BHES BLOG

Winter at the ROC

On Thursday, our Grade 4 students and today, our grade 8 students traveled to the ROC (Recreational Outdoor Campus) to engage in skating, tobogganing and tubing. Our students have been fortunate to enjoy two beautiful sunny days and had the facility to themselves! Below are a few pictures to share the experience with you. It's no wonder our grade 4's fell asleep on the trip home.
Coming up: Gr 7's on Wednesday Feb 11
Gr 5's on Friday Feb 20
Gr 6's on Thursday Feb 26

Junior Boys (Gr. 4-6) Basketball Tryouts

Try outs for our Junior Boys Basketball team will begin on Monday Feb 9 at 1:10pm. Thanks to Ms. Sawchuk and Ms. Khorakchi for coaching.

Valentine Cookie Grams Feb 9-11

Student Council will be selling Valentine Cookie grams on Feb 9-11 during morning recess. All funds raised will be donated to a local charity. The charity chosen by our student council is the Children's Aid foundation of York Region. One cookie is $2 or 3 cookies for $5. Cookies are nut free.

Fairness in February

On Wednesday, many of our students received Bayview Hill Bengal character awards, recognized for their perseverance. Students demonstrated this in several ways. Some students were recognized for persevering to learn English as a second language, continuing to work hard at a challenging task, and to learn new skills in physical education that were then applied to a game. In February, students are encouraged to think about FAIRNESS and how they can demonstrate being fair. Fairness can be a very abstract concept for students to learn. At school, fairness means that everyone gets what he or she needs and not necessarily what he or she wants. Fair doesn't mean equal. Sometimes being fair and equal is easy, like when you are dividing up shares of a chocolate bar but other times, it is much more abstract and can be challenging, like when a student's needs dictate that he/she go first in line all the time. Part of our conversations, announcements and discussions at school this month will focus on Black History. We will focus on the fair treatment of people and celebrate their contributions to our world. One of the most difficult concepts around fairness is explaining to our children that life isn't fair. Disappointment is inevitable, and how our children handle disappointment sets them up for how to handle situations when life just doesn't seem fair. Teaching our children to be resilient is one of the most important things we can do as parents and educators.

Forest of Reading Program ~ Encourages Reading!

The Forest of Reading is organized every year by the Ontario Library Association, to showcase new books by Canadian authors and illustrators. There are book selections for all ages, from Kindergarten to adult. The program is run in school and public libraries. For each age group, ten books are nominated. At the end of April, participants are able to vote for their favourite book, and winners are announced in May. It's a great opportunity to have conversations with kids about why they like certain books more than others, and what authors and illustrators do to draw the reader into the story.

Thank you Ms. Livi (Teacher Librarian) for providing this opportunity to our students. And thank you to school council for providing funds to support the purchase of the books.

Kindergarten Teachers: Blue Spruce: Teachers will plan individually with Ms. Livi about how best to implement this with the Kindergarten students.

Grade 1 - 3: Blue Spruce: Beginning in February, classes will sign up to come to the library for a Blue Spruce introduction. The books will be available for teachers to sign out on a daily basis, and teachers can also bring classes to the library for Ms. Livi to read some of the titles to them.

Grades 3 & 4: Silver Birch Express: Students were introduced to this program and are welcome to join the recess club to discuss the books.

Grades 5 & 6: Silver Birch Fiction and Non-fiction: Students have two options: they can choose to read the fiction or the non-fiction titles. They need to read 5 out of 10 books by the end of April to vote. They are required to come to the library every Wednesday to touch base with Ms. Livi, and to participate in discussions about the books they are reading.

Grades 7 & 8: Red Maple Fiction and Non-fiction: Students have two options: they can choose to read the fiction or the non-fiction titles. They need to read 5 out of 10 books by the end of April to vote. They are required to come to the library every Thursday to touch base with Ms. Livi, and to participate in discussions about the books they are reading.

Gym closed Tuesday Feb 3

Students who have gym on Tuesday Feb 3 (DAY 5) will be going outdoors due to electrical work being completed in our gym. It was hoped that the work would be completed in one day (today) but the contractors need to return. Please ensure that your child is dressed appropriately for the weather and outdoor activity.