PSSC Meeting Minutes
Monday October 27, 2014: 6:30 pm – 8:45 pm
In attendance: Nick Mattatall – Principal, Janice McNally – Acting Chair, Diane St. Pierre – Teacher Rep, Janel Willigar – Home & School representative, Dale Hughes, Martha McWilliam, Sue Roy-Elias, Karen Bouchard, Maeve Murphy, Jaime McKee
1. Approval of Minutes: Janice notes that Dale's suggestion to include leadership students in one of our PSSC meetings was not included in the minutes of last meeting. The minutes from last meeting to be amended as follows:
Dale suggested that we invite some students from leadership to present their ideas/concerns to our group at a future meeting, and/or give an overview of leadership activities to the PSSC. Other members felt this was also a good idea.
2. Approval of October 14th, 2014 meeting minutes by Sue, seconded by Karen.
3. Leadership Students: Nick spoke with Sally Carpenter who runs leadership and it was felt that the students were not ready to provide a presentation to the PSSC just yet as leadership was just getting underway.
Action: Nick to inquire again after Christmas.
4. New chair: Janice suggests rotating chair through end of 2014-2015 year. One individual must be officially designated as Chair; Janice volunteers and will give support to rotating chairs – we need a formal motion on this but no quorum at the time (some members arrived late).
Actions: Set a schedule for rotating chairs for upcoming meetings; vote on official designation of one individual as Chair at next available opportunity.
5. Principal’s Summary of 2013-2014 SIP: The committee reviewed the results and discussed concerns regarding program outcomes.
a. Grades 1 & 2 writing performance seems low (59% of Grade 1 students performing at appropriate achievement levels; 65% of Grade 2 students)
i. Nick identifies that the Grade 2 class in particular has a high proportion of students with special needs, and they have shown considerable improvement; Grade 1 looks similar. Above scores reflect the inclusion of all students. These challenges were identified early in the students’ learning processes but ongoing needs exist.
ii. Nick clarifies the services provided by resources personnel (EST-L and EST-R) and explains the types of interventions available to students.
iii. Janice and other members inquire about role of PSSC in assisting students in need of extra help. The committee examines one class in particular and discusses options for volunteers from within and from the broader community. Dale suggests we be proactive now; group consensus is that additional supports in place now would be helpful and could persist over the coming years. The group discusses the ELF (Early Literacy Friends)volunteer programtargeted at Grade 2 students that is operating in most District schools. Further discussion is needed to determine if this program should be a priority over needs in other grade levels with higher urgency.
iv. One-on-one reading support is identified as the most likely intervention to help, and Nick clarifies the steps needed (police check; policy 701 training).
b. Kindergarten – one challenge is oral language and communication skills
i. many interventions were actually turned down by parents
c. French immersion at Bessborough performing quite well according to 2014 end of school year data. Realized significant improvements with last year’s Grade 5 students, as compared to results of 2013 Provincial testing data for Grade 4 FI reading (81.3% vs. 61.1% at appropriate achievement or above).
d. Some grades struggling with numeracy and mental math – current Grades 2, 3, 8
e. Janice suggests dividing into groups according to grade level for purposes of analyzing data – consensus from the group.
Actions: Teachers in need of additional support could clarify what form that support should take. Nick to gather this information for the PSSC's next meeting in December. Dale to approach some local businesses to gauge interest from volunteers. Janel to inquire about Crandall students and/or applicants as volunteers. A Voice Connect should come out from the school identifying the need for volunteers. Janice to prepare a list of teams for future data analysis.
6. Current SIP, new format and new goals. Nick takes committee through new plan.
a. Strengths identified:
i. Safe and supportive school culture
ii. Engagement of school and community stakeholders
iii. Student leadership – very strong
iv. Positive environment
b. Areas of focus identified:
i. Shared leadership
ii. Data – use well to increase effectiveness of teacher interventions
iii. Universal design for learning – how to meet every learning style, every level, etc.
1. Nick notes the Innovative Teaching Fund, available for special projects, funded in the amount of $6500
iv. Technology – improvements in broadband, computer lab, iPads, teacher training, smartboards
1. Nick describes development of new smartboard “hacks” and new teacher laptops
c. New specialized interventions have been identified to help kids meet specific needs
d. Increased focus on scientific literacy, particularly in our district – hands-on, relevant, practical science learning; integrates science with other fields of study (e.g. literacy)
i. Mentoring for teachers is available from the district
7. PLEP – committee discusses focus on reduction of harmful behaviours
a. logs are kept for Grades 6-8; anecdotal evidence is collected for Grades K-5. Nick relates that we are down 10% from two years ago.
b. new playground developments – tech kids are building games; Leadership teaching younger kids how to play; Playground Pals; ‘bench buddy’ system
8. SMART goals – Nick explains and the committee discusses new SMART goals system.
These are mini goals with 6-8 week timelines, developed by teacher groups (under development at time of meeting).
a. Janice inquires how results of different assessments correlate to these goals; how do we see and analyze the results?
i. Nick explains that SMART goals are assessed at regular intervals by teachers; 4 different statuses are available, and goals are continuously evaluated and tweaked as needed. Concrete results and accessible data will result.
ii. Martha and other members express some concern about how these goals fit into the broader learning needs and how accountability will be demonstrated
iii. Nick identifies that goals will be more targeted, more user-friendly, and more relevant; information will be shared with parents via parent-teacher conferences; appropriate and relevant feedback will be given to parents.
Actions: Further discussion and clarification on these goals is to be ongoing within the committee. Nick to provide PSSC members with completed SIP and SMART goals prior to next meeting so members can be prepared to ask questions at the December meeting.
9. Meeting Dates: Next meeting to be held Tuesday December 16th.
10. Motion to Close: Sue, seconded by Dale.
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