TARGET 1: Relationship with Superintendent and Education Body
I have worked in this school throughout the Leadership for Literacy Initiative and have dedicated a great deal of energy and enthusiasm to implementing this Initiative with fidelity in our school. with the support of a very motivated Literacy Coach and an amazing staff we really changed the culture of this school. We initially had under 20% of our students functioning at grade level in reading and writing, and over the years that percentage has steadily risen. IN spite of the fact that the school population is quite transient and we have students going to different communities for school with their parents when they go out to Aurora College for example to complete a program, we have still maintained a gradually improving level of achievement in our students.
We have set6 goals every year for our student achievement on standardized tests – the AAT and teh GRADE – and have consistently exceeded them. Our remaining challenge is to move the achievement levels of the high school students Gr. 9 and 10 in the same manner.
Our parent satisfaction surveys show that most of our parents are very happy with the progress their students have made at the school, and consider that the quality of education at the school over the past five years has improved.
Please see our actual survey data under Dimension 2 – Instructional Leadership, Target 3.
TARGET 2: Relationships with Staff and School Partners
We have made a great deal of progress cultivating relationships in the community, but they are fragile and can be knocked out of whack at a moments notice. We make a great deal of effort to implement the SSDEC initiatives and policies with fidelity. Unfortunately this past two years has introduced some drastic changes in our staffing which has meant that we need to make constant adjustments to continue our programs
The one issue parents had in our surveys last year was they felt uninvolved in school decision making and planning. We have been trying to address this in our CEP and community meetings, but I think even closer involvement is needed. The DEA’s ongoing work with the Minister of Education, the LKDFN and the community to push forward the school renovation for 2013-2015 has had a great deal of community support. It is clear the community is very concerned that the quality of education in small community schools remains a top priority of the GNWT. All community members see the value of education and want their children to succeed, and we need to make some more concrete changes in programs, cultural activities and involving the parents in the ‘Social Responsibility’ dimension of our school programming, since the parents are clearly the primary influences in a child’s education and personal development. It has been said that the school renovation would really give a sense of pride and ownership in education to the parents and community, and likely inspire another real surge forward in educational commitment and quality in the school and community.
We need to do more celebrating at the school and in the community to acknowledge the excellent work of our staff, and thank our partners more publicly in the media. BHP provided a substantial amount of funding to support cultural programs in the school and I am in the process of preparing a newspaper article to share our experiences and thank them for their support. One of our teachers – Debra Bridgman, has been very instrumental in getting the Heritage Fair going in the school and has acted as President of the NWT Heritage Fair Board for the past three years. Due in part to her work the Heritage Fair is fast becoming part of the learning culture of South Slave schools. We had our Third Annual Fair this year and we were very happy to have substantial involvement from the community who acted as judges, and the Honourable Tom Beaulieu joined us for the day as a judge, and gave the two top Awards out in the afternoon. The leadership Ms Bridgman has shown is greatly appreciated by the school and community, and is an excellent example of the self-motivation and inspiration that makes a wonderful staff.
I thrive in an environment where people are as motivated as I am and take things on because they want to – not because they have to. This often requires maintaining a great deal of energy and enthusiasm on my part that can effect others. It is vital to keep the big picture in mind always – especially in a small community because there are no distractions, no escapes from the impacts and ripples of things that happen – at school or in the community. Sometimes factors that should be of marginal influence in the daily life of a school – like family lifestyle, substance abuse issues, violence and sexual abuse, poverty and unemployment – can become overwhelming influences on people, students and staff in this community.
I consider all the parents, elders, families and community leaders to be educational partners – really they are the foundation. Maintaining good respectful, helpful relationships with everyone in a small community is difficult but necessary, and it is important that all the staff make an effort in this direction as well. Our staff often join community events like Bingos, Bake sales, Christmas Craft sales, and Spring Carnival. These events are great opportunities to meet people outside of the school context and just chat and get to know each other and develop trust. This community tends to respect staff members that stay for a while and clearly demonstrate that they respect and care for students and community members.
TARGET 3: Leadership Development
When we had a larger staff most staff took on leadership for different programs and special events. One of our elementary staff continues to lead and manage the Homework and Study Skills program, and our high school and Aboriginal language teachers this year have done a great job of taking charge of catering contracts and the Community Lunches Program to support student fundraising. Leadership in the staff needs to be encouraged with strategic “planting of ideas”, strategic discussions that flesh out the ideas, and a trust or invitation for people to take charge and be confident that their work will be appreciated. This can be encouraged at this point, but people need self-motivation, they need to feel safe and this can be impacted by other factors like stress, workload, personal issues etc. Sometimes I just ask – people will come up with a really good idea and put it out there for everyone to consider. Often when this happens, like happened yesterday at a staff meeting, I just say – wow what a great idea – why don’t you do that, take it on – you clearly have a great picture of how this will work!