT DAY
On Friday, September 26, students are encouraged to wear an orange shirt (or an orange article of clothing if they don't have an orange shirt) to recognize Orange Shirt Day and the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
Orange Shirt Day is an opportunity for everyone to come together in the spirit of reconciliation to show their support of a safe, respectful and caring school community. Orange Shirt Day began in 2013 when residential school survivor, Phyllis Webstad, shared how her orange shirt was taken away on her first day at residential school. For more information about Orange Shirt Day please visit https://www.cbc.ca/kids/articles/what-is-orange-shirt-day.
September 30 is a National Day for Truth and Reconciliation meant to commemorate the history and legacy of Residential Schools in Canada. The intention of this day is to recognize and honor residential school survivors, their families and communities. It also ensures that public commemoration of the tragic and painful history and legacy of residential schools remains a vital component of the reconciliation process. In recognition of this day, our students will be engaging in learning before September 26 to honor this important day and to show our school community’s commitment to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 94 Calls to Action. (There is no school on September 29 or 30.) Please make sure to read your homeroom teacher’s blog posts to learn more about the activities and learning students are doing in their classrooms at Northern Lights School.
