With the pandemic disrupting education across Saskatchewan this past year, the Ministry of Education plans to focus on three priorities next year to help students recover from the disturbances they’ve experienced.
The ministry established a provincial education council in 2020 to provide strategic guidance on the development and renewal of a provincial education plan, with an implementation team directed to establish the outcomes, measures, and important actions to move the plan forward.
The team has developed a one-year interim education plan to respond to the pressures that the school system has experienced with the pandemic. The plan for the 2021-22 school year includes provincial-level actions that focus on reading, learning response, and mental health and well-being.
These priorities are aligned with the four pillars of the provincial education plan framework: skills and knowledge, mental health and well-being, connections and relationships, and inclusive, safe and welcoming learning environments.
Feedback from the education council and implementation team members contributed to developing the interim provincial education plan.
Holy Trinity Catholic School Division is a member of the implementation team and has been fully involved in creating the draft interim plan, education director Sean Chase explained during the board of education’s May meeting. Trustees must now endorse the work so the provincial team can implement it.
“You’ve certainly heard me, on behalf of your administrative team, echo what we feel is a very strong approach to see unity across the province and a narrowed laser focus on these three items,” he said.
Division administrators and some trustees recently took part in a symposium that discussed Holy Trinity’s ongoing initiatives to address mental health and well-being, Chase added. Meanwhile, the division has been proactive with allocating COVID-19 funding for 2021-22 to support the priorities, including adding extra staff.
After reviewing the document, trustee Alison Bradish raised a concern with the priority area of reading, particularly with reading intervention plans for students in grades 1 to 5. She wondered how family engagement would look in this area.
Debbie Pushor, an internationally recognized expert on family engagement, is a member of the education council and is a strong advocate of schools opening their doors to more parental involvement, said Chase. The University of Saskatchewan professor reviewed the document and asked the council to insert that criterion.
“The idea of the more engagement we have from families of their working knowledge of what’s happening in any of the academic programming we have, the better uptake we’ll have with them supporting the learning journey at the home front, which we know is critical,” he continued.
Pushor’s research suggests that the time spent with at-home learning during the pandemic is an opportunity upon which school divisions should capitalize, Chase said. While many parents were exhausted after weeks of helping their kids, Pushor pointed out that energy and momentum were created from this daily support.
Chase added that this is all about promoting a shared partnership between the home and school-based staff for better family engagement.
The next Holy Trinity board of education meeting is Monday, June 21.
