Welcome to Preschool - September 2013

Another preschool year is in full swing here at St. Catherine's and the first month has flown by really quickly with gradual entry, meeting friends old and new, and getting to know teachers, classrooms and routines. For some of you this will be your first preschool experience and for others not so much! No matter what, we hope to make your time here at St. Catherine's special, rewarding and memorable.

As I walk through the hallways it's wonderful to hear the happy hum of chatter, songs and laughter coming from the classrooms and if I'm lucky I might just get a little visitor or two to my office throughout the day!

If you have any questions or concerns please talk with your teachers, Marion, Tina or myself (Jen). We are really lucky here at St. Catherine's to have so many people available to help with any issues that arise. Communication is so important and helps us to all be on the same page with regards to your child's preschool experience.

Jen McEneany  Staff and Program Coordinator

Hello and welcome to St. Catherine's Preschool. I came to St. Catherine's in October 2008 as a practicum student, and from the moment I walked through the doors I knew that I didn't want to leave (luckily I didn't have to!) I have since worked in the Discovery 2's and 3 year old programs before taking on the role of coordinator in 2012. I feel very lucky to work in such a caring, compassionate and supportive environment and I hope that you and your children will feel that same love and care during your time here at preschool.

I have two daughters Ayla who is 10 and Kaitlyn who is almost 7. We live in a little apartment here in North Van and feel very lucky to live in such a beautiful city. I love to spend my free time with friends and family, hiking local trails, swimming, dancing and reading.

Tina Spencer  Administrator

This is my fifth year at St. Catherine's Preschool, and I really enjoy being here. My job consists of all the registration, licensing issues and grants as well as serving on the board for several ECE related committees in the community. In addition to this I run a small business called Little Giant in which I make and sell felt board stories as well as teaching felt board story workshops.

 

I have lived and worked on the North Shore for 45 years, I have two sons Spencer and Jack and I love to spend my spare time playing baseball, camping and taking photographs.

Marion Porter   Developmental Resource Teacher 

I was raised in Montreal, moved to Newfoundland in the early 70's  and then drove across Canada in 1978. Met and married my husband Jim and had our three wonderful boys Richard, Stephen, and Derek. We are now empty nesters and enjoy taking off camping whenever we can. For over 30 years I have worked with children, especially those requiring extra support. 

I became part of the St. Catherine's family in 1997 and since that time have taken on a variety of roles from Support Teacher and Team Teacher to Coordinator before settling into my current role as Developmental Resource Teacher in 2003. My position is very unique to a preschool setting. I am the .5 teacher in all the classrooms and a liaison between community services, parents and children. For the past 15 years I have been part of the teaching team during the Summer Program in July.

I look forward to coming into work each day and seeing all the little faces and how excited they are to learn through play.

Cheryl Hebb  Music Director and 402

I am so excited to begin another year at St. Catherine's! This year as well as my role as Music Director, I am also aiding one day a week in 402. It's so much fun to be working in both the music program as well as in the classroom!

This year is my 21st year at St. Catherine's and I wouldn't change a moment. I love this preschool, the wonderful staff and board. I look forward to sharing your children's hard work and having lots of fun in the Christmas and Easter services. 

I live in a little house in the woods with my husband Jim, our 11 year old son Nathan, and our dog Indi. In my spare time I am involved in several community theatre groups.

Permjit Kaur  301, 403

I was born in Birmingham and spent most of my adult life in London. Thirteen years ago I moved to Vancouver with my husband and three wonderful children. Although I missed London at first, the beauty of Vancouver’s mountains makes me very glad to be here. I have two daughters and a son. My oldest daughter graduated from Queen’s University and is now living and working in London. My son graduated with a BSc in Genetics at University College London (UCL), and my youngest daughter is in her third year at the Sauder School of Business at UBC. I like to hike, run and vegetate with a good book!
 
I completed my ECE, special needs and Infant toddler training in England. I worked and supervised for a variety of childcare organisations mostly in inner city London. I have worked in childcare for the last 27 years and at St. Catherine’s for the last 9 years. I have worked with the 3's and 4's and am happy to be working with Gabi and Stephanie this year!

I feel very privileged to witness your children's enthusiasm to new things and experiences, and I look forward to teaching your children and having lots of fun this year.

Danielle Moore  201, 202, 204

My name is Danielle and I was born in Perth, Western Australia. Twenty years ago I travelled to Canada and fell in love with Vancouver and my husband Rick. We now have three lovely children Alyssa who is 17, Rhys who is 15 and Haylee who is 11. We love to go for walks in the North Shore mountains with our dog Shadow. My spare time is consumed with my children's activities especially soccer, as it is a big part of our weekend. We also love to watch movies and go swimming.

I have been working at St Catherine's for over 8 years now and I first worked in the 4 year old program before working with the Discovery Two's for the last several years. I really enjoy watching the youngest members of the preschool develop over the 10 months they are here.  

Estelle  Stojcic  202, 204

I completed my basic certificate in Early Childhood Education in 1993 before going on to do my Infant/Toddler and Special Needs in 2004. I've been here at St. Catherine's since 2005 and really enjoy my job!
 

I have two children; Angelique who is seven and Liliana who is four. In my spare time I like to knit, go to the park with my daughters, and shop!

I look forward to a fun filled year with your children and can't wait to see the little two's blossom and grow as the year goes on.

Vibha Sisodraker  201, 202, 204

I was born and raised in the Fiji Islands and moved with my family to Toronto when I was 15. I completed my Early Childhood Education there before moving to Vancouver in 1995. I am married and my husband and I have a beautiful daughter Ria, who was born in 2002.

Yoga, reading and Bollywood dancing are my favourite hobbies!

I joined St. Catherine's Preschool in 2006 and am thrilled to be working with the 2's this year!

Sali Chippett   302, 401

My name is Sali Chippett. I was born in England and have lived in Canada for 22 years. I have two children, a son aged 15 and a daughter aged 18, who both attended St.Catherine's preschool! I have lived near Edgemont Village for 19 years and know many families in the area. My hobbies include reading, hiking, camping, swimming, and hanging out with my kids. I also love to cook and bake. 

I have worked in the field of Early Childhood Education for over 20 years. I have my Early Childhood Educator licence and Infant/ Toddler licence. I have also had experience supporting children with differing abilities.

I started working at St. Catherine's in the Spring of 2012 and am very happy to be back for the new school year. St. Catherine's is a great place to work, the teachers are a great support to one another and there is always a lot of fun and laughter. I enjoy helping children develop skills such as independence, co-operation and self confidence. I love watching the children's faces as they create a piece of art, when they hear a song, or read a story that they are really excited about! I am looking forward to a great new school year and getting to know the children and families.

Karen Hamfeldt  204, 401, 402

This is my second year as part of the staff here at St. Catherine's, however I have been part of the St. Catherine's family for many years as my three children Connor, Alexis and Amanda all attended the preschool.

I thought my time at St. Catherine's was finished but it seems I just can't leave! The preschool has been a big part of my life and my children's, and I feel very fortunate to be working in a place that I feel so comfortable. 

I have wanted to work with children since I was in elementary school, but my path took a different route when I was sixteen and I fell in love with cooking. I attended VCC to take the Culinary Arts program and enjoyed every minute. I went on to work in restaurants and then to catering on movie sets.

When I got pregnant I had to put the catering on hold as I was working 16 hours days. To make a long story short I never really got back into it seriously as the hours are not good for family life! So after being a stay at home mom (eating Bon Bon's all day for 9 years!) I decided to go back to school (with a push from a former St. Catherine's employee) and pursue a career in ECE.

I should have done this sooner as enjoy every day with your children. I think as I am a bit of a kid still myself that this is the right place for me!

I am looking forward to a wonderful year working with your children and meeting all the families too!

Rachel Deakin  401, 302

I graduated from the ECCE program at Capilano University in 2008 and I have enjoyed working with children in various capacities in both preschool and daycare for the past eight years. I currently work with both the 3's and the 4's here at St Catherine's and I enjoy every minute!

I am married to my wonderful husband Ryan and we have two beautiful daughters Havana who is in the 4's program here at St. Catherine's and Aaliyah who is in the Discovery 2's program.

During our spare time we like going to local parks, beaches, the aquarium and travelling.

Stephanie Mah  201, 304, 402, 403

Hi my name is Stephanie Mah. I live in Vancouver with my mom, dad, and brother. During my free time I like to bake, roller blade, and spend time with my family and friends. I also have two dogs that I enjoy taking out for walks; a Pomeranian named Chi Chi and a Labrador named Shadow.

I completed my Early Childhood Education, Special Needs and Infant Toddler Programs at Capilano University.

This is going to be my eighth year working at St. Catherine's Preschool and over the years I have had the pleasure of working with the amazing staff and wonderful children in the 2's, 3's, 4's, drop-in, and summer programs. I have learned and experienced so much in the years that I've been here and I am looking forward to many more to come!

Gabi Pasek 301, 302, 304, 403 

My name is Gabriella Pasek (Gabi)  and I was born and raised in Hungary and lived in Austria for a year before I moved to Canada more than 15 years ago. I have a 13 year old daughter Rebecca who is also my fashion adviser, language pathologist and event planner!

E.C.E. is my new field, although I took courses in teaching before the adventure of moving over to this side of the world. I spent the 5 years prior to taking my E.C.E. working in the financial sector, before faith helped me to realise that I should be doing something that makes me happy.

I have always enjoyed the company of young children. I love to watch how smart, independent, lovable and unique each of them is. I like to observe the interaction between them; some of their conversations are priceless! I admire their simple (and if not hungry or tired!!) usually happy outlook on life.

I feel privileged, accepted and welcomed in the St. Catherine’s community, where I have met loving families and witnessed amazing teachers plan and implement programs and activities just the way I imagined that one day I would do!

In my spare time I like reading, hiking, biking and snowboarding.

I also enjoy spending time with all age groups when I volunteer my time at folk-dance events, swim meets or theatrical performances. 

Arsi Amirians  402

My name is Arsi and I am so very delighted to be in the field of Early Childhood Education and Care. I graduated the ECE program with the additional certification of Infant Toddler from Capilano University. I have been working in this field for over 6 years now and look forward to many more years of playing, learning and teaching!

I've been married to my husband for 8 years now and we have 2 beautiful children. Our daughter Lara is 7 years old and just started grade 2 and our 18 month old son Luca keeps us busy and on our toes!

During my very rare spare time, I enjoy reading mystery books, surfing the net, and catching up with my friends.

I'm looking forward to a fun filled new preschool year and getting to know all the wonderful children and families!

Christine Rowe  Reverend at St. Catherine's Anglican Church

I have been the reverend here at St. Catherine's for seven years now and I thoroughly enjoy my work. I am originally from the UK and have called Canada home since 2000 when I arrived here with my husband (who is also a priest) and our three wonderful children.

St. Catherine's Preschool was founded in 1990 as a mission of St. Catherine's Anglican Church and we continue to share our values of love and care for families especially in this community. The Preschool and Church enjoy many close links, and these are especially apparent during the Christmas and Easter services when the children are able to spend time in the Church, and then share their talents for us. This is a very special experience for the children, families and for members of the Church congregation.

One of the highlights of my day is peeking out of my office and seeing all the little faces on their way to the gym or music class and hearing their happy chatter. Truly the children and their families bring this space to life with warmth and happiness and it is an honour to be so connected with such a wonderful part of the community as St. Catherine's Preschool.

I would like to let each family know that they are welcome to attend a Church service or to meet with me in person at any time and for those families with new babies come and talk with me about baptism. My door is always open!

Until we meet again... June 2013

Another preschool year has come to a close and what a fun year it was! Some of the hightlights were the pizza night and cake walk which is one of our most anticipated annual family events, putting together Christmas hampers for three North Shore families in need, the Christmas services and Easter services which are always so much fun, and the Burger and Beer Fundraiser which was a huge success! Below are some pictures from our rather rainy but still very fun (well Cheryl and Marion seemed to enjoy themselves!) picnics as well as some other fun pictures from this year!

Thank you to all our families for their support over the year. From helping out in the classrooms, to attending our special events, donating to our fundraisers, and making special treats for our parties, we truly appreciate your kindness and generosity!

This year we say goodbye to four members of our preschool family, Barb Phillipson retired ealier this year, and Libby Beaton is retiring after over 20 years here at St. Catherine's. Krystal Ripolo leaves us to persue another position and Joanna Scheffler leaves us for a new position after 7 years here at St. Catherine's. We will miss all four of you wonderful ladies and wish each of you the very best!

On behalf of all the staff here at St. Catherine's Preschool we wish our families a wonderful, fun and relaxing summer.

Dates to remember:

TuesdayJuly 2: Summer Program begins, please contact Marion for questions regarding this program.

Friday July 5: Preschool office closes for the summer. Please leave a telephone or email message and Jen or Tina will get back to you as soon as possible.

Thursday July 25: Final day of Summer Program.

Monday August 19: Preschool office opens.

Wednesday September 4: Gradual Entry begins.

For more information please contact us:

Telephone: 604-980-1326

Email: stcpre@telus.net

Website: www.stcatherinespreschool.com

Please "LIKE" our facebook page St. Catherine's Childcare Society. Thank you!

Magical May! 2013



St. Catherine's Logo cloth bags

The month of May just flew by in a whirlwind of science experiments, classic children's stories, music open houses, caterpillars turning into butterflies, pirates, princesses, knights and gorgeous art work! Whenever I walk through the classrooms I find children who are busy learning, laughing and gaining confidence in their own skills and independence.

Now that we are into June we have parties happening, graduation for the 4's and picnics for all the classes at Mahon Park.

We have St. Catherine's Logo bags for sale through the office, these bags are great for library books, grocery shopping or just for fun! They are also a great keepsake from your time here at preschool! Small bags are $4 and large are $8.

We are still taking registrations for the 2013/2014 preschool year. Please be sure to let people know about our fantastic 2's, 3's, and 4's programs here at St. Catherine's Preschool!

June dates to remember:

Tuesday June 18th: 10:45am 402 Graduation Ceremony.

Tuesday June 18th: 2:00pm 403 and 404 Graduation Ceremony.

Wednesday June 19th: 10:45am 401 Graduation Ceremony.

Wednesday June 19th: Final day of classes.

Thursday June 20th: 11:30-1:30pm 202/204/302/402/404 Picnic

Friday June 21st: 11:30-1:30pm 201/301/401/303/403 Picnic.

To contact us or for more information:

Tel: 604-980-1326

Fax: 604-982-3277

Email: stcpre@telus.net

Website: www.stcatherinespreschool.com

Please "LIKE" our facebook page: St. Catherine's Childcare Society

From the resource office  Marion

Well the school year is almost finished and I look forward to the next couple of weeks of graduations, parties and of course the picnics. For those families moving on from St. Catherine’s I want to wish you all the best in the future. It has been an exciting year watching all the children develop their individual personalities. 

Kindergarten will bring new adventures. The children will be working on their listening skills and social interactions. They should also be aware of their personal space and be tuned-in to the feelings of others. They will need to use their problem solving skills and always feel that they can ask questions when they are unsure.

During the summer months you can work with your child on number skills and recognizing simple words (their own name in print) and letting them do some tasks independently. They should also know the importance of rules and how to follow them, especially when it comes to safety issues. Have fun and enjoy this next phase of your child’s education! Although they are leaving some friends they will quickly make new ones. REMEMBER: It typically takes 180 hours to teach a 4 year old to tell time; it takes 1 hour and 10 minutes to teach a 6 year old to tell time; and it takes 10 minutes to teach a 7 year old to tell time.

For those returning families who feel that this is the time to toilet train before the 3’s here are a few thoughts: girls may be ready sooner than boys. Children may be ready when they are able to do most of the following:

-          Can pull down pants and get on and off the potty.

-          Can say a few words and understand simple directions.

-          Wants to “do it myself".

-          Is interested in the toilet.

-          Stays dry for a few hours.

-          Has regular bowel movements.

-          Can tell you if they need to use the toilet or potty – by words or actions.

You can prepare your child by:

-          Helping child get used to the potty.

-          Having child flush the toilet.

-          Having child wear clothes that are easy to take off.

It’s better not to start toilet training if:

-          The child or a family member is ill.

-          You are travelling.

-          There is a new baby in the family.

-          Child is at the “NO” stage.

Have your child sit on the potty several times during the day:

-          Before and after naps.

-          Before and after bedtime.

-          ½ hour after meals.

-          After being dry for 2 hours.

If your child is successful, give lots of praise. If nothing happens, say “Good Try – we will try again later”. Go out and have your child pick out their own underwear and stock up. Get rid of the pull-ups and stick with the underwear. Children need to know how it feels to get wet, accidents will happen. Parents and children often feel frustrated and disappointed when it takes a long time for the child to toilet train. If the child is not mostly successful within 2-3 weeks, wait a month and try again.

Painted Lady butterfly

Remember, it will happen! Be patient or come and see me during the Summer Program and we can discuss your goals.

I will not say goodbye to the families leaving us, I’ll just say see you in the village. I will see some of you during the Summer Program and others in September. May everyone have a great summer with lots of sunshine (not too much) and lots of family time.

From Creative Music  Cheryl

Three's Music

Oh my goodness has the year flown by! My little 3's are not so little anymore. We have explored many aspects of music and creative music. To finish our year I introduced 'The Orchestra' and we talked about the conductor, the conductor's batton and how all the orchestra musicians have to watch the conductor to see when they should start, how fast or slow they should go, and when to stop. Every child got a turn to be the conductor during our music open house and they seemed to really enjoy having all eyes on them as they decided how the music piece would be performed!

I look forward to next year when we will continue our exploration of all things music!!

Four's Music

Kindergarten here they come! I was telling the children on our last day of class how sad I was that I won't be teaching them again next year. One boy said, "We have music class in kindergarten so we will see you there." I had to break it to him that they would have a different music teacher at elementary school. So cute!

To wind up our year we listened to, and talked about Peter and the Wolf, written by Sergei Prokofiev. Each character is represented by a member of the orchestra. The children learned which character corresponded to which instrument and heard the story. It took us four weeks to listen to the story, with each week ending in a cliffhanger moment which the children had to wait until the following week to find out what was going to happen!

Have a wonderful summer!

  

From the Discovery 2's  Vibha, Danielle, Cheryl, Gabi Estelle and Karen

It's hard to believe that June is here already, and the preschool year is coming to an end.

As we look back over the year, it is really exciting to see how much the two's are growing up to be confident and capable little three's. We are seeing them work so well together and their play is starting to incorporate more and more friends.

In June, we started a new theme "Under the Sea". For art, we made handprint crabs, paper plate turtles, jelly fish, starfish with sand and blue whales.  At the moment, we're working on a Father's Day project.

As this will be the last blog from the 2's, we wanted to say a big thank you to all our parents and children. It has been such a pleasure teaching your children this year, and we look forward to watching them grow over the next two years in the 3's and 4's.  For those of you who are moving on, we wish you well wherever you go! Have a wonderful and safe summer.

From 301 Rainbow Room  Joanna, Sali and Karen

With the school year coming to a close, the teachers started to think about what would be a good unit to end the year. Classic children’s stories was the idea; inspiring the children to re-enact or retell the stories to family and friends was the outcome we wanted the children to be left with. Both the teachers and children have enjoyed how we used many different mediums to tell the stories to the children. The teachers let the children play with masks, felt stories and prop boxes and then the stories were told through these mediums as well as classic stories told with a twist such as "The Three Little Wolves and The Big Bad Pig" or "Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs".

Altogether six stories were focused on over eight weeks.

First was "The Three Little Pigs". The children made toilet paper roll pigs, three houses made out of straw, sticks and bricks. As well as this, the children made wolf masks. We hope the children took some time at home to tell the story with their props like they had practiced at school!

Second came the story of "The Three Billy Goats Gruff". In the classroom the children sponge painted a bridge for the goats to trot across. They also made paper plate trolls to hide under the bridge.

Next came the story of "Little Red Riding Hood". During this story the children explored painting with red using different mediums to paint paper red all over. Because Red Riding Hood was taking a basket of cookies to her Grandmother’s house to share, the children all made two cookies, one to eat in class and a second to take home to share with someone they love. The children also enjoyed drawing pictures of their favourite part of the story and telling the teachers what they had drawn and why they liked it. This will help the children get ready for the 4’s next year when they will start journals. Each week they will be asked to draw a picture and tell the story that goes along with it.

The children took a week off from their classic story unit to spend a special day showing their families what they do in music class. Thank you to all the special people that came to spend the music class with their children, it was so nice to see the joy having the people they love come to school to sing and share with them.

Following the break the children read "Goldilocks and the Three Bears". The children enjoyed making fuzzy warm brown bears. Just like the bowls in the story, the children made three different sizes of oatmeal bowls. The children also made Goldilocks paper bag puppets. On the day the children were making their puppets, Goldilocks even came to the classroom to visit! This story was particularly close to the teachers heart because while the children listen to the story they are learning more than just a story about a curios little girl because with everything she comes across we have three sizes and the children are learning about size, small medium and large. Every time Goldilocks finds new objects these ideas are reinforced. Learning size is a great pre math skill so any time the teachers get to teach these very important things it makes us happy.

The last story the children read was "The Little Red Hen". The children always enjoy making different types of food; the bread they baked with Sali was no different. The children enjoyed measuring and mixing the ingredients which are again great pre math skills along with the sharing of responsibilities and waiting their turn to help. Baking and cooking with children is such a great activity for young minds. 

Some parents asked for our 30 minute bread recipe so here is the link if you would like to bake some quick, yummy bread!  http://clairekcreations.com/2011/07/30-minute-bread/

As the school year winds down the children are busy making special surprises for Father’s day. Thank you to everyone for such a great year. Thank you for all the support and for any time we came to you with concerns we felt we had such great understanding and support from you. We know these wee little minds are more than ready to conquer the 4 year old program!

From 302  Treehouse Room  Stephanie, Rachel and Joanna

Wow! Where did the year go?! We can't believe it's almost time to say goodbye. We have had such a fun year with your children, getting to know each of them and watching their realtionships with eachother grow. Next year they will be the big fours and we look forward to seeing them continue to grow and gain confidence, life skills and independence!

The children have been doing a bug theme this past month and they have really enjoyed learning about many different kinds of creepy crawlies! They also got to see the life cycle of a butterfly! They have done many wonderful art projects, they made coffee filter butterflies, egg carton ants and paper plate ladybugs. 

 A song the children really enjoyed was:

Sing to the tune..(are you sleeping) 

Big bugs, small bugs 

Big bugs, small bugs 

See them crawl, on the wall 

Creepy creepy crawling.. 

Never never falling 

Bugs,bugs,bugs!

Bugs, bugs, bugs!

 

From 303/403 Treehouse Room  Vibha Stephanie and Sali

We can't believe there are only a few more weeks left!

For the past few weeks we were on a big adventure sailing the high seas with our crew of pirates! We transformed our house keeping corner into a Pirate ship and the children had great fun playing make-believe in there.

For art, we enjoyed making paper plate pirates, treasure maps, flags and pirate hats. At circle, we talked about what pirates wear and how pirates find treasure. We also enjoyed a pirate story time at the library.

Our practicum student, Drew read us the story "How I became a pirate'' and we sang a song "The day I went to sea".

Graduation will be the final adventure as we say farewell to some of

our children and wish them all the best in Kindergarten. The teachers have been very blessed to have had an opportunity to teach your children. They are a wonderful group and we have enjoyed the experience of getting to know them. Each one brings something special to the class and we will miss them.

We would like to thank all of our families for their support and contributions to our parties and special occasions.

Our best wishes for the future and have a great summer!

From the Treehouse Room 401 Rachel, Stephanie and Krystal

Wow! Where did the year go? We can't believe it's almost time to say goodbye to our big fours as they leave preschool and go on to new adventures at elementary school. It has been such a pleasure to spend this year connecting with your children, being able to share in their many accomplishments and spending our days laughing and playing! We will miss each and every one of them and we wish our families all the best!

We've been talking about the butterfly life cycle this past month. We ordered butterfly larvae which came from Vernon at the beginning of May. The children helped us to put them into their individual containers with food, where they grew into large caterpillars and we observed them build their chrysalis'.

After two weeks the children got to see the different stages of the chrysalis, first it went transparent, dark, and then gold and shiny before turning into beautiful, painted lady butterflies! The children did some beautiful art pieces displaying the different stages of a butterfly's life cycle. They made a tree with egg carton caterpillars, then when the real caterpillars built a chrysalis we put our caterpillars into paper bags. When they turned into butterflies inside the tank we marble painted butterfly wings and added them to our own caterpillars to make them into butterflies!

When it was time, we released the butterflies into the garden and we couldn't help but think that our little fours will soon be spreading their wings and beginning their next adeventures just like our butterflies did.

Thank you to all our families for their support over the last year (years) at preschool. We have loved getting to know you, and we feel so lucky to have been your child's first teachers.

Have a wonderful summer!

From the Downunder Room  402/404 Libby Permjit, Joanna and Gabi

This is our final blog for this year and we would like to take this time to say a big thank you for a great year and for the pleasure it has been getting to know and teaching your wonderful children. We have had lots of belly laughs and endless conversations about anything and everything!

In the last few weeks we have enjoyed visiting Ancient Egypt, while our special person for Fridays was Mozart. We enjoyed making violins and writing our own music with quill pens! After this we went on to looking at Medieval castles, knights and princesses, this was so much fun especially our banquet at the end of the theme.

Another special person we looked at was the famous Canadian artist Tom Thomson. The children really enjoyed painting on a stetched out canvas using acrylic paints and we felt very proud of our art exhibition with cheese, crackers, cookies and "champagne".

Joanna, Gabi and Permjit would like to wish Libby all the best in her retirement. Libby has taught here at St. Catherine's for over 20 years and we will all miss her passion for teaching and her moto "over plan and then we can always take things out"!! Thank you for all your hard work and for your commitment to giving young children the best possible start to their education.



Our Royal Teachers!

To our families, we have enjoyed getting to know you all over this past year and your previous years here at St. Catherine's. Spending time with your precious little ones is such a privilege and we are so thankful to each and every one of you for choosing us to be your child's first teachers. We wish you all the best as you move on to Kindergarten and remember you are welcome to come back and visit us whenever you get the chance!