Principal’s Message

We had an excellent start to the year in spite of the usual adjustments to student schedules caused by the enrollment of new students.  We have 1326 students enrolled at this time, over 30 more than were expected.   At this time, classes should be settled and there will only be changes if it is in the best interest of the student and his/her learning.  As always, I welcome everyone new to our school community, including a number of staff new to the school including Ms. Botter, Ms. Dhariwal, Ms. Emamverdi, Ms. T. Jones, Ms. Kenkel, Ms. Moscato, Ms. Nordstrom, Mr. Samra, and Ms. Thomson.  We said goodbye to Mrs. Finch in June when she retired after many years of serving our District. 

We had our first PAC meeting on Thursday, September 24 and I was encouraged by the number of parents who attended. I value parent input and I appreciate the perspectives and insights of our PAC. Three parents have kindly volunteered to represent the PAC on the School Planning Council. We will continue to work on two areas: developing student skills in reading and supporting Grade 8 students across the curriculum. Over the past 5 years, we have seen significant gains in student achievement at all levels. We will continue many initiatives that contribute to these successes such as presentations on study skills by Marguerite Bryson to each Humanities 8 class.  We will be assessing all our Grade 8 and 9 students’ reading skills in early October and will be working towards improvement for all students.

We try to host parent information evenings several times a year in order to provide parents with information about upcoming events of particular interest to each grade or group of grades.  We held the Grade 8 meeting on October 1; will meet Grade 12 parents on October 22 to review grad events, and post-secondary and scholarship applications. We also have a Grade 8 – 11 evening planned for early next year. Check your magnets, the website or the school sign for dates from time to time.  If you are unable to attend these meetings, please feel free to contact us. We now have a link on our website for you to contact us by email.

Speaking of email … in order to reduce both cost and environmental impact, the newsletter will be available on-line or via email.
          

Trick Or Treat ?

           This Halloween why not fight local poverty while Trick or Treating?
Join the Halloween for Hunger campaign to collect canned and non-perishable food items for the Surrey Food Bank.
For more information or to drop off food items see Ms. Bertrand or Ms. Crosby.
Trick or Treat and Something to Eat!

Where to go after school ?

Post-Secondary

Information Sessions

Thurs. Nov 12 & Tues. Nov 17
6-8:30pm Get to know UBC Information Event
For Grade 11 & 12 students and parents
Bell Centre for Performing Arts

Mon. Oct 26th
4pm-7pm Kwantlen Cloverdale Campus Open House
Trades & Technology
Instructors will be on hand in each shop area to answer questions.

Hospital / Homebound Program

What is the Hospital / Homebound Program ?

Surrey Hospital / homebound teachers provide instruction to students of all grade levels who are unable to attend school for medical reasons. The goal of the program is to have students return to their regular classroom with as little educational interruption as possible. Instruction is available at Surrey Memorial and Peace Arch Hospitals, or in the student's home.

When is a student eligible for the program ?

Students registered at a public school in Surrey may be referred to the Hospital / Homebound program when they are expected to be absent for five days or longer. They may be referred by the principal, teacher, counsellor, attendance secretary, parent, doctor or nurse. Some of the reasons for referral include: surgery, accidents, infections, diseases, intestinal program, cancer, repiratory problems, pregnancies, mental health problems, or immune deficiency problems.

Students hospitalized for either a short or long term can be referred upon entering the hospital.

What work is assigned to the student ?

The Hospital / Homebound teacher contacts the student's classroom teacher(s) to arrange for work to be assigned, then make appointments to teach the student at the hospital or at home. In some cases the Hospital / Homebound teacher may, in consultation with the classroom teacher, modify the assignments to take in acount the illness, injury or effects of the medication. Students then work at assignments that they would do if they were attending regular classes in school, using texts, worksheets, workbooks and exercises assigned by their classroom teachers.

For more information about education in Surrey

and support for students and parents, visit www.sd36.bc.ca

Surrey Schools . . . Keeping Learners at the Centre

Peer Counselling Info

The Peer Counselling Class for the 2009/2010 year is made up of the following grade 10, 11, and 12 students:

                      
     Peer counsellors are available to meet with students to help them deal with problems and to mediate conflicts. The peer counsellors will be meeting every grade 8 student to welcome them to L.A. Matheson and to check in with them to see how things are going.

L.A.M. Theatre Company

Check out the exciting events being put on by The L.A.M. Theatre Company this fall !

October 27, 28 & 30

HAUNTED HOUSE

Bring a toonie and walk through our house of horrors at lunch time . . . if you dare !

November 9 & 10

Remembrance Day
Our entire school population will join us to honour our fallen soldiers and meditate on the consequences of war.

December 9 - 11

"Once Upon A Playground"

Our Winter production focuses on childhood friendship and the importance of accepting yourself for who you are. Don't miss this funny and touching story !

H1N1 Flu:  Parent Information

The Surrey School District works closely with public health professionals to ensure district and school staff take all appropriate measures to minimize health risks, including from viruses like H1N1.  This includes ensuring students, parents and staff have up-to-date information about health risks and how they can help to avoid spreading or contracting contagious illnesses.

In most respects, the H1N1 virus has not affected students or schools any differently than a typical flu season.  However, the H1N1 flu has been declared a pandemic because more cases of H1N1 flu have been reported through-out the world than would be considered normal for a flu.  Importantly, school-aged children appear to be getting the H1N1 flu more than other influenzas.

Minimizing the spread of H1N1 flu
Because school-aged children appear more vulnerable, all students, parents and school staff are urged to follow simple, yet very effective everyday routines to reduce the spread of the germs that cause respiratory illnesses like the H1N1 flu:

• Teach your children to wash their hands frequently with soap and water for 20 seconds. Be sure to set a good example by doing this yourself.
• Teach your children to cough and sneeze into a tissue or into the inside of their elbow. Be sure to set a good example by doing this yourself.
• Children who are sick must stay home from school and daycare, and stay away from other people until they are feeling better and able to fully participate in normal activities; usually about seven days.

Symptoms
The symptoms of the H1N1 flu virus are similar to the symptoms of seasonal influenza. They include:

Additional information
The Surrey School District is monitoring absenteeism due to illness and continues to work closely with public health experts to ensure preventative practices are in place and students, parents and staff are informed as health officials provide new information. 

There is more easy-to-read information about the H1N1 flu, including frequently asked questions and answers, available to you on the school district website home page at www.sd36.bc.ca.  You can also ask for this information from your school.

PAC Meetings

Swim Team News

This year’s swim team is well under way. The team practices are every Tuesday and Friday morning from 6:30 am to 7:30 am at North Surrey Pool. The coach for this year’s swim team is Carly Guraliuk.  If you are interested in joining the team, please see Mrs. Dillon

Ice Hockey News

The ice hockey team is currently doing tryouts. The league will start in mid October. Practices will take place every Monday at North Surrey Arena starting October 5. See Mrs. Dillon if you have any questions. 

Mr. Ed Dillon will be the teams coach this year. If any parents are able to help out, please contact Mrs. Dillon. 

First Nations News

Welcome back to all our First Nations students and a big welcome to all our new students. We recently held our welcome back party and are looking forward to many more future activities. Our first activity is going to be a flag raising ceremony of the flag that our students designed last year. The leadership conference is coming up in November, so if you would like to go please see Mrs. Dillon or Bonita. If you did not receive the First Nations newsletter in the mail please contact the school to check that we have your correct mailing address. In October we will have a parent meeting in the library, so please stay tuned for more details. The homework club is starting. It will take place every Monday and Wednesday after school in room D153. If you have any questions, please contact Mrs. Dillon or Bonita

Matheson Athletics

Welcome back for another year of athletics here at L.A. Matheson. Once again, we look to field teams in various sports this year.  We hope that you participate in as many sports as possible. The fall season is about to begin and we will have teams in boys soccer, boys and girls volleyball, and swimming. Tryouts for our fall teams will start soon.

Please listen to the announcements, watch the TV monitors, check the Athletics Bulletin Board outside the PE office and surf the web and our athletics website for the latest information about tryouts, practices, games, scores and other events.

http://fcweb.sd36.bc.ca/~mah_s/Athletics

Welcome back for another year of athletics here at L.A. Matheson.  The fall season is starting and we are running a full slate of volleyball teams, boys soccer, cross country, and swimming.

Coaches and sponsors for our fall teams are:

Grade 8 Boys Volleyball: Mr. J. Willie (Student Teacher), Ms. D. Storey Gray and Mr. B. Gray.
Grade 8 Girls Volleyball: Mr. B. Sutter and Ms. M. Kenkel.
Junior Boys Volleyball:  Ms. B. Peckham
Junior Girls Volleyball:  Ms. J. Halls
Senior Boys Volleyball: Mr. S. Mah
Senior Girls Volleyball: Mr. K. Stockdale
Junior Boys Soccer: Mr. J. Judson
Senior Boys Soccer: Ms. C. Bell (Student Teacher)
Cross Country: Ms. S. Hogg and Ms. M. Smith.
Swimming: Mrs. D. Dillon

Keep up to date with the latest athletic information by checking out the athletic website. The website can be found on the school website or you can link directly at: fcweb.sd36.bc.ca/~mah_s/Athletics.  Also, this year look out for our athletic newsletter, "Matheson on the Run", created by the PE Leadership 10 class. The newsletter will be posted on the school website. The first publication should out sometime in October.

Career Center News

CAREER CENTRE NEWS

Take our Kids to Work Day

The annual Take our Kids to Work day takes place on Wednesday, November 4. This job shadowing initiative allows the entire community – parents, teachers, employers and workers – to play a part in the career development of Grade 9 students. The primary objective of Take our Kids to Work is to link classroom learning with the workplace. It also allows students to see their parent in a workplace role and helps them understand the work that their parents do to support the family. This job shadowing activity supports the learning outcomes found in the Health and Career Education 8 and 9 curriculums. For more information, see the national Take our Kids to Work website at http://www.takeourkidstowork.ca/.

2009/2010 Education and Career Fair

This fair is one of the largest career planning events in BC. It is designed to introduce secondary school students and the general public to a variety of post- secondary education choices, career and employment options and labor market information to assist them in their career planning. There are exhibitors from universities, colleges, private training institutions, corporations, and associations in BC, Canada, USA and Internationally. All Grade 10-12 students are invited to attend at no cost. We will be attending the Fraser Valley Fair on Tuesday, December 1. Students can sign up in the Career Centre. For more information visit the website at:  www.educationcareerfairs.com.

SURREY SCHOOL DISTRICT PROGRAMS

Secondary School Apprenticeship Programs

Are you currently working in a trade? The Secondary School Apprenticeship (SSA) Program offers students, over the age of 15, an opportunity to begin an apprenticeship while completing their secondary school graduation requirements. SSA depends on employers to provide youth with on-the-job training in their chosen fields. Students registered in an SSA program attend regular classes at their school and also participate in paid workplace training as registered apprentices. Upon Grade 12 graduation, apprenticeship students will have a minimum of 480 on-the-job hours credited toward their first year of apprenticeship training.

If you are currently working in a “trades” area and the employer is Red Seal Certified, please visit the Career Centre to receive more information of how you can register as an SSA student.

District “Ace-It” Partnership Programs

Congratulations to John George for his acceptance into the District Warehousing Program! John is currently attending Douglas College’s Surrey
campus to participate in this program and will return to L.A. Matheson to complete his graduation requirements in February 2010.

Congratulations to the following students who have received a conditional acceptance into their respective Partnership Programs:

Hilary Rustin    Hairdressing
Kaleb Slamang Electrical
Aaron Goundar Welding
Mantej Khangura Automotive Service Tech.
Brandon Martyn Automotive Service Tech.
Jason Rocha Automotive Service Tech.

The District “Ace-It” program is designed to allow students the opportunity to complete part or all of an entrance-level trades training program at the same time that they are completing secondary school graduation. Students in these programs can be formally registered and enrolled at the post-secondary institution where they receive extensive hours of skill training in a specific field. A paid or unpaid summer work experience component may be available to students in this program, as well as the possibility of gaining an apprenticeship with a willing employer.

Currently the following District programs are offered in Surrey:

• Automotive Service Technician
• Automotive Collision Repair Technician           
• Automotive Refinishing Technician                          
• Baking and Pastry Arts                                   
• Carpentry
• CADD and Drafting
• Electrical
• Hairdressing
• Horticulture
• Masonry
• Millwright
• Plumbing
• Roofing
• Steel Fabrication
• Welding

Volunteer Opportunities

There are numerous volunteer positions posted on the Volunteer Opportunities bulletin board outside of the Career Centre. Be sure to check this out if you need volunteer hours. Volunteering is a great way to gain valuable work experience and is a definite asset to your resume.

LIBRARY NEWS

L. A. Matheson Library welcomes its new teacher-librarian Ms. Cauduro. Ms. Cauduro was one of Matheson’s French teachers for many years. Students are encouraged to drop by and meet Ms. Cauduro in the library.

Ms. Finch has retired, and is busy reading all the books she never had time to read; "So many books, so little time". She wishes the very best to our new teacher librarian, to all Matheson students, and especially to the voracious readers who made her days happy.

Home Access to Destiny Library

The District has provided a wonderful resource for helping our students do their homework. While at home, students can now access the library collection catalogue, to see which titles we have in our school library, and which resources are available. In addition to books and resources information, "WebPath Express" is also available. A student can use WebPath Express to connect to educationally-chosen websites to research their topics. Instructions for this program will be provided in September/October during library orientation classes. Students can also obtain assistants by asking the teacher librarian for help.

Remote (Home) Access to Destiny
Library Program

http://library.sd36.bc.ca
or
http://www.sd36.bc.ca
 Students.Resources>School Library Catalogues> choose L. A. Matheson Library

Post-Secondary Information Collected on one Website

Students can plan an academic career and seek the appropriate information to make informed decisions. The site is at www.educationplanner.bc.ca

How to save your files @ home

Click on the the Office Logo

Then select the Word 97-2003 Document

School District #36 Programs

District Partnership Programs:
Twelve grade 10 and grade 11 students have applied for various District Partnership Programs which will begin in 2009/2010 school year. The application process is quite involved, in that the students have to:

•meet specific academic pre-requisites
•do a site visit of the facility that they would be attending
•pass the District Math Assessment
•have a good attendance record
•have two references, one from a teacher and one from a community member
•include their resume and a cover letter

Once the application package has been sent in, the students are interviewed by a district official and a post-secondary instructor. These programs are highly competitive; there are a limited amount of spots available for all secondary schools in Surrey.
We wish the following students all the best in their application process:

•Automotive Service Technician Applicants:
Mantej Khangura, Joshua Manimtim, Brandon Martyn, Jason Rocha and Bobby Sandhu.

•Electrical Applicants:
Mark Luporini, Pritesh Patel, Parmvir Shergill and Kaleb Slamang.

•Hairdressing Applicant:
Hilary Rustin

•Millwright Applicant:
Brandon Foster

•Parts and Warehousing Applicant:
John George

•Welding Applicant:
Aaron Goundar

News-Bytes

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Websites are great places for gaining current information and learning about the world. Be sure your child is not visiting websites that contain sexual content, violence, or that promote hatred. Create family rules about Internet use and make sure you know what kind of information your kids are looking at.
These days, children are able to exercise their creativity by making beautiful web pages abut themselves and their interests. To keep your child safe from online predators, ensure that they are not posting personal information that can lead strangers to contacting them. Talk to your kids about what they are posting.
Email is an amazing tool for communicating with friends and family and for exchanging information for school projects. To keep your child safe from strangers and Internet viruses, make sure they do not respond to or open emails from people they do not know.
Just like the phone, instant messaging (or MSN) is very popular for communicating with friends and discussing homework and school projects. Just as you would make sure you knew who your child was going out with; make sure you know who your child is talking to on the Internet by reviewing their buddy list with them.
Visit http://www.wiredsafety.org/parent.html or http://www.bewebaware.ca for more information.

GRADUATION TRANSITIONS PROGRAM

The Grad Transitions Program is to help student’s transition from the high school experience to life beyond. The program begins in the Grade 10 year, and is also introduced in the Planning 10 course material, and continues through to the end of Grade 12. At the end of Grade 12, all components must be completed to receive the mandatory 4 credits for graduation.

Daily Physical Activity Log

What are YOUR Matheson Memories worth?

This year's book is going to be absolutely fantastic ! We want to give you this opportunity to purchase a yearbook that will capture one of the best periods of your child's life. A gift they will treasure forever !

$40(all taxes included) while supplies last!

For your convenience, payment for yearbooks can be made in romm B111 or at the office along with student and / or grad fees.

Yearbooks are only on sale until October 30th, 2009

Last year we sold out. If you don't want your child to be disappointed, please take the time to order their yearbook today.

Unlike previous years, there will be NO books available for sale at theend of the year.

Yearbooks are on sale until October 30th !

Don't Miss Out !