School Plan
To increase student engagement in their learning at Parkland.
Inquiry Questions:
A. How do we create strong roots and connections for students to our school and their learning that allow them to be successful in school?
B. How do we intervene or support students when they show signs of disengagement?
In the context of our two inquiry questions:
- We have a staff that is very well liked and connected to students;
- We are able to identify those students that are struggling; and
- We have a counselling staff that is supportive of students struggling with anxiety.
Additionally:
- We are very invested in strategies that will motivate the students to engage in their leaning; and
- We are also seeking programming paths for students that will engage students to persevere and actively participate in their learning.
In the context of supporting evidence:
- Report card data indicates that we have some students that are struggling to be successful in class;
- Attendance records show a strong correlation between attendance and success in class; and
- Staff Conversations and Anecdotal Comments show a common concern from staff with the engagement of students in their learning. Whether it is attendance, reluctance to start or complete work, apathy, phone use or anxiety, the staff is noticing more and more students not engaging in their learning to the best of their ability.
This goal, and focused inquiry questions, align directly to our district strategic priorities in Mental Health and Wellness, Literacy and Indigenous Learner Success.Additionally, our intended approaches are deeply connected to the First Peoples Principles of Learning.
First Peoples Principles of Learning
The Engagement Goal needs to ensure that:
- Learning is holistic, reflexive, reflective, experiential, and relational (focused on connectedness, on reciprocal relationships, and a sense of place).
- Learning involves patience and time.
- Learning requires exploration of one‘s identity.
To Guide Our Decisions and Directions we will be:
- Reviewing Data on Engagement and Belonging from Learning Surveys;
- Reviewing Report Card Data;
- Reviewing District Language Assessment Results;
- Interviewing Struggling Students;
- Brainstorming thoughtful ways to engage students in their learning; and
- Consulting and collecting input from our School Improvement Group, Students, PAC, Subject Chairs and Staff.
Specific to Inquiry Question A:
- Select Strategies that fosters, encourages and supports engagement;
- Social and Emotional Learning and Support:
- Grade 8 Transition
- Grade 9 Panther Talks
- Grade 10 – Panther Talks and CLE 10
- Grade 11 - CLCa - Assemblies
- CLC – Moved into the timetable through Grade Assemblies.
Specific to Inquiry Question B:
- Add a Learning Strategies Course in our support block to help students develop skills and earn credit.
Over the 2023-24 year, we will track progress on our initiatives identified in this year's plan. Several key questions will underpin our inquiries, namely:
- ‘Why is school important to our learners? What are their passions, assets, interests and reasons for engaging?’; and
- ‘What would motivate them to engage?’
More specifically:
Within Inquiry Question A, we will:
- Review the impact of our Pathways promotion for students at Parkland – International Baccalaureate (IB), IB/Regular Curriculum (Post-Secondary Bound), Trades options/ explorations, and Parkland Alternate Learning Support (PALS) program;
- Track the impact of Literacy Support for struggling grade 9 students in English 9 classrooms, utilizing the District Literacy Assessment data; and
- Identify those students struggling to engage, develop plans and pathways with their families, and track the impact of these support initiatives.
Additionally:
Within Inquiry Question B, we will:
- Track the impact of a 7 week intensive literacy support in weeks 4 – 11 of each semester with support from our IST staff; and
- Gather feedback on an initiative that provides students with a staff member that checks in on them. (Our High 5 program)
Summary learning, based on evidence gathered over the year, will provide us with key learnings to guide next steps for the 2024-25 school year and beyond.
