Professional Development Days

Professional Development days are such an important part of the education profession.  On Friday, many of our staff were engaged in a session on Restitution.  They spent the day examining ways for students to take responsibility for their mistakes and figure out ways to fix them.  At the same time, Dale, myself, and other principals/vice-principals from Sooke were exploring the question "What Matters?" with Chris Kelly, Superintendent of Schools for Vancouver School District.   In this session we were able to take some time to reflect on leadership and learning and what really matters as we work in support of student learning.  Chris spoke of the need for students (and others we work with) to be "genuinely regarded" and to have a sense of hope in order for learning to occur.  As a result, we need to  ensure that strong relationships (respectful and engaged) within our school communities are encouraged and fostered.  

Opportunities to take a pause from our busy day to day work to reflect on what really matters are only possible because of these professional days.  I look forward to the opportunity to discuss with our staff and school community the many learnings and thoughts acquired on our most recent Professional Development Day.

Building Community

As our school year has evolved, I have been giving a lot of thought to the kind of school community that we are collectively building for our children.  We are at the point where staff, students, and parents consider David Cameron Elementary to be there home, but we still have a long way to go to make it the best we can.  Community is about everyone working together to create a great environment to work and learn in.  So far, we have used activities like "Buddy Classes", "Family Grouping Days", "The Virtues Project", and many others to create opportunities for students to feel part of their community.

Where do we go from here?  Have we done enough?  Michael Fullen has said that "Good is the enemy of great", and so we must push on.  Our next areas of focus must be in support of a school tone that allows us to slow down and work/learn in greater detail; with more depth.  We must improve upon the ways in which we support all learners from those with difficulty to those with outstanding capabilities.  We must work on our disciplinary practices so that they have at their core, strengthening the student and allowing them to learn from their mistakes.   These are ambitious undertakings but are critical to students feeling successful and motivated to try and risk and learn.  Together we can, with the help of all, create an incredible place for all to be.  I look forward to our continued work together in support of our children.

A Busy Start to February!

This week is shaping up to be a very busy week at David Cameron.  Of course we are all excited about our two evening concerts with Paul Hann.  It is amazing to see how many details need to be attended to in order to offer something so worthwhile to our students.  From the initial proposal to the final details of performance night, many people have pitched in and made sure that everything has gotten done.  A huge thank-you to the David Cameron staff who have worked hard to get the students ready. 

We will also be conducting a review of our lunch-time changes in order to get feedback from staff, students, and parents.  Look for a short questionnaire to come home on Thursday. I will also be visiting all of the classes to talk with students to hear their opinions.

Monday is our regular School Read Assembly with a focus on our virtue of the month, Respect.  At this time we also get to recognize our students for their efforts in our home reading program and our marathon run.  Both of these recognitions support our school efforts towards our goals of Active Living and Active Learning.  Parents can also expect to see "Crunch and Go" cards coming home with their students.  These cards allow students to track the amount of physical activity and servings of fruits and veggies they are getting over the course of the month.

All of this in addition to our regular weekly routines,  which include boys and girls basketball, field trips, and of course our main focus on student academics.