Department Staff
About
Inclusive Education programs and services enable students with disabilities and diverse abilities to have equitable access to learning and opportunities to pursue and achieve the goals of their educational program.
Child and Youth In Care and Supporting Our Vulnerable Students
School District 22 has developed key programs and strategies to support our youth in care and the population of students that would be considered vulnerable.
Students with Disabilities and Diverse Abilities
Successful inclusion supports the belief that all students should, wherever possible, receive their education in age-appropriate classrooms in their neighbourhood school. The school district, together with parents, determines the support(s) needed for successful inclusion. Inclusion is a continuum of options designed to foster the feelings of belonging, acceptance, independence, and community.
From School District 22 staff this requires:
Collaboration between educators, medical professionals, social workers, and other community partners to best provide and implement an effective framework in supporting children and youth. The Inclusion Department utilizes a team approach of identification and support of students with disabilities and diverse abilities:
- Weekly School-Based Team Meetings scheduled at each school involving key partners.
- A District-Based Team provides consultation and collaboration to school-based teams for complex student cases.
- District Staff hold review meetings two times a year for Secondary Schools and once a year for Elementary Schools providing wrap around services for vulnerable students.
Inclusivity for All Learners
All learners are welcomed and supported through compassionate, professional, and responsive learning environments. Our school and programs are safe, inclusive and welcoming, offering voice, choice, and flexibility for all learners.
Student Success
keyboard_arrow_downIncrease student understanding of personal health and wellness
- Expanding mental health education and services offered throughout the school community by utilizing specialized staff to support School-Based Teams and vulnerable students and families.
- Increased awareness and reducing stigma related to mental health through staff-based training and Tier 1 programs delivered in classrooms to all students. Examples: Open Parachute, and Character Strengths Programs.
- Expansion of the Everyday Anxiety Strategies for Educators (EASE) Program, providing strategies for kindergarten to Grade 12 through a series of workshops facilitated by District Behaviour Specialists and our Counselling team.
- Adopting trauma-informed practices that lead to healing and growth rather than punishment and exclusion. Offer ongoing restitution training with School District principals and vice principals (Level 1, 2, and Control Theory).
- Fostering a safe and inclusive environment to address the topic of SOGI in classrooms by providing training and direction on best practices through our SOGI leads within each school.
- Continued development of visuals within schools supporting our SOGI community.
Inclusivity for All Learners
- School psychologist staffing supporting assessment and wrap-around support to teams working with students and families to provide multi-specialist expertise.
- Utilization of a district-wide system supporting Ministry of Education and Child Care Special Education Designations and English Language Learners (ELL), utilizing a team approach to meet reporting guidelines.
- Self-regulation tools and strategies to better support students’ emotional needs. The levels of intervention support model is delivered by our occupational and physio-therapy team. It is an inclusive approach that highlights interventions with consistent and regular implementation.
- Connections programs within secondary schools providing support to vulnerable learners. Connections programs capitalize on the value of taking students out into the community to embrace learning in an alternate way. Our goal is to wrap support around our vulnerable youth to support transitions, attachment to a caring adult, increased graduation and attendance.
- Collaboration with our mental Health Team and Anti-racism Team.
- Build capacity of students to self-advocate for supports that will help them to be successful.
- Provide safe physical spaces.
- Increased focus on developing student’s self-determination and access to individualized learning programs.
- Use of differentiated instruction and the response to intervention model of support in collaboration with the Learning and Indigenous Education Departments.
- Continue development of the number of Connections Programs within each secondary school supporting individualized learning opportunities and connections to the community.
- Restructuring of our Alternate Programs to provide a high level of response to student needs.
- Increased support and utilization of technology to facilitate student independence (Example: Google Read and Write).
- Increased number of inclusive community field trips and learning opportunities.
- Development of strong transition plans to support students as they enter new learning environments.
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Leadership Excellence
keyboard_arrow_downKey Strategies
- Expansion of our trained staff to utilize the Roots of Empathy program.
- Training opportunities through Safer Schools Together for trauma-informed schools initiatives and technology safety and awareness.
- Expansion of our Safer Schools crisis response and risk assessment teams and the utilization of safety procedures outlined in our SD22 Risk and Response Safety Manual.
- Collaborative efforts with district staff and counsellors to create a clear outline of what mental health services are being offered by counsellors in SD22 and to streamline these procedures to best serve students.
- Continued development of school mental health plans including scheduled services by tiers of intervention selected from the menu to best meet the identified needs of each school.
- Use of an updated Suicide Risk Assessment tool to support safety measures.
- Training for school counsellors (examples include Mental Health First Aid training, domestic violence workshops through Oak Centre, and grief and loss training).
- Significant contributions to professional learning opportunities to ensure that staff have a current pedagogy for working with our students with diverse needs in inclusive settings. (Examples include –Inclusive Education with Shelley Moore and Positive Behaviour Intervention Support systems – proactive strategies for defining, teaching, and supporting appropriate student behaviours to create positive school environments).
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Community Connections
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Expanded partnerships for health and mental health services
- Strengthening of relationships with mental health service providers to increase the capacity for School District staff to respond in a helpful way to support mental health and wellbeing. Example: participation in the local action team.
- Continued contracts with Interior Health, NOYFSS, Whitevalley, and Child Youth Mental Health to work collaboratively with student and family referrals and supports.
- Coordination of substance abuse services by our School District 22 District Drug and Alcohol counsellor. Including the delivery of the Preventure Program at intermediate levels to take a proactive and evidence-based approach in coping with anxiety, negative thinking, peer pressure, and substance usage.
- Delivery of the Axis Program, an after-school substance-use program jointly developed by School District 22 and the AXIS intervention services.
- Collaboration with community-based intervention programs for students requiring substance abuse support.
- Implementing personalized district programs and community-based activities to support inclusion in school and community. Examples: therapeutic services – horseback riding/swimming/community field trips.
- The school-based outreach program is a support program for students and their families where home and community are impacting the student’s ability to be successful in school. The organizations that are under contract include: NOYFSS (Vernon and Coldstream) and Whitevalley (Lumby and Cherryville Schools).
- The Affordability funds were allocated for food services and support for vulnerable families.
- Roll out of the Handle with Care initiative to increase communication between the school district and outside agencies.
- Development of a scope and sequence to roll out the next steps in the delivery of restitution, trauma informed care and mental health literacy.
- Further roll out of a mental health Team and expansion to include mental health leads within each school.
- Development of a district wide foods programs with staffing to support initiatives to feed 20% of all students.
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