Walking Together: Truth & Reconciliation

Learning Canada’s true history means listening with open hearts to the voices and experiences of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Peoples. As we continue our journey of Reconciliation, we are learning how to listen, understand, and care for one another, just as Jesus calls us to do. Over the past few days, we took time to learn, reflect, ask questions, and grow in kindness, understanding, and respect.

Reading Phyllis Webstad’s With Our Orange Hearts led to heartfelt conversations about belonging and the importance of every child feeling safe and valued. We brainstormed words that describe how children should feel at school, and created a beautiful collaborative display.

Inspired by the Cree calendar book When the Trees Crackle with Cold, we became “nature trappers,” noticing God's beauty around us with new eyes. Our Treaty 6 land is a beautiful gift in all seasons!

The Cree story Awasis and the World-Famous Bannock inspired us to try making bannock ourselves! The story has many Cree words that we practiced saying. What a fun way to measure, work as a team, and enjoy a tasty, traditional treat!

Delicious!

Father Jim popped in during our weekly clergy visit. He reminded us that we are infinitely loved by God and created unique and special. Father Jim encouraged us to look for Jesus in everyone we meet.

We crafted beautiful glowing orange lanterns, reminding us that we all hold immense value. Every child matters.

Our journey of learning about reconciliation and Indigenous culture is just beginning. We look forward to continuing to grow in understanding together.

We Learn from Eachother

This school year, we are blessed with many opportunities to learn from a variety of special community members. This past week, we had the chance to connect with two wonderful people!

Miss Sara, Mental Health Capacity Builder

Miss Sara has a special role in our school. She works alongside our staff to help students strengthen their social-emotional skills and develop the tools they need to navigate their emotions and relationships.

We will have regularly scheduled visits with Miss Sara, and we loved getting to know her during her first visit this week! We learned that she has a big dog named Floof, loves playing UNO and board games, and is creative and artistic.

During her visit, Miss Sara read us The Color Monster, a story that introduced us to a variety of emotions. We look forward to learning more about our emotions and growing as empowered, flexible thinkers!

Father Arun, Associate Pastor at OLPH Church

Throughout the year, we will have regularly scheduled clergy visits as we welcome priests and deacons from OLPH into our school and classrooms. These visits give us a wonderful opportunity to connect, build relationships, and grow together in our faith.

Our first visit was this week, and we were so happy to meet Father Arun! Father Arun is from India and has been in Canada for just three months. He told us how much he loves being at OLPH, but he has never experienced a cold, snowy Canadian winter. We promised we would take him outside when the snow arrives!

Father Arun shared his love for Jesus with us and encouraged us to work hard, learn, and use the gifts God has blessed us with. We also discovered that Father Arun loves math! He has a degree in engineering, with a focus on electronics and communications.

As we got to know Father Arun a little better, we learned that he speaks Tamil and English, his favourite food is chicken biryani and rice, and he is excited to continue getting to know our school community.

We are so grateful to have Father Arun and the other clergy from OLPH as part of our school family. We look forward to many more opportunities to learn, laugh, pray, and grow together!

It's a FAIL-a-bration!

Learning isn't always easy. It includes challenges, setbacks, and often failure. 

This week we explored what it means to fail. 

After lots sharing and listening, we discovered that failing isn't something to fear. Failure is part of life and an important part of learning. Through stories and discussions, we explored perseverance, trying again, and seeing mistakes as opportunities to grow. 

To celebrate this mindset, we held a FAIL-A-BRATION! Wahoo!

To kick off the fail-a-bration, we shared times we've failed and reminded each other that mistakes help us learn. From falling off the monkey bars, spilling our yogurt, or getting mixed up at bus transfer, we proudly celebrated our mistakes. We all make them!

As we prepared to decorate cookies for the party, we had a laugh when we saw the treats! Mrs. Beliveau had planned to make us round cookies, but when they came out of her oven, they were funny-looking blobs. A few even got a little too toasty around the edges. But really, what better treat for a fail-a-bration?

Cookies, banners, balloons, and a disco-light dance party made our fail-a-bration so joyous and set a positive tone for our school year and how we'll handle mistakes. 

Our classroom is a safe place to take risks. We will be challenged, and when things feel hard, what matters is how we respond. In Grade 1B we will fail together, succeed together, and grow stronger together! 

We aren't aiming for perfection, we're just trying our best to be a little better than before. 

Thank you to Laurie MacIntosh for inspiring this celebration!

Connection Time: A Positive Foundation for Our Day

Each morning begins with Connection Time, a meaningful routine that allows us to gently ease into the day and prepare ourselves for our best learning.

We gather in a circle so everyone is seen and heard. 

1. Prayer and Land Acknowledgement

We always begin in prayer, remembering that God is at the center of all we do and all we are:

“Father in Heaven, I give You today, all that I think, and do, and say. Amen.”

Simple actions, led by our Prayer Leaders, accompany our words, helping us to pray with both heart and body.

Following prayer, we share our child-friendly acknowledgement of land and people.

2. Greetings

A warm hello, eye contact, and using someone’s name can go a long way in helping others feel seen, welcomed, and like they belong. We practice different greetings, including really silly ones, like this much-loved Stinky Shoe Hello!

3. News

Students are invited to share what is on their minds, whether joyful or hard. We’ve already heard about movie nights, lost teeth, lake trips, swimming, and more!

4. Social Scenario Problem-Solving
To build problem-solving skills, students are presented with real-life social situations. In pairs, they brainstorm possible solutions, then come together as a group to discuss. Scenarios have included:

• You spill your yogurt drink on your pants

• A friend is crying at their desk, but you don’t know why

• You forgot your lunch at home

We're exploring the idea that problems can be “mouse problems” (small) or “elephant problems” (big), and that a small problem doesn’t need an elephant-sized reaction. 

6. Story
We end Connection Time with a story, carefully chosen for its message.

Though full, Connection Time moves along and sets a joyful, intentional tone for the day. This time is valued, not only for the learning it supports but for the way it builds our relationships and helps us see Christ in one another.

Our First Days Together

Our journey is off to a joyful start! In these first few days, we’ve focused on creating a space where everyone feels safe, knows they belong, and feels connected. When children feel safe, valued, and connected, that’s when the best learning happens!

As a team, we set out to create a colourful, collaborative beaded window hanging! Each student created their own strand, choosing their favourite beads and adding their name with letter beads. 

What a wonderful way to practise so many important skills! Little fingers were busy strengthening fine-motor skills, while problem-solving, following directions, literacy, and numeracy were woven into the fun! Look at our collaborative masterpiece! 

Together, our individual strands became a beautiful reminder that we are all an important part of our classroom family. It shines and sparkles in the morning sunshine and we are incredibly proud of what we made together. 

It has been a joy to see these children already growing together and becoming the hands of Christ through their kindness, compassion and care for one another. We have been abundantly blessed with a sincere, engaged, and clever crew. Look at these bright, joyful smiles!

A Warm Welcome to Grade 1

Hello! My name is Mrs. Beliveau, and it rhymes with “grow”. I’m so happy that we get to learn together this year! We’re going to have a spectacular year filled with growing, laughing, helping, and joy! 

I can’t wait to learn all about you, but until then, let me share a few things about me.

Did you learn a little bit about me? I can’t wait to discover what makes you so special!

I’ll be seeing your smile very soon!

Your teacher, 

Mrs. Beliveau

Growing in Christ's Love

Dear boys and girls,

What a joyful year we have shared together! I am incredibly proud of the warm, caring classroom community we built together, and I have loved watching each and every one of you learn and grow. What a blessing it has been to laugh, learn, struggle, support, and grow together!

As we head into summer, remember to keep growing in Christ's love. Let His love help you become stronger, kinder, and braver every day. Wherever you go and whatever you do, you can be Jesus’ hands by helping others, loving big, and shining your bright light for the whole world to see.

Thank you for being such a beautiful blessing to me this year. Have a wonderful, sunny summer, and please remember that my door is always open! Come back and see me next year for huge hugs and high fives!

With lots of love and prayers,

Mrs. Beliveau