Thursday, September 24, 2026

 Hello families,

The teachers have been continuing to administer mandatory government screeners this week but will continue to add more pictures to the blog in the upcoming weeks. If you haven't already done so, please fill out the Consent for CBE Use of Student Information in your MyCBE account in order to give us permission to post pictures of your child on our blog.

Important Reminders:

September 25 - No School

September 28 – Picture Day

September 29 – Orange Shirt Day Sept. 30 - No School (National Day for Truth & Reconciliation)

Please ensure that your child brings a water bottle to school every day! It is important for them to be able to hydrate properly throughout their school day so they can do their best learning!

This week, we:

• practiced the Lively Letter sounds for u, g, l, and r!

• read words and sentences that contained these sounds! Have your child read these words and sentence to you!

• practiced the high frequency words: can, was, as, has. Please practice these words with your child to make sure they can read and write them!

• read the story "When We Were Alone" and discussed how indigenous students felt when they were at residential schools. Students came up with ideas of how we know all students deserve to feel at school. We wrote our ideas on leaves that we coloured in fall colours. These leaves will be added to a whole school display in honour of Orange Shirt Day!

• learned a new way to draw a person! Students used their imagination to draw a person and then we added labels in order to name the different parts of the person's body
  

• have continued to learn about teen numbers, specifically focusing on the numbers from 11 to 14. We are learning how teen numbers are a group of ten and some more! We are learning to recognize the numbers, how to make them using ten frames and find them on a number path

Orange Shirt Day - Tuesday, September 29th

 September 30th is a National Day for Truth and Reconciliation meant to commemorate the history and legacy of Residential Schools in Canada. On Tuesday, September 29th, 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 throughout the week to honor this important day. Through read alouds and learning tasks, 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 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. 

Friday, September 18, 2026

Hello families,

It has been a busy week in grade one! The teachers have been working hard to administer mandatory government screeners this week but will continue to add more pictures to the blog in the upcoming weeks. If you haven't already done so, please fill out the Consent for CBE Use of Student Information in your MyCBE account in order to give us permission to post pictures of your child on our blog.

Important Reminders:

September 24 - Drop in sometime between 5:00 - 7:00 for our "Welcome to the Year Open House" (please see Mrs. Brinson's email for more details)

September 25 - No School

September 28 – Picture Day

September 29 – Orange Shirt Day Sept. 30 - No School (National Day for Truth & Reconciliation)

Things to Practice at Home:

-make sure your child knows their first name and last name

-make sure your child knows when their birthday is (ex: September 15)

This week, we:

- practiced the Lively Letters for o, m, n, and k! Please review these with your child and brainstorm different words that start with these sounds!

- read words and sentences (and some challenge words) that included these sounds! Ask your child to show you how they practice reading these!

- ran or walked to participate in the Terry Fox Run! We learned about Terry Fox and how he worked so hard to raise money for cancer research. We read a great story that helped us learn about Terry Fox! 

- brainstormed different ways to help a lonely stuffy feel welcome in our classroom. Ask your child what they thought of to help our stuffy (and everyone else) feel welcome!

- listened to the book "I'm Happy-Sad Today" and discussed all the different emotions we feel during our days! We did some writing about this (which you can see a few samples of on our documentation panel if you pop in during our open house next week!)

- practiced our first fire drill. We discussed how fire drills are important and serious because they prepare us for what to do if there ever is an emergency. 

-Mrs. Nakaska's grade one class came to visit us! We had a chance to do some fun 'getting to know you' activities!

-used watercolour paints to complete an art project! Come visit us at our open house to see some of the artwork and learning we've completed so far in grade one.

Friday, September 11, 2026

Hello families!

Thank you for visiting our blog! We will post on the blog at the end of each school week. We will include important school and classroom updates, things you can work on at home to enhance your child's learning and an outline of some of the learning that happened during the week. We will include pictures of students in our class if you have given us permission in your MyCBE account (annual authorization forms: Consent for CBE Use of Student Information) for us to do so. We will not be posting pictures of every student every week.

If you did not read the blog post from last week, please do so as it outlines many important routines and things to know at the beginning of grade one to help make your child's year successful.

Important Reminders:

Sept. 17 - Terry Fox run (fundraising has begun - see info below)

September 17– Subway / Pita Basket Fun Lunch – Orders can be placed at healthyhunger.ca

Sept. 25 - No School

September 28 – Picture Day

September 29 – Orange Shirt Day

Sept. 30 - No School (National Day for Truth & Reconciliation)

Things to Practice at Home:

-make sure your child knows their first name and last name

-make sure your child knows when their birthday is (ex: September 15)

This week we:

-practiced the sounds for d, i, f and v. We use the Lively Letter character cards to help us remember the sound each letter makes. Each Lively Letter is introduced with a story for students to connect to. Please practice these sounds at home with your child.

-practiced reading words and sentences (and some challenge words for those students that are ready!) See if your child can sound out some of the words below.

-finished our self-portraits!

-showed our teachers how we learned to write in kindergarten. We wrote short sentences about the following picture. Ask you child what they wrote about.

-learned how to draw a bunny and a fox by following the steps for our guided drawing. Here is an example of what the steps students follow.

-represented the number of days we have been at school using ones blocks, numeral, words and ten frames (6, 7, 8 and 9)

-learned how to subitize the numbers 1 - 5, 9 and 10 in ten frames. Subitizing is when you instantly and accurately know the number of a small group of objects without counting them.

Friday, September 4, 2026

 Hello families,

Hello families,

 We are so excited to have your children in our grade one class this year! We have enjoyed the first week of getting to know your children and we look forward to spending the rest of the school year with them.  Grade one is an important year for setting a foundation for reading, writing and numeracy to 100. We hope you see as much growth in your children as we will see at school! If you have any questions throughout the year, please email us and we will get back to you! Please check this blog at the end of each week to find out about what your child is learning, important school and classroom reminders/dates as well as things you can do at home to help your child with their learning.

This first blog will contain some of the things we did this week and also lots of helpful information that will help your child in grade one! Please read this blog thoroughly!

Important Reminders

Please make sure your child has:

• a pair of indoor runners that stay at school (no laces) and outside shoes (no laces)

 

• a change of clothes in their backpack (in case of accidents or spills)
• a healthy lunch, full water bottle and a separate healthy snack (students eat their snack in the afternoon so they need to know exactly what to eat for lunch and what to eat for snack). Please make sure your child can open ALL of their snack and drink containers all by themselves.  Have them practice at home with you to make sure they can. NO GLASS CONTAINERS PLEASE! 

• gone to the bathroom right before coming to school as we have many students who need to go to the bathroom within the first 30 minutes of school
• eaten a nutritious breakfast within an hour of coming to school. Some children are saying they are hungry as soon as they get to school. Lunchtime doesn’t begin until 12:15pm.
• left all toys at home. Toys brought to school distract students from their learning and tend to get lost or broken. 

ALLERGIES

We have a number of severe allergies in our classroom, including peanuts, tree nuts and bananas. Please consider sending a lunch/snack that does not contain these ingredients as it would make our classroom much safer for some of our students. We do understand that some children only eat specific foods with peanut butter and bananas being a staple for many families. If you choose to send these foods with your child, we will ensure safety for all students!

ORANGE BUTTON FOLDERS

Thank you to everyone who has returned the 'orange button' folder with the parent questionnaire. If you haven't already, please return it as soon as possible so we can learn important information about your child.

Message from Mrs. Brinson:

IMPORTANT ACTION: TO-DO LIST FOR PARENTS/GUARDIANS

All forms are now available. Please log in to your MyCBE account and complete the following forms:

1. Demographic Verification Form
   Even if nothing has changed (phone numbers, email addresses, etc.), you must submit this form. This confirms that the school has your most up-to-date contact information in case of an emergency.

2. Annual Authorization Form
   Teachers regularly post photos on their agenda blogs. If you would like your child to be included in these photos, you must complete the Consent for CBE Use of Student Information form.  If you DO NOT want your child to be included in these photos, you must complete the Consent for CBE Use of Student Information form. This year there are also additional permissions required so please read carefully

3. Lunchroom Supervision Form
   All students who stay at school for lunch must have this form completed. The form is available in your MyCBE account. After you register, CBE will process the form and add any applicable fees at a later date. Please note that you will not see a fee added immediately after registering.

ANNUAL VOLUNTEER FORMS ARE NOW AVAILABLE IN MYCBE

If you plan to volunteer at the school, you must complete the Annual Volunteer Registration Form through your MyCBE account. This form must be completed every school year.

As part of the registration process, you will need to upload a photo of yourself holding your ID beside your face. Please refer to the cartoon example shown within the form.

***PLEASE NOTE THAT FORM COMPLETION OFTEN WORKS BEST ON A COMPUTER RATHER THAN A TABLET OR SMARTPHONE. IF YOU ARE HAVING DIFFICULTIES, PLEASE TRY A COMPUTER.**

Thanks for your help as we aim at having 100% of parents complete all forms by September 10.

This week we:

• went on a tour of the inside of the school to see the bathrooms, gym, and music room
• went on a tour outside to learn about playground boundaries, how to get into the building if we are late for school and where to line up outside in case the fire alarm rings
• practiced many routines such as entry into the school and classroom, lining up, washing/sanitizing hands, eating and cleaning up from lunch and snack and transitioning from one activity to another
• got to know some of our classmates by building with them and playing with playdoh
• read the story 'We Don't Eat Our Classmates' and brainstormed a list of classroom expectations 

• read the story 'What I Like About Me' and drew a self-portrait.  Our teachers were so impressed with our first drawing!
• went to gym and learned how to play the game Gaga Ball. Ask your child how to play it.
• went to music! Ask your child what they did in music class.
• finished off the week using glue and pieces of paper to create name art.