At our May Pro-D, we dedicated time to sit in teams and looked at all of the data that emerged from our scans and teaching over the course of the year. Our hunch was correct that our students were needing to feel connected to their peers and staff, which would allow them to notice, name and understand how to better manage their feelings and emotions. We could see that our students were telling us that the majority were happy at school when they had meaningful connections with their peers and were still learning how to navigate when experiencing big feelings.

From our discussions, we learned that we needed to dig deeper and reframe our questions to see if we were making a difference and focus on student well-being. We created a new student scan, with questions that started to unpack the term Belonging. We wanted to learn if, how and where our students felt happiest at school and in what spaces they felt they could connect with themselves and their school community. Students were asked the following questions: 1) What makes you happy at school? 2) Where are you happiest at school? 3) What do you look for in a healthy relationship? 4) What do you do well or are proud of at school?

Our first opportunity to look at this new data was at our year end Pro-D in June.

Key Points that emerged when Looking at our June Scan:

Staff Noticed that our students:

• Wanted to work in groups and collaborate, but not too large of a group
• Wanted the option to work in quieter spaces
• Felt happy when they had strong friendships they had developed over the year, had social time to develop relationships and could partake in Friendship group
• Many students could share what is a healthy relationship or what makes a good friend
• Felt happiest in the gym, playground, garden and the library 
• Felt safe at school
• Were proud of their math and writing growth 
• Were better able to reflect and know what they needed to do better 
• Need more opportunities and support for socializing

Staff Wonders:

• How to create more quiet spaces within the classroom (need to honour the reserved, as well as the social student)
• How to support advocating for self and needs (with learning and socially) – beginning to, but requires more support 
• How to help students learn about what they need in the moment? What they need in their spaces
• How to support students not only with how to communicate but when to communicate, especially when feeling big emotions
• How to continue to use the core competencies to help students become more self-aware
• How do we focus more on finding happiness in ourselves and in our learning

Early ideas for Next Steps:

• Provide more opportunity for students to connect and have more leadership opportunities (family teams, lunch monitors, clubs)
• Bringing back our school-wide morning walk, connecting buddies, monthly runs
• More integrated groups - developing intergenerational relationships (sitting with buddies at assemblies, family teams)
• Activities and school-wide anchor texts  that support diversity and inclusion

Our plan is to spend a greater amount of time in September thinking about the prompts and what kind of action plans we can develop together to support our learners in response to what our students are telling us. This also may be an excellent opportunity to see if any shifts or adjustments need to be made in regards to our school focus for the new school year.