Saturday 30 March 2013

Hastings Park, Then and Now - A Photo Essay


Did you know that Hastings Park used to have a huge hollow tree as a tourist attraction? An 18-hole golf course? Camping? Check out this amazing photo essay of our park next door.

http://friendsofhastingspark.wordpress.com/2013/03/24/hastings-park-then-and-now-photo-essay/

Tuesday 26 March 2013

PAC Meeting Minutes March 12, 2013

The minutes from the PAC meeting held on March 12, 2013 can now be found online. Please contact the PAC executive if you have any questions or clarifications.

Monday 25 March 2013

Artwork Around Our School

The Kindergarten class recently went on a walk around Hastings Park Sanctuary and the duck pond.  Here's what they saw!





Saturday 23 March 2013

Fruit & Vegetable Program VIDEO

Check out this video about the B.C. School Fruit and Vegetable Nutritional Program. Thanks to parents, our school is now in its third year of participation in this program. It reaches all corners of the province and takes a lot of people to make it work!

Thursday 21 March 2013

New Recycling Program at Lord

Our school chief engineer Leo has started a new and very comprehensive recycling program. Now much more of our recess and lunch time waste will be recycled. Our school recycles a large part of our waste through the VSB, but we now have an additional program facilitated by Leo. Please help make this new program possible by talking to your kids about what can now be recycled. If you are a parent who is in attendance at lunch time you can help show students how to sort their waste into the new yellow bins.

Items that can be recycled at our school: 

Big blue bins in the hallways: paper and flattened cardboard

Small blue bins in lunch room: yogurt containers, juice boxes, plastic cutlery, glass and plastic bottles, aluminum cans




Yellow bins (new): one bin for hard plastics such as sushi takeout containers, styrofoam, juice box straws, fast food foam packages and one bin for soft plastics such as Saran wrap, drinking straw wrappers, Ziploc bags, plastic shopping bags





Small brown bins upstairs in the office: the school is continuing to collect household batteries in the small brown bins in the office.

Please make sure that all recycling is as clean as possible. This means emptying juice boxes into the garbage and making sure Ziploc bags are empty before recycling.

This program needs a lot of support right now from parents and students but in a short time our students will be superstar recyclers!

COMING SOON after Spring Break: watch out for our recycling poster contest!

 Thank you Leo for everything you do for our school!

Tuesday 19 March 2013

Artwork Around Our School

Hot/Cold, by Division 3.




Friday 15 March 2013

Have a fun Spring Break!

Spring Break has begun! Next week is our Spring Break at Dr. A. R. Lord, and the following week is District Closure, followed by Easter. We'll see you all back at school on Tuesday, April 2.

Thursday 14 March 2013

Meaningful Movie March 21: Scared Sacred


Join us at St. David's Church for this month's Meaningful Movie. Admission and the cool-factor of watching a movie while sitting in a church pew is free! The Dr. A. R. Lord PAC will be running the concession and all proceeds go to our ongoing fundraising efforts. Let us know if you would like to volunteer or contribute some home baking.

Tuesday 12 March 2013

Scholastic Book Fair STARTS TOMORROW!


Our annual Scholastic Book Fair starts tomorrow. Come join us and browse Scholastic's great selection of books for your own household or for gifts.

Our Book Fair dates are as follows:

Wednesday March 13    8:30-9:00 AM    2:00-4:00 PM
Thursday     March 14    8:30-9:00 AM    3:00-4:00 PM
Friday          March 15    8:30-9:00 AM

Please bring your own bag to take home your purchases. We'll also gladly accept donations of clean plastic bags to use for others' purchases.


Monday 11 March 2013

Early Dismissal March 13

Wednesday, March 13th is an early dismissal day for all students.

Parents or guardians, please arrange for your children to be picked up at 2 pm. Note that after-school programs have been cancelled on this day.

Parent-Teacher interviews will be conducted by all teachers from 2 pm onward. If you have missed setting up an interview time or have further questions, please contact the school office at 604-713-4620.

Sunday 10 March 2013

REMINDER: PAC Meeting Wednesday, March 13

PAC Meeting
Date: WEDNESDAY, March 13th

Time: 6:30pm – 8:30pm
Location: School Library





As a parent of a child at Dr. A. R. Lord, you are part of the PAC! As such, all parents are welcome to attend our upcoming school PAC meeting. Free child minding will be provided.

For further information please contact the PAC Executive by e-mail or with a letter to the PAC Box in the school's front office.

Saturday 9 March 2013

Café Ético coffee and tea orders due Monday, March 11

Remember that our Café Ético coffee and tea fundraiser is ongoing monthly! The PAC raises money for our school for every bag we sell, and the company itself is run by a non-profit organization who works to uphold human rights in Central America.

Because the 10th is on the weekend, orders are due this month on Monday, March 11 to the PAC box in the office. Order forms are available at the front counter, or you can print one here.

Daylight Savings Time - Spring Forward this weekend


It's time for daylight savings already! Turn your clocks ahead one hour on Sunday morning and enjoy the longer days as spring approaches.

Friday 8 March 2013

Movie Night - TONIGHT!

Tangled
Rated PG. Running time 100 minutes.

Doors Open 6:15 pm
Movie Starts 6:30 pm

ADMISSION FREE
Dr. A. R. Lord School Gym



Baked Goods & Drinks  $0.50-$1.00 each
Popcorn                        $1.00 per bag

Family Room - available for younger children (with their parents)
                        who aren’t able to sit quietly through the movie

Raffle - 1 Ticket = $2 or 3 Tickets = $5 (proceeds to PAC)

Children must be accompanied by a parent or responsible adult who stays for the duration of the movie (no drop-offs).

For more information contact the PAC via e-mail or leave a letter in the PAC box in the school’s front office.

Thursday 7 March 2013

Did You Know? REAL Parents

Have you heard about the REAL Parents group? REAL stands for Relevant Education for Adult Learners, and they are a Chinese-speaking parent and grandparent group who meets every Thursday morning in the library. They participate in crafts, field trips, language learning, and other activities. The REAL Parents are a valuable part of our school; they cook chow mein for the students for our Chinese New Year hot lunch, and open up the library for a day of Chinese New Year crafts and food.

REAL Parents (minus Fanny)

Wednesday 6 March 2013

Hastings Park Governance Review Monday March 11


A governance review of Hastings Park, our biggest local park, is now underway. The city is holding a "Public Engagement Forum" on Monday, March 11 from 6-9 pm at the Hastings Community Centre. There will be a presentation at 7 pm and a discussion at 7:30. You can find more information at http://vancouver.ca/news-calendar/hastings-park-governance-review-open-house---march-11-2013.aspx.


Tuesday 5 March 2013

"Why Finland's public schools are so successful": a podcast

Listen to this fascinating podcast about the Finnish school system, which aired on CBC's Sunday Edition a few weeks ago.

"Finland is consistently put at the very top of global educational rankings despite, or perhaps because of, taking a very different approach: teachers are highly trained and very well-paid, students aren't tested until their teens, there's very little homework, and there are no private schools."

http://www.cbc.ca/thesundayedition/shows/2013/02/17/finnish-schools/

Monday 4 March 2013

PAC Meeting Minutes February 20, 2013

The minutes from the PAC meeting held on February 20, 2013 can now be found online. Please contact the PAC executive with any questions or clarifications.

Sunday 3 March 2013

Scholastic Book Fair March 13-15


Our annual Scholastic Book Fair is coming!

Participation in the book fair provides a wonderful opportunity to encourage literacy and the pleasure of reading with students. All proceeds from the book fair will be used to purchase new books for our school’s library.

Our Book Fair dates are as follows:

Wednesday March 13    8:30-9:00 AM    2:00-4:00 PM
Thursday     March 14    8:30-9:00 AM    3:00-4:00 PM
Friday          March 15    8:30-9:00 AM

Sales of $1500-$3000 allow the school to take 50% of the total profits to purchase new books. Sales under $1500 allow the school to take 25% of the total profits to purchase new books.

It is our school’s goal to sell at least $1500 in books again this year so that we can take advantage of the 50% return. Please think of the book fair as a great place to buy birthday presents, early Christmas presents, etc. A chart will be posted near the office so everyone can follow our school’s progress. 

Visit the Scholastic web site for information on their Featured Books, Family Guide to Reading, and Reading Levels.

Saturday 2 March 2013

Did You Know? Reading Recovery

Did you know about the Reading Recovery program at Dr. A. R. Lord, new this year?

Dr. A. R. Lord Elementary School is one of 31 schools which offers Reading Recovery to Grade One students as part of the early intervention model promoted by the Vancouver School Board. For more information please see http://www.vsb.bc.ca/district-news/early-intervention-methods-help-young-readers.

Strong reading and writing skills are essential for success in school and later life. Although most children learn to read in the classroom programs, a few children have great difficulty learning to read and write. Reading Recovery can help!

Reading Recovery is…
  • For first graders who struggle with early reading and writing
  • Individual 30-minute lessons
  • Free (no cost to families)
  • Research-based
  • Short-term, just 12 to 20 weeks (30 to 50 hours)


What - Reading Recovery is a highly effective short-term intervention of one-to-one tutoring for low-achieving first graders. The intervention is most effective when it is available to all students who need it and is used as a supplement to good classroom teaching.

Who - Reading Recovery serves the lowest-achieving first graders—the students who are not catching on to the complex set of concepts that make reading and writing possible.

How - Individual students receive a half-hour lesson each school day for 12 to 20 weeks with a specially trained Reading Recovery teacher. As soon as students can meet grade-level expectations and demonstrate that they can continue to work independently in the classroom, their lessons are discontinued, and new students begin individual instruction.

Reading Recovery is not…
  • Special education
  • A replacement for classroom teaching

Reading Recovery works because…
  • Highly trained teachers work intensively, with individual children, each school day
  • Lessons are planned to build on the knowledge and strengths of each child

Families can help by…
  • Being sure your child’s school attendance is as regular as possible
  • Listening to your child read books sent home by the Reading Recovery teacher
  • Making reading time positive, short, and enjoyable
  • Returning books each day so the teacher can send home new books

For more information on Reading Recovery, watch this short video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXxM2JVxJKY

Here is a great resource that describes Reading Recovery in Chinese (Traditional), Vietnamese, and many other languages:  http://www.schools.nsw.edu.au/languagesupport/documents/reading_recov.php

Friday 1 March 2013

Movie Night - Friday March 8

Tangled
Rated PG. Running time 100 minutes.

Doors Open 6:15 pm
Movie Starts 6:30 pm

ADMISSION FREE
Dr. A. R. Lord School Gym

 

Baked Goods & Drinks  $0.50-$1.00 each
Popcorn                        $1.00 per bag

Family Room - available for younger children (with their parents)
                        who aren’t able to sit quietly through the movie

Raffle - 1 Ticket = $2 or 3 Tickets = $5 (proceeds to PAC)

Children must be accompanied by a parent or responsible adult who stays for the duration of the movie (no drop-offs).

For more information contact the PAC via e-mail or leave a letter in the PAC box in the school’s front office.