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Bite Size UA
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O
ur JK class has been exploring colour this fall. The students sing songs about the colour spectrum, about primary colours, and about colour mixing during our circle time. Not only are the children exploring colour and developing an understanding of some new ideas, they have also been developing their fine motor skills and appreciation of the medium of paint. Truly an arts-infused experience!
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Media Arts 9/10 are exploring identity through self-portraiture in a mixed media format. Moving into their second unit, they researched Pop Art, creating and presenting visual journals on their discoveries. Their next unit will focus on items with personal meaning in their lives of which they will create large scale paper mache sculptures... look out for these at Artastic!
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At the beginning of October we had two unusual visitors to Urban Academy. The Mobile Dairy Classroom brought Piper and Buttercup to visit our junior students, and taught them about how milk is made, how much milk a cow can produce and where chocolate milk comes from!
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October 19 was an important day for Canada as citizens across the nation took to their voting stations, but it was an even bigger day for Ms. Dhaliwal's Kindergarten class. Shortly after morning recess the students lined up to have their say on what Choosing Time activity they would have later that afternoon. Students were not allowed to discuss their choices before casting their vote. Home Corner came in with a landslide victory of four votes, Trains was a close second with two votes, and Cars and Bricks placed a joint third.
 
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On October 21, Grades 9 and 10 went to the WE Day event at Rogers Arena in Vancouver. WE Day is a celebration of youth making a difference in their local and global communities. The event inspires young people to take social action, empower others and transform lives. Resulting from the field trip, Grades 9 and 10 will participate in a campaign called 'We are Silent', a vow-of-silence fundraiser for Adopt a Village. 
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2015/2016 Issue: 2
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November Issue
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Our school has had a busy and productive opening months. We have welcomed a great many new families to our school community and our enrollment continues to grow. This fall saw the continued growth of our athletic program with students competing against other independent schools in soccer, volleyball and track events.
The work we are doing on technology in the classroom is flourishing. Junior students have an iPad program and are using them to support instruction at each level. Guided by their teachers, students can research and document their work through film-making and voice recording, as well as using the technology to support mathematics, reading and the social sciences. At the Senior School we have added MacBook Pros to the complement of technology available and the software to support Media Arts, Science, Social Studies and IT instruction. There is rarely a spare iPad, laptop or MacBook to be had, they are all in classrooms and under our students' command.
Our Annual Appeal kicks off this month. The theme is "By Community, For Community, Toward Greatness!". It is our Year of Community and our focus is the continued growth and development of our school, our parent community and our outreach to the larger community surrounding us. The funds raised are very appreciated and directly support learning in the classroom. The technology program is a prime example of that and we will add to our tech plan next year again with the generosity of our community through this year's Appeal.
As we move toward the end of 2015, we are preparing for Remembrance Day observances and are well into production of our Winter Concert in December. Thank you to our community for a wonderful start to the school year.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Cheryle Beaumont
Head of School
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| Canada: Who's in Charge Around Here? |
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Grade 6's are exploring how the Canadian Government works, and
how the Government affects our collective and individual rights in comparison to other people in different countries. To study this unit of inquiry, the class created their own mock cabinet, in which each student has a title and an accompanying job.
In the lead up to their project, the class has
been learning about theprocess of passing a bill or law, and who has the power in the Canadian Government. The Grade 6's have been tasked with deciding on something that they would like to see realistically changed in our school community, and convincing each other (the Cabinet members), the student council (the elected representatives), Ms. Macdonald (the Prime Minister), Ms. MacLeod (the Governor General) and Mrs. Beaumont (the Queen) through different artistic mediums.
In an attempt to have their "bills" passed, the students are creating a multimedia project that includes an array of arts-infusion! This project includes a visual component (a poster), based on the Elements and Principles of Design, which they are working on in Art Class. With the help of Mrs. Brooke, our Drama teacher, students are creating audio or video advertisements, as would be seen on TV or heard on the radio, that sells their idea.
Presentation day is fast approaching when the students will present to our mock government and we will debate, and pass or deny their bills. To complete the unit students will write a reflection on how the whole debating and verdict process reflects the hierarchy of the Canadian Government.
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| Amazing Adaptations at Vancouver Aquarium |
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 Both of our Grade 2 classes have been working their way through their first unit of inquiry: Amazing Adaptations. This unit focuses on why animals develop adaptations to help them survive.
As part of their learning, our Grade 2's went
o
n their first field trip of the year to
Vancouver Aquarium. Whil
e
there, the students took part in a workshop called '
Staying Alive
', where they learned how certain marine mammals have adapted to survive in the extreme environment of the ocean. Students learned how blubber allows marine mammals to spend their lives submerged in the frigid ocean temperatures, and how otter fur traps many tiny bubbles inside it to create a protective layer of warmth.
All of th
e Grade 2's enjoyed their trip to the aquarium and learned so much ab
out sea life. Some even got to touch a sea urchin and a sea cucumber, which respectively were "a little spikey" and "squishy" by all accounts.
From learning about animal adaptations, to how an octopus has three hearts
but no bones, and seeing Walter, a rescued, blind sea otter doing the back stroke the overall consensus is that Aurora and Qila, the beluga whales, were the hit of the day.
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| Test Tube Geology |
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This term, students in Science 9/10 are studying chemistry. The practical components of this unit require students to understand and apply the scientific method and understand chemical change. The students' first introduction to both principles this fall was through the
Test Tube Geology lab activity.
Students layered a variety of reactants in two test tubes; a control test tube and experimental test tube. The control for all groups were identical; layers of three grams copper sulfate, and one and a half grams sodium chloride between filter paper beneath water and two iron nails. Each group chose a distinct change to make in their experimental test tube to observe how this would alter the reactions.
Through the activity, the students learned the importance of using a control, of only changing one variable at a time, and of making objective observations without assumptions.
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| Multiplication City |
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Grade 4 has been creating
multiplication
cityscapes while learning
about their multiplication unit this term.
Students designed a city, and used what they knew about arrays to create a variety of multiplication equations in the windows of their buildings.
 The students produced creative and original buildings while taking some inspiration from real life buildings such as The Empire State Building and the Eiffel Tower. The children challenged each other to figure out each of their buildings' multiplication equations. We had so much fun creating our cities!
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The Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup
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This fall, the Grade 3 class has been inquiring into ho
w
cit
izens can create
change in their communities. With the lens of vol
unteerism, they have been taking on various action projects within our school community.
At the end of September, along with some dedicated parents, our Grade 3 class participated in
the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup. Organised by the Vancouver Aquarium and the WWF, this c
le
anup
takes place all over Canada through the months of September and October. Cleaning up a record amount of garbage, the Grade 3's are extremely proud of their work in our community!
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Annual Appeal 2015/2016
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This week, you will receive an invitation to participate in Urban Academy's Annual Appeal:
By Community, For Community, Toward Greatness!
Over the years a greater number of families and supporters have participated in the appeal and this year, we're asking all families to participate. Large or small, any donation helps in getting the school to our goal of raising $30,000. Past appeals have built up some of the tools and resources that students use daily: iPads, laptops, drama props, sports equipment, and musical instruments just to name a few.
This equipment changes the way students learn and offers them opportunities that they otherwise would never have had.
As a school that began with a small number of committed families, we know that we can become what you, the community, dreams for us to be. So we're looking forward to dreaming big with you, and moving closer to that dream with our 2015/2016 Annul Appeal: By Community, For Community, Toward Greatness!
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The UA Gala & 15th Birthday Celebration!
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 Mark your calendars, call your friends and prepare for an exciting evening filled with glamour and grandeur! The Annual Urban Academy Gala, our school's most important and exciting fundraising event, will take place on
February 20th 2016, where we will celebrate Urban Academy's 15th birthday! Marking this significant anniversary, we've called this year's Gala - '
The Black & White Ball'.
Expect a full dinner buffet, silent and live auctions, dancing, entertainment (did we mention the dinner buffet?) cash bar and a magnificent showcase of student art.
We are also asking parents to think about what they may be able to contribute to the auction. A 'Favorite Things' Basket from your family? Do you have a timeshare that you can spare a week? Perhaps those prize winning dahlia bulbs, or another service or special-skill you have that may be auctioned off? And who do you know? That sister in law who works for Nike? Or the grandparent with seasons tickets to the Canucks? The exciting variety of items donated by families like you is always something the UA community looks forward to bidding on!
If you would like to contribute to this year's Gala auction (and we hope you will!) please contact Suzette Willems and we'll arrange for pickup of your item. If you know someone you'd like to ask for a donation, formal Donation letters are available from the Administration office on both campuses. If you frequent certain local businesses on a regular basis, please check with Suzette Willems (
[email protected]) prior to approaching them just to be sure that they have not already been approached for donations.
With Thanks,
The UA Gala Committee
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