The school bells are ringing again for kids across the province, and aboriginal families in a Prince Albert-area school division are a big part of a plan to help students succeed this school year.
Saskatchewan Rivers School Division (SRSD) has been monitoring the problems that come along with student ‘transiency’ – which means students moving to a different school once they’ve already been established for the school year – for years. It noted that academic performance tends to suffer after the student transfers schools. In fact, on average a student loses about four months of the school year’s gains because of transiency, said Rob Clarke, superintendent of schools with SRSD.
Transient students tend to fall into two main categories, he explained. There are northern families who head south for education or employment opportunities, and those who move within a city like Prince Albert for affordable housing.
One solution is quite simple, Clarke said. Busing students who move within a city to their old school so they don’t need to start fresh in the middle of the school year is something SRSD is looking at.
However, without a clear idea of how many students are in that situation, Clarke said SRSD may not have the capacity for that at this time.
Last year a Lean event – based around the same model the health care system uses – identified some of the issues that hurt school performance, Clarke said.
Through talking to parents who have experience with ‘transiency,’ they found that registering a child in a new school can be a very difficult process when schools are out of “back to school” mode.
For example, schools don’t always have a comfortable place for parents to go over the text-rich registration documents.
“They’re often standing in the front entry of the school, you know, trying to write on the ledge,” Clarke said. “That’s a really intimidating experience. Quite often a parent will say ‘I’m going to take this home and fill it out’ and they don’t come back.”
This year will include a conscious effort to make sure the environment is welcoming for these families. SRSD is calling this a “soft landing” approach.
“One of the things we just need to keep in the back of our minds is these students don’t choose to be transient. Most of them would love to stay with their friends and stay in the classroom they started the school year in. So it’s not their fault that they’re in a transient situation. Some of these kids need a little extra attention and a little extra support,” Clarke said.