With the school year coming to an end this month, some school divisions are reflecting on the challenges and successes they have seen with supplementary learning.
“We’re really proud of all of our staff members, and the way that we could pull together very quickly and completely change the way we are educating,” said Twylla West, communications coordinator for Regina Catholic School Division.
Both Regina Catholic School Division and Prairie Valley School Division estimate an 80-per cent participation rate for students.
“Of course with the warmer weather in June, I think we’re starting to see a little bit of a tail off now,” said Luc Lerminiaux, director of education with Prairie Valley School Division.
West explained there are a number of contributing factors for the remaining 20 per cent who have not joined in supplemental learning.
“Whether it’s parents who are working on the front lines, perhaps, or shift workers who can’t work with the students in the same way, this is obviously very hard on families.”
Both divisions say teachers will be ready to face varying ability levels from students in the fall.
“We’re anticipating to be ready to meet students where they are, and we will,” said West.
For the Regina Catholic School Division, supplemental learning ends on June 15, when a more concrete idea of the outcome will be available.
Prairie Valley School Division will end providing new learning materials a week later, on June 22. Both school divisions say teachers will still be available to students until June 26.
“We wanted a little bit of extra time to turn our attention to the fall,” explained Lerminiaux.
Lerminiaux also said there are three potential options for schools in the fall: either they reopen with full access, limited access, or no access to classrooms and the resources inside them.
This decision is being discussed by the Ministry of Education, which assembled the Response Planning Team (RPT) in cooperation with the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation and the Saskatchewan School Boards Association.
“It is important that our sector partners are engaged in planning for what the 2020-21 school year looks like and all decisions will be made in concert with the Chief Medical Health Officer,” read a statement from Education Minister Gordon Wyant.
“We know that other jurisdictions have cautiously started to resume in-class learning and we have been monitoring closely to understand the experiences they have had with the school re-opening process.”
Following the decision of whether classroom learning can continue in the fall, schools will be able to address further questions regarding their operation.
“From is it okay to have a full bus, or do we need to have one student per seat?” Lerminiaux questioned. “Or, is it okay to have 30 students in classroom, or do we need to have 15, or is it dependent on just space?”
“What we do know for the fall is that learning will continue, we just don’t know what exactly it will look like.”
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