I. General Information
School Name: Wickaninnish Community School
School District: SD#70 Pacific Rim
Inquiry Team Members: Dani Stone: dstone@sd70.bc.ca, Kristin Bruhwiler: kbruhwiler@sd70.bc.ca, Alice Brown: abrown@sd70.bc.ca: Sandra McAulay: smcaulay@sd70.bc.ca
Inquiry Team Contact Email: dstone@sd70.bc.ca
II. Inquiry Project Information
Type of Inquiry: NOIIE Case Study
Grade Levels Addressed Through Inquiry: Primary (K-3)
Curricular Areas Addressed:
Focus Addressed: Self-regulation, Other: Transitions to Kindergarten
In one sentence, what was your focus for the year? Eliminating Kinder Surprises with Early Connections!
III. Spirals of Inquiry Details
Scanning: Identifying the current situation and needs.
Incoming students and their families – how can we help to have no Kinder surprises and make sure students get multiple low risk opportunities to build relationships and trust with the school and school team. We’ve been at this for awhile, but what can we improve to yield the greatest results, what is redundant, what are our partners feedback to us and what do we notice about the kids and families. What of our efforts is yielding results and what can we prune? We noticed that our daycares were having trouble keeping up and were feeling badly that they couldn’t attend it all and it was putting undue pressure on them and their staffing when everyone is short-staffed already.
Focus: Narrowing down the focus of inquiry.
If we focus on only 4 Early Years class sessions in April and 4 K days in May, will this help to build a greater sense of buy-in and trust from families and kids – if it is consistent – rather than if we had the year long class? Look at quality over quantity.
Hunch: Formulating hypotheses about what might improve the situation.
We believe we have been in the additive trap and want to look at how we have paired caring with doing more, instead of looking at intentionally putting time into our sessions. Looking at redirecting our energy and resources. Deciding what really matters and what needs to be very intentional.
New Professional Learning: Pruning principle by Simon Breakspear.
Thinking about pruning “right timing and technique in pruning can significantly enhance the yield and quality of fruit”. The Romans recognized that “pruning was not just about removing unwanted growth, but about strategically guiding the plant’s development.” Pg. 18 The pruning principle writer, Simon Breakspear, reminds us to use our data and our street data from our partners, what do the kids say, belief in that we want to do fewer things better. Don’t do things just because they have always been done this way. Make sure we are being reflective and willing to change depending on the needs of our community.
Taking Action: Implementing strategies based on the hunch.
Implementing our compassionate systems learning from SEY2K and the data we have collected both anecdotally and also from our attendance. We decided on what was most important and also worked to eliminate barriers and put resources there. Buses for the 4 K Days in May, bringing out Lenora for the sessions, spending time individually sending out registration papers and invitations for the events that were handwritten. utilizing our relationships and letting them know that these were the 4 most important. Still let families get their feet wet with 4 early years classes, for 30 mins only, and a chance to see their child be successful. We knew we could guarantee success for all children in this planning which would help them to have success in the K days in May.
See below for posters of our programming and a snapshot of our project! Canva poster made by Kristin Bruhwiler.
- Kindergarten-Transitions-1.pdf
- Is-Your-Child-Attending-Kindergarten-in-September-1.pdf
- Early-Years-Class-Poster.pdf
Checking: Evaluating the impact of the actions taken.
We have definitely seen great attendance and have seen almost all our K’s. We have had contact with all except 1. I think it’s built confidence in the quality of our programming and has given us some license to trust ourselves and our partner groups.
Reflections/Advice: Using the insights gained to inform future inquiries.
The next year’s group is already causing some grief (2026 start up kids). So, how can we support our partner groups and should we do some more sessions in their centers to support and see how we can better prepare ourselves for these little humans. Intentionality is key! Let’s do less but better! Check-in in September welcoming conversations – do we see more anxious kids/families, or are they and their families feeling supported.