Chinook Student Services help to address growing need for support
The number of students with intensive needs in the Chinook School Division has increased by 35 per cent since last year.
Superintendent of Learning Bob Vavra provided details about additional supports for students during a presentation at a regular meeting of the Chinook Board of Education, Dec. 12.
He spoke about the specialized services provided by Chinook Student Services. There are currently 168 students with intensive needs, which is 44 more than last year. They receive specialized supports through an individualized inclusion and intervention plan (IIP)
“Definitely over the past few years and definitely since COVID we're seeing more students with intensive needs,” he said. “It could be speech and language needs, it could be students with learning disabilities and we're seeing the prevalence rates for autism really start to rise. So we're concerned and we're monitoring that, and we want to make sure we have supports in place that meet the needs of all these students.”
Currently 48 students with autism have an IIP, which is an increase of 17 per cent since last year. Student Services activities also include the creation of plans for the medical, safety, behaviour, academic, speech and language, occupational therapy, and other specific needs of students.
Behaviour supports are provided to over 40 students. In addition, Student Services staff provide support for early literacy and early math interventions for tier 3 students, who need their own individualized programs.
Student Services coordinators will review all plans and ensure they are implemented in schools. The intention is to identify the need for additional supports as soon as possible.
“It's really important that we put in early interventions to support kids to maximize their learning and give them the tools that they need for success throughout their educational career,” he said.
Chinook is a full support school division, which means it provides supports in all areas. Student Services staff will therefore include coordinators, psychologists, speech and language practitioners, an occupational therapist, and counsellors.
“Finding professional staff is sometimes a challenge, but we were getting pretty good at finding those people and putting feelers out, and we're also contracting as well,” he said. “So if we can't get a position filled, we'll contract with agencies to fill that and for the most part we're able to put supports in place that meet the needs of our kids.”
Student Services staff will provide assistance in numerous areas to support the specific needs of students, for example Braille and low vision support. Cluster support teams have been created in the areas of anxiety, autism and behaviour to support schools in an effective way. There are teacher assistance teams to involve coordinators and specialists in planning activities to support teachers.
“They would discuss the needs of individual students and make sure that they're tapping into all the expertise that they possibly can to put a learning program in place that meet the needs of individual students,” he said.
Violence Threat Risk Assessment (VTRA) training is provided to all counsellors and school administrators. The Chinook School Division's coordinator of VTRA training has become an expert on this violence prevention model within the province.
“It's a system to help identify students at risk for risky behaviours and when there's a threat made, to respond to it in an appropriate manner,” Vavra explained. “It has worked really well and we've implemented that across the division for about 10 to 12 years. We have a really good partnership with other agencies. We work together to support everybody through that – the school, the families, the students, and make sure we're doing the best for everybody.”
The school division will usually initiate 10 to 12 VTRA's during a school year in response to student behaviour, but they have already done 11 this year due to risky behaviour.
Non-violent crisis intervention training is provided annually within Chinook School Division to teachers and educational assistants. It offers practical information and skills to identify and respond to a potentially violent situation. They learn de-escalation techniques and methods to restrain a student without hurting themselves or the student.
Student Services will carry out activities to support the implementation of the school division's mental health and wellbeing plan. A Student Services counsellor has been delivering mental health first aid training since last year and one staff member is trained in every school.
A Student Services team initiated a successful family connection project in the late summer of 2022. They connected with the families of students who had high absence rates in the previous school year. As a result, the absence rates of these students were much lower in September and October, but ongoing support and contact with families will be required to keep these rates low.
Student Services will face ongoing challenges to provide support services, because they have half the staff than seven years ago due to budget restraints. It requires constant changes and adjustments to the way they offer support to address the needs of students.
“We have to look at new and innovative ways to deliver services,” Vavra said. “It might be through technology or through video conferencing. It might not be the most preferential way to deliver, but it works, and we had to do that. We had to really look at our meeting structure and things like that and how we support kids and cut costs as much as we can, because we want to support kids as much as we can. We cut in areas where it has less impact so we can have more impact in working with kids and supporting them.”