I. General Information
School Name: Prince George Secondary
School District: SD#57 Prince George
Inquiry Team Members:
Kelsie Pickens
L’Donna Lynds
Charlee Witwer
Kristin Olsen
Stephanie Mills
Inquiry Team Contact Email: kpickens@sd57.bc.ca
II. Inquiry Project Information
Type of Inquiry: NOIIE Case Study
Grade Levels Addressed Through Inquiry: Intermediate (4-7), Secondary (8-12)
Curricular Areas Addressed: Not applicable
Focus Addressed: Transitions
In one sentence, what was your focus for the year? Using the power of peer mentorship and connection to foster success in transitions from elementary to high school.
III. Spirals of Inquiry Details
Scanning:
Focused on finding direction by asking the questions:
1. “What will make a big and lasting difference for our learners?
2.“How do we know this needs to be our focus?”
Actions:
– Conducted focus groups with many different groups of Indigenous students from each grade level who have demonstrated varying levels of academic success and engagement at school
– Started with structured interviews/questions; quickly transitioned to open-ended informal conversations as this lead to significantly more sharing from students
– Rudimentary collaboration on field trips with elementary school staff and grade 8/senior students
– Foundational planning to extend collaboration between elementary and secondary schools in coming two years
– Asked the question: Can you name two people in the school who care about you and believe you will be successful in life? How do you know they car for and believe in you?
Based on data gathered from Focus Groups, project focus at PGSS became the power of peer mentorship and connection for fostering success in transition from elementary to high school.
Focus: Based on data gathered from Focus Groups, project focus at PGSS became the power of peer mentorship and connection for fostering success in transition from elementary to high school.
Answers to our direction finding questions:
1. “What will make a big and lasting difference for our learners?” – Transition support through a focus on connection and peer mentorship.
2. “How do we know this needs to be our focus?” – It became apparent that bridges were required to connect elementary students to supportive peers and adults in the secondary community upon transition from grade 7 to grade 8. Lack of connection to positive peers and adults significantly impacted students’ success and overall connectedness to school.
Hunch: Lack of connection to positive peers and adults significantly impacted students’ success and overall connectedness to school.
New Professional Learning: Staff awareness at the beginning and involvement throughout was key. The more we shared the positive opportunities and connections being made with the overall staff, the more they became curious and some wanted to be part of it. We started small but now have multiple teachers volunteering time to work with transition groups. One example is an Art teacher who opened her art room for our grade 7 girls group. When one of our team members was unable to run a group, multiple staff members wanted to become involved to help out.
Taking Action: We focused on creating opportunities for elementary students to become familiar with as many key support adults and peer mentors in the secondary school community as possible.
Actions:
– Started transition circles with grade 7 students, led by high school mentors
– Had key support staff from secondary schools attend transition circles
– Had key support adults from secondary schools attend and support events at elementary schools
– Found creative ways to connect support staff in district roles outside of school buildings to students
– Involved as many staff as possible in transition support, in order to broaden students’ comfort in the building as a whole
– Multiple tours of the high school
– Scavenger hunts and exploration of points of interest surrounding the school were included in school tours. Exploration points of interest included time management support through assessment of how long to walk from school points of interest and back
– Tours of the close by mall supported by staff, including meeting mall security to review safety expectations
– Took students to key areas in the school including places where they could access social-emotional support, food support, connection to programming, additional information about programming and supports in the school
– Had peer mentors and staff in each key area discuss all of the supports available to students in that particular space and how to connect
– Brought grade 7’s to the high school cafeteria and purchased meals for them during lunchtime
– Collaborative field trips between grade 8 classes and intermediate students with a focus on positive connection and peer modeling.
– Had elementary school students attend after school clubs in the secondary school building
– Had secondary students assist in facilitation of extra-curricular programs at elementary schools
– Developed plans for elementary staff and students to attend additional field trips and events at the secondary school in the coming year
Checking: Students are coming into grade 8 feeling connected and supported. They know where their safe spaces are, and where to find their safe people. When some of the peer mentors graduated this year, they were very vocal about how the connection and peer mentorship positively impacted their success at school. Graduation rates, especially for Indigenous students, have increased this year, and the transition and connection work done through this team has contributed to this success.
Reflections/Advice:
– Continue with collaborative field trips between elementary and secondary schools
– Have elementary schools attend additional events at secondary school
– Have secondary students attend events and facilitate programming/workshops at elementary schools
– Continue with implementation of actions from previous two years
– Have peer mentors train new mentors (including students who have been supported through the NOIIE Pilot as they age out of high school)