Helping Students Move Through School

A transition task force is going to be set up in the North Okanagan-Shuswap School District with a goal of better tracking students as they move from grade to grade.

A review of the process concluded that generally such transitions are going well, but could be improved.

Official Trustee Mike McKay says succesful transitions are based on student-teacher relationships.

“One of the things is that there`s an awful lot of time being spent, really, really good time being spent by educators in supporting transition. We need to see if that is being done as efficiently as possible because it`s a big investment.“

Mike McKay says the task force will work to identify options to reduce student difficulties in moving from school to school.

“What are the models we can use to make sure that students as they move from one place to another receive the best possible support and guidance and challenge.“

McKay says the longer teachers are connected to kids, the better potential there is for a strong, positive and effective relationship.

He says kids don`t deal with such transitions in the same way.

“There could be some programs. There could be some streamlining of some of the things we do. There`s certainly is an acknowledgment of the fact that people are doling remarkable work, teachers, education assistants and administrators doing remarkable work to support kids already.”

McKay says the dollar needs to be spent in the classroom and whatever needs to be done to support students who struggle, will be.