Action Plan for Learning
School Name:
Parkland Elementary
School Goal: Social Emotional Learning
School Year: 2015-2016
Goal / Inquiry
Student learning
If we implement a school-wide structure for conducting both classroom community and
school-wide community circles based on the tenets of restorative practices, will our
students and our community report higher levels of belonging and connectedness within
our school community?
Rationale
1-3 reasons for choosing
goal
Data supporting the need for this Goal/Inquiry:
The results of the MDI conducted with all of our Grade 4 students in 2011 indicated:
 Connectedness to Adults at School: 36% of our Grade 4 students indicated that
statements such as “There is an adult who really cares about me” or “There is an
adult who believes I will be a success” were “a little true”(29%) or “not true at all”
(7%) (The district average is 26% in that category)
 School Climate: 30% of our Grade 4 students indicated that they “don’t agree or
disagree” (21%), “disagree a little” or “disagree a lot” (9%) to statements such as
“Teachers and Students treat each other with respect in this school” or “People
care about each other in this school.” (The district average is 25% in that
category)
 School Belonging: 28% of our Grade 4 students indicated that they “don’t agree
or disagree” (12%), “disagree a little” or “disagree a lot” (16%) to statements such
as “I feel like I am important to this school” and “I feel like I belong in this school.”
(The district average is 24% in that category)
Considering our current school population:
Currently we have identified a group of 66 of our current students (25% of our school
population) who we believe are “Social and Emotional outliers”. This percentage is similar
to the percentages identified by the MDI above. This group includes many of our students
with diagnosed special needs (Category G, Category C, Category E, Category D, Category R,
Category H, Category Q, Category P) and a group of our EAL students.
Theoretical Rationale for this Goal/Inquiry
We know that creating school connectedness and community is the base for the
Restorative Practices pyramid and we expect that by creating intentional structures for
supporting this we will have an impact on our community. Currently we use reactive
restorative structures (using restorative questions in both formal and informal ways) to
react to conflict incidents and ‘maintain relationships’ between students. We hope to
reduce the number and frequency of these conversations by strengthening our pro-active
structures designed to ‘make and develop relationships’.
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References and sources to
support actions


International Institute for Restorative Practices (IIRP) Website: www.iirp.edu
Restorative Practices in Schools: Research Reveals Power of Restorative Approach
Backup Documentation



Defining Restorative (by Ted Wachtel, IIRP President and Founder of IIRP)
Teaching Restorative Practices with Classroom Circles (IIRP)
Circle Forward: Building A Restorative School Community (by Carolyn BoyesWatson and Kay Pranis)
Restorative Circles in Schools: Building Community and Enhancing Learning
(by Bob Costello, Joshua Wachtel & Ted Wachtel)

Planned Actions
Continuing practices
working well (1-3)
 What will we do
differently? (1-3)
 How will we provide for
staff development and
collaboration?
 How will we involve
parents?
 How will we involve
students?
 How will we monitor
progress and adjust
actions?
Backup Documentation
Structures & Staff, Student and Community Involvement
 Implement classroom community circles in each classroom
 Implement a school-community circle involving 2 students from each class (different
students each time), PAC representation, two teachers (different teachers will come
each time), the principal, and CUPE staff representation.
 Each class will set a class charter which will be amalgamated to create a school
charter.
Staff Development & Collaboration
 Staff will attend PD sessions with Jillian Lewis to learn about Restitution to support
the types of conversations we would be having during our community circles
 Part of our Student Services teachers' roles is to collaborate with classroom teachers
in implementing the classroom community circles (all of them have IIRP training)
 Classes will be provided with release time for teachers to be involved in small group
restorative problem-solving circles when difficulties arise
Monitoring Progress
 We will dedicate time each month at our staff meeting to reflect on our progress with
our inquiry project
 Consultation with various schools who have worked with Jillian Lewis indicated that
she helped them shift from a punitive framework to a restorative framework in
dealing with their students.
Documentation of learning
Key evidence of change
 How did your actions
make a difference?
 Choose 1-3 pieces of
evidence to demonstrate
the impact your actions
have had on student
learning to meet your
goal.
 Documentation could
include video, survey
results, performance
standard data, anecdotal
evidence, work samples,
etc.

Backup Documentation
Our Survey results for June 2015 will be posted here when they become available


We have designed a survey for our school community (students and parents) which
will be used in June of 2015 and again in June of 2016 to see if our intervention has
been successful
We will compare the 2011 MDI data with the data collected from the upcoming MDI
in Coquitlam.
We will document anecdotal evidence of success or challenges as we shift to a
restorative framework in our community.
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Reflection Highlights
 Where are we now?
 What are some patterns
emerging?
 What surprised you?
 What conclusions /
inferences might you
draw?
 How does this inform
potential next steps?
Where are we now?
 During the 2014/2015 school year we were investigating various Social and Emotional
Learning (SEL) frameworks. In May of 2015 we came to a staff consensus that moving
forward with Restorative Practices with a specific focus on classroom circles was the
best next-step for us as a staff.
 During the 2014/2015 school year we sent one of our Student Services Teachers for
IIRP training. In prior years our other Student Services Teacher, our School Councellor
and our Principal also took the training.
 Office referrals are dealt with using restorative conferences and other more informal
restorative conversations. We are concerned, however, that this structure without
consistent school-wide proactive structures (such as classroom community circles) is
unsustainable due to the overwhelming need for these conversations that we are
unable to meet. This confirmed the need for school-wide proactive restorative
practices such as classroom circles.
 Some of our classroom teachers have been using community circles and other
classroom meetings in their classroom with encouraging results and some exciting
highlights:
o In one of our classrooms their classroom circle structure led to a variety of
conversations around social needs. This culminated in a student-organized
lemonade stand to raise money for the Canadian Cancer Society. Their
learning impacted students across our school community.
o Students from various classrooms; raised money for clean water, shoes and
food in Africa by recycling juice boxes; created cooperative games to play with
their classmates; and collected donations for an animal shelter.
Backup Documentation
Literacy Data
Attach the following :
 Classroom Assessment
 School Assessment
 FSA results
Parkland Report Card Data – March 2015
This link documents our March 2015 report card data in academic areas as it
compares to the expected needs of a community based on the Response to
Intervention (RTI) Framework. This provides evidence that our students fall within
the expected range for academic achievement according to report card data.
Parkland Classroom Assessment 2015
This document contains assessment information based on teacher judgement for a
variety of areas including literacy areas. According to this information our students.
FSA Results
As of June 2015 the results posted on this website reflect the 2014 FSA results for our
school. Please check back to see the 2015 results as they become available
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Signatures
School Name: Parkland Elementary
School Goal: Social Emotional Learning
School Year: 2015-16
Submitted by School Planning Council:
Title
Name
Principal
Anita Strang
Parent
Naomi Andrusiw
Parent
Darlene Hunter
Parent
Tara Parkinson
Recommended by Assistant Superintendent:
Assistant Superintendent
Gerald Shong
Board and Superintendent Approval:
Board Chair
Judy Shirra
Superintendent
Patricia Gartland
Print this page, have it signed by
School Planning Council, scan it and
attach it here
APL 2015-2016 Signatures.pdf
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Signature