HomeMy WebLinkAbout09 PIC Annual Report 2015 DRAFT for Committee
Parent Involvement Committee
2014-2015 Annual Report
About the Parent Involvement Committee
Parent Involvement Committees (PIC) and school councils encourage parent involvement in
their children’s learning in support of student achievement and well-being. Where school
councils focus on the local school and community, PICs participate as an advisory committee at
the board level and focus on things that affect more than one school.
Ontario Regulation 612/00 requires all Ontario school boards to establish a Parent Involvement
Committee and outlines its composition, function and mandate. The PIC at the Ottawa-Carleton
District School Board (OCDSB) works with staff and trustees to support, encourage, and
enhance parent engagement at the District level in order to improve student achievement and
well-being. The PIC achieves this mandate by:
• Providing a direct link between parents and the director of education, trustees and
board staff;
• Helping the school board develop strategies to engage more parents at a regional level;
• Maintaining relationships with school councils by seeking input and ideas from school
councils, providing updates from the ministry of education, and sharing effective
practices to effectively engage parents; and
• Identifying and reducing barriers to parent engagement.
The OCSDB has embedded its commitment to parent engagement as one of the four key
priorities in 2011- 2015 strategic plan. Parent engagement will continue to be a focus for the
2015-2019 plan and PIC will remain an active part of maintaining the OCDSB’s commitment to
parent involvement.
Renewed Membership
The PIC members are appointed to either one-year or two-year terms. This tenure allows for
consistency in membership between school years, but also ensures a variety of parents are able
to participate on the Committee year to year. This year, there were four new parent members
appointed to the Committee.
In an effort to reach a wide variety of parents, advertisements seeking Parent Members and
Community Representatives were sent to schools, school councils, principals, Ottawa -Carleton
Assembly of School Councils (OCASC), OCDSB Advisory Committees in October 2014. A media
release was issued and the ads were posted on the OCDSB website. Additionally, a letter was
sent to various community groups that may be interested in applying for the Community
Representative positions on the Committee.
A Sub-Committee comprised of the Chair, Vice-Chair, one parent member and one community
representative was formed in order to review the applications and recommend members to the
Committee. A skills matrix for both parent members and community representatives was used
by the Sub-Committee when assessing applications for positions. The applications were
reviewed and new members were appointed by the PIC in November 2014.
The PIC is made up of the following members:
• 10 parent members (voting)
• 2 community representatives (voting)
• 1 trustee appointed by the Board of Trustees (non -voting)
• The Director of Education or designate (non -voting)
• 1 principal (non-voting)
OCDSB staff also attend meetings to assist and support the committee, as required. There is
currently one vacant Community Representative position and PIC will continue to reach out to
local community associations in order to fill this position.
2014-2015 PIC Members
Chair:
• Susan Fullerton
Vice-Chair:
• Carrie Eaton
Parent Members:
• Jen Muise
• Melanie Hopkins
• Diana Mills
• Christopher Dodge
• Amy Curry
Community Representatives:
• Susan Ingram
• Anne Teutsch
Non-Voting Representatives:
• Norah Marsh, Associate Director of Education (Director Designate)
• Erica Braunovan, Trustee
• Diane Cousineau, Principal, Lakeview Public School
Supporting the Work plan
In the 2012-2013 school year, the Committee developed a work plan and put some definition to
the three areas that guide their work to support, en courage, and enhance parent engagement.
• SUPPORT: the infrastructure of resources available to facilitate parental involvement
across the district includes providing opportunities for parent participation; parent
learning; providing resources to support involvement; and supporting structures for
involvement (i.e. school councils, PIC, OCASC).
• ENCOURAGE: considering and developing strategies through PIC that encourage parent
involvement, particularly for parents who are traditionally less engaged.
• ENHANCE: building capacity for parental involvement in school and district initiatives to
expand or enhance parent involvement in education.
Throughout the 2014-2015 school year, the committee completed the following activities to
fulfill these three areas of work:
• SUPPORT
o Determined Speaker Series events topics;
o Hosted five Speaker Series events;
o Received regular updates from school councils via a report from OCASC at each
meeting;
o Hosted the School Council Training Day, in partnership with OCASC;
o Attended a tour and presentation on the work of the Family Reception Centre;
and
o Republished and disseminated PIC brochure “Your Child’s Education, Be a Part of
It!”
• ENCOURAGE
o Participated in the consultation of:
#Every_School_Every_Voice consultation;
Transition Guide from Elementary to Secondary: Creating a Sense of
Belonging;
Draft policy on Capital Plan Decision-making Framework; and
Green Employer Policy.
o Provided parent input on:
PRO Grant Application for 2015-1016;
Parent Information Videos;
Human Development and Sexual Health component of the Elementary
curriculum.
Advisory Committee for Extended Day and Child Care Programs policy
(P.111.GOV); and
Draft letter to parents about labour dispute.
• ENHANCE
o Appointed a member representative to the Advisory Committee for Extended
Day and Child Care Programs meeting on behalf of the PIC;
o Appointed a member representative to the Advisory Committee for the Arts on
behalf of the PIC;
o Appointed a member to School Year Calendar Committee;
o Established a PIC Membership sub-committee;
o Appointed membership for the 2014-2015 PIC; and
o Provided new and additional training to all members.
Funding
As part of its commitment to increasing parent engagement across the province, the Ministry of
Education provides funding to school boards specific to parent engagement, based on the
student population. The OCDSB receives $18,000 annually specifically allocated for parent
initiatives. This funding is used to produce parent resources, facilitate PIC meetings, including
providing dinner and photocopies, and host events, including the speaker series.
Ministry funding is also distributed to each school council across the District in the form of a
grant. Each school council receives $500.00 to be spent at its discretion on activities that
support and enhance parent involvement and communication in their school community. Some
examples of activities include workshops, guest speakers, translations, school barbeques or
other social events, resources, including newsletters or books. Each school council will
automatically receive this funding each fall, with no application necessary.
The Ministry of Education also distributes additional funding in the form of Parents Reaching
Out (PRO) grants. There are two categories of grants; Parents Reaching Out Grants for School
Councils, maximum $1,000 and Parents Reaching Out Grants for Regional/Provincial Projects,
maximum $30,000.
This year, 56 school councils received PRO Grants. Projects included: Bullying Prevention and
Awareness Workshops, Healthy Lunches Workshops, Homework Club, Social Network and
Internet Safety presentations, Multicultural Nights and a Math Curriculum Night for parents
among many other successful projects.
Annually, PIC applies for a Regional PRO grant to support district wide parental involvement.
This year, the OCDSB received a $19,000 regional PRO grant. This funding was used to enhance
parent engagement to impact student achievement and well-being. The funding went towards
the three components of the project: the speaker series, parent resources and community
outreach and training.
Speaker Series
The Speaker Series is one of the original PIC initiatives. The series was designed to create
learning opportunities for parents, recognizing that if parents and e ducators have access to the
same resources and speakers, they can develop a shared language and understanding about
how to support student learning and well -being. During the 2014-2015 school year, the
following speaker series events were sponsored by PIC:
Dr. Eva Olsson LLD (Hon.) – Holocaust Survivor (November 5, 2014) – Dr. Olsson shared
her story and experience of being a prisoner in Auschwitz during the Holocaust and
drew upon these experiences as examples of the power of hate and the importance of
standing up and speaking out against intolerance. Students heard about the impact of
being a bystander to justice especially as that translates to bullying in schools.
Developing Social Emotional Skills in Children with Dr. Oliver John (University of
California Berkeley) (November 11, 2014) – Oliver John, from UC Berkeley spoke to
parents about developing social and emotional skills in children. One of his research
programs examines the ways in which individuals use social concepts to construe their
own personalities (self-perception theory) and those of others (social perception;
stereotyping), and the consequences that these construals have for their behaviors,
experiences, and life outcomes.
Physical Literacy with Dr. Rebecca J. Lloyd (January 29, 2015) – Dr. Lloyd explained that
physical literacy, in addition to fitness and activity, promotes a more complete
understanding of the way the human body moves and functions as well as how it
contributes to well-being overall. Dr. Lloyd described the history of physical literacy and
gave students, parents and teachers practical examples on how to become more
physically literate in their own lives.
CHEO Experts discuss Eating Disorders: Anorexia, Bulimia and Body Image (February
19, 2015) – A panel of four CHEO experts discussed the issue of eating disorders in
teens. The panel offered a question and answer period where parents could submit
questions to be addressed by the panel after a two hour presentation on warning signs
of eating disorders and practical tips on how to talk to teens about them.
Canadian Foundation for Economic Education presents Talk With Our Kids About
Money (April 15, 2015) – This session provided information to parents on how to best
discuss money with their children. Speakers discussed the importance of financial
literacy and broke down financial concepts as they should be presented to different age
groups using a series of interactive web-based activities for parents and children.
A Highlight This Year
PIC held its February meeting at the Family Reception Centre. The meeting agenda was focused
on meeting the needs of new Canadian parents. The FRC provided a warm welcome and a
comprehensive tour of their facility and a detailed overview of their services. The FRC staff
along with representatives from OLIP stayed for the meeting and participated in a rich
discussion about the issues and challenges facing new Canadian parents and the strategies to
address those issues. Included in the discussion were issues such as language and cultural
barriers, understanding homework, the difference between the parental experience in school
and today's school experience, technology, and the benefits of extra -curricular activities.
After much discussion, the committee recognized that the interests and needs of all parents are
more similar than different - there is a continuum of need and parents may be at a different
place on the continuum, but the issues are relatively constant.
Coming out of the discussion, several strategies were identified, including:
The need for enhanced communication about the work of the FRC;
The development of communications tools to support the district wide implementation
of STEP to facilitate learning for ESL students;
The development of a parent video about homework and how to support it; and
The need for a transitions guide for parents to help parents better understand key
transition points in the education system and how to manage them.
This meeting also reaffirmed PIC's commitment to collaboration and helped to inform the
committee's thinking about opportunities for next year.
Looking Forward
In the 2015-2016 school year, PIC will continue its work to support student achievement and
well-being through initiatives that empower parents to play active roles in their child’s
educational success. PIC members have expressed an interest in providing parents with more
resource documents and tools to support their child’s academic success as well as student well-
being.
Specifically, moving forward, the PIC will develop more parent information videos on additional
topics. These videos will be shared on the District’s websites and social media platforms to
allow parents’ constant access to these resources. Additionally, PIC will more formally
collaborate with other OCDSB advisory committees to promote information sharing between
committees and provide an opportunity for more ini tiatives.
PIC’s aim for the coming year is to continue to collaborate, share knowledge and create
resources will ultimately further the scope and impact of PIC on parents. PIC will continue to
emphasize the link between reaching out to parents and student learning i n the coming year,
which will have a positive effect on students, parents and staff of the District.
Contact Us
If you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact us at PIC@ocdsb.ca