The Kindness Project

As part of the Grade One unit on "Helping Each Other as Friends and as Learners,"the students were inspired to share their learning with others.  As a class they came up with the idea of doing a "Kindness Project." For this "Kindness Project," they thought it would be good to share a little kindness with our local community.  Thus, on Thursday, December 21st, the students were divided into small groups and stationed at different places on Dunbar Street. They handed out candy canes to pedestrians and shared a special "kindness" message written by each one of them. The purpose of this “Kindness Project” was twofold: to teach people that we value kindness in our world and to spread some Christmas cheer.

The students shared this small act of kindness with over 200 people on that day.  Examples of some the statements given by the pedestrians were: "We need a lot more of this in our world," "My heart grew so big today," "Each kindness message is important and beautiful."  The students were happy and excited to be a part of something so special.  One of the students stated that "my heart has grown 1000 times bigger today!" This feeling of happiness was shared by all that participated.

Remember that when you share kindness with someone you "make them colourful".

The Grade One students sure made a lot of people colourful on that day and now you can go and do the same!

Grade 6 bakes for Chalice

The Grade Six class held a bake sale mid December to raise money for Chalice. Chalice is a Catholic charity that supports community initiatives in 15 countries through the sponsorship of children and elderly in need. ICS has a personal connection with Chalice, as almost every year, we are visited by Deacon Ron, who works with many of these communities and shares their stories with us through pictures, video clips and artifacts from their communities. We look forward to his visit in January 2018. 

Chalice has been recognized by MoneySense Magazine as one of the best run Canadian Charities for the past six years and we are proud to be putting our efforts into supporting the needs of those less fortunate than us. If you wish to learn more about Chalice, please visit their website: chalice.ca. 
 
The Grade 6s say, most enthusiastically, "Thank you for your generous support"!

UBC Math Department Students Visit Grades Six & Seven

In October, the Grades Six and Seven classes of ICS had some UBC students visit and lead us in an educational math workshop. In the workshop we were separated into five groups, each group had five ICS students and one UBC student .  We were all given a sheet with a lot of difficult word problems, then the groups had to solve as many of the questions together with the help of the UBC student.  We all enjoyed working with the enthusiastic UBC students so much.  

The feedback from Grades Six and Seven was overwhelmingly positive. Read on for some student quotes….

“It was very helpful, and the students helped my group and I understand the questions.  It was a very good experience.”

“I thought it was very generous for the UBC students to come to ICS. And it was interesting how they thought through the math problems.”

“It really pushed us to the limits, and we really had to think of the problem carefully.”

“It was a good chance to practice word problems.”

"It was really challenging.”

"It was fun, some of the questions were pretty challenging.”

“There was a math question that was pretty challenging, and one person got it.”

"I really enjoyed doing the math questions with my group, the UBC student helping us really made us think and understand the question thoroughly.”

Written By Grade Six Students

Kindergarten creates sock gift bags

Thank you so much for all the warm winter socks you recently contributed to our class collection. The Kindergarten students created the gift bags pictured here, which were distributed to needy recipients at St. Albans church throughout December. The guests at the cold weather shelter this past weekend were very grateful for these gifts.
 
Thank you for your kindness and generosity.
From the ICS Kindergarten Class

Lest We Forget . . .

November 11th marks the day World War I ended. Ever since that day we have taken part in Remembrance Day to honour of those soldiers who gave up their lives for our freedom and peace. At ICS, we remembered those soldiers who fought for our country by having a Remembrance Procession and Ceremony as well as presentations by the Grade Four and Five classes on important historical events in Canada’s military past.

We began the ceremony with a video that highlighted the actions of Canada’s military in the past. This was followed by the singing of O Canada and the school motto. Next, the Grade Fours presented poster boards on the many battles that Canada has participated in and the sacrifices made by our soldiers. After that, the Grade Five students gave a presentation about the important contributions that animals have made to the war effort. For example, the United States Sergeant Stubby, a Brindle Bull Terrier mutt that was found and served as the official mascot of the 102nd Infantry Regiment. He served for eighteen months and participated in seventeen battles. There were also many other examples like horses, cats, pigeons, bunnies who played a role in comforting and serving our soldiers.

The ceremony also included many traditions like playing “The Last Post”, laying of a wreath, a moment of silence, and the poem “In Flanders Fields”.

As we acknowledged and recognized in our school, Remembrance Day is a very important day here and around the world. Next year will mark the 100th year since World War I ended and I wonder how Canada will mark this important anniversary?

Written by A Grade 7 Student

Hear ye! Hear ye! The IC Times!

We are excited to announce that we have a new club at Immaculate Conception - the Newspaper club. 

The first edition of The IC Times was published at the beginning of December, under the guidance of Grade 5 teacher Mr Formosa, and the editor in chief is Daniel G (Grade 7 student). Many students, from Grade 4 to 7, contributed articles ranging from culture and literature to what the various classes have been up to in the past few months, and a feature story on Christmas traditions.

Enjoy!

Join us at our Old Fashioned Christmas Fair

Saturday, December 2, 2017
8:30 am – 1:00 pm
Immaculate Conception School Gym & Parish Centre

We are counting down the days to our Old Fashioned Christmas Fair.  There is something for everyone:

• Pancake Breakfast and pictures with Santa
• Baking Booth & Cake Walk
• Games Room for Kids
• Handmade Quilts
• Craftmaking for Kids
• Silent Auction
• Wine Raffle
• Toonie Table
• Book Room
• Christmas Wreaths
• Christmas Marketplace (new this year!) 

See all the details here.

Also, like and share our post on Facebook to get the word out. See you Saturday!!! 

Grade Seven Outdoor Education Adventure

It is a privilege for Grade Seven students of our school to attend outdoor education at Camp Summit in the Squamish Valley. Here are two accounts of what outdoor education was like for the Grade Seven class.

“October 16th to October 19th was one of the best times of our lives. The Grade Seven students went to Camp Summit. At Camp we made amazing memories with our classmates, teachers, and counselors. We met new people and had the chance to do some amazing activities. The activities were so much fun. We went rock climbing, mountain biking, archery, hiking, and learned some survival skills. We played night games and even went canoeing. And after we finished the activities and dinner, we sat around the campfire to learn new songs, and listen to funny stories. And when the fun day was over we went back to our cabins, wrote in our journals and went to bed and woke up to another fun day at Camp Summit.“

“Last October 16th - 19th the Grade Seven class attended outdoor education at Camp Summit. The trip was very fun and full of adventure. For example, we did whole day trip to Alice Lake. We learned how to canoe and go geocaching. We also went on a hike through the Alice Lake  forest. Even though it was pouring rain, everyone enjoyed themselves.

Mountain biking, ropes course, archery, and rock climbing were all the activities we did while we were at camp. Also we learned how to make a fire and homemade chocolate-chip bannock. After dinner we weren't even finished with the day.  We would play a night game and have a big campfire where we sang songs and did funny skits. While camp was cold,wet, and everything I had was drenched I still had the best time. Not just because of the great food but because my classmates and I all created a close or even closer bond with each other.”

A Trip to the Vancouver Writer's Festival

In the month of October, the Grades One and Three classes went to Granville Island to attend the Writer’s Festival.  The authors and illustrators we saw were Marie-Louise Gay, Sydney Smith, and Barbara Reid. Some people in Grade Three got autographs!  At the very end of the show, Sydney Smith painted a picture for us. Some of the Grade Ones got to help Sydney Smith draw the picture. We had an awesome day!

Written by a Grade Three Student

When we returned from our visit to the Writer's Festival, we painted and spent time writing about our experiences . . . you can visit our creations in the hallway at school!

Grade Five Visits the Camosun Bog

On October 17, 2017, the Grade Five class went on a field trip to Camosun Bog in the Pacific Spirit Park. We were lucky to have a Musqueam elder accompany us on our field trip to share her knowledge about these ancient lands.

We learned about plants, their uses, and the differences between plants in the bog. The Grade Five students were very interested in learning about the different plants and their qualities. One surprising fact that the Grade Five students learned was that the Musqueam Band used plants for medicine. The elder told us a Musqueam legend that was passed down from generation to generation. The legend is about a serpent that created all the rivers and creeks near Vancouver. It also created the Camosun Bog. We were very interested in the stories and thankful to have the chance to learn about culture and nature in our own community.

Our trip to Camosun Bog was informative, amazing, and fun! It taught the Grade Five students to look at nature from a different perspective. Thank you to our Musqueam elder for coming with us to the Camosun Bog and for teaching us about all the different plants!

Written by Grade Five Students