Fern Ave. Public School Blog

Be sure to get your tickets at the school office for this FUN evening! The class basket donations are streaming in and we THANK YOU for your support. There is still time to send in a donation for the class baskets. Please review the chart that outlines the baskets for each class. If you prefer, we will shop for you. Please send cash or cheque to your child's classroom (suggested donation: $20). Cheques payable to: Fern Parent Council (Please include your child's room number on the cheque). We are still looking for a 3-day cottage donation. If you can help, please contact: Liz Leason - Liz.leason@rogers.com See you May 14th!

Just a late reminder that Friday is Twin Day at Fern. So, grab a partner, and dress each other up until you cannot tell the difference. We can't wait to see you in your outfits.

Find out what's been happening at Fern in the latest newsletter - including a message from the Principal, upcoming sports, events and messages from each of the classrooms!

Dear Parents/Guardians, Since 1982, students across Canada have become social ambassadors--raising millions of dollars--to support heart disease and stroke research.  This year, they are joining more than 750,000 students in 4000 schools throughout Canada who are getting active and fundraising to help create more survivors. Fern students will be participating in the JUMP ROPE FOR HEART/HOOPS FOR HEART event on Friday, May 20, 2016 . Students  will be bring home pledge envelopes and we ask that they be returned to their teachers or to Vera in the office by Friday, June 3, 2016 . Thank you, Vera

Karen Kain School of the Arts is offering a free summer Leader and Literacy program with integrated Arts from July 5-29, 2016 for the mornings only. The program is for students currently in Grade 7 and Grade 8. Click here for a copy of the information flyer.

The Parent Council at Parkdale CI is hosting a fun and informative event this Friday, April 29 at 7pm that may be of interest to your grade 7 & 8 students. The theme is "Careers of the Future" and we have three fabulous guest speakers that will share their stories and speak directly with students. There will also be a few refreshments and prizes. This is a free event. Click here for more information.

This year, the TDSB athletics department voted to eliminate Grade 2 students from the regional Track Meets in order to: a) allow more time for the events at the meets for the grade 3 to 6 students and, b) to have qualifying Grade 3 students participate in more meets. The P.E. teachers will have students practice and record their best with both the standing and running long jump during class. As well, I will time and record the grade 3 students for the sprint run this week (weather permitting) to help determine the 100m sprinters and the 4X100m relay teams. The P.E. teachers and I will stress that being active helps to be healthy in many ways, and that we encourage everyone to be proud of doing their personal best. To decide who is invited to be on this small Grade 3 team, I will consult the homeroom teachers and base my decision on the following factors: 1. the student wants to participate 2. their jumping results from P.E. class and the timed runs 3. their overall behaviour in cla

Woofest is a co-venture between Master Mechanics and Dundas West Animal Hospital. The festival is a fundraiser for several human and animal related organizations including The Redwood Shelter, The Parkdale Food Bank and the Moosonee Puppy Rescue. We are asking that children donate their PRE-LOVED STUFFIES to help raise money for the MOOSONEE PUPPY RESCUE. Fern is assisting in this effort by hosting a collection station outside the main office. Donated stuffies will be collected on a daily basis from May 2-6. Please click here for complete details. Thank you for your support.

Dear Parents and Guardians, Tryout and Participation for the girls Junior Soccer team will take place on the following days: Tuesday, April 26th:  School practice in the school gym or outside on the field Thursday, April 28th:  School practice in the school gym or outside on the field Thursday, May 5th:  School practice in the school gym or outside on the field Monday, May 2nd: School practice in the school gym or outside on the field Monday, May 9th:  School practice in the school gym or outside on the field Tournament date TBA (most likely May 12th) Participation forms have been sent home, should you have any further questions contact  Mr. Nikolajevic at bogdan.nikolajevic@tdsb.on.ca

Please click here for Fern Track and Field Information. Practices start this week!

Tickets are now on sale for A Night in Round Corners , May 3 and 4 at 7:00 pm. Please see Vera in the office to buy advance tickets for $5 each .

Dear Parents and Guardians, Tickets are now on sale for our production of Round Corners, on the nights of May 3 and 4, starting at 7:00 pm.  Tickets are $5.00 in advance and $8.00 at the door. Please Note:  As this is a senior musical, some scenes may be frightening for younger audience members. Due to the extremely limited space in the auditorium, please purchase your tickets from Vera Ciric in the main office asap.  Cheques can be made payable to Fern Avenue Public School.  Please indicate the night you wish to attend. Enjoy the show! Mr. Brooks

CLASS OF 2016! Parents, Guardians, Family & Friends: The Fern Avenue P.S. Graduating Class of 2016 cordially invites you to attend their                                     GRADE 8 GRADUATION CEREMONY Where:  Parkdale Collegiate Institute-  209 Jameson Avenue When:  Tuesday, June 28, 2016 Time:  4:30-5:30 pm A chaperoned Student Reception Dinner & Dance will follow the ceremony at Lula Lounge 1585 Dundus Street West (at Brock Avenue) from 6:00-10:00 pm The cost of the Student Reception is $30.00 .  All graduates have brought home a form requesting payment to Vera in the school office by May 13, 2016 . Please feel free to call Vera if you have any further questions.

iChoose Hosts "How Do We Talk To Our Young Children?" Common Parent Concerns: How do we talk to our children about abuse without taking away their innocence? How can we talk about abuse, without scaring them? How do we sustain this teaching in our home so that it stays healthy and positive? The language and word "abuse" has a lot of stigma attached to it, that prevents, concerns even scares a lot of parents away from talking about abuse within their family. This workshop is transforming the stigma attached to the word "abuse" and inviting community to embrace the "word" abuse in order to take new actions for sustaining healthy families and safe communities! Kids "today" are ready to listen, learn and act...we just have to get ourselves, as parents, and our opinions out of the way to make way for new resources available that help empower our role as parents, our children's voices, their future and most importantly keeps thei

Please mark your calendars and book your babysitter: Saturday, May 14th! The theme of this year’s Spring Fling is Tiki Beach Party! Break out your grass skirts and Hawaiian shirts. This is a FUN night of dancing, socializing, Silent and Live Auctions and BEST of all the money raised benefits our Children & our school. If you have sent in your class basket donation, HUGE thanks. If not, click here for the list of classes and associated baskets. If preferred, you can send in a monetary donation ($20 suggested) and we will do the shopping for you. Cheques are payable to: Fern Avenue P.S. (please detail Spring Fling in the memo line) We are looking for a cottage for a 3 day donation. If you have any leads, please contact Liz Leason – liz.leason@rogers.com / 416-697-5902. Tickets for this Fun & enjoyable evening are only $20 and available in the school office or from one of the friendly volunteers in the school yard. Looking forward to seeing you at this

This summer Dewson is pleased to offer a full day French Arts Enrichment program from Tuesday, July 5 to Friday, July 15 . Interested parties should be reminded that applications are due for this summer school enrichment experience by April 29 . The program is for Grades 3 – 8 and will run from 8:30am to 3:00pm. The focus will be on French language – speaking, listening, reading and writing. Activities presented will include: drama, dance, visual art and music with a possibility of including a Physical Education (personal fitness program) depending on numbers. Click on the link for more information, and here for the registration form.

Please see below for information on an upcoming workshop. Please also note this event coincides with our Fern School Advisory Council meeting the same night. Humberside CI School Advisory Council is hosting a workshop on Anxiety in Children for the community this Tuesday April 19th at Humberside CI. (flyer here ) The session runs from 7:00pm – 8:30pm in the Humberside CI Auditorium.

There is a free homework club at Swansea Town Hall for students in Grades 4 - 8. Click here for more information.

The ECO TEAM has planned some events for Earth Week, April 18th to April 22nd . Please join us in keeping Fern green and encouraging your children to help out. Monday, Apr. 18th – Cleaning the Schoolyard and Sorauren Park. All classes are encouraged to sign up for a time to clean up our school’s area in the front, the primary and junior/senior yards, or Sorauren Park. Let’s keep our school grounds clean and beautiful! The Eco Team will provide gloves and plastic bags. Tuesday, Apr. 19th – Bike/Walk/Scooter to School Day. Please use public transit OR bike, walk or scooter to school today. If you can get to and from school without a car today, then that would be fantastic! If you must drive, please consider carpooling for today. Wednesday, Apr. 20th – Boomerang Lunch/Litterless Lunch Day. Please bring a litterless or boomerang lunch to school today. A boomerang lunch means you take all garbage and compost home with you. A litterless lunch means exactly that, no li

Fern's New Senior Musical is coming May 3 & 4! "Round Corners" tells the story of two friends racing to find a magic glove in the middle of a dark forest, before the mean daughter of the Mayor beats them to it.  On the way, the girls must face their fears before performing in their town's star search! Featuring live music performed by students at Fern, and surprise cameos by the school's staff, "Round Corners" is a post-modern musical twist on the Wizard of Oz.   Parents please note younger audience members may be frightened by some scenes. Call time for students is 5:45 PM. Show time is 7:00 PM sharp. Tickets are $5.00 in advance or $8.00 at the door.  Come on out and support the return of plays at Fern!

Dear Parent/Guardian, The FINAL School Immunization Clinic for your grade 7 and 8 student is scheduled on Friday, May 13, 2016 in the AM. The following vaccines will be given: Second dose of hepatitis B vaccine to Grade 7 Students Second dose of human papillomavirus vaccine (HPV) to Grade 8 female students Toronto Public Health nurses will also immunize Grade 7 and 8 students who missed their hepatitis B, meingococcal, and HPV vaccines at earlier scheduled clinics. Should you have any further questions please feel free to contact Vera Ciric in the main office.

Together, Let's Make Your Child's Start To Kindergarten A Big Success! Join us for a Welcome To Kindergarten orientation and learn about family activities that will help your child have a successful transition to kindergarten. You and your child are invited to our school's Welcome To Kindergarten orientation on: DATE:  Thursday, May 26, 2016 TIME:  5:30-6:30 PM PLACE:  Fern Avenue PS Auditorium (main floor across from the main office) Please feel free to contact the Office Administrator, Vera Ciric if you have any further questions at 416-393-9130.

Did you know that, as of 2014, there were only 1,864 giant pandas left in the wild? Preserving these beautiful creatures is important not only for the pandas themselves, but also for the plants, animals, and people who depend on their habitat. The Panda Club at Fern is asking for your help to raise money to help save the giant pandas from extinction. We will be holding a bake sale on Thursday, April 14th outside the Main Office. Come enjoy some delicious treats for a great cause. We'll see you "bear"!

It was a great session on Cyber Safety with Officer Eric Berridge on Thursday. For any parents that missed it, attached is the cyber education handout as well as an additional handout on equipping our students with soft skills for the job market.

Below are photos from the GoIT event on April 6 involving four of our senior classes. It was a partnership with Tata Consultancy Services and the TDSB and had students spending the day working in groups to build the Lego EV3 robot, learn about coding and programming through the laptop software and then participating in a competition challenge. Innovation, teamwork, STEM-related skills were all called upon and students enjoyed themselves. One team beat the Canadian record which had been held by a school in Regina. This was a great ‎day of learning for staff and teachers in an alternative classroom environment. Fern hopes to be a part of GoIT again next year.

The Arts ‎Collective brought Trash Theatre to Fern all last week to work with two primary classes. Two senior classes collaborated and assisted the students in designing, selecting and reusing a variety of materials to make props, costumes and masks for their performance. Trash Theatre also worked with four other classes to prepare masks that were worn in the audience using the same creative process. The students presented in a free and open form on stage and the messages about the environment, life cycles and human impact were made explicit and were a part of the integrated learning from the artists.

Wednesday April 13th, 2016 DAY OF PINK (anti-bullying) Wear something in PINK to show your support!

Is Spring finally here?! Would you like to spend more time outside and less time wondering what to pack in your child’s lunch bag? Why not sign up for Fern’s lunch program for the rest of the school year? There are burgers, pizza, BBQ chicken, teriyaki noodles, tortellini and more on the menu – all with plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, and vegetarian options. Simply fill out and submit the order form with your payment. A secure wall-mounted deposit box is located outside the Ferncliff Daycare office (Room 103). The deadline for May orders is Monday, April 18th to begin lunch on Monday, May 2nd . No extensions will be given! Thanks, Fern Food Committee

Please come in on Monday, April 4th and Tuesday, April 5th for the Eco Fair! We will be open at lunch both days, from 12:00 to 12:30 pm, and after school from 3:30 to 4:00 pm. We still have a lot of great items to purchase, and EVERYTHING, yes everything, will be only $1 each! Come to Room 105 and pick up some great books, CDs, DVDs, magazines, games and puzzles. Thank you to all Fern families for their kind and generous donations, and wonderful support. See you there! Thank you, Fern Eco Team

Please join us at Fern on Thursday April 7th at 6:30 for a Parent Discussion on Cyber Safety. More information can be found here . Please click here for a quick questionnaire to help us estimate attendance and childcare requirements. Thank you.

Please click here for happenings at Fern.