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Monthly Newsletters

Principal's Message - May

“We only get one chance to prepare our students for a future that none of us
can possibly predict. What are we going to do with that one chance?”
Stephen R. Covey

The above quote by Stephen Covey (author of “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People) expresses the extreme importance of our work with children. In our daily interactions with students of Colonel Sanders School, we consider how we impact students in those teachable moments, those unplanned for interactions both inside the school and on the playground as well as the intentional and planned for lessons in all subject areas including the daily character circle. Staff, including the Lunch Room Supervisor Team have had discussions and have participated in intentional professional learning focusing on how we can proactively support students in the important work of socializing, solving problems together, and interacting positively with all students. We look forward to furthering our work in this area throughout the spring and into the 2012-13 school year.

The exciting and creative task of beginning the planning and visioning for the 2012-13 school year has begun. Individual school budgets, also known as RAM (Resource Allocation Method), were provided to school principals in April. By setting direction before this, in collaboration with staff and in consultation with Parent Council, we were prepared to make decisions based on what we believe is important for student learning here at Colonel Sanders. By being cognisant of the reasons why parents have chosen this alternative program, we know that a continued focus on the core mission and values of this very successful program, we know where the human resources and other resources need to be placed.

As the new principal here I have taken the time to learn, listen, and watch over the past seven months. By paying attention to staff, student and parent needs and opinions, and by looking at student work and achievement, I have gained a great perspective on which to base future endeavours and goals. As a Traditional Learning Centre “we use teacher-directed instruction and character education to foster reflective thinking, continuous learning and responsible citizenship. It is a celebration of cultural diversity and commonly held values. The virtues-oriented school environment prepares students to meet the moral, technological and global challenges of the 21st century.” These are the reasons why you have chosen to have your child(ren) in this wonderful place of learning. As a staff we are proactively planning the next school year holding these values at the forefront. Once we confirm our staff and calendar we look forward to sharing these with you as the parent community. I am confident that we are positioned well to provide a strong program of excellence for our wonderful students at Colonel Sanders in the upcoming school year.

April has been a busy month of learning and living here at Colonel Sanders School with many exciting opportunities being planned for our students. Such activities as the Grade 1 swimming, the Fun Lunch, the kickoff of the Jump Rope for Heart Assembly, the Rocks and Rings active living days, and the field trips are just a few of these educational enrichments our students have benefitted from. I would like to personally thank each staff member for taking the initiative, doing the research, and the paperwork to ‘make these things’ happen and the many generous volunteers to enable these events to take place. I would also like to take this time to thank our very busy parent council for supporting our school at such a high level. There are many events such as the Fun Lunches, the Family Dance, the Health Fair, the wonderful bulletin board displays and many more things that just seem to happen as a result of planning, collaborating, and working together.

Sincerely,
Mrs. Harms