There is never a dull moment at The Priory
School. Numerous events take place throughout the school year.
A Spooktacular Event!
Our Halloween Party was a 'spooktacular' success! Priory
students, staff, and parents celebrated Halloween with an afternoon of
fun-filled games and activities. The festivities commenced with a
costume parade where each grade flaunted their creative attire. After
the parade, children visited a variety of Halloween stations. Some of
the popular stations included, Bowling for Tombstones, Mummy Wrap,
Fortune Teller, Halloween Disco, Gross Table, Bobbing for Donuts, and
Halloween Crossword. The scary haunted classroom was one of the
highlights of the afternoon. The party came to a close with a Halloween
movie and treats. A very big thank-you to Sue Macelli and Sue
Harrington, and their dedicated team of volunteer moms and dads for
organizing this magical event.
Fables and a multitude of life
lessons were learned by all as we celebrated 'I Love to Read Week' at
The Priory. The celebration commenced with a Reader's Theatre of "The
Little Red Hen" performed by Priory teachers, emphasizing the importance
of working together. The kindergarten students hosted presentations on
the ever-popular "The Tortoise and the Hare", Grade 1 reminded us that
'A kind act is never wasted' with their rendition of "The Lion and the
Mouse", Grade 2 adapted "The Ant and the Grasshopper" to show that there
is a time for work and a time for play. Grade 3 presented a fable with a
twist, "The Wolf that Cried BOY!" The students in Grades 4, 5 and 6
became authors of their own fables in various forms and attended a
book-making workshop given by our very own Mme. Kuska. This week of
storytelling, performing and writing culminated with a Book Fair hosted
by Babar Books and a Read-In which had our students in pajamas, snuggling up with blankets and stuffed animals and sharing
their favourite books with friends!
During 'I Love to Read Week', students from Kindergarten to Grade 6 were
delighted with the enchanting tales of storyteller Stephanie Bénéteau.
Stephanie visited The Priory to share her
fabulous stories with us. From legends about how the chipmunk got his
stripes to fables teaching about honesty and tales of a woman who
wouldn't stop laughing, the children were mesmerized from beginning to
end. Songs and actions involved all students in the fun and got
them excited
about reading and storytelling.
Mr. Rod Funston, former teacher, author and Priory grandfather of Wyatt,
Aidan and Carson, visited with his grandchildren's classes during 'I
Love to Read Week', and had students in Grades 2, 4 and 5, captivated as
he read his newly published children's book entitled "The Day the Words
Went Away". Priory students were eager to ask questions and learn more
about the process of writing and how to become an author. A special
thank you to the Price-Gallagher family for inviting Grandpa to visit.
The Visual Arts Centre Workshop
This year the grade 4 and 5 students were treated to a special art
project organized by the Visual Arts Centre’s outreach program. In
collaboration with the McEntyre Creative Writing Competition, this year’s theme was
“Home”. The grade 4 students created 3-dimentional environments in
shadow boxes using cardboard cut outs and water colour crayons. The
results were colourful renditions of make-belief places. The grade 5 students worked in a circular format and
were asked to illustrate their favourite animal and its habitat. The
drawings were then personalized with objects ranging from feathers,
beads and branches. The children’s art works will be on exhibition at
the Victoria Hall Gallery from May 24 until June 17, 2011.
The Priory's Got talent!!
The Paré Howlett Hall was filled with excited children, proud parents
and Priory talent on Friday, May 6th. Variety seemed to be
the theme of this year’s talent show. The showcase talent ranged from
singing acts to high power dancing groups to performing acts to musical
instrument performances. There was even a light-hearted magic show and
entertaining lessons given by our Grade 3 students on how to count from
1-10 in Chinese. Many thanks to Student Council for organizing the event
and to all our aspiring artists. Outstanding performances everyone!
Science Week : April 18-21
This year's focus for
Science Week was on the Science of Food. Food production around the
world affects the environment in many ways. The students in the younger
levels learned about planting fruit seeds, the many uses of sunflowers,
how farming affects the migration of butterflies and milk production and
all its uses. The upper grades studied the science of sugar,
composting and the incredible egg. Many hands-on activities took place
in the classrooms and Quebec snacks were encouraged throughout the week.
On Thursday afternoon, students participated in the annual Science Olympics,
a fun filled science competition. There's no doubt that The
Priory is filled with budding scientists and protectors of the
environment.
Jr.
Peacemakers
This fall, Grade 5 and 6
students participated in Jr. Peacemakers, a program run by McGill
University students, whose goal is to further children’s awareness of
world issues, and to challenge them to seek innovative solutions. The
five-week interactive educational workshop focused on human rights,
inequality, world poverty, conflict resolution, the environment and
child activism. Students learned effective ways in taking action to
create a more peaceful world community and through role playing conflict
resolution situations, they learned problem solving techniques to encourage
a more peaceful lifestyle, both on a personal level, and on a global
level. It was a wonderful eye-opening experience for all!
International Day of Peace
On September 21st, in celebration of
International Day of Peace, Priory students gathered together in
assembly where the entire school community celebrated peace with prayers,
songs and messages of freedom. Several students spoke about ways of
creating a peaceful atmosphere while reinforcing a message of kindness to
our families, friends, school and community. Our assembly concluded with
our Peace Motto for this year and a lively rendition of the song "Let
Peace Begin with Me”.
“A Celebration of
Cultures”
This year marks the 50th Anniversary of the Canada-Japan Society of
Montreal, an organization to facilitate
cultural exchanges between Canadians and Japanese. In celebration of
this milestone, an opening ceremony took place on June 26th
at the Japanese Pavilion of the Montreal Botanical Garden. As a part of
the opening ceremony, The Priory School was invited to participate in a
doll ceremony, where two students from Japan presented two Priory
students, Kate MacKinnon and Chaz Doherty, with a Japanese doll
handcrafted in Kyoto, Japan. Priory students and guests took delight in
exploring the special exhibition of Japanese Art on display, watching “shamisen”,
a 3-stringed banjo-like instrument performance, and the observance of
“kagami biraki”, a ceremony in which the lid of the sake barrel is
broken open by a wooden mallet. It was indeed a great honour to be a
part of this celebration! READ MORE IN THE
NEWS: CELEBRATION OF CULTURE
Sports Banquet
There was plenty of fun,
fellowship and fitness in this year’s annual sports banquet held on
Tuesday, June 8th to honour our Priory athletes for their participation
in The Priory Sports Program. During the banquet children displayed
their athletic abilities by playing a spirited game of basketball,
soccer and handball. Students were then invited to a pizza party where
they sat together
sharing memories and enjoying each other’s company. A
special
thanks goes to Phys. Ed. Teacher and Coach, Mr. Gentile for his guidance
and support and for creating a positive experience for all our athletes.
Planting the seeds for peace - The Priory’s Peace Journey
The Priory School, with
the support and dedication of staff members, students and parents, has
embarked on a journey to creating and maintaining a culture of peace.
The peace journey is ongoing where peace is taught, modeled and worked
at and has become an integral part of The Priory School's
philosophy.
This year The Priory School will continue its journey of peace by
“Planting the Seeds for Peace”. Once a month we will focus on a
different value.
On February 5th, during a special assembly marking this
journey, teachers received a flower pot and a bag of “politeness”
seeds. During the month of February, every time a polite word was said or
a good gesture was noticed during class or around the school, a seed of
peace was planted. The focus for March is on how to be a good friend.
Each time an act of friendship is witnessed or a polite word is said, we
will continue to plant the seeds for peace. Our goal is to fill our pots as we learn to
be more considerate and appreciative and ultimately build up friendly ties.
READ
MORE in the news: The Priory's PEACE JOURNEY
Priory Wishes to the
World
Priory children joined together
to spread messages of peace by creating an inspirational string of peace
flags that stretches across our school’s walls. Using the inspiration of
Tibetan Prayer Flags, each child from kindergarten to grade six created
a peace flag with their own personal messages of peace. Assembly took on
a special tone when representatives from each grade read poems from the
book Wish: Wishing Traditions Around the World
written by Roseanne Thong. The children then made their own heartfelt
wishes of peace to the world as they admired the peace flags they had
created.
