Giant’s Head Elementary School
P.O. Drawer 3000
10503 Prairie Valley Road
Summerland, BC. V0H 1Z0
Phone: (250) 494-7671
Principal: Darcy Mullin
Vice Principal: Nancy Lomax
SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT PLAN (2014‐15) Giant's Head Context Giant’s Head Elementary, located in Summerland, B.C, and was built in 1970. In 1976, two classrooms were added as well as an addition to the gymnasium and a library resource area. Further additions to the building were made in 1988. In 1999, MacDonald Elementary School in Summerland was closed and several teachers joined the Giant’s Head staff. Due to this closure, there was an increase in student population at the school as well. The school was then reconfigured from Kindergarten–Grade 7 to Kindergarten–Grade 5. Currently the student enrolment is 352. There is a teaching and support staff of 36. It is a school that: • is committed to learning and intellectual growth • focuses on the importance of human and social development • allows each child to work to his or her potential and beyond • values and encourages parental support and involvement • is dedicated to the preparation of caring and responsible learners The school is supported by several service groups, community organizations and an active PAC. This support provides a meaningful connection to the surrounding environment and offers students the chance for involvement with and service to others. INQUIRY QUESTION(S) How do we collaboratively support each other with the students that challenge us?
RATIONALE: What evidence compelled us to ask this question? Over the last couple of years we have been dealing with a lot of challenging behaviours. We have learned about Collaborative Problem Solving (Ross Greene) and believe in the adage that kids do well if they can. On one hand we know and understand that the child is not choosing to be disruptive and that they are lacking skills in emotional or self‐regulation, but we struggle to pinpoint the skills and how to best deal with these situations. More and more people are feeling that the energy they are putting in is not making a significant difference with our most challenging students. Page 2
ACTION PLAN OBJECTIVES: Specific Steps to answer our question or more specific questions? In January we began the conversation with “effective practices” people use in their classroom. We wanted to create a school repository that people can go to when planning for their classrooms. Further, they would also have people who could act as mentors if needed. In February we shared the list of practices, but also began a conversation about ways to utilize our current resources in the most effective manner. Suggestions were recorded and fit into two categories: a. Short Term i. Common Expectations and Language b. Long Term i. Teacher Capacity February also had a district working session. Our team attending the half day RTI session where we completed a school review focusing on strengths, needs, goals and made some decisions moving forward. It was at this session that we refined our inquiry question to what is today. Some of the strengths we noted were: • Hard working, experienced staff • People are passionate and dedicated • Willingness to be flexible and respond to needs • Collaborative and collegial • Sense of humour (some people) Some of the needs that were important to address were: • Better facilitation (cultural norms) for new staff and for those in split classes • Reculturing – rebuilding sense of community and norms within our school • Increase of cohesiveness with those kids who challenge us • Support – people were getting worn out In March we completed a “We Believe” activity. Teachers were asked to create a list of Core Values around education. This data was taken and collated as a means to help make decision around resources and allocations moving forward. Once we defined values we asked teachers to think about what “Success Looks Like” for them, their students and in their classroom. Again, this information was collated to create the vision we are working towards. In April we shared the data from the “We Believe”. Based on feedback we narrowed the list down to six Core Values with respect to education: 1. The school and its classrooms should be welcoming, accepting and safe. 2. We teach to the kids we have. We may need to adapt our ways to meet them where they are. 3. Safe, trusting relationships help everyone (students/staff) learn. 4. Kids are valued – no matter what their behavior. 5. Teachers can be the most positive and consistent influence in these kids lives. 6. Everyone benefits from common language and common expectations. School District No. 67 (Okanagan-Skaha)
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In March there was a second Beyond Inclusion session and we brought different staff members. We were able to reflect on all the work we had done to date and the conversations made us realize that we needed to narrow our focus in the two key areas: 1. Common Expectations and Language a. Behaviour Matrix focused on Respect for Self and Others, Learning and Safety. b. We will hold regular assemblies and to teach and discuss the common expectations throughout the different settings of our school. 2. Teacher Capacity We started by clarifying what challenging behavior looks like. We wanted to focus on student needs rather than what teachers were or were not doing. We thought it best to focus on behavior rather than academic challenges at this time. STRUCTURES AND STRATEGIES: For all students and our most vulnerable learners. Keeping our question in mind, we began reflecting on the “why”. Why was it that some of our most vulnerable kids were struggling and how could we change how we were working with them. The more we talked the more we realized that it was really a two‐step approach. Step One ‐ Changing the environment. We came to realize that in general we lacked consistency. We had differing expectations of our students. When expectations differed, students got mixed messages. Expectations and procedures are not clear and this explained it is our most vulnerable children who often struggle. Step Two ‐ Teacher capacity. Our work throughout the year led us to defining what the challenging behaviours look like. We analyzed some of the structural things we had done and collaborated around professional learning heading into next September and beyond. ASSESSMENT PROCESS & TOOLS: What will we use to measure our success? 1. This year was about identifying our strengths and needs as a professional learning community; as such teachers were asked the following questions.  Should we continue this work next year?  Do you agree with teaching common language and expectations to all students?  Do you think the work we have done with language and expectations has worked?  Do agree that developing the capacity of our staff is something we should focus on next year? PROFESSIONAL LEARNING: How will we increase our capacity and collaboration? 1. Our question was focused on collaboration through the inquiry process. I have outlined the professional learning and collaborative structures above. School District No. 67 (Okanagan-Skaha)
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RESOURCES: What do we currently have and what do we need?  Skilled and Trained Inquiry Leaders  Ongoing collaboration time and staff meeting time dedicated to our work with struggling students.  Alignment of structures and resources EVIDENCE KEY FINDINGS: What did we find out? Below are the results from our staff survey: 1) Do you think we should continue to pursue our question next year?  4.68/5 (5 = Strongly Agree) 2) Do you agree with teaching common language and expectations to all of our students?  4.88/5 (5 = Strongly Agree) 3) Do you think the work we have done so far has made a difference?  3.75/5 (5 = Strongly Agree) 4) Are we moving in a direction that is meeting your needs?  3.75/5 (5= Strongly Agree) Based on the results it is clear that there is a willingness to continue to pursue the question and that teaching (and having) the same expectations and common language is well supported. However, it is clear that we do need to dig a bit deeper and figure out how to meet the needs of the staff. When I look at the staff comments with respect to questions #3 and #4 I think we need more time. We began teaching the expectations in April of this year, so implementation is still new. It will take time to embed the expectations and language into the daily life of our school. I would imagine that if we were to ask the same question next year the results would be much different. We have spent most of the year defining our question and refining it’s meaning in our context. We have not spent time developing the capacity of our teachers. The comments support this notion. While teachers are on board, they have not seen the difference in the classrooms yet. School District No. 67 (Okanagan-Skaha)
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REFLECTION AND SUMMARY REFLECTIONS: What did we learn? How did it make a difference? I think as a staff we learned a few things: 1. We have a lot of great things going on at our school, but our resources have been spread too thin. We needed to focus our energy on one thing. 2. There is value in taking the time to create a vision together. When we are all on the same page and share the same vision decisions are easier. 3. Common expectations and language benefit all students including our most challenging. 4. Implementation takes time. Pursuing a question over a couple of years will allow us to go deeper and remain focused on our learning. I think the payoff is yet to come. The data shows that while people are on board, they have not really seen the payoff. Having said that, I think taking the time to have conversations and engaging the staff on what they believe is important was a valuable process. Most people see the vision and where we are going, but based on the feedback not everyone does. It’s important to keep coming back to it and continuing the conversation so we all see the same end game. FUTURE PLANNING: Where do we go from here? Next year we will focus on two areas ‐ full implementation of school wide language and expectations and developing the capacity of our staff to work with our most challenging students. Over the coming months and leading into September it is our job to create an environment where we have aligned structures that embed continuous professional development, common goals and ongoing reflection. Aligning our resources and embedding this conversation into our ongoing learning is paramount. When teachers have the tools and support we should see a payoff on the culture of our school. ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ School Planning Council: Name (Principal): Name (Parent): Name (Parent): Name (Parent): School District No. 67 (Okanagan-Skaha)