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Dear Prep Families,

This week’s edition of Prep Heads Up includes learning updates, a link to the recording of last week’s virtual parent education session on the PYP and MYP, along with need-to-know highlights of the week ahead. 

Next Wednesday is Valentine’s Day! There is a much anticipated bake sale that day and we encourage students and colleagues to wear pink, white and/or red to celebrate the day and the strong feelings of friendship and care that make our community so special.

A note that we continue to work on ensuring that the flow of traffic during our busy arrival and dismissal times is safe, efficient, and comfortable. This is a reminder of the details outlined below and we ask that families please review this important information.

Drop off/arrival

• When entering the drop-off loop at the Prep, families must pull their car forward as far west as possible before coming to a full stop.

• Student greeters in Years 6 and 7, or a Prep employee, will do their best to help each family by opening their car door, saying good morning and welcoming your child to school.

• We request that families please not park and get out of their car or stop for extended periods of time during morning drop off. 

• If families would like to walk their child to the Prep’s front entrance, please park at the east end of the William P. Wilder ’40 Arena & Sports Complex parking lot. There is ample parking in this location.

Pick up/dismissal

• Families must avoid blocking the drop-off lane. This is a safety issue as the drop-off lane is also a fire lane and provides access to the Prep’s accessible parking space.

• We have arranged the following as reminders for our community:

  • A large “no parking” sign has been placed immediately south of the Prep’s Peacock Arch.

  • “No parking” and “fire lane” road markers are painted on the pavement.

  • A “stop sign” at the entrance to the arena parking lot.

We also remind families to avoid opening the Parkin surface gate when arriving for pick-up. Our security team will open the gate once students finish using the space.

In addition, please be reminded that all visitors are asked to check in at the front desk reception to receive an identification badge. 

Thank you as always for your ongoing support and partnership.

Your partners in learning,

Julia Kinnear, David Girard and Gareth Evans

The Prep Leadership Team

We have begun our next unit, land use in Ontario. We will learn about the relationship between human land use, the environment and the economy. Students were incredibly excited to launch this unit using VR goggles to explore different communities worldwide. Over the next few weeks, we will be looking at a variety of communities in Ontario from the perspective of new immigrants, landform regions and jobs in Ontario, reading maps, and more!

In language, we are expanding our literacy centres to dig deeper into reading and writing skills. In reading, we will be focusing on the elements of non-fiction texts. It would be wonderful if students could explore non-fiction texts at home. In writing, we have finished our fantasy stories. We will be sharing these in the Year 3 classes. 

Individuals and Societies update

In Year 6, Individuals and Societies, the students have been using the concept of conflict to explore the rise and fall of Ancient Rome. Through the statement of inquiry that drives the learning process —Is conflict a necessary change agent to achieve a fairer society?—students learn about the different types of conflict that can permeate a society, the types of governmental structures that ensure equality for all and how a victory on the battlefield can often lead to a series of lasting negative consequences. The boys will assume the role of talented Roman Orators, demonstrating their learning through impassioned speeches and lively debates. This unit provides the perfect backdrop to explore similar themes currently taking place in the world, and as we have been doing throughout the school year, students continue to sharpen their media literacy skills by reading and discussing the news on a daily basis. 

In Year 7, the boys started exploring first contact between the Europeans and the Canadian First Nations People. The goal will be for each student to produce a 5 paragraph essay on the leadership qualities of different actors that played an important role during the time of first contact. Throughout this second unit, the students will be engaged in challenging discussions regarding the role of empathy as a determinant for successful interactions between different cultures. Similar to the Year 6 students, the Year 7 students will continue to sharpen their media literacy skills by reading and discussing the news daily.

To further extend the learning at home, we encourage parents to continue to engage their sons in discussions of current events. Encouraging your son to explore different areas of the news will provide him with prior knowledge that he will be able to use in all of our class discussions.

David Fraser, Peter Gray, Tia Chambers

Individuals and Societies Teachers

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. 

Students have been engaged in exhibition periods since early this year. These periods, along with the learning and thinking they do in their home forms, prepare them for the project and get them excited about their interests and possible issues they may wish to explore. Regular classroom discussions of current events and exploration of kid-friendly news sites will give way to many conversations in class. 

Exhibition projects will occur under the transdisciplinary theme “Who We Are: An inquiry into the nature of the self; beliefs and values; personal, physical, mental, social and spiritual health; human relationships including families, friends, communities, and cultures; rights and responsibilities; what it means to be human.” Students have been gathering ideas about issues that connect to aspects of this transdsiciplinary theme and the United Nations Goals for Sustainable Development. They have been talking about how people can take action and revisiting the PYP key concepts to practise writing questions.

Year 5 parents are invited to join a virtual PYP Exhibition information session on Monday, March 4 at 6 p.m. Zoom link to follow.

Dianne Jojic
PYP Coordinator

Service learning update — Covenant House Toronto

This year, we're thrilled to extend our support to Covenant House Toronto, Canada's largest agency dedicated to serving homeless, trafficked, or at-risk youth, providing a wide array of services to hundreds of young individuals daily. As part of our Year 7 Project Week, students will engage in an interdisciplinary exploration of UN Sustainable Development Goal #1; No Poverty. Through various activities, including speakers, field trips, and group engagements, students will deepen their understanding of homelessness. Choosing Covenant House as our supported organization aligns with our commitment to actionable learning, enabling students to advocate for a cause they intimately understand. Our inaugural fundraiser will be the Valentine’s Day Bake Sale hosted by the PPO on February 14. This will kick off our efforts, with all proceeds benefiting Covenant House. Stay tuned for more exciting events aimed at furthering our support in the near future.

Riley Carter

Community Engagement and Service Learning Coordinator 

DONATE | Mother’s Day Drive

Last year your donations meant more than 170 women at Ernestine's Women's Shelter and Women's Habitat received much-loved gift bags of toiletries from their children on Mother’s Day.

Students will be once again collecting full and travel/hotel sized:

• soap and body wash

• shampoo and conditioner 

• body lotion and skin care 

• cosmetics and nail polish

• hair care products

• toothbrushes and toothpaste

• antiperspirant and sanitary products

• beauty samples/perfumes

• small gift sets 

Your donations will be beautifully wrapped for children at shelters to give to their moms on Mother’s Day, so that together they can celebrate this special day.    

Donations can be dropped off at the reception desk in the Upper School or main office of the Prep. Please contact Linda Carvalho if you have any questions about drop off, or Samantha Dugas if you have questions about donations.