On Professional Activity (PA) days, staff engage in professional development. Our school, along with all schools in the Halton District School Board (HDSB) have several Professional Activity (PA) Days throughout the school year. The purpose of these days is to enhance student success. Staff focus on professional development activities, participate in training or planning sessions. There are no classes for students on these days.
For a detailed description of what our school will be focusing on please see the following information.
Topic: Provincial Education Priorities - Keeping Schools Safe and School Resource Officer Program
Format:
Full-day, in-person
Description: Our school team will review policy requirements and supports for safe schools regarding the Provincial Code of Conduct, violence prevention, violent incident reporting and debriefing, gender-based violence and the Provincial Model for a Local Police/School Board Protocol. The content will include the role of police in providing high-quality, age-appropriate educational public safety presentations to students on subjects such as cybercrime, human trafficking, road safety and more. Information will be provided about the role of police in the school community, to support trust building between educators, policing services, students and parents/guardians. For schools currently in the School Resource Officer (SRO) program, a summary of the program's structure and objectives will be reviewed. Suicide prevention and intervention will also be reviewed.
Facilitators: Principal and school-based staff, supported with materials and guidance from central departments including Student Mental Health and Well-Being, Safe Schools and Special Education.
Learning/Delivery Method: Whole group presentations and small group work
Timing/Format
Full day, in-person or remotely
Description:
Elementary educators will be engaged in assessment and evaluation activities including report card writing. This is time designated by the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) collective agreement.
Facilitators:
Self-directed day for teachers
Structure:
Individual work time
Timing/Format
Full day, in-person
Description:
Elementary educators will engage in learning related to student mental health and well-being with a focus on the mental health literacy learning and implementation of PPM 169: Student Mental Health in Ontario.
School staff will address the effects of vaping and cellphone use on student learning and well-being, focusing on the academic and health impacts of substance use, such as vaping, along with the challenges posed by excessive cellphone use in the classroom. Staff will participate in cyber safety and online privacy awareness training, gaining insights into potential risks associated with student use of online platforms and emerging technologies.
Staff will also engage in learning about Emotional Validation strategies as a way to support and validate students' feelings and emotional responses, and to build skills in students to learn to reach out for support when needed.
Facilitators:
Lead teachers, CYC and administrator
Structure:
Whole group presentations and small group learning and planning
Timing/Format
Full day, in-person
Description:
Elementary educators will focus on School Improvement Plan for Student Achievement (SIPSA) work. The HDSB has district-wide goals that each school develops detailed SIPSA plans for. Our school teams will focus their attention on district and school data analysis, planning effective strategies for literacy, mathematics, assessment and evaluation, monitoring student achievement and student safety and well-being. They will engage in learning related to the SIPSA goals and identify effective strategies.
Facilitators:
Lead teachers and administrator
Structure:
Whole group presentations and small group learning and planning
Timing/Format
Full day, in-person or remotely
Description:
Elementary educators will be engaged in assessment and evaluation activities including report card writing. This is time designated by the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) collective agreement.
Facilitators:
Self-directed day for teachers
Structure:
Individual work time
Timing/Format
Full day, in-person conferences.
Facilitators:
Teachers will support and guide students to lead their individual conferences.
Structure:
Teaching teams will be engaging in discussions with students and their parents/guardians with a focus on student learning and growth.
Timing/Format
Full day - 8:45 am to 3:15 pm
To align with Ministry priorities, the October 11th PA Day will focus on learning to support the implementation of the 2023 revised Language curriculum and High Impact Practices for the Teaching of Mathematics.
Our French educators will engage in learning to support literacy instruction in French.
Facilitators:
D. Van Hees, Principal; Lead Teachers for Literacy and Mathematics.
Learning Materials:
Revised 2023 Language/Francais, Grades 1-8 Curriculum
Principles and requirements related to early reading screening as described in PPM 168
HDSB Math Achievement Action Plan
Acadience Screener
Literacy
Grades 2-8 staff will engage in professional learning focused on the implementation of the revised 2023 Language Curriculum.
Grade 2 staff will engage in learning related to using information from early reading screening to inform literacy instruction.
Grade 3 to 8 staff will participate in learning to support the use of diagnostic assessment data to inform responsive literacy instruction.
Mathematics
The learning will engage Grades 2-8 staff in the collaborative analysis of student work, diving into student work samples from the suggested common task. This session will facilitate key monitoring strategies, reflections, and guiding questions to support the collaborative analysis process and considerations for intentionally planning responsive instruction based on student data.
Timing/Format
The timing and format of the activities and the name of the entity hosting the activities
Facilitators:
The names and titles of persons presenting or delivering the material
Learning Materials:
A description of the material to be covered
A description of the methods by which material is to be presented and the methods of learning that are to be engaged.
The titles of any resources that will be used as part of the activities and publication information in respect of those resources
Additional information: