An Exciting December and Upcoming Events in 2026 at Royal Oak

December 2025

Dear Royal Oak Families,

The holiday season is strongly upon us, and in our final assembly of 2025 this morning, we celebrated our December character trait, "Joy", and talked about the little places it shows up for each of us. Whether it is in sitting around the dinner table with your family, enjoying nature doing winter activities, or simply feeling the wind on your face, as one of our Primary students shared, I hope it is all around you over the holiday break!

To our community members celebrating Hannukah, we hope it is a joyful and meaningful time filled with light, and reflection -Chag Sameach from all of us at Royal Oak.

The school will be closed for regular instruction over the next two weeks, though our Winter Camp will run from December 27-30 and January 2. When we return in January, it will be a new year and a new term, with some changes for our school community. As our Junior Middle and Upper Middles families have learned, Melissa Smith will not be returning after the break, and Ms. Dennis will step into the position of Upper Middle homeroom teacher, sharing the teaching responsibilities in Upper School with Ms. Nyenhuis. As most of you know, Ms. D and Ms. N make a wonderful team, and I look forward to watching their teaching magic unfold! Ms. Rouse will return to Royal Oak in the new year to support Special Education, and this is a happy reunion with a wonderful teacher and good friend to us all. Though change can be hard, we feel confident and positive about what 2026 holds ahead for us here at Royal Oak.

You will notice in the newsletter below a few minor calendar changes worth mentioning. Our January PD day has moved to January 16, to accommodate a change in our Professional Development trip to the Lab School at the University of Toronto. This happens to be a PD day in the public system as well, and we will hold our PD camp here as usual for any families in need of care. The second change is to a PD day in June, as Friday, June 5 will now also fall in line with he public system, and give children a much needed day of rest after a week at Camp Wenonah and at Week without Walls. Please do note the new calendar below, and the aforementioned changes.

To all of our families, we wish you a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year! May the season ahead be filled with warmth, joy and fresh beginnings as we step forward together.

Julia

Julia Murray, Head of School

2025/2026 Revised Calendar

Click HERE to download and print the calendar.

Highlights from December

Royal Oak's Holiday Performance

Thank you to our wonderful Royal Oak families and community members for your incredible support and for joining us at the Winter Concert on December 11th. Your presence, encouragement, and enthusiasm made the evening truly special.

Our students worked hard to prepare for this performance, and seeing the smiles, applause, and pride in the audience meant so much to them and to our staff. Events like this remind us how fortunate we are to be part of such a caring and supportive school community.

Thank you for celebrating our students and helping to make the night a memorable one for everyone!

With gratitude, Mrs. Hill

NOTL Christmas Parade

The NOTL Christmas parade had the main streets filled with excitement as crowds of happy people gathered in the snowy weather this year, bundled up in coats, hats, and scarves. ROCS’ Frozen-themed float rolled by, carrying our students dressed warmly as they waved and smiled. Music from the Top Hat Marching Band echoed through the air, waking the city with cheerful sounds as Ana, Elsa, and Olaf waved to the crowd.

Many thanks to our float committee volunteers: Ana G,  Becky J., Ethan K., Jillian C.,  Edward M., Shannon F., Stephane A., David C., Doug C. for building and putting together this year’s float. Thank you to  Ms. N  (Elsa) , her sister Alicia (Ana)  and Ben. F (Olaf) too!

A Christmas Carol at the Shaw Festival

ROCS students had the privilege of attending the Shaw's interpretation of "A Christmas Carol". They attended a workshop at the Shaw Festival in the morning to learn all about the production of a play, and the backstage magic that goes into every show. In the afternoon, they walked to the Royal George Theatre and enjoyed the music and warmth of this traditional story.

Royal Oak Character Award Winners for December

This month’s character trait is Joy, in honour of the season. The Primary 1 class presented the awards to honour these students who spread Joy throughout their classes and the school.

EY: Adelina M.  and Brody G.

P1: Alayna H.  and Kaia L.

P2:Nikola F. and Merritt H.

JM: Scarlett H.  and Robert M. 

UM: Grayson K. and Zara H.

What's Happening in January?

DSBN High School Open Houses

High schools are welcoming potential new students to their open houses Jan 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th. If your child is in Upper Middle, this is their chance to visit schools they're interested in, and see what life and learning is like. Even Grade 7 families should consider attending their school of choice Open House - it's a great way to start thinking about what lies ahead! Each school has different dates and times, so please click HERE so you don't miss out.

Winter Clubs Sign up

Winter Clubs will start on January 19th and run until March 6th.  

Many of these club ideas come directly from the students who shared their wishes for Winter Clubs! 

As always, Homework Club and Drama rehearsal will also be running.

Homework Club for Primary and Primary Junior will now be on Mondays and Wednesdays,  and Homework Club for Junior Middle and Upper Middle will be offered one day a week on Wednesdays after school. Drama rehearsals will continue to take place on Tuesdays and Thursdays at Lunch.

Please see the club offerings and forms to sign up below: Winter Clubs Form

Day	Before School	Lunch	After School
Monday	Gymnastics Club (P1/P2)
Tuesday		Chess Club (P1-UM)
Wednesday
Thursday		Cocoa Club (EY-Gr.1 (Only))	Lego Club (P1-UM)
Friday			Model Making Club (JM/UM)

Ice Dogs Game anthem sing- Sunday, February 1st, 2026

Every year ROCS students and staff are the stars on centre ice at the St. Catherine's Ice Dogs game, singing loud and proud. This year, our annual anthem sing and free skate is February 1st, 2026. A google form will be out mid January to gauge interest in our students and their families participation. Tickets are $18 each and include the free skate before singing and the game after the anthem.

Winter Season Reminders

We wanted to pass along some important updates for the weeks ahead as we navigate winter weather once again, and the respiratory viruses that come along with it. Washing hands, coughing or sneezing into sleeves, and keeping personal space in and out of the classroom are always enforced. We carefully monitor students for symptoms at school, and ask that all families continue to keep children home if they are sick. 

As we move into January and the wintery weather, we want to remind families that Royal Oak's policy on these potential snow days is to open if we can safely ask our families and staff to navigate the roads. We check Niagara Regional Police reports on road conditions, speak with staff members by 6:00 am who come from areas like Welland and Port Colborne, and watch the weather reports closely.  If Royal Oak needs to close for a snow day due to unsafe road and weather conditions, you will receive an email and Toddle by 6:45am, alerting you to the closure. On the first day of a closure, we will have a true "Snow Day" with no online school operating. If inclement weather goes beyond one day, we will activate online learning, using Toddle for remote lessons, and your child's classroom teacher will be in touch the evening before to share the plan.

Upcoming Important Dates

Monday, December 19th to January 4th, 2026 - ROCS Winter Break

December 29, 30 ,31, January 2nd - ROCS Winter Break Camp

January 20th to March 3rd - Winter Term Clubs

Friday, January 16th - PD Day- Camp available

Sunday, February 1st - Ice Dogs Anthem Sing

Friday, February 13th - PD Day- Camp available

Monday, February 16th - Family Day- SCHOOL CLOSED

Friday, February 27th - ROCS production: Frozen Jr.

What Has Been Happening in Our Classrooms?

Early years

What a fun December it has been in Early Years! We were so lucky to welcome Mr.Callaghan into our class community, as he completed his second teaching block. In Literacy, we’ve continued learning about our Letters of the Week, working through Literacy centres, and discussing syllables. We’ve also continued our daily Heggerty lessons, where we are learning to listen to words and identify if they rhyme, what sound they hear at the beginning and end, breaking words into syllables, and much more. In Math, we learned about probability, talked about different 2D shapes, and have been working on patterning. In Inquiry, the kids explored the concept of flight, and then "travelled" each day to learn about different countries around the world! We are also so excited to welcome 5 new Pre-K students to our class in the New Year. We wish you all a wonderful holiday season, and can’t wait to hear about what the kids got up to over the two-week break.

Primary 1

I cannot believe that we are in the last month of 2025! Another year is coming to an end and a new year is soon beginning! The next few weeks will be busy with holiday events and celebrations with family and friends. November and December are short months at Royal Oak, because of the breaks, but that does not mean less happens in Primary 1.

For the last two months, the Primary 1 classroom has had the privilege of helping prepare a Brock Teacher Candidate for real-life teaching. Ms. Nadine has been spending an enormous amount of time with the students, engaging them in meaningful lessons in math, literacy, inquiry, art and morning meetings. Ms. Nadine is an entomologist (science of insects), and she used this knowledge and passion to capture the attention of the students. During her stay with us, the Primary Classroom has adopted a class pet, a darkling beetle.

The month of November began with the Primary students learning all about pumpkins - one of their favourite units. Every year, students are engaged in different activities to learn all about this favourite fall fruit. This year, students were engaged in pumpkin research with tablets, pumpkin exploration of various types, pumpkin STEM by creating the lifecycle of a pumpkin, and patterned pumpkin art, combining both the elements of line and patterns in the creation of a watercolour final product. Every year, the students work cooperatively with classmates to carve a large pumpkin, and then chuck the pumpkin back into nature. They have so much fun returning nature to nature.

Returning from our November Break, students had the wonderful opportunity to experience the Biingaami Giant Floor map, an interactive teaching aid to help students learn about the importance of protecting the Great Lakes and the surrounding watershed. Students in Primary have been instrumental in guiding the unit, with their knowledgeable observations and inquisitive questions. Along with teaching the class about insects, Ms. Nadine has been teaching the students all about procedural writing in literacy and addition and subtraction strategies in math. Each week, students have been practising these strategies with a partner during our Math Game period.

Finally, one more new addition to the Primary 1 classroom is the introduction of mindfulness activities, through printing, colouring, or guided meditation. Mindfulness activities are designed to help students calm their emotions, concentrate on their breathing, and focus on only what is important in the moment, without worrying about the past or the future. These important activities will continue into the New Year to give students the tools they need to regulate their emotions. Hoping everyone has a restful holiday with family and friends, and looking forward to seeing all of the families back in 2026!

Primary 2

What a wonderful start to the winter season December has been. Although December is one of the shorter months of the year at school, it was filled with joyous memories, gracious deeds, and incredible learning! In math, we have been focusing on measurement, learning all about length, mass, capacity, and time. Primary 2 worked very hard to properly measure the length of objects around them using various units of measurement, including themselves! In our mass and capacity portion of the unit, students gained a valuable understanding of how to measure in grams, kilograms, millimetres, and litres. As we wrap up towards the end of our measurement unit, we are working very hard to read digital and analog clocks.

In inquiry, we have been diving deep into the daily lives of Indigenous communities and settlers during the 1780s to 1850s. We have been doing research as a class to compare and contrast daily life in the past compared to now, while taking into consideration the challenges and changes throughout the years and how they have affected people. In our language program, students have been learning how to write narrative stories. Students have written stories about what they think snowmen do at night, in connection with a read aloud we did. They have also written personal narratives sharing some of their happiest memories or all about themselves.

As we got closer to the holiday season, we explored different holidays around the world, including Hanukkah, St.Lucia’s Day, and Kwanzaa. Primary 2 has been able to gain a deeper appreciation and knowledge of the celebrations and traditions of various cultures and communities, giving our class a wonderful start to our winter break. I am very much looking forward to all the amazing things we will learn and experience in the new year! Enjoy your well-deserved break my friends!

Junior Middle

Happy Winter Break! ❄️ As we wrap up an exciting month in Middle School, we can’t help but reflect on all the energy, creativity, and learning that filled our halls. From the festive winter parade and concert to the buzz of excitement in our classrooms, December has truly been a season to remember.

We were also thrilled to welcome our Brock Teacher Candidates, Ms. Ashley and Ms. Jones, into our school community this month. They quickly became an integral part of our classrooms, leading engaging lessons and building strong connections with students. While we will miss having them with us, we wish them every success as they return to complete their studies and continue their journey toward becoming educators.

In Language Arts, our Middle School students have been hard at work developing their writing skills. In Junior Middle, students tapped into their creativity through narrative writing, carefully following the writing process to craft stories with strong beginnings, middles, and endings. Their imaginations truly shone, with stories ranging from missing orcas to mysterious doors! These pieces highlighted just how much students’ writing has grown over the term. Meanwhile, Upper Middle students shifted their focus to non-fiction through report writing. They examined the key features of this writing style and applied their learning by researching how changing landforms in the Niagara region impact people, the environment, and the economy. We are excited to embark on new writing adventures together in January!

In Social Studies, Geography has been the focus across the grades. Upper Middle students explored world geography, learning about unique natural and human-made landforms and the ways they shape and impact our environment. Junior Middle students, on the other hand, took their learning about the Canadian government to the next level by creating their own countries. From designing flags and anthems to establishing governments, economies, and trade partners, students demonstrated impressive creativity and critical thinking. This project will continue into the New Year as students explore how global powers negotiate trade and peace agreements.

We are so proud of the hard work and enthusiasm shown by our Middle School students this month. Wishing all of our families a safe, restful, and joyful Winter Break—we look forward to seeing everyone refreshed and ready for learning in January! ☃️✨

Upper Middle

December has simply flown by!  It was a pleasure getting to know our Brock Teacher Candidate, Ms Ashley Abraham, and she did a terrific job leading a good majority of the classes.  She’ll finish her time with us reviewing math content, assessing student learning, and sharing in the final-school-day-of-2025! festivities on December 19th.

Ms Ashley took the math reins when we returned from November Break and began a unit on Operations with Fractions and Decimals.  Coding Fridays was also introduced at this time, and the Upper Middles had a lot of fun exploring basic coding with MIT’s Scratch program.  Mental Math Tuesdays also came into being, and in addition to sharpening skills by exploring and playing on mental-math-games.net, students applied their skills to time-telling.  They reviewed the process for reading an analog clock, calculating time intervals, and answered questions like “What is another way to say it is a quarter to three?” Indeed, this was also a great application of our work with fractions!!

We were fortunate to have the Biinaagami Giant Map of the Great Lakes Watershed at Royal Oak when we returned from November Break.  We used the teacher’s guide, written by a team of Indigenous and non-Indigenous authors, to explore the watershed from a Two-Eyed Seeing perspective. We followed its holistic approach, “ensuring the representation of diverse Indigenous core values”, first, by marking and sharing stories about those specific places within the watershed that students have connections with.  Then, students were challenged to conceive of and draw the Watershed as a living being and to create short stories about Watershed animal species on the theme of reciprocity. The Augmented Reality features of the map were really cool, but it was the incredibly rich and beautiful TVO documentary, The Great Lakes Untamed: From Source Sea, that capped off our study of the watershed.

We looked at the work of contemporary Anishinaabe artist Barry Ace, and students responded to his piece Anishinaabek in the Hood by making their own multi-media artwork about identity and place.  Students used pieces of maps, cultural symbols, and various hand-drawn and found representations of themselves to complete their Mapping Yourself project.

Upper Middles also had great fun playing Two Truths and AI, as we continued our exploration of the role of modern technology, AI and the media on our lives.  Hmmm, what will 2026 bring?  Much is unknown but one thing is certain - knowledge is power - so keep doing those mental push-ups!