The interest is there. The educators are there. The administration is there. The technology is there. The students are available.
With all these factors intact, the South East Cornerstone Public School Division is making a concentrated effort to reach out to their student base to help them complete a full academic year in spite of Coronavirus (COVID-19) lock down rulings.
There is a way forward and the public school system announced March 30 they were making use of what is available to them within the Internet world to keep lessons and educator advice rolling out to the students. With teachers and administrators on board, the plans were released at noon that day.
Director of Education, Lynn Little and Deputy Director Keith Keating, released details surrounding the plans, first with teachers, then with administration, media and families just prior to the noon hour launch.
Little said the regular School Messenger system carried most of the information but “we want to share the overall plan in public just in case someone is being inadvertently missed.”
The stop and pause call that went out on March 13 meant all staff members were sent home and a slowdown reset plan was started. Senior leadership then met with the provincial response team with a total shut down framework coming from the provincial Education Ministry.
“On Friday, we met on line … principals, vice-principals, co-ordinators to establish the process for provisioning supplemental learning plans,” said Little.
By March 30, principals were to have met online with teaching staff to set up procedures to reach out to the students at all grade levels, and their families.
The programs have been divided into four levels using a new Microsoft Team format that each class will have access to.
“We want to ensure everyone has access. If the student doesn’t have guaranteed access for whatever reason, print packages are made available and will be delivered by courier to them,” said Little.
One level is tailored for students in Grade 10 to 12, the next is for students from Grades 7 to 9 while the third is focused on Grades 4-6 and the fourth one is for pre-Kindergarten to Grade 3.
“These are lessons using the Saskatchewan curriculum the teachers would otherwise be teaching face-to-face,” she said, adding that some lessons at the higher grade levels may include other family (parental) involvement at various subjects like Practical and Applied Arts while those for the lower grades would increase the desire for family participation.
Little said they wanted to make it clear the marks that were registered for each student as of March 13, were the base marks that would be registered for the records. But, if a student improves their marks during the on line delivery period, the improved mark would be the submitted mark.
The academic courses at Grade 10-12 will be taught and assessed by current teachers. In Grade 7-9 the core subjects English language arts, mathematics, social studies and science will be the initial focus with other classes being offered a bit later. The four core subjects, however, will be delivered and assessed by the teachers. The other supplemental studies/classes will be prepared and accessible, but won’t be teacher delivered, the two administrators explained.
With the four core subjects to focus on, the administration team said they felt the Grade 7 to 9 groupings could be engaged for up to three hours per day on average. With the Grade 10 to 12 grouping spending between 45 minutes to one hour on each of their four major programs.
Lessons already being delivered by the online Cyber Stone teachers were also resumed on March 30.
“Teachers who teach in the on-line school, will be sharing their resources and planning with all teachers. We appreciate the full team effort of supporting one and other,” said Little. Cyber Stone offers credit courses for students in Grades 8 to 12.
The teaching core is still available so that teachers who were in front of the students prior to March 13, will be teaching the same classes in post March 13 sessions.
At the third level of instructions, meaning Grades 4 to 6, the focus will be on English language arts and mathematics with supplemental courses being rolled out a bit later that won’t be teacher driven, but will be readily available for student engagement.
The Kindergarten to Grade 3 groups of students will also be asked to focus on mathematics and English with a request to have family members engaged to assist in the delivery.
“We are also developing programs for those who were on individualized programs. We have learning support educators who already know the students and know the families so they’ll have a plan formulated and with our team of consultants, those students will get the attention and programs they need,” Little said.
The new plans should not negatively impact the operational budget for the school division.
The division’s 38 school facilities are closed with only limited access to them for custodial and maintenance staff members and a few administrators who may have to come and go while practising social distancing.
“The lock down ruling came on a day when the schools weren’t actually open, so some belongings were left in buildings,” Little added. Efforts will be made to retrieve and return vital personal belongings that may have been left in any of the schools.
As a closing note, the directors stated they are informing families who have access to technology but may not have the necessary laptop equipment, that they may be able to borrow one of the division’s legacy laptops for use during the lockdown period.
