FERRIS HEART CORE : NUMERACY AND LITERACY CONNECTIONS

2023-2025 School Focus: HEART- Math Sense of Self / Literacy Connections

At Ferris, we are committed to nurturing an environment that emphasizes the core values of patience, care, and understanding, ensuring that every student’s learning experience is tailored to their unique needs. Patience is at the heart of our teaching philosophy, as we recognize that each student learns at their own pace. We strive to create a space where students feel supported in their journey, regardless of the challenges they may face. We believe that showing care for our students and staff is essential for building trust and a strong sense of community. It’s not just about academic progress; it's about fostering an environment where students and educators alike feel valued, respected, and encouraged to take risks in their learning.

At Ferris, we recognize that learning is not a one-size-fits-all process. We are deeply committed to differentiating our teaching methods to ensure that every student can learn in a way that works best for them. Whether it’s through offering varied activities, creating flexible learning environments, or focusing on students' individual strengths, we believe in providing the right opportunities for each child to succeed. This approach is grounded in the belief that learning must be "just right" for each learner, ensuring that every child is given the tools and support they need to flourish. We are always mindful of the need for assessment for learning, as it helps guide our understanding of where students are in their learning journey and informs how we can best support their progress.

Collaboration is another foundational value at Ferris. We believe that teaching and learning are social activities that thrive on connection, creativity, and shared passion. Our approach emphasizes teamwork not just between students and teachers, but also with families and the wider community. Whether it's through collaborative learning experiences, engaging in dialogue with parents, or working together with colleagues to improve our teaching practices, we understand that we are all part of a joint learning journey. Students learn not only from their teachers but also from each other, and this reciprocal learning process helps create an environment where ideas flow freely, and everyone’s contributions are valued.

We are also deeply committed to the idea that learning should be fun, joyful, and playful. A core belief at Ferris is that students learn best when they are engaged in meaningful, enjoyable activities that spark curiosity and creativity. Our curriculum is designed to provide playful learning opportunities that reinforce key concepts and encourage exploration. This fun, engaging atmosphere is essential for fostering a lifelong love of learning. Whether it’s through hands-on activities, games, or collaborative projects, we make sure that our students are not only mastering academic content but also developing important interpersonal competencies that will serve them throughout their lives.

Finally, we embrace the philosophy that everyone—students, staff, and families—has something valuable to contribute to the learning environment. We focus on building relationships and fostering mutual respect, kindness, and understanding. At Ferris, we know that no one is ever at a dead-end in their learning journey. We make space for second chances, reflection, and growth, encouraging students to see mistakes as opportunities for learning rather than setbacks. By creating an atmosphere where everyone is valued and given the tools to succeed, we ensure that learning is a dynamic, ongoing process. In this way, we strive to create a culture where learning is not only an academic pursuit but a lifelong adventure for all involved.

2020 - 2023 - Continuing our Journey with Social/Emotional Learning (SEL)

Over the past four years, Ferris has received innovation grants that supported our SEL committee with our goals to develop a cohesive school-wide approach to SEL that includes common language, explicit SEL instruction, connection with the parent community and measures to promote staff and student wellness.

Guiding Questions:

How will developing a cohesive SEL framework and increasing staff capacity with SEL instruction positively impact the social, emotional, and intellectual engagement of students? How can we support the growth of our students in the area of Personal Awareness and Responsibility?'

The following SEL indicators have been identified by Ferris staff as being areas of focus for growth:

1. Explicit SEL Instruction

2. Authentic Parent/School Partnerships

3. Student and Staff Wellness

Highlights of the work of the committee, the staff and the student population include:

• A series of professional development sessions with district teacher consultants to work on SEL instruction
• Collaborative work with Connie Easton (Curriculum Coordinator for SEL) on explicit SEL instruction
• Resources purchased and distributed to support the teaching of SEL
• A coordinated effort to incorporate our Social Responsibility HEART matrix into a broader SEL framework
• School assemblies focussed on HEART (e.g. Pink Shirt Day, Earth Month)
• Baseline data collected from students, staff and parents to be compared against future years
• Two Parent sessions with the district coordinator for SEL to make connections with the parent community and promote SEL education

Please see the Action and Evidence Posts for highlights of the progress made at Ferris.

2018-2020--Beginning of the journey

What will we do to enhance our students' learning in the area of Personal Awareness and Responsibility?

A) Continue with whole school activities with a focus on H.E.A.R.T.   Our active committee of staff that make up our social responsibility committee help plan activities including:

Assemblies that have a HEART focus.  

Providing staff with ways of making new connections with students and also providing opportunities to provide students feedback with our HEART program.

Family teams (multi age groups) are also a focus of our social responsibility committee.  Family teams are a wonderful way to promote school community as it provides opportunities to make connections for both staff and students.  Leadership is also a focus of family teams. In 2019 we tried something new: Recess Playdates with Staff--where all the teachers went outside to play with students for a 15 min recess. 

A wide variety of Classroom Activities/Approaches/Initiatives to help develop students personal awareness and responsibility.

Parent education/communication through newsletters/PAC Meetings/Website

What are some specific actions we are considering taking?

-using an Inquiry Question: "How can we support the growth of our students in the area of Personal Awareness and Responsibility"--staff to explore a variety of programs, approaches, initiatives to support students.

-Leadership Convention (Gr. 6/7 Students) Sept 18th-20th 2018

What will we focus on in our professional learning to support our students' learning?

-networking group of 14 staff --  (SCERTS)= Social Communication Emotional Regulation Transactional Support (working with some of our students with special needs)

-collaborative teaching/grade groups-exploration and development of lessons, planning, approaches including but not limited to (Growth Mindset, Mindfulness & Mind-up, Superflex, Zones of Regulation, DARE, Outdoor Classroom and Learning Spaces, etc.

- Noon Hour Supervisors to use shared language and specific problem solving strategies during recess/lunch based on Ferris' expectations and school-wide values of H.E.A.R.T. and Behaviour Support from our ACT lessons