Contra Dance Workshop

Contra dance (also contradance, contra-dance and other variant spellings) refers to a folk dance, similar to a square dance, except instead of the square formation, it is danced in lines of couples, with every other couple facing up or down the hall. It has mixed origins from English country dance, Scottish, French dance styles in the 17th century, with strong African influence from Appalachia. Sometimes described as New England folk dance or Appalachian folk dance, contra dances can be found around the world and have much popularity in North America and the United Kingdom where weekly or monthly dances and annual dance weekends are common.

The CDSS-Country Dance and Song Society whose  mission is to spread joy and build community through dance, music, and song, has chosen Halifax as a stop in their Centennial Tour — a major project CDSS has been planning for their Centennial this year, when they celebrate 100 years of dance, music, and song, and the CDSS role in it. We are so fortunate to have had them come to our school on September 29th to do a workshop with our grade 5 and 6 students! It was a lot of fun!  

Thank you to Mme Linda Davis, French Teacher in the Girls' High School, who helped to bring this workshop to Sacred Heart!

Callie MacDonald to Represent NS Synchronized Swim Team

Callie MacDonald, Gr. 9, was selected to represent the 13-15 NS Synchronized Swimming Team. There are 8 team members. She will be travelling to Quebec City during her March Break and to Winnipeg in the Spring for National Events.  In addition to the team commitment, Callie will also be doing a duet.

Good luck, Callie!

Terry Fox Run Today!

The Sacred Heart School students and teachers and many parents participated in the Terry Fox Run at the Oval this morning.  Way to go!

Fostering Self-Confidence for Academic Success

We have been hard at work to solidify routines while establishing new patterns of learning. Our students are continually encouraged to welcome challenges and to take academic risks that will help them to reach new levels of understanding. For example, our younger science students stepped outside the realm of convention to participate in a sticky, messy laboratory experiment relating to fluids. The learning objective was to be able to identify and demonstrate a non-Newtonian fluid. Only some were able to achieve the desired consistency and yet all learned successfully from this dynamic experiment.

In March earlier this year, the OECD released a report entitled The ABC of Gender Equality in Education, sparking significant news media attention and online discussion. One of the key findings was that high-school aged girls lack self-confidence in subject areas such as mathematics and science. They can experience anxiety in relation to performance in these subject areas even though they tend to perform very well and enjoy the school experience.

The researchers also identified several strategies to counteract these tendencies.  As you can see from the pictures, our girls are highly-engaged in the scientific activity and are enjoying the freedom to be themselves in an all-girls environment.   We value the importance of this type of research and strive, in every way, to build confidence in each girl’s ability to perform academically. Our approach is focused on providing an environment in which girls feel safe in taking academic risks and in which each is challenged to perform to the best of her ability. The results are evident.

Our Dynamic Leaders

Women in Canada are dynamic leaders, achieve very high levels of education and business experience, and are successful in all sectors. And yet we remain underrepresented and underutilised at a female to male ratio of 1:5, on corporate boards in Canada.  I was reminded of this fact while visiting with a few classes this week, as I watched our girls articulate opinions, debate ideas and discuss political agendas.

In particular, I had the opportunity to visit with a grade ten class where the students were studying in keeping with the Harkness philosophy, developed at Philips Exeter and designed to promote collaboration and equitable participation from all members in the analysis of a text.  The students were assembled in small circles to discuss significant literary themes and complex characters, as depicted in John Knowles’ novel, A Separate Peace. (Knowles was also a graduate of Philips Exeter). Their insights were intriguing and the high level of analysis was a nod to both their ability and the careful guidance of a gifted teacher. Our girls develop into articulate young women, and it is our hope for them that they will belong to a cohort of women who participate in all levels of private and public governance.

The Parent-School Partnership

To our Parents, many thanks for your attendance at our events over the past month. It is our firm belief that education is a shared partnership between parents, students and the school and so we appreciate the opportunity to foster relationships at the start of the academic year. You may be interested in this publication on the positive effects of teacher-family communication on student engagement.  The researchers concluded: “we find large and immediate effects of communication on homework completion rates, classroom behavior and participation in class." "Students also noted that the increased involvement of their parents affected their own perceptions of, and response to school" in a positive way as they felt that the school belonged to them and their family.               

Thank you for your participation in our Course Outline evening.  We highlighted the strong academic programs that are in place for students at Sacred Heart Girls’ High School, including our unique focus on religious studies and university preparation.  Also evidenced was our desire to engage students through a range of experiential, service and athletic opportunities outside of the classroom.  We are proud to offer an education that blends a vigorous academic foundation with the deepening of faith and character; certainly this pride was evidenced by the energy and enthusiasm of our teachers as they introduced their courses and activities! 

At Sacred Heart, teachers and students have the opportunity to build relationships and to participate in a caring community.  Our small class sizes, advisory and homeroom structure, wealth of co-curricular offerings and focus on community events allows every student to connect with an adult, each day, in a meaningful way. Rita Pierson, a well-known American educator and administrator, gives an excellent TED Talk on the value and importance of relationships in the learning environment. Her message to teachers is that “every child deserves a champion, an adult who will never give up on them, who understands the power of connection, and [who] insists that they become the best that they can possibly be.”  Our teachers are proud to offer a learning environment in which every girl is championed. Every girl belongs.

4 the Good of the Sisterhood

September 4th, 2015

Sisterhood takes on an additional meaning this year at the Sacred Heart School in Halifax. The message at the opening assembly this week was one of relationships and opportunity.  We talked of the dedication of Saint Madeleine Sophie Barat and the three other young women who consecrated themselves to “make known the revelation of God’s love” and who set out to give young women access to a classical education. We celebrated a history of women who are strong, who believe in education for all, and who act with conviction. The students were encouraged to engage in the wealth of co-curricular opportunities provided at the school and to consider opportunities to serve others.  Shannon Jankari, Head Girl,  spoke eloquently of the gifts of friendship and sisterhood that come with an education at Sacred Heart Girls’ High School and her words ignited a spirit of camaraderie for the year ahead. Our four student leaders have a new theme for the year: '4 the Good of the Sisterhood'.

ACIS Super Tournament at Rothesay, NB

Sacred Heart students participate in the ACIS Super Tournament in Rothesay this week.

 

Grade Primary Goes Apple Picking!

Grade Primary travelled to Noggins Farm for their annual Apple Picking Field Trip this week.  They learned the technique for picking ripe apples, ventured through a corn maze and enjoyed a picnic lunch.  The day was finished with playing a on a tire mound, sliding through tubes, and playing with water pumps.  The day was filled with sunshine, smiles and giggles of excitement!  Thank you to Mrs. Veronica Lawen for the delightful pictures.

And, below enjoying the apple sauce they made with their apples!