DIRECTOR’S ANNUAL REPORT
Mental Health Our Catholic Faith continued to be at the centre of our efforts to support the social, emotional and spiritual lives of our students. Our efforts were enhanced during the school year by our board’s participation in piloting School Mental Health Ontario’s Faith and Wellness Everyday Classroom Resource, for elementary teachers (k-8). Faith and Wellness was developed with the support of OECTA and informed by Catholic educators. The Resource will be available for widespread use in schools next year. Supporting LGBTQ Student Inclusion Our Catholic school communities strive to be places of compassion, inclusion and social justice for LGBTQ+ students, staff and families. Both high schools continue to have and support active and growing Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) clubs. This past year, our senior elementary school students began organizing GSA clubs, reflecting a growing awareness and openness about diversity among our younger students. and a growing acceptance, understanding and responsiveness at a staff level. In our K-6 schools, the Board support requests from staff for more awareness level training on behalf of gender diverse students, staff and families. The goal is to champion enquiry, social justice and human dignity for all through safe, accepting and life affirming learning environments.
INSPIRING
achievement
PROVIDING LEARNING AND WORKING S PA C E S T H A T E N H A N C E P R O D U C T I V I T Y
In our work with New Pedagogies for Deep Learning, we strive to inspire and develop competencies which will engage and enrich student thinking and learning. We continued to work with our Family of Schools to examine Pedagogical Practices, Learning Partnerships, Learning Environments and Leveraging Digital. We have maintained an emphasis on working on the 6 Global Competencies, (Collaboration, Citizenship, Character, Creativity, Critical Thinking, Communication) which align with Learning Skills, Catholic Graduate Expectations, and the Anishnawbe Seven Grandfather Teachings. We were beginning to inquire further with our educators around the Learning Design (planning around Big Ideas in Curriculum, backward design planning and allowing for student voice in the learning). Unfortunately, due to school closures with the COVID-19 Pandemic, we were unable to moderate the Learning Designs and complete our Learning Cycle.
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