TROUT CREEK ELEMENTARY
5811 Nixon Road
Summerland, B.C.
(250) 770‐7665
Email: troutcrk@summer.com
Website: http:/sd67.bc.ca/schools/troutcreek
We learn.
We care.
We co-operate.
Principal: Jeff Redden
April 2015 SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT PLAN (2014‐15) TROUT CREEK SCHOOL Trout Creek educates 200 students in a modern building located in a rural setting. The school grounds are large and are surrounded by quiet streets and backyard gardens. The catchment area for Trout Creek Elementary is approximately 22 square kilometres and consists of mixed agricultural and residential properties. The school enjoys a high level of support due to its key location in this close knit community as well as from its strong educational programs. The school logo incorporates the key beliefs about our school: *we learn
*we care
*we co-operate
INQUIRY QUESTION(S)
If we implement specific strategies to teach students calming & relaxation techniques, will
students feel less anxious and academic achievement increase?
RATIONALE: What evidence compelled us to ask this question?
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The recent observations from our staff have been that indeed our students are doing very well academically but they are noticing that more and more of our students are having difficulty socially and emotionally. We believe that if we are truly going to prepare our students for success beyond Trout Creek School, we need to focus on developing the whole child including the social & emotional development. The trend observed by staff is a growing number of students with anxieties that negatively affect their abilities to function and learn at school. We understand that not all our students come to school with the same levels of social emotional competencies. As teachers, we must explicitly teach these SEL competencies and skills to our students. 
Parents play a key role in the social emotional development of their children. We must continue to work closely with our parents and share new learning around social emotional development and the strategies used at school. 
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We believe students' sense of belonging and perception of safety can affect learning and students' academic performance. So we must ensure all our students feel a strong sense of belonging and that they feel safe (free of anxiety) to take risks in their learning to achieve to the best of their ability. We must also teach students specific coping skills to help them deal with feelings of anxiety. The staff agreed to continue using the common language from the WITS (walk away, ignore, talk it out and seek help) program to help empower students to solve minor conflicts independently as well as the Social Thinking language of “expected versus unexpected behaviours” when discussing student behavior. This year, we will continue to use the MindUp curriculum as the foundation for the teaching of social‐
emotional learning including how our brains work, mindful awareness and focused awareness (i.e. the core practice). We will also extend our lessons to go deeper by teaching students specific skills and strategies on how to calm when students are feeling worried, anxious or angry. ACTION PLAN
Year 3: Going deeper with Social Emotional Learning (School Wide Implementation of Specific Strategies). OBJECTIVES: Specific Steps to answer our question OR More specific questions?
1) What specific skills and strategies should we teach our students to help them deal with anxiety, anger and other emotional difficulties? 2) How will we teach these specific skills and strategies? Will we continue to use a school‐
wide approach using multi‐aged groups? 3) How will students demonstrate their understanding of the skills and strategies? 4) How will we know if students are able to use the skills and strategies in “real life” situations? STRUCTURES AND STRATEGIES: For all students and our most vulnerable learners.
Strategies and Structures 1) Training of all teaching staff on Social Emotional Learning. a.
b.
c.
2) Continue the implementation of Social Emotional Learning strategies and programs in classrooms. a.
b.
c.
3) Develop opportunities for teachers to collaborative on the implementation of the MindUp Curriculum. a.
b.
Ongoing Progress To Date In February 2013, the entire teaching staff participated in the MindUp training workshop that promotes the teaching of mindfulness and self‐
regulation. In the spring of 2013, a core group of teachers attended the Heart Mind conference, presented by the Dalai Lama Centre for Peace and Education. During the October Professional Development Day (2014), a group of 10 teachers from Trout Creek School attended the Education & Neuroplasticity Conference with a focus on mindful teaching and learning. Opportunities at school assemblies to reinforce the concepts and strategies taught during the Mindful Monday sessions, as well as the other school‐wide SEL programs such as WITS and Social Thinking. Starting each October, we continue to implement school‐wide social‐emotional learning lessons. Students have been placed in multi‐aged groups and on Monday afternoons these multi‐aged groups meet to learn and explore specific concepts and strategies to help them calm themselves during various emotional states. Small group targeted (Tier 2 & 3) social thinking intervention for primary‐aged students by our grade 1 teacher and speech‐language pathologist. Each month a small group of teachers are given collaborative planning time to meet to plan the school‐wide social emotional learning lessons. Teachers collaborate to design multi‐aged lessons for all the students K‐5. The school library will continue to acquire the recommended books from the MindUp curriculum. These books will be kept in a special section of the library for teachers’ access. ASSESSMENT PROCESS & TOOLS: What will we use to measure our success?
The assessment tools used to measure our success and specifically if:  our students can identify specific strategies to help calm themselves when they feel worried or angry  our students are able to use the specific strategies to help calm themselves when they feel worried or angry will include:  student SEL online survey  anecdotal reports from staff and parents  student skits to demonstrate the use of the specific strategies  student feedback including a ticket‐out‐the‐door during the last Mindful Monday session PARENT INVOLVEMENT: How parents will become partners in our efforts?
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Our Trout Creek Speak Newsletter has a regular section of social emotional learning at our school. We hope to include information about what activities students have been involved in during our regular Mindful Monday sessions as well as strategies and tips for parents to use at home. During the Principal’s report at monthly Parent Advisory Council meetings, the work of the school on social emotional learning is highlighted to the PAC. After our Mindful Monday sessions we often send specific information that students are required to take home to their parents as conversation starters about the work students have been doing on social emotional learning. The take‐aways may include homework for students to complete with their parents or simply information for parents about specific lessons and strategies. This year, we also created a short video for parents describing our school‐wide approach to teaching social emotional learning strategies. EVIDENCE
KEY FINDINGS: What did we find out?
Again, this year we decided to survey our students using an online survey to find out their views of the Mindful Monday multi‐aged sessions and the specific strategies taught to calm themselves when they feel angry or worried (See Appendix C for full survey results). We hope to use the results of this survey along with the anecdotal evidence from staff and parents to help determine the success of this school‐wide approach as well as to guide our future direction in the implementation of social‐emotional learning. Based on the results of the student SEL survey,  We found that overall students like being at school (92% indicated they like being a student most of the time or some of the time), feel safe at school (94.5% indicated that they feel safe at school most of the time or some of the time and 89.5% feel that there is more than one teacher who cares about them most of the time or some of the time). These results are all slight increases from last year’s survey.  The survey results also showed that students feel they are continuing to develop social emotional learning skills and strategies including solving problems and conflicts (84% of students indicated they are good at solving problems & conflicts most or some of the time), using their WITS (79.5% of students indicated they use their WITS most or some of the time), managing their emotions when they are angry or upset (81.9% of students indicated they can manage their emotions if upset or angry most or some of the time) and finally, using the core breathing to help calm and focus themselves (72.5% of students indicated the core breathing practice has helped get me to calm and focus).  The greatest and most significant improvement is in students using the core breathing strategies at other times in the day. In 2013‐14, 40.4% of students indicated that they never use them outside of the classroom sessions. However, this year only 17% of students indicated that they never use the core breathing strategies to help them calm at other times in the day and 64.5% of students use the core practice most of the time or some of the time.  We also found that a large number of students look forward to going to their Mindful Monday multi‐age sessions (66% of students indicated most or some of the time). As we begin to analyze these data further,  We noticed that 8.1 % of our students indicated they only feel safe at school a few times or never. This year we asked students to include their name on the survey so we will be able to investigate further to determine what are the conditions and factors cause them to feel unsafe. 
We also noticed that between 10% and 20% of our students indicated that they do not use some of the SEL strategies to manage their emotions and calm themselves when they are angry or anxious. Using the Response to Intervention model, we can identify these students and target some small group practice and reinforce of these skills and strategies. 
Finally, although most students enjoy the multi‐aged sessions, there is still a significant portion of our students that indicated that they never or only a few times look forward to the multi‐age groups. It may be worthwhile to talk with the students to find out why they don’t like going to the Mindful Monday sessions so we can address these issues for next year. From the student feedback (ticket‐out‐the‐door) from the last Mindful Monday sessions and the content of the student skits on using strategies to calm when angry or anxious, we found that:  The majority of students could name at least one specific strategy that they could use to calm themselves when they are feeling anxious or angry.  Most of our students could demonstrate the appropriate use of a calming strategy during a skit presentation of a time when they feel angry or worried. NARRATIVE: What successes and/or challenges are not reflected in the data?
From anecdotal evidence during staff discussions and conversations, teachers report successes including … 
The overall implementation of the Mindful Monday multi‐aged groups seems to be well established and teachers feel positive about the effectiveness of the SEL sessions to provide students with strategies that they can use to calm themselves when they feel anxious or worried. 
Teachers reported that they enjoyed re‐connecting with students from previous years through the multi‐aged groups. 
Teachers have also reported using the mindful breathing in their classrooms at other times in the school day to help calm and focus their own classes. 
Parents are also noticing that their children are using the mindful breathing at home when they are nervous, angry or scared. 
We have also noticed a school culture where a common SEL language has become prevalent. Teachers, support staff, students and parents are using the language of Social Emotional Learning including: o W.I.T.S. to describe strategies that students can use to deal interpersonal conflict such as teasing and bullying in a “kids world”. o Social Thinking (Expected vs Unexpected Behaviours) is used regularly by staff, teachers and even parents to describe social behaviours for students in a non‐judgmental way. Our school code of conduct has also been updated include the terms expected and unexpected behavior. o Mindfulness is also used in class and around the school to describe behaviours to help students become calm and focused. The term mindful is also used to help students think about other people, their environment and a problem or concern – in a considerate, non‐judgment way. From anecdotal evidence during staff discussions and conversations, teachers report challenges including … 
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It continues to be difficult to try to fit the social emotional learning lessons into a very busy schedule for teachers. This year we had discussions with our teaching staff about the implementation of the full MindUp curriculum and decided that we needed to pick out the most important elements from the program to implement. We also decided that we would reduce the number of Mindful Mondays sessions to once per month and teachers could follow up on the lessons on their own with their individual classes. Transferring the skills taught during the MindUp Monday sessions beyond the classroom. This also included getting the information to parents in a timely and useable form so that they are able to follow up with their children at home. 
Moving beyond social situations and developing the skills to build resilient, independent learners to help students when faced with academic challenges at school. REFLECTION AND SUMMARY
REFLECTIONS: What did we learn? How did it make a difference?
Overall, we learned that implementing a comprehensive whole‐school SEL plan that focuses on teaching specific calming strategies to help deal with anxiety does make a difference for our students. We have found that by teaching specific skills to our students and reinforcing these strategies through the use of common language that our students can develop these skills and begin to apply them in their daily lives at school. We also discovered that as we begin to share these strategies with parents and care‐
givers that slowly our students will begin to use these strategies in other situations and contexts outside of the four walls of our school. We also learned that the whole‐school approach using multi‐aged groups has added in our efforts to create a caring school culture in which students feel safe, cared for by teachers and like going to school. FUTURE PLANNING: Where do we go from here?
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As a result of our inquiry, we believe that the teaching of social emotional learning skills and strategies continues to be an important foundational part of our school culture and healthy environment for our learners to grow and thrive. Next year we hope to continue with the implementation of a school‐
wide approach to teach social emotional skills and strategies to our students with a specific focus on reducing anxiety. We also hope to expand our focus to include strategies to help students become more resilient and independent learners. In order to develop more resilient and independent learners, we are planning to investigate the work of Carol Dweck and specifically, growth versus fixed mindsets. We hope to include lessons on growth mindsets through our existing structure of Mindful Monday multi‐aged groups. 
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We need to continue to dig deeper around the results of the student SEL surveys and begin to question the feedback from some of our students on how to improve the multi‐age group experience and continue to help them feel safe at school. From the teachers' feedback, the message is that we need to stay the course and build on the strengths we've experienced this year. There is also a need to provide more collaboration time for teachers to meet and plan for successful implementation of any new Social Emotional Learning curriculum. School Planning Council: Name (Principal): Name (Parent): Name (Parent): Jeff Redden Lara Hughes Lora Nield Appendix A
Multi-Aged MindUp Mondays Scope & Sequence
Our focus of these Multi‐Aged sessions will be teaching the MindUp Curriculum which includes:  To develop mindful awareness in our students  To use mindful breathing to help us learn and play  To understand anger and anxiety and develop strategies to manage these emotions  To build confident, resilient, independent learners Month
Monthly Theme
October/November Getting Focused
December
Mindful Awareness
January
Strategies to deal with
anger
February
Strategies to deal with
anxiety & worry
April
Review anger
management
strategies & anxiety
reduction strategies
Putting strategies into
practice
May
Key Concepts Covered
Mindful Awareness
Focused Awareness: The Core Practice
Comparing being “mindful” versus being
“un-mindful”
Review of mindful breathing to help us
become calm and focused
What is anger/what makes you angry?
How does anger feel?
How you can control feelings of anger?
What is anxiety/what makes you worry?
Anxious thoughts, body symptoms, and
behaviours.
What are ways to deal with anxiety?
Using Mindful breathing to calm our
bodies.
Individual “Stress Level Scale” & “Calming
Sequence”
Review of SEL strategies to deal with
anger & anxiety
Students will create skits to demonstrate
their understanding of the SEL strategies
on anger control and anxiety reduction
taught this year
AppendixB
Heart‐Mind Index 
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Developed by the DLC together with UBC's Human Early Learning Partnership (HELP), the Heart‐Mind Index provides a population‐level snapshot of Heart‐Mind well‐being of children in British Columbia communities. The Heart‐Mind Index draws on the work HELP has led for the last 14 years with the Early Development Instrument (EDI)—a population‐level developmental survey that is used with kindergarten children in British Columbia every year. The Index analyzes EDI data in a new way to provide deeper and more specific indications of social and emotional development. SIGNIFICANCE OF HEART‐MIND WELL‐BEING Children who develop social and emotional skills have better attitudes about themselves and others, and better social interactions. Children with strong social and emotional skills are less aggressive, can handle difficult emotions, and they have lower levels of emotional distress. Students who receive Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) instruction improve an average 11 percentile points on standardized achievement tests compared to students who do not receive such instruction. We can successfully create conditions in schools, communities and families that build the capacity of children to recognize their emotions, to understand and empathize with others, and to make constructive choices. We can foster positive human qualities such as compassion, empathy and confidence, and we can help children manage difficult emotions such as fear, hatred, anger, and anxiety. FIVE DOMAINS OF HEART‐MIND WELL‐BEING The Index measures Heart‐Mind well‐being according to five positive human qualities, which are anchored in evidence‐based research related to the social and emotional development of children. GETS ALONG WITH OTHERS ‐ the ability to form positive and healthy relationships with peers and adults. COMPASSIONATE AND KIND ‐ the ability to be aware of other people's emotions and a desire to help when a person is in need. SOLVES PROBLEMS PEACEFULLY ‐ the ability to behave in a peaceful and respectful way in a variety of situations and relationships. SECURE AND CALM ‐ the ability to take part in daily activities and approach new situations without being overwhelmed with worries, sadness or anxiety. ALERT AND ENGAGED ‐ the ability to stay calm, focused and alert; to demonstrate self‐
control and to slow down and think before acting. Appendix C
Trout Creek Student SEL Survey Results 2014‐15 1. I like being at school. Most of the time
Some of the time
A few times
Never
%
59.2
27.9
6.4
6.4
2013-14
# of students
102
48
11
11
%
59
33
5
3
2014-15
# of students
118
66
10
6
%
41.5
42.5
12.5
3.5
2014-15
# of students
83
85
25
7
2013-14
# of students
73
59
30
10
%
46.5
33
18
2.5
2014-15
# of students
93
66
36
5
2013-14
# of students
135
20
9
8
%
78.5
16
4.5
1
2014-15
# of students
157
32
9
2
2. I am good at solving problems and conflicts. 2013-14
%
# of students
Most of the time
39.2
67
Some of the time
45.6
78
A few times
12.9
22
Never
2.3
4
3. I use my WITS. Most of the time
Some of the time
A few times
Never
%
42.4
34.3
17.4
5.8
4. I feel safe at school. Most of the time
Some of the time
A few times
Never
%
78.5
11.6
5.2
2.9
5. I can manage my emotions if I’m worried or angry. (angry or upset) 2013-14
2014-15
%
# of students
%
# of students
Most of the time
64.9
111
47.2
94
Some of the time
24.6
42
34.7
69
A few times
7.6
13
14.1
28
Never
2.9
5
4
8
6. I look forward to going with my Mindful Monday multi‐age group. 2013-14
2014-15
%
# of students
%
# of students
Most of the time
42.1
72
38.6
76
Some of the time
25.1
43
27.4
54
A few times
20.5
35
22.3
44
Never
12.3
21
11.7
23
7. I feel that there is more than one teacher in the school who cares about me. 2013-14
2014-15
%
# of students
%
# of students
Most of the time
72.9
124
74.4
148
Some of the time
14.7
25
15.1
30
A few times
10.6
18
7
14
Never
1.8
3
3.5
7
8. The core breathing practice has helped me get calm and focused. 2013-14
2014-15
%
# of students
%
# of students
Most of the time
42.7
73
43.9
86
Some of the time
29.2
50
28.6
56
A few times
16.4
28
17.3
34
Never
11.7
20
10.2
20
9. I use my core breathing practice at other times in the day to help me stay calm when I am worried or angry. 2013-14
2014-15
%
# of students
%
# of students
Most of the time
20.5
35
29.3
58
Some of the time
15.8
27
24.7
49
A few times
23.4
40
28.3
56
Never
40.4
69
17.7
35