Trustees with Prairie South School Division have endorsed an interim provincial education plan for the 2022-23 school year that focuses on enhancing students’ learning, reading, mental health and well-being.
Prairie South’s board of education unanimously supported the plan during its June 7 meeting. That endorsement will be sent to the Ministry of Education, which plans to institute the plan this September.
“It’s really good to see that we’re going to continue on with focusing on mental health and wellness for our students in this interim,” said trustee Crystal Froese. “… it continues to be a big focus here at Prairie South as well.”
The provincial education plan implementation team (PEPIT) developed an interim provincial education plan for the 2021-22 school year in response to the devastating effect that the COVID-19 pandemic had on students during the past two years, a board report explained. The plan includes specific actions to meet students’ needs in learning, reading and mental health/well-being.
The ministry decided to extend the interim plan for another year and updated and revised the main actions for the 2022-23 year.
The learning response priority action plan focuses on increasing students’ reading and math levels through professional development, increasing awareness, and sharing of resources and best practices. A communication plan will be developed to increase student engagement and support youths returning to school.
The reading priority action plan focuses on communication strategies with reading and support plans for students. Strategies will be implemented to help all youths, while reading support plans will target students who require additional supports, the report said. The reading plan also focuses on oral language and comprehension as the foundation for early literacy.
The mental health and well-being priority action plan focuses on communication among school divisions and government ministries to share knowledge of available supports, services and programming.
Another focus is the creation and refinement of mental health and well-being plans for each school division to address concerns and share best practices. The plan includes holding a “Mental Health and Well-Being Symposium” and making it an annual event.
“The actions presented in the following three sections of the plan are at the provincial level. All PEPIT members will take the actions in the plan and create system-level actions to implement in their individual school systems,” the report added. “A communication strategy will be prepared to assist in sharing the information in this plan with parents/caregivers, Education Council and PEPIT member organizations, and the general public.”
The next PSSD board meeting is Aug. 2.
