ESST Agenda- 123 School
Meeting Date: February 5, 2014
Location: Staff Room
Time: 2:45
Agenda Items:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
K/1 Concerns
Grade 1/2 Concerns
Grade 3 Concerns
Grade 4/5 Concerns
Grade 6/7 Concerns
Grade 8 Concerns
Next Meeting: February 17, 2014
ESST Meeting Minutes- February 5, 2014
In attendance: Mrs. K/1, Mrs. Guidance Counselor, Mrs. Education Support
Teacher- Resource, Ms. School Psychologist, Mr. Grade 4/5, Mrs. Grade 3, Mrs.
MacKenzie (Math and Science Teacher), Mr. Principal, Mrs. Grade 8 & Mrs.
Grade 6/7.
Regrets: Mrs. Grade 1/2
Focus of meeting: Academic Concerns
Updates & New Referrals:
1. K/1 – Mrs. EST- Resource will take lower 1’s and higher K’s to do flexible
grouping once a week. Student K’s speech is showing improvement, still seeing
speech pathologist.
2. ACTION: Design new form for ESST meetings.
3. Grade 3- Student 3 was tested by school Psychology and a meeting was held
with mom last Thursday. No diagnosis but Student 3 needs lots of repetition and
practice. School Psychologist says that Student 3 learns slower than other
children the same age, learning pattern is slow across all areas. As things
become more complicated and abstract Student 3 will need to work harder.
Student 3 needs structure and a planning sheet as a tool to succeed, especially
in Math. The key point is that learning is progressing. The focus of Student 3 is also
improving; attention difficulties are more due learning difficulties and to the fact
that Student 3 has to work so much harder than others.
4. Grade 3- Another Student 3 is being taken to a neurologist. ACTION: Mrs.
Grade 3 will follow up with mom for the results.
5. Grade 4/5- Student 4 struggles. Some things come with ease, and other things
prove to be a struggle. Need to decipher how much is lacking confidence and
how much is inability. Student 4 has been diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis. There
are health concerns but need to build confidence with academics. Strategies
to use: scribe, tell story out loud, prompting, etc. Student 4 also has a hard time
getting to school. ACTION: Mr. Grade 4/5 will put in a guidance referral.
6. Grade 4/5- Student 4’s time spent in class is very inconsistent. Student 4 is a
flight risk, has been consistently removed from the classroom and school due to
behavior (will refuse to complete work, to come into the classroom, has
damaged school property and can be a safety risk to self and others). Mom told
school that she was taking him to the doctor but has not contacted the school
to follow up. Mom kept Student 4 home for 2 weeks. There was a registered
letter sent home about attendance. EA does most of the supervision.
ACTION- Mr. Principal will follow up with mom about the doctor appointment as
well as follow up with the behavior specialist at the District level. Student 4 will be
provided with schedule in locker to outline the day, help with transitions and
build in activity breaks.
7. Grade 4/5- Student 5’s mom is concerned about eating habits. ACTION:
monitor at lunch and Mr. Grade 4/5 will follow up with mom.
8. Grade 6/7- Student 6 and Student 7 are not completing work. Student 6’s Dad
suggested that we send a note home and get the parent to sign and return it to
school with child so that parents are aware of homework and assignments due.
Mr. Principal could also send a talk mail home by each class or each homeroom
teacher could send an email to parents individually.
9. Grade 6/7- Student 7 tested in Math using the PRIME testing kit and the results
showed a Grade 4 level.
10. Grade 6/7- Student 7- worried about health, has a hard time coming to
school on time, is not doing activities previously involved in, dark circles under
eyes. ACTION: Mrs. 6/7 will call mom to follow up on test results- mom took him to
the doctor for blood tests.
11. Grade 8- Student 8 is not completing work in class. ACTION: Student 8 will be
removed from class to refocus.
12. Grade 8- Student 8 is having a hard time completing her work and is falling
behind. ACTION: Mrs. EST-Resource will continue working with Student 8 and
perhaps put an Accommodated SEP in place for transition to high school.
Next Meeting: February 17, 2014
Personal Reflection
This meeting took place at my current school, which is a small rural school
with Grades K-8. Every teacher in the school attends the ESST meetings (these
include each homeroom teacher, the Principal, the EST-Resource, Music
Teacher and Guidance Counselor), as there is one teacher and classroom per
grade level. These meetings are held every second Wednesday and begin after
school at 2:45 with no set end-time. The Principal chairs the meeting and I
recorded the minutes this time but this job is usually held by the EST-Resource. My
role in ESST is to attend every meeting, contribute to discussions, come up with
action item suggestions, implement academic and behaviour plans as well as
represent middle level Math and Science assessment, concerns and progress.
There are both benefits and areas that could be improved upon in
regards to our ESST meetings. The frequency of the meetings is something that
allows every teacher to stay up to date on relevant and important information
about students, district initiatives, teaching strategies and upcoming events.
Having every teacher present helps to keep everyone informed on the same
level, provides different points of view and ideas for solutions to problems as well
as allows for the sharing of knowledge on strategies that worked for students
who have been previously taught by other teachers. Including the Music
Teacher is extremely beneficial, as specialty teachers are not often part of ESST
meetings. The Music teacher sees every single student and can contribute in
discussions of behavior patterns and academic inconsistencies. It is simply one
more person who can add to the problem-solving, solution-oriented framework
of the meeting. The Music teacher can also help to confirm or question the
accuracy of strategies used, observed behaviours and/or academic or
behavior plans in a different and unique way.
There are some areas of improvement to our ESST meetings that if
addressed, could help to improve efficiency. Having no set end-time makes it so
that meetings tend to go on much too long. This can lead to unproductive
conversations, straying off topic and becoming less solution- oriented. Specific
start and end times could enable a more focused, direct and action plan
based meeting. The agenda to our meetings could also be more specific. Most
times it is a general review of concerns per grade level, which we do not know
in advance. Having teachers send particular items to the Chair in advance
would allow teachers to think about concerns and be better prepared to offer
ideas, strategies or suggestions. This would also help with the time management
aspect of the meetings. The action item is something new that was added to
this particular meeting. I think it will be a useful improvement in helping to avoid
the same conversations and issues each time we meet. This way we can be
updated on the actions of the previous meeting and move on to new items.