TRURO ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ANNUAL REPORT

Transcription

1 TRURO ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ANNUAL REPORT 0- Chignecto Central Regional School Board SCHOOL AND COMMUNITY CONTEXT-WHO WE ARE It is our pleasure to welcome you to Truro Elementary School and share with you the impressive and exciting learning experiences that took place at our school. While we are a large elementary school, our dedicated staff works very hard to meet the individual needs of all students, and maintain personal connections with their families. This annual report is a wonderful opportunity to reflect upon the events of the past year, celebrate our successes and outline our plans for future improvement. Our students have been exposed to opportunities which have promoted academic and social growth, along with civic responsibility. We are proud of the accomplishments of the class of 0 and wish them luck as they move on to Truro Junior. Students from four smaller schools began attending our school on Jan. 8, 009 and at the school s official opening on March 0, the then Premier, Rodney MacDonald stated: We know that a successful school is more than bricks and mortar. A successful school is a safe, healthy, creative, a community-oriented place that gives our children the skills and knowledge to open the door to a better future. Truro Elementary has all those ingredients." Our primary to Grade 5 school includes 8 classrooms and a number of smaller teaching areas. It has the largest elementary gymnasium in the province and an enlarged cafeteria. Our school is both traditional and modern. Traditional in the values that we seek to instill in our students: timeless qualities of character, kindness, courtesy and integrity, yet modern in regards to its design to be a very green building, with rainwater being used to flush urinals and being heated with cleaner burning natural gas. Academic standards and use of educational technology are constantly evolving and innovative, which include a projector and digital surround sound in every classroom. We believe that communication is the key to a successful educational experience. Together, we will continue to improve the quality of our school community and provide the best for the children of our school. With over 80 nationalities and 50 different home languages, TRES is a truly an international school. Children at our school enjoy a richly multicultural environment which gives them a breadth of perspective that makes for global mindedness. The Truro community should be very prod of our school, for it is a school where the needs of all students come first and where innovative teaching methodologies are practiced in an effort to provide the best possible education and experiences for our students. SCHOOL ADVISORY COUNCIL Our mandate as a school advisory council is to ensure that all students receive the best possible learning opportunities, to advise school staff and administration on school policies and procedures and to support staff in the school improvement plan. Membership: New members this year included: Krista Hayden, Teaching Staff, Jeff Lynds, Principal, Trevor Jordan, African Nova Scotia representative, Shelly Gloade, First Nations representative, Tifanie Gulliver, Parent (English P ). Outgoing member is Mark Hingley. At the October 9, 0 meeting, the appointment of the Executive was finalized with Terri Bishop being appointed Chair, Michelle McDowall appointed Vice-chair and Lecia McNutt appointed as Secretary. The SAC held 7 meetings this year. Highlights of those meetings were: INSIDE THIS ISSUE: School and Community Context Who we are School Advisory Council 1- Assessment Results 4 Student Engagement 5 Professional Development 5 Additional School Supports 5 1 Planning for Improvement 6-7

2 Page SCHOOL ADVISORY COUNCIL CONTINUED... Continuous School Improvement: School Improvement goals are underway with the focus on Literacy, Math and Social Emotional Learning (SEL). November and November 8 in-services focused on these areas. Restorative Approach: Over the past years, TRES has adopted a Restorative Approach. A restorative approach in school requires staff and students thinking about themselves and their relationships with one another. The focus is on developing healthy relationships and learning how to manage conflict. Elements of the restorative approach you might see at TRES include classroom (community) circles, restorative conversations ( What happened? ) and restorative conferences. Students are supported in using language that describes how something made someone feel, so that students can become aware of how their actions may have affected someone else. This restorative approach is also embraced at Harmony Heights, TJHS and CEC so that the practices learned at our school will carry over as the children move along in their educational journey. Student Leadership: This year, TRES started a student leadership team comprised of 4 grade 4&5 students. The students brainstormed with staff leaders ideas to make TRES a fun and safe place to go to school. Through this, three different leadership groups were formed - Spirit Team, Stand Up Speak Out Team and Techie Team. The School Spirit team promoted school spirit; they planned events like the Winter Carnival, Hat Days to raise money for charity, Tiger Paw rewards and helped with the Family Carnival and Field Days. The Stand Up Speak Out group welcomed new students to TRES including new primaries at primary orientation and created a booklet for new primary students to take home to read all about their new school. The Techie Team created a weekly broadcast called Tiger Tales.0 that highlighted student birthdays, school events and school teams. Positive Reward Program: Through a reexamination of our school s reward program, more effort was made by all staff to recognize more children for positive behavior at school. Classrooms worked together towards common goals/rewards for the whole school e.g. school wide pool party, an extra-long recess, movie & popcorn party and finally a school-wide slip & slide in June. The FISH philosophy was used by all staff members to contribute to an outstanding workplace by following the 4 following 4 practices each day: Choose your attitude Play Make their day Be present School Construction Improvement: The administrative assistants moved into their new office in October. The new office offers a much quieter work environment and is much more secure for students, as all visitors must be buzzed in by school staff. The new office area had several deficiencies, which were reported to CCRSB Rep., Ed Ingarfield. During construction, by Flagship Construction, the bundle of wires of wires in the back office area that control phones, page systems and security cameras were cut. The biggest concern was the paging system. In the case of a school wide emergency or a code blue, there wasn t a way to make a school-wide announcement. This was brought to our attention at the November 6 SAC meeting. It was decided that our concern with this problem would follow-up with a letter to Ed Ingarfield if Mr. Lynds didn t hear back with a viable solution. As of December 4, no repairs had been done. We proceeded with a letter to Ed Ingarfield voicing our concerns and that an immediate solution needed to be taken by Flagship and Atlantic Alarm to resolve this problem. At our January 0 meeting, Mr. Lynds reported that the paging system had been repaired shortly after our letter had been received..

3 Page SCHOOL ADVISORY COUNCIL CONTINUED... Custodial Services: There were concerns about the custodial services in the school. Currently, there are full-time and parttime custodians during the day. During storm days the part-time custodians do not report to work and therefore the classrooms aren t being cleaned. There were questions about the school having proper allotment for its size. Mr. Lynds met with Chris Zwicker, Dave Dejardins and Dave Tattrie to review the condition/cleanliness of the school. An inspection analysis was completed and Mr.Lynds was told TRES had adequate coverage for the square footage involved. Mr. Lynds had another meeting with Chris Zwicker after this inspection decision and was told the casual 4 hour positions will become one 8 hour position in the fall. TRES SAC will continue to monitor this issue in the new school year. Communication: To help enhance school-community communication, a new, more user-friendly, TRES website has been built and maintained by the school. Parking Concerns and Change: During a recent power outage, tripping a false alarm, the Fire Department was sent to the school at the end of the day, just prior to dismissal. They were very concerned over the traffic congestion leading to the parent drop-off loop and that they couldn t adequately access the school, as a result, the Fire Marshall has mandated that no cars are allowed to be parked along the gym wall. There are now signs posted and the Truro Police Service have agreed to help enforce this new regulation. Signs have been painted on the ground as well. Mr. Lynds reported that parents are being respectful in following this new change and parking is going well. Primary French Immersion: French Immersion registration was January 9 with only 1 students registered. The number of students required is 0 students. Therefore, the deadline for registration was extended to March 1. At the May 7 SAC meeting, Mr. Lynds shared that there would be no Primary French immersion class in the new year due to low numbers (1). School Improvement Surveys: School improvement surveys were completed by students, support staff, parents and teachers in April. There was also a comment section added to the back page of the survey. Results will be shared with all members of the school community as well as the SAC council in the new year. The Action Plan for Education: In January 0, Karen Casey, Minister of Education introduced the Action Plan for Education that will set the path for change during the next 5 years. That change begins this September. Greater focus on Math and literacy beginning in Grades Primary to. Integrated program in these core subjects with essential outcomes clearly identified. Return of Math mentors to help students who are struggling and teachers who needed support. Return of the Reading Recovery Program which is an evidence based program for Grade 1 students who are having difficulty learning to read. Class sizes in Grades P- will be capped at 0 students and Grades and 4 capped at 5 students. Ministerial policy on homework and another on code of conduct to replace all existing policies and procedures currently in place. It has been my pleasure to work with all the staff and council volunteers this year. Thank you to all the SAC members for their time and efforts. I will be returning as Chair next year. I look forward to working with all returning council members as well as our new members, Gerry Hale and Catherine Hunt. Respectively Submitted, Terri Bishop SAC Chair

4 Page 4 TRURO ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PROVINCIAL AND BOARD ASSESSMENT RESULTS Students wrote Reading RW Students wrote RW Writing - Organization Writing - Ideas Language Choice Conventions LEVEL 1 Reading LEV EL 4 1 Writing - Organization Writing - Ideas Language Choice Conventions CLASSROOM ASSESSMENT Term 0-0 Above At Approaching Below Grade Primary Grade Grade Grade Grade Grade Total Total

5 Page 5 STUDENT ENGAGEMENT-HIGHLIGHTS OF YEAR This year, TRES started a student leadership team comprised of 4 grade 4 & 5 students. Their goal was to help build a more collaborative, inclusive, fun and safe educational environment at TRES. Students provided valuable peer-topeer learning experiences, engaging students as they shared and developed their leadership skills. Three different leadership groups were formed - Spirit Team, Stand Up Speak Out Team and Techie Team. The School Spirit team promoted school spirit; they planned events like the Winter Carnival, Hat Days to raise money for charity, Tiger Paw rewards and helped with the Family Carnival and Field Days. The Stand Up Speak Out group welcomed new students to TRES including new primaries at primary orientation and created a booklet for new primary students to take home to read all about their new school. The Techie Team created a weekly broadcast called Tiger Tales.0 that highlighted student birthdays, school events and school teams. On May 9, our Leadership Team gathered with other students from eight other elementary schools from across CCRSB a the Truro Campus of the NSCC to celebrate all the wonderful things the student leaders did to help their schools over the 0- school year. Our Team will be expanding next year to involve even more student leaders. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT Our staff met regularly in Professional Learning Communities. Through this collaborative model, teachers of the same grade level have aligned curriculum, reflected on assessment practices and identified informed instructional practices and interventions to meet student needs. Additionally, our school focused on effective communication through Restorative Approaches. Our school community has embraced this relational practice. With Cynthia Pilichos, we looked at practical ways for staff to approach the support, planning and creative problem solving when it comes to students who are off track for learning. We examined strategies for preserving the teaching/ learning environment in the classroom when there is a potential for it to be disrupted and understandably, we had to acknowledge the challenge of change, for many of our teachers. Through our inservicing on the Zones of Regulation and Restorative Approach our students feel safe and valued and are better equipped with the growing ability to communicate their understanding in all curriculum and social areas. Team/ community building was a definite focus of our school this year via the CSI process and the inservicing done on the FISH Philosophy. The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others. -Mahatma Gandhi FISH is all about choices and awareness. It gave us a new language to talk about how we want to treat each other, how we wanted to impact others and how to keep these ways of being in the front of our minds each day. FISH allowed us to create a higher quality of life at work and have a lot of fun while doing it. ADDITIONAL SCHOOL SUPPORTS esteem, providing support for our students in the school or classroom setting. They assisted teachers in developing and adapting teachable activities with a focus on First Nations culture, while striving to be a positive and effective First Nations role model. They maintained open communication with parents of our First Nations students, community representatives and school personnel in order to meet the academic needs Our First Nations Support Workers, Shelly Gloade, Jenn Gloade and Lisa Wilmot worked under the day-to-day direction of the classroom teacher, assisting to promote the academic, social, physical and emotional needs of our First Nations students through academic success and cultural growth. They each worked one-on-one or in small groups with students in grades P-5 on work habits, skill development and selfand well-being of our students. Our African Nova Scotian Support Worker TJ Jordan worked closely with the office and teaching staff to promote a school climate that was safe, supportive and respectful connecting our ANS students to a broad array of school and community resources. TJ was a strong cultural role model due to his professionalism and involve- with our students in school and community activities. TJ worked closely with our school administration establishing links with our feeder school, Truro Junior High, to provide a smooth transition for our grade five students moving on in June. He acted as an advocate for all ANS students, encouraging them to monitor their assignments, tests and project schedules, as well as advising teachers when there were concerns.

6 Page 6 CONTINUOUS SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT This was our first year of implementation of CSI and as a staff we spent the year creating a plan in regards to math, literacy and social-emotional learning. Teachers and administration at the school used provincial, coupled with ongoing classroom assessments as evidence of where our students were and what interventions we must put in place for all our students to be successful and work to their full potential. We established two goals this year in literacy and math and did a complete survey of our school community, i.e. teachers, support staff, parents and students in order to establish a baseline from which to build a social-emotional learning goal. This goal will be defined early in the 0-16 school year using the data that was collected in the spring of 0. Our two established literacy and math goals are as follows: CSI Literacy Goal: By June 017, a minimum of 70 of students at Truro Elementary will meet independent reading level expectations according to the CCRSB Expected s of Independent Reading in Term. Action Steps: Supporting Teachers to Improve Instruction: Guided Reading PD PD/Mentor support focuses on Balanced Reading Program Guided reading will be done using best practices PD/Mentor support focuses on Oral Language support for Reading PLC Time built into week Supporting Teachers to Improve Assessment: PD/Mentor support on collecting and recording daily assessment (anecdotal notes) Fountas & Pinnell Reading Record PD Session Reading levels will be determined using the Fountas and Pinnell Assessment Kit Reading levels will be recorded and submitted Reading levels will be discussed and identified students supported Administer Boehm Vocabulary Assessment to Primary Students Identified students supported Literacy Interventions for Struggling Readers: Early Literacy Support P- (s in September) Literacy Support -5 Supporting Parents to Understand Value of Reading at Home: Family Literacy Night Monthly literacy calendars for home/literacy blog Primary Orientation Professional Development: Inform and encourage staff to access professional development opportunities use of NSTU Article 60.

7 Page 7 CONTINUOUS SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT CSI Math Goal: By June 018, through the use of best practices in math instruction and assessment, students at Truro Elementary will achieve a minimum of 70 in the Number Strand as measured by the 0-16 Provincial M4 assessment. Supporting teachers to improve instruction: Professional development will be focused on the variety of story structures to be used in each appropriate math unit. Teachers will have professional development on teaching math through problem-solving. Professional development will be given on developing and using math learning targets. Teachers will post and pair with verbal discussion, learning targets for each math lesson daily. Teachers at each grade level will create a common assessment for each number unit at their grade level. Teachers will complete the NCTM teachers self-assessment for the Math Curriculum in order to identify areas to develop through professional development. Teachers will provide students with specific, timely feedback related to their performance in math regularly. PLC Time built into teacher schedules. Supporting Parents to understand the value of math at home: Family Math Night Math interventions for struggling math students Math support position created at P- (small group and individual instruction provided) Supporting teachers to improve assessment Teachers at each grade level will administer the common assessment for each number unit. Teachers will co-mark the number unit common assessments Common assessment scores will be submitted to he CSI Math Teacm after each assessment for data analysis. Identified students supported Professional Development: Inform and encourage staff to access professional development opportunities-use of NSTU Article 60 Chignecto-Central School Board 60 Lorne Street Truro, Nova Scotia