Relationships at School 

• PURPOSE of the Inside/Outside Circle

- To ensure that every child in school has a meaningful connection with a supportive adult.

- To move students from outside of the circle (less known)  to inside of the circle (well known)

• SET UP

- In a private area, create a large circle on the wall.. 

- Gather small sticky notes and pens

- Each student name is placed on a separate sticky note

• PROCESS

In small groups (grade level teams, LSTs+teachers, etc.)  staff will work through class lists, discuss and jot notes for each  student, answering the following questions: 

Can I match their name to their face?

Do I know something personal about this student?

Do I know what they like/ what are their interests? 

Do I know who they are as  learners? 

• COME BACK TOGETHER as a full staff

Referring to the notes, place each student-sticky note inside or outside of the circle. 

• For students who are well-known, their names can be placed inside of the circle. 

• For students who are less known, their names start on the outside of the circle. 

• DISCUSS

Reflect, as a group, who is not known (who is outside of the circle)

Discuss what we can do as a staff to ensure we develop deeper relationships with the students on the outside of the circle; with those who are not well known. 

Ask ourselves, which students don’t yet have a connection to an adult in the building - and who will step in and make the intentional connection? How will we find out more about our students?

• ONGOING ASSESSMENT

Revisit the Inside/Outside circle frequently (staff meetings, CLTs, PD days), ensure there are intentional steps being taken to move students into the circle and make this movement visual.

 Share what you learned about the students. Discuss what staff now know that tells us they are pulled in.  Celebrate successes when students get moved into the circle! 

See video for a variation of this activity (larger class lists, checkmarks, categories)

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjZx0VdmgkE

For more info: 

Article: https://www.edutopia.org/article/power-being-seen 

• Each student has an opportunity to be the "Student of the Week".  Throughout the week, students write complements about the Student of the Week in a booklet (digital or hardcopy). 

• At the end of the week, students will form a circle and the "Student of the week" will receive complements, verbally, from each student. Students take turns giving complements, passing a talking piece, as they do so. 

• The 'Student of the Week" can be wrapped in a blanket while receiving complements to enhance feelings of warmth and connection. 

• The "Student of the Week" will receive the book full of the complements to take home and keep. 

• As a school, choose a “helping” opportunity that interests its students and staff - such as collecting supplies for disaster victims, raising money for a cause, or working together on a community service project. 

• By together deciding how they would like to help with a cause, students are likely to develop an internal commitment to reaching their goal and in the end see that they really can make a difference in the lives of others, their community, and the world when working together

• Reference: *Caring School Community: School Wide Community-building Activities: Working for a Cause (page 37-39) for more information

• The Walking Curriculum is an innovative interdisciplinary resource for educators K-12 who want to take student learning outside school walls. Walking Curriculum activities can be used in any context to develop students’ Sense of Place and to enrich their understanding of curricular topics. Based on principles of Imaginative Ecological Education, the 60 easy-to-use walking-focused activities in this resource are designed to engage students’ emotions and imaginations with their local natural and cultural communities, to broaden their awareness of the particularities of Place, and to evoke their sense of wonder in learning.

• https://edapps.ednet.ns.ca/nssbb/

• https://www.amazon.ca/Walking-Curriculum-Evoking-Wonder-Developing-ebook/dp/B078QXQ5NJ

• Tier 1 CASEL approved & based firmly in neuroscience, MindUP teaches the skills and knowledge children need to regulate their stress and emotion, form positive relationships, and act with kindness and compassion.

https://mindup.org/ 

• Spread Kindness in Schools with these Tier 1 CASEL approved curriculums

  1. Pre-K https://www.randomactsofkindness.org/pre-k-lesson-plans 

  2. Primary - Grade 8 https://www.randomactsofkindness.org/for-educators 

  3. High School https://www.randomactsofkindness.org/high-school-curriculum 

  4. Kindness Beyond the Classroom https://www.randomactsofkindness.org/kindergarten-grade-5-lesson-plans#kindness-beyond-the-classroom 

• A relationship-based approach to student well-being and achievement

http://www.thirdpath.ca/ 

• Teacher-led. Curriculum is divided into nine themes; with three classroom visits supporting each theme (a pre-family visit, family visit and post-family visit) for a total of 27 visits.

• Roots of Empathy uses best practice approaches to reduce levels of aggression among school children by raising social/emotional competence and increasing empathy.

• The program is teacher-led based on available materials and manuals that have many links to curriculum (e.g. the use of math, literature, art, music, etc.).

• In addition, the program uses an experiential learning approach by having students observe the relationship between a neighbourhood parent and infant who visit the classroom.

• A trained Roots of Empathy instructor coaches students through this process. 

• Offered through SchoolsPlus.

• https://rootsofempathy.org/nova-scotia/ 

• Friends for Life helps children and teenagers cope with feelings of fear, worry, and depression by building resilience and self-esteem and teaching cognitive and emotional skills in a simple, well-structured format.

• Used in schools and clinics throughout the world, FRIENDS is the only childhood anxiety prevention program acknowledged by the World Health Organization for more than a decade of evaluation and practice.

• Offered through SchoolsPlus.

• Aimed at boys in grades 7 and 9 in Nova Scotia, it covers topics such as sexual coercion, power dynamics in intimate-partner relationships,  and gender-based violence.

• Encourages self-reflection and vulnerability

• For more information visit, https://www.bridgesinstitute.org/guyswork

• Offered through SchoolsPlus.