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It has been an exciting time on and off campus this past week, including a joyous A-Day Pep rally, followed by A-Day festivities and athletics. The student assembly led by the Blue Army Generals featured a video, the traditional haircut and singing of Never Walk Alone, in addition to a speech about positive ways of championing your team, and then the introduction of some new chants. The messages certainly landed with our student community as they cheered on UCC teams on Saturday, donning blue and white and showing tremendous school spirit.

The Week Without Bells finally arrived after much anticipation. On Monday morning, students in Years 9, 10 and 11 loaded up their bags and hopped on buses to make their way to Camp Olympia, Camp Pine Crest, and Camp Wanakita. Students have been building bonds and skills while having great fun. 

Special programming has been underway for the Year 8 and Year 12 students all week. The youngest members of the Upper School participated in interdisciplinary learning as well as specialised curriculum, and experiential learning in the community. Highlights included hearing special guest speaker Daniel Cooper ’19 speak about resilience, making appreciation videos to UCC community members, writing postcards to veterans and reflecting on positive and negative social media use. Students also benefited from wellbeing sessions focused on how to think, sleep, move, and eat well, a design project based on building empathy and communication skills, a field trip focused on sustainability and urban planning and a full health and physical education day. The Year 12’s have been busy finishing up their Extended Essays and getting a start on their university applications. 

Years 9–12 | Community and Belonging Survey

Dear Upper School Families,

UCC has agreed to participate in Lookout Management Inc.’s Community and Belonging Survey of Year 9–12 students in more than 100 schools across Canada and the U.S. Participation in this survey will provide valuable information about our students’ sense of belonging within the UCC community, which is closely related to wellbeing and learning. As we launch our refreshed wellbeing framework and action plan, this data will help us further refine our student-focused wellbeing initiatives.

The survey will be administered on Tuesday, Nov. 5 during advising time. It will take students approximately 10 minutes to respond and is completely anonymous. Responses will be collected and held by Lookout Management and cannot be linked back to any individual student. We will share a summary of key learnings later this academic year.

Because the survey questions are common across more than 100 participating schools, some questions or response options may be less relevant to your child. For those questions, students have the option not to respond or to write in a response if the options offered are insufficient.

If you have any questions or would like to opt your child out of this survey, please contact principal@ucc.on.ca.

Thank you,

Dr. Jeff Aitken
Head of the Upper School 

Year 8 Arts Rotation Schedule

Dear Year 8 Parents,

Attached is the revised Arts Rotation Schedule shared with you last week. You will see that odd sections started in music and even in art. The rotation dates have been slightly modified to reflect a few changes in the school schedule. 

I apologize for any confusion this may have caused. 

Mr. Gomes

Rotations

Rotation 1 - Odd Sections in Music / Even Sections in Art (Sept. 7 to Sept.  27)

Rotation 2 - Even Sections in Music / Odd Sections in Art (Sept.  30 to Oct.  24)

Rotation 3 - Odd Sections in Music / Even Sections in Art (Oct.  25 to Nov. 21)

Rotation 4 - Even Sections in Music / Odd Sections in Art (Nov.  22 to Dec. 17)

Rotation 5 - Odd Sections in Music / EvenSections in Art (Dec.  18 to Jan.28)

Rotation 6 - Even Sections in Music / Odd Sections in Art (Jan. 29 to Feb. 25)

Rotation 7 - Odd Sections in Music / Even Sections in Art (Feb. 26 to April 4)

Rotation 8 - Even Sections in Music / Odd Sections in Art (April 7 to May 2)

Rotation 9 - Odd Sections in Music / Odd Sections in Art (May 5 to May 29)

Save the Date | Graduation Pathways Parent Night

Dear Year 8, 9, and 10 Families,

Thank you for your interest in learning more about UCC’s Graduation Pathways. 

Please join us for an overview of all three pathways on Wednesday, Oct. 23 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on Zoom. Following a brief presentation about each of the three pathways, we will be pleased to take your questions.

If you would like to submit any questions in advance, please do so here.

Warm regards,

Dr. Jeff Aitken

Head of the Upper School

Dr. Julia Kinnear

Vice-Principal, Learning and Academic Innovation

Important | Grad photos

The last day for Year 12 grad photos is on Oct. 15. Please remind your child to sign up for their grad photo (the sign-up sheet has been shared with the Class of 2025 and with parents).

This photo is important as it is inserted in the class composite. If students miss their appointment time, they will have to make their own way to the Cangrad studio for makeup photos.  

RSVP | Building a culture of consent

Dear Year 11 and 12 Families,

Please join us on Monday, Oct. 28 at 7 p.m. in the Manucha Bellamy Theatre for a presentation and conversation with Lexi Koster on building a culture of consent and deepening our understanding of sexual violence. Lexi Koster is a Child Life Specialist and Certified Clinical Trauma Specialist, passionate about creating spaces for open dialogue. Over the past seven years, Lexi has spoken with more than 20,000 students internationally to foster safer and more compassionate communities. Lexi's work has been recognized by the University of Toronto, The Ohio State University and several independent schools across Canada which revisit her programming annually. This talk is aimed to support our senior students to build their emotional intelligence and capacity to develop and sustain healthy relationships.

Please RSVP if you plan to attend.

Week Without Bells | Camp Wanakita, Camp Pine Crest, Olympia Sports Camp

We are thrilled to be able to report that the Year 9, 10 and 11's have had an absolute blast this week up at camp! The relationship-building and sense of camaraderie has been incredible. 

Please feel free to take a look at the photos of the trips below

Y9 Olympia Sports Camp

Y10 Camp Pine Crest 

Y11 Camp Wanakita

Sign Up | Boarder Dinners 

UCC has a wonderful community of boarders ranging from Year 8 to Year 12, who are here from 25 different countries. To help our boarders feel more connected to the UCC community, the PO is excited to launch a new initiative where interested families welcoming a couple of our boarding students at their home. Available dates are listed below, and interested families should complete the form at the bottom of this message.  

• Oct. 19 or 20

• Nov.2 or 3

• Nov. 30 or Dec. 1

If you’re interested in hosting two boarders for dinner, please complete this request form. 

Save the date | "Take Our Kids to Work Day" 

UCC supports "Take Our Kids to Work Day", an annual career exploration event, held every November, where Year 9 students across Canada spend the day in the life of a working professional. 

This year it will be held on Wednesday Nov. 6.

Save the date | Three-way conferences

Three-way conferences will be held on:

• Tuesday, Nov. 12 — Virtually. No classes for students on this day.

• Wednesday, Nov. 13 — In-person starting at 2 p.m. Students will have an early dismissal from classes at 12:20 p.m.