Learning Services: Faith and Wellness

“If children are cared for emotionally, have interesting stuff to play with, and read stories that engage them, I predict no deficiencies in school learning will be detectable six to nine months down the road.”

-David Berliner

Faith and Wellness

We are in an unprecedented time. The reality of COVID 19 has presented a number of significant tribulations. At the very minimum, trying to adapt to teaching in new ways while grieving the loss of our sense of normality is emotionally draining. The thoughts of preparation for a fall opening of school in an uncertain future only magnifies the anxiety and fear. However, Pope Francis has offered that “present difficulties have stimulated creativity and inventiveness” and this has invited us to new methods of engagement and ministry.

Given that the number of cases in Bruce-Grey has been comparatively small, there is danger in underplaying how impactful this whole experience may be for everyone, particularly for young people whose characters and personalities are still being formed. The experiences of each of us, as well as our students and families during this time may have been very different. Some of our students will have enjoyed extra family time, while others will have spent a lot of time at home alone, yearning for contact with others. Some will have known someone who got sick with the virus, while others will have very little awareness of the virus. While it may be hard to know the full impact of this time on our students, we have to recognize that for all students their world has changed in some way. As we return to school in the fall, regardless of what school will look like, it is extremely important for us to be attuned to the impact on our students and provide them with opportunities to share their feelings and experiences. The focus should be on easing children back into the classroom environment and encouraging them to play with their friends, rather than cramming them with as much of the ‘missing’ material as possible. Providing students with an opportunity to share their stories, express their emotions and build relationships with one another and caring adults can assist students in building their social and emotional competencies, create a sense of belonging, allowing them to heal and thrive: “We need to make sure we pay as much, if not more, attention to their mental health as to their education.” (Forbes: It’s not Children’s Education We Should Be Worried About, It’s Their Mental Health, Nick Morrison, May 2020)

Focus for September

• Strengthening and maintaining our Catholic identity

• Reconnecting and building positive relationships

• Supporting growth mindset

• Creating a positive learning environment

• Focus on structures and routines

Critical Actions

(CASEL: An Initial Guide to Leveraging the Power of Social Emotional Learning.)

• Take time to build partnerships, deepen your understanding, and plan for Social Emotional Learning (SEL).

• Design opportunities for adults to connect, heal, and cultivate their own SEL competencies and capacities.

• Create emotionally and physically safe, supportive, and engaging learning environments that promote all students’ spiritual, social and emotional development.

• Use data as an opportunity to deepen relationships and continuously improve support for students, families, and staff.

Staff

Transition plans need to attune to the social and emotional needs of all the adults responsible for supporting students’ learning and development. The stress and well-being of teachers, principals, and staff are not new concerns, but the disruptions caused by COVID-19 have added to educators’ anxiety, worry, and stress. By creating time, space, and working conditions that help adults feel connected, empowered, supported, and valued, school leaders can help cultivate adults’ SEL and overall well-being.

• Allow space for connection, listening, and healing among all staff in the school building. This may include carving out time during existing virtual or in-person meetings for staff to pray together as a community, process and share their feelings, engage in community-building activities, reflect on how they can use their own spiritual, social and emotional competencies to support one another and their students, and create individual plans for ongoing self-care.

• Identify new opportunities. Engage staff in reflecting on what they’ve learned from the past few months and how this experience will shape the coming years. Provide time for staff to discuss with one another: How have disruptions to class and school revealed strengths in ourselves and students? What are some new ways to facilitate learning? Where may there be disengagement and inequity? How can we better partner with families? Offer ongoing opportunities for staff to collaborate on ideas for how to use this learning to inform a collective path forward.

• Provide professional learning to build educators’ capacity to support students’ SEL. This includes professional learning that helps staff build relationships and integrate SEL into in-person and distance learning, create equitable learning environments, identify signs of trauma and mental health concerns, and support grieving students. Free online offerings may provide a starting point over the summer that connects to a longer-term professional learning plan during the school year.

• Maximize connections. Coordinate to check in regularly with small groups of students and families; think about how the system support team can connect with students and families and how school staff can better align with community partners in supporting adults and students.

• Ensure access to mental health and trauma supports for adults. Some adults in the building may be struggling with mental health issues, trauma, secondary traumatic stress, or “compassion fatigue.” Look for signs that adults might need more support and identify available resources.

Students

• Intentionally build structures that promote supportive adult-student relationships and a sense of belonging. Ensure every student has at least one caring adult at the school who checks in regularly with them and whom they can reach out to. Examine daily schedules or class assignments to create greater opportunities for meaningful teacher-student relationships. If distance learning continues, identify routines to maintain or deepen connections virtually or over the phone, such as through smaller group meetings or individual check-ins. Recognizing that new structures will most likely be in place, create consistent routines and procedures that allow for flexibility as much as possible. Predictable structures promote a sense of safety that helps students, especially those who have experienced trauma or struggle behaviorally, regulate emotions and take on new challenges and developmental tasks.

• Weave in opportunities for students to practice and reflect upon social and emotional competencies (Everyday Mental Health Classroom Resource) throughout the day. Academic instruction can provide additional opportunities to practice SEL through reflection, interaction, cross-age peer tutoring, leading discussions, brain breaks, and other intentional practices. Also consider creative ways to promote the SEL benefits of less-structured social times, such as recess and lunch, even when some levels of physical distancing may be necessary.

• Engage students in developmentally appropriate conversations and lessons to discuss past, current, and future impacts of the pandemic on themselves, their families, their communities, and the broader world.

• Identify support for students who are struggling. While not all students have the same experiences, some students may have experienced grief, anxiety, or trauma that may shape how they engage academically, socially, emotionally, or behaviorally. Proactively identify and work with your school colleagues and the System Support Team to meet the needs of students who may be struggling.

Conventional / Adaptive / Virtual

Before School Opens

We believe that, by being Christ-centred in all we do and responding with empathy, compassion, flexibility, patience and forgiveness, everything will be alright.

We believe that “you got this!”; everyday you show the compassion, understanding and caring for student well-being that brought you to teaching. We pray that you can take the summer for a well deserved rest. We have a plan and we have your back. We hope that you will take some time to review this document and to consider how you will continue to make Social Emotional Learning (SEL) the priority as we return to school.

Recommended Actions:

• Opportunities for self-directed learning related to SEL and SEL activities, throughout the summer. These will be housed in our BGCDSB SHINE Portal and available for staff reference.

• Review of SEL activity based work, group work activities, how to lead facilitated conversations.

• Review structures and routines through an SEL lens.

• Opportunity for staff sharing: their experiences, concerns or questions.

• Consider a plan for the first 3 weeks of school. Create a schedule of activities, plan specific SEL activities, list topics of conversation for class discussions, learn how to facilitate empathic conversations and communication. Plan for how to respond to concerns from parents ie., missed lessons, lost progress etc.

• Provide access to Mental Health Supports over the summer.

Once School Resumes

Focus on maintaining daily rituals (i.e. daily announcements, morning prayer, etc.), creating ways to mitigate stress responses in students, teachers, and families and enhancing approaches to SEL.

Actions:

1. In person support from SST/Spec Ed core team as teachers facilitate conversations and SEL activities.

2. Morning and end of day de-briefing opportunities for staff.

3. Provide opportunities for staff to know and access faith and mental health supports available for students and staff. Faith Supports

4. Ongoing support from admin for staff regarding safety protocols and health and safety practices throughout the day.

Recommended daily practices:

• Staff gathering for prayer with opportunities to share worries and concerns/hopes

• Into class: acknowledge each student, personal welcome, unstructured time to chat with classmates, feel out the space.

• Prayer/Christian Meditation/teacher led sharing of experiences. ie. What are students feeling? What is it like to be back in class?

• Structured SEL classroom activity

• Formal instruction through an SEL lens (Our Religion and Family Life Programs at elementary are excellent ways to do this!)

• End of day class reflection, Christian meditation as a way to end the day as a community and rooted in prayer

• Staff reconvene to debrief the day

Adaptive/Virtual - SEL Through Distance Learning

Should the return to school necessitate an adaptive or fully virtual program, consider use of the checklist below to help self-assess strengths and areas to develop that promote SEL through distance learning and at-home assignments.

• I am reaching out to students individually and communicating that I value their contributions.

• I follow up with students on topics that are important to them to show them they are known and cared for.

• I provide collaborative classroom websites or forums, or other community-building activities to cultivate a culture of personal connection and belonging.

• Learning activities and projects link to students’ lived experiences, frames of reference, are connected to faith and issues that are important to them.

• Learning activities activate students’ self- and social awareness by asking them to identify feelings, reflect on their experiences, and talk through topics with family members or peers.

• Learning activities affirm students’ diverse identities and cultures, and students have opportunities to share and learn about each other’s lives.