Students Inform Learning and System Goals at the Board Improvement Planning Day for Student Achievement.
Eighteen students from across the Kenora Catholic District School Board attended the Board Improvement Planning Day for Student Achievement on October 18th. Typically, this is a day when Principals, School Improvement Planning Teams and system personnel talk about strategies to improve outcomes for students, but the Board also invites teams of students to sit at the planning session alongside their teachers.
Teams of students from each school provided their input and ideas around things in their school that they like and want to see continue as well as things that can be changed to increase student achievement and wellbeing. This is the second year that students have been invited to the planning session with their School Improvement Teams. Every school was represented by a team of students including St. John school students who participated via FaceTime.
The students spent the first part of their day collaborating with their peers from other schools and Phyllis Eikre, Director of Education forming a Director's Council. Each school team prepared a 'Dear School Letter' that they presented to Phyllis in the Director's Forum. Phyllis provided feedback on their letters and asked the students questions about their thinking. Following this session, the students then joined their School Improvement Teams and presented their letters to the teams and engaged in a discussion about their school culture and ways to improvement student engagement and success.
Mary Cunningham, Superintendent of Instructional Services talks about the process, "this is the 2nd year that we've invited students to participate in this process and the 9th year that the board has used a grass roots approach to developing the Board Improvement Plan goals. We develop our School Improvement Plans before we develop our Board Improvement Plan. This approach allows the schools and teams to have a voice in the process and the goals are developed together. We are proud of this process and we want all of our schools to see themselves in the theory of action statement. Having students involved invigorates and inspires the process and provides a deeper perspective."
At the end of the session the team developed a working Board Improvement Goal:
If we focus as a Catholic system on strengthening relationships, and increasing student voice and JOY, then students will experience intellectual ENGAGEMENT, growth and well-being and develop a deeper understanding of their learning and reach for higher student achievement.
Here are some pictures from the day:
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| Eighteen students from across the board participated in the Board Improvement Planning Day. This team forms the Director's Forum on Student Achievement. Each school had a team of 3 - 4 students to represent their school, including St. John School students photographed on the IPad. |
Students from École Ste-Marguerite Bourgeoys sit with their School Improvement Planning Team and engage in discussions about their school. |
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| Here, student Miguel is talking with his Principal and sharing the 'Dear School Letter' that he and his fellow students prepared in the Director's Forum |
Three students from St. John School fully participated in the day via FaceTime from Red Lake. Here the students are talking with their Principal Corinna Glazier. |
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| Olivia and Elise, two students from St. Thomas Aquinas High school were invited to the event to create pictorial representations of what they heard from the students. Elise talks about what she heard, "This morning we listened to the students and we sketched and doodled the things that everyone was discussing. The students had a lot of positive things to say about their schools. The things that they identified that they needed was just building upon what they already have to make their school better. They also spoke about the guidance and support that they need to be successful." |
Students in the Director's Council had opportunities to dialogue about each of thier schools and learn more about each other's schools. The students commented on how they found it interesting to learn about each other's schools and how they are similar and yet different. |
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| Students at St. Thomas Aquinas High school shared that they would like to see the school offer more tangible life skills such as starting a bank account, buying a house, balancing a cheque book and other things to help them manage life outside of high school. |
Teagan, a Grade 5 student from Pope John Paul II school talks about their Dear School Letter, "right now we are writing a letter to our principal and the students of our school. We think we should have EQAO testing every year and in every grade because we think it will help us when we get to Grade 12." |
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| The team of students from St. Louis school are collaborating on their Dear School Letter. When they presented their letter they talked about wanting more community field trips where all the schools come together. They want to see more school clubs such as story writing and sports clubs as well as more sports equipment. They also shared that they think St. Louis School is amazing because their principal gives the students lots of flexibility and leeway to create fundraisers. |
The students from St. John School had a positive experience participating in the Board Improvement Planning Day. They were able to collaborate with other students, the Director of Education and the St. John School - School Improvement Team. The students participated from Red Lake via FaceTime. |