GOTCHA PROGRAM

       At Ecole St. Mary School, we have a special reward for good behaviour known as the GOTCHA.

      This is a coupon featuring a smiley face as well as a place for the student to write his or her name, class and house team.

        A student receives a GOTCHA if he or she is caught by a grown-up doing something good, such as holding open a door, picking up litter, helping a fellow student, or doing any of the countless other acts of kindness possible in the course of a day.

        A GOTCHA may also be earned by participating in various house team activities.

        Upon receiving a GOTCHA, the student writes his or her name, class and house team on it, shows it to his or her teacher and brings it to the Office, where congratulations abound. The GOTCHA is then placed in a special container to await the draw which takes place at our monthly assembly.

         At the assembly, all of the GOTCHAS earned during the month appear in a large bin, and draws are made for prizes. The first eight students whose names are drawn are invited to sit on chairs with soft cushions for the duration of the assembly, as well as receiving several small prizes including a coupon for a new book from the library. Several more names are drawn for a variety of small prizes.

         Students are proud to receive GOTCHAS and are impressed to realize that others notice their good behaviour.

HOUSE  TEAMS

        Each of our students is assigned to one of ten cross-graded house teams. House teams meet from time to time for games and activities, usually before our monthly GOTCHA assemblies.

         Students work to earn points for their teams in various ways throughout the year. For example, we have a number of theme days, and students who wear a hat on Crazy Hat Day, pajamas on Pajama Day, red or green on Christmas Colour Day, and so on, will receive points, as they will if they bring food for the Food Bank collection or return their library books on time, or if their parents come to parent-teacher interviews.

         If a student receives a GOTCHA for good behaviour of some sort, he or she also adds a point to the house team total.

         Each month, the total points are tallied, and the team with the most points in any given month wins an ice cream / iPad party .   

                                                    Here are the names of our house teams:

                                                    Black Bears                          Grey Whales
                                                    Blue Sharks                          Orange Tigers
                                                    Brown Mustangs                  Red Robins
                                                    Golden Hawks                      Silver Dolphins
                                                    Green Gators                        White Wolves