How did we come to the focus for our school story for 2024-2025?

 

As a staff during our September staff meeting, we have decided to continue working on our school story goals from last year, supporting building a stronger Blair community.  We know that after surveying our students last year, many of our students report that they feel included and that they belong at Blair!  But, of our students surveyed:

 

-6% reported that they didn’t feel like they belonged in their classroom

-6% reported that they didn’t feel like they belonged outside during recess and lunch

-10% reported that they didn’t feel like they had a connection to children who were not in their division/classroom

-12.5% reported that they didn’t feel like they had a connection to adults who were not in their division/classroom

-6% reported that they didn’t feel like they were included in activities outside during recess and lunch

-4% reported that they didn’t have friends to play with outside during recess and lunch

 

This evidence collected through the 2023-2024 school year has inspired us to continue to investigate how we can support our students develop a sense of belonging.

 

Some of our goals for our 2024-2025 school year are to continue to:

-create a sense of belonging amongst our students, staff, and families

-create a safe and inclusive learning environment where students feel comfortable to take risks and challenge themselves in their learning

-support learners to develop a stronger sense of their self-identity and understanding of their personal story

 

Our staff are committed to working with these goals this year, through school-wide initiatives, activities, and inquiry grant projects supported by SD38!

 

We continue to wonder:

How might we support learners in developing an understanding of their identity?  How might a stronger sense of identity help to foster a sense of belonging at Blair, and thus strengthening our community and supporting students in their learning?

 

To what extent will activating student voice by student leaders promote inclusivity and belonging in non- instructional settings?

 

We plan to create another student survey.  Some scanning questions may include:

When are times you feel connected with your peers in your learning community?

When are times you feel connected to adults in your learning community?

What do you do to connect with others in your learning community?

How do you wish your peers/teachers would connect with you?

Do you feel included in recess/lunch activities at school?

Do you have friends to play with outside at recess/lunch?

What ideas for activities/projects would you like student leadership to promote at school to help you feel include and know that you belong?

What helps you feel included at school?

What doesn’t help you feel included at school?

 

 

Our staff have also created a confidential and anonymous Connecting Buddies Program.  We have identified 45 students (19% or almost one fifth of our population) who might benefit from extra check-ins from a Blair staff member who isn’t already supporting them in their class.  We are wondering if this extra support will help students connect with adults and students outside their classroom, and also contribute to students feeling a greater sense of belonging and connection to our Blair community… especially as this year we had many students (30 Kindergarten students and 24 grade 1-7 students) arrive new to our school this school year!

 

We are excited to use this data and evidence to move forward with supporting students in their learning at Blair.