A Very Busy Week!

GES was a very busy place this week.  The band is preparing for our Remembrance Day concert.  The primary choir was singing some spooky songs for Halloween.  The grade 6/7 class was working on some drama presentations for their class.  The school was "buzzing" with "busyness"!  Unfortunately the weather is changing and we had our first taste of an inside day today.  Please remember to send your child with boots and a jacket with a hood.  If it is pouring with rain, students can stay in and work on some of the rainy day activities that the leadership group has put together.  If the rain is intermittent then students are encouraged to go outside and get some fresh air and run off some of their  stored energy. Best wishes for a great weekend.

Just fyi: some of the classes are dressing up in costumes for Monday and some are sticking with the orange and black theme.  The choice is yours. Costumes are not required.

Home Game in the gym!

Today after school the grade 6 - 7 boys volleyball team, coached by Doug Detwiller, played a number of games against West Sechelt Elementary School, coached by Sara Schutz.  The GES boys were keen and well outfitted in GES jerseys.  There were some amazing rallies! Both coaches were impressed with the skill development of the students. Coach Detwiller commented about the boys' skill improvement over the season .  Well done boys!

Bamboo Music - School District Fine Arts Performance

Today we hosted the district fine arts performance of Khac Chi - Bamboo Music. Bamboo music features the classical, folk and contemporary music of Vietnam.  The songs were played on a variety of traditional, bamboo instruments native to Vietnam, as well as the instruments invented by Khac Chi Bamboo Music's members.  There were a number of students called forward to participate in the music making using the instruments provided.  The performance was interactive and engaged all the viewers.  It was great to have Langdale Elementary School join us for the performance.  Together everyone had a great time.

Family fun night was a huge success!

Wow we have an amazing group of parents supporting our school.  Thursday evening's fifth annual fun fair was a huge success.  The fair goers steadily came and went between five and eight o'clock.  There were lots of games to choose from for children of every age.  For those who wanted to have their faces painted the line ups moved quickly.  John was busy for three hours straight calling numbers for the cake walk.  The cakes and cupcakes were amazing.  The decorations on the cakes were a definate crowd drawer.  The moms who ran the concession had a steady stream of customers all evening.  The popcorn was freshly popped all night long and I must confess, I had a bag full.  The gift baskets were a huge success, probably drawing in about a third of the profits for the evening. All in all  a lot of fun was had by everyone who attended.  The total amount of money raised will be confirmed at next month's PAC meeting, but I hear the profit surpassed last year's total.  Money raised will be used towards a projection system and screen specifically for the gym.  Thanks again to the wonderful supporters of Gibsons Elementary School.

Primary music

On Monday mornings, just before lunch, all the primary students meet in the gym for music.  Mrs. Moul organizes the activities and everyone participates: students and teachers.  Today everyone was learning a new "spooky" song along with an action song.  It was super to see everyone working together to create beautiful music!

Aboriginal education

As part of our ongoing learning at school, some of our instructional time is dedicated to aboriginal education.  There is a curriculum document entitled "Shared Learnings" that is a great resource for classroom teachers. We are fortunate to have the expertise of Ms. Haavisto on Thursdays to support classroom learning.  Last week the students and teachers that worked with her were able to have some first hand experience with drumming and singing.