Staff
Rainy River District School Board trustees will hear a presentation tonight on how the Student Work Study Teacher (SWST) initiative supports the enhancement of “student voice” throughout the system to further develop a strength-based learning approach.
Local SWS teachers Pam King and Kari-Lyn Beckett currently are working in seven schools throughout the district, supporting teachers and their students, specifically those achieving just below the provincial standard.
“The SWS teachers spend time observing, documenting, and working with these identified students in order to help determine the effective strategies and conditions that are most impactful for that student’s learning,” a report to the board notes.
It adds they currently are promoting “student voice” through direct consultation and observation.
“By taking an asset-based, open-to-learning stance, student strengths are optimized, making students available to pursue areas of learning that engage them,” it says.
The research conducted during the 2015-16 school year has led to partnerships within the School Support Services Department and outside community partners.
The final SWST research reports are submitted to the Ministry of Education in order to provide a provincial compilation of research and findings.
Also at tonight’s board meeting, which is being held in Atikokan, trustees will look to:
•approve the following policies—2.69 (Research Requests) and 7.00 (Occupational Health and Safety);
•rescind Policy 7.05 (Workplace Inspections);
•approve the following policy for stakeholder consultation—5.51 (Assessment, Evaluation, and Reporting);
•support the amendments to the draft St. Francis Sportsfield agreement as presented;
•authorize administration to execute the agreement with the Christian Parents Association;
•appoint BDO as external auditors for up to a five-year term, commencing with the 2015-16 year-end; and
•appoint trustees to be a voting delegate and an alternate delegate for the 2016 OPSBA annual meeting.
The public session of the meeting gets underway at 7 p.m. at North Star Community School.
