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Dear Prep Families,

I hope this edition of Heads Up finds you doing well as we begin the much anticipated Family Day long weekend.

We consider it a privilege to be working with you and your child during their time at the Prep. Recently, we’ve observed students programming their Arduinos in design class, competing fiercely at the CISAA basketball championship, traveling to Montreal for basketball and hockey tournaments, bringing Weston Hall’s stage alive with wonderful jazz and drama performances, engaging with Upper School students during Black Excellence Month, all while wearing their UCC uniforms with pride and representing their school in the best possible way. Our Prep students are a strong community of learners who are working each day to be their very best selves.

We sincerely appreciate the partnership we have with you, our families, in ensuring your child enjoys the best possible experience while at the Prep. We welcome the exchange of emails, face-to-face meetings, and informal conversations during pick up and drop off. Our partnership with you allows us to gain valuable feedback that can inform what we do. This partnership between home and school is especially important when we consider how students feel as they approach Year 6 and Year 7. As Phyllis L. Fagell suggests in her book Middle School Matters: “school can be kind of a mess—there’s romantic drama, friend drama, and pressure to figure out who you are. Everyone’s pretending to know exactly what they’re doing, but no one does.” By partnering together and trusting one another, we can assist students with understanding the importance of advocating for themselves when feeling uncomfortable, stepping outside of their comfort zone by taking risks, building relationships with their peers, owning their mistakes, and being kind to one another. This way, we increase the chance of our students developing the mindset necessary to navigate the inevitable difficult moments that all children face during their years in school.

With thanks for your ongoing support and wishing you a wonderful long weekend.

Your partners in learning,

Julia Kinnear, David Girard and Gareth Evans

The Prep Leadership Team

Year 4  update

First, we are delighted to inform you that we have successfully wrapped up our math unit on graphing. The students have demonstrated a commendable understanding and application of various graphing techniques. Their enthusiasm and engagement throughout this unit have been truly inspiring. Moving forward, we are excited to announce that we will be diving into a new unit of measurement starting next week. This unit will comprehensively explore weight, distance, and volume. We will delve into metric and imperial measurements, ensuring that our students understand this fundamental aspect of mathematics.

Measurement plays a crucial role in our daily lives, from following recipes in the kitchen to estimating travel distances and understanding product sizes. By mastering measurement concepts, our students will excel academically and develop practical skills that they can apply in various real-life situations. I encourage you to engage your children in discussions about measurement at home, whether measuring ingredients for a recipe or estimating the distance to a destination during a family outing.

In addition to our math curriculum, we are thrilled to announce an exciting new endeavour for our students in their writing journey. Starting soon, the boys will begin researching and learning to write biographies. This project offers a fantastic opportunity for them to explore the lives of remarkable individuals and develop their research and writing skills. We encourage them to speak with their families about individuals they admire or find intriguing, as this will enrich their learning experience and foster meaningful connections with the subject matter.

As our creative writing unit draws to a close, we're excited to announce that samples of our students' imaginative work will soon be making their way home for your enjoyment. Throughout this unit, our budding writers have explored diverse genres, honed their storytelling skills, and crafted pieces that reflect their unique voices and perspectives. We can't wait for you to immerse yourself in their creativity and celebrate their accomplishments. Stay tuned for these wonderful samples coming your way soon!

As we wrap up another successful term of basketball, a big thank you is extended to all for their efforts in developing sportsmanship and skill on the court. There has been much growth as athletes and individuals throughout the term, and we are proud of the progress and achievements. Sport is an excellent opportunity to learn through competition, and many valuable lessons have started to be consolidated. As we look ahead, we are excited to announce that we will transition into our track and field unit after the March break. This presents a new opportunity for us to continue fostering our athletic abilities and teamwork in a different setting. Please ensure boys come prepared with appropriate clothing and footwear for outdoor activities. Let's gear up for another exciting chapter ahead and continue to support each other as we embark on this next journey together.

As March Break swiftly approaches, we kindly request that any individuals with planned travel before or after the break, extending into the Easter period, notify us of their absence as soon as possible. This advance notice allows us to manage schedules and lessons effectively as the term begins. We would greatly appreciate your cooperation in quickly informing us of your travel plans.

Sincerely,

Mark Ferley, Michael Bushey and Paige Daoust
Year 4 team

Primary art update 

Much gratitude is owed to the parent volunteers who diligently install student artwork around the Prep, enabling the incredible art of SK to Year 7 students to be celebrated and enjoyed by the community. I find myself stopping many times a day to take a moment for mindfulness or inspiration in front of the Year 4 landscape paintings that are currently on display in the Bitove Lounge. If you have not had a chance to take a stroll around the halls recently, please do so sometime soon in order to enjoy the multiple forms of visual artwork on display.

SK students started the new year off exploring the vivid compositions of Brazilian artist Romero Britto, the self-proclaimed “artist of love and happiness”. They have been applying their knowledge of warm and cool colours to create their own mini works of “H-art”. Next up, the students will be honing their drawing skills, by creating collaborative drawings of the UCC clocktower from different perspectives. 

Year 1s have just put the finishing touches on their canvases as well. We have recently wrapped up a painting project that offered students a chance to deepen their understanding of the art elements of value, space, and shape. Inspired by the monochromatic “cave” artwork of artist Nicholas Party, the students learned how to mix hues, tints and shades for their calming full-moon silhouette paintings. Next, we will be spending time developing and creating imaginative clay creatures adapted to live on different planets. 

In connection with the Giggles unit of inquiry, Year 2s will be exploring unusual ways to gain inspiration as well as appropriate and respectful use of humour within the context of art. Students will be tasked with creatively distorting proportions and combining features of different everyday objects, plants and animals. The resulting imaginative, mixed-media drawings and sculptures are sure to add levity and inspire a few giggles in the hallways. 

Year 3 students delved into the fascinating world of perspectives, exploring the multiple meanings that this term holds in visual arts. Through experimentation with the linear one-point perspective technique, they learned about specific tricks that can be used to show the illusion of depth on a flat surface. By examining examples of cubism artworks, students were able to recognize how artists can depict multiple angles, perspectives, and points of view on one surface, enriching their understanding of artistic representation. Check out their striking oil-pastel self-portraits in earth-tones on display in the Year 3 hallways.

Year 4 and Year 5 students are deep into their ceramic arts units. After studying mythological characters in their previous unit of inquiry, Year 4s developed their own modern day heroes or changemakers that symbolize an important issue of concern. Themes generated by students included: good sportsmanship, pride in one’s religion or culture, animal protection, medicine, peaceful conflict resolution and friendship. Using slab and other hand-building ceramic techniques, the Year 4s created detailed and symbolic clay masks that will hang as a reminder of the important values selected by each student. 

Year 5s launched into their storytelling sculptures unit by analyzing examples of symbolic artwork from several contemporary Canadian Indigenous artists. Taking inspiration from the artists who have shared powerful cultural narratives through intricate sculptures, the Year 5s then developed ideas for how to creatively express their own stories using the medium of clay. They advanced their hand-building skills while creating sculptures that symbolize the pourquoi tales they have written in language class. Look for these incredible works of art on display in March with accompanying Identity Passports (Year 4) and QR Codes (Year 5). 

Upcycle loose parts for arts

If you have any of the following items at home, please feel free to send them in to the Primary art room:

• dry cleaner plastic bags

• newspapers 

• corks

• 500 ml or 750 ml plastic yogurt tubs

• magazines with interesting photos of animals, buildings, nature or people

• Old cookie cutters (we will use them for clay)

• Plastic netting (often comes around clementine orange boxes or avocado bags)

• x-large cylinder aluminum coffee cans (the 1.36 kg size or larger)

Please reach out to me anytime if you have comments or ideas regarding the Primary Visual Arts Program. 

Wishing you and your family a wonderful long weekend!

Sincerely, 

Monika Kastelic
Primary Visual Arts Specialist

Language and literature update

It’s book club season in MYP language and literature! Both our Year 6 and 7 cohorts are beginning to engage in conversations about novels connected to the following themes: In Year 6, survival and human tenacity and in Year 7, international literature and the universal nature of the human experience. The benefits of book clubs for Middle Years students are well-documented and include:

• Encouraging a love of literature by exposing students to a variety of genres and creating a fun experience centred on reading.

• Increased autonomy and personal ownership of one’s learning

• Appeals to the social nature of Middle Years students and allows for more opportunities for collaboration

• Discussion allows students to consolidate newly learned information and benefit from the prior knowledge of their peers, thereby increasing overall comprehension of the text

When asked what makes a book club different from a typical unit of study, here’s what a few of our students had to say:

Parker, 7P says, “I like book clubs because you get to read a book in an environment with lots of other people so you get the experience of sharing what you love about the book with other people, rather than just keeping it to yourself. It motivates you to set reading goals so that you can be ready to contribute to your group”. 

Christian, 7P says, “A book club at UCC is a great way to expand your vocabulary because each member takes turns reading and discussing the book. You’ll be exposed to new genres in books. Plus, you get to share your favourite books with others”.

Mickey, 7P says, “I love book clubs because they give you a wide variety of literature to choose from and you can discuss your opinions on all of these books with other people. It gives you further insight on books you already know and it can increase your enjoyment of the book you’re reading”.

Michaela Trelford

MYP Language and Literature Lead

Year 5 PYP Exhibition 

Year 5 is the last year of the Primary Years Programme at UCC and, as such, Year 5 students engage in the PYP Exhibition, which is a collaborative, student-driven, research-based and action-oriented culminating activity in the PYP. 

Students lead their own inquiry in the spring term. We celebrate student learning and action with parents and the rest of our school community on Friday, May 10. Details will be provided as we approach this date but Year 5 parents should mark their calendars and plan to attend an afternoon event. 

Year 5 parents are invited to join a virtual PYP Exhibition Information session to learn more about the PYP Exhibition. Please join us on Monday, March 4 at 6 p.m. Zoom link to follow.

Dianne Jojic
PYP Coordinator