Esquimalt High School SD#61 Greater Victoria

I. General Information

School Name: Esquimalt High School

School District: SD#61 Greater Victoria

Inquiry Team Members: Geoff Orme: gorme@sd61.bc.ca, Chantal Peppin: cpeppin@sd61.bc.ca, Rachel Treblico rtrebilco@sd61.bc.ca, Cheryl Nigh cnigh@sd61.bc.ca, Kai Barker: kbarker@sd61.bc.ca, Jennifer Treble: jtreble@sd61.bc.ca

Inquiry Team Contact Email: sgarr@sd61.bc.ca

II. Inquiry Project Information

Type of Inquiry: NOIIE Transitions Study

Grade Levels Addressed Through Inquiry: Secondary (8-12)

Curricular Areas Addressed: Other: Cross Curricular

Focus Addressed: Growth mindset, Inclusion and inclusive instructional strategies, Social and emotional learning, Transitions

In one sentence, what was your focus for the year? To support Indigenous student success (academic, social/emotional) by increasing the sense of belonging and connection.

III. Spirals of Inquiry Details

Scanning: Through our scanning process, our learners told us that feeling connected to their teachers was important, before they were able to engage with content/curriculum. They also identified a need to see purpose, meaning and relevancy in what they are learning in their classes. Students were able to identify what aspects made them feel more connected to the school, including relationships to staff, relationships with peers and the physical structure of the building/classrooms.

Focus: Following the pandemic, we are looking for strategies to re-engage students and families with the school. Attendance continues to be a concern, as well as some challenging behaviours. By focusing on relationships and connections, we were hoping to improve attendance and ultimately, improve rates of successful class completion and feelings of belonging.

Hunch: Our hunch was that we needed to provide intentional dedicated time for teachers to build relationships with students.

New Professional Learning:
– Learning from other NOIIE teams through reviewing case studies.
– It was helpful to provide time to release teachers.

Taking Action: We created a “Raft class” which is essentially a Home Room/Advisory block that meets once a week for Grade 9s. A Raft is a collective of otters – our school mascot. The sole purpose of “Raft” is to provide time for teachers to build connections/relationships with students. Grade 9 students remained with the same Raft teacher for the entire year. Activities included a focus on team building, goal setting and fun!

Checking: We will need to track our current Grade 9s to fully understand the impact that this year’s Raft class has made. We administered a survey at the beginning of the school year, as well as in May, as an indicator. Our hope is to continue Raft classes next year, continuing to refine this structure as a supportive measure for our Grade 9s.

Reflections/Advice: It is important to provide release time for staff to meet with each other and to plan.