Acknowledging the importance of social-emotional development to student achievement and well-being, the Ottawa District School Board “Framework for Student Well-Being” includes social-emotional well-being as one of the three dimensions of Student Well-being. The framework states that socio-emotional well-being encompasses: connectedness and belonging of students to their classroom and their school community within a culture of collective social responsibility and positive engagement with peers and educators.
Characteristics:
1) Connectedness and belonging;
2) Self and social awareness and relationship skills;
3) General life resilience; and
4) Self-management and responsible decision-making.
Council Initiatives:
In 2013-14, Woodroffe Avenue Public School launched the WITS/DIRE anti-bullying program. Council supported this initiative with parents painting in the school, organizing an information night for parents, and working with the Carlingwood library to have WITS/DIRE books available for parents. WITS/DIRE will be launched in neighbouring D. Roy Kennedy School in 2014-15. Council will be looking to partner with D Roy Kennedy to provide more information and support for families, and help make this a community initiative.
School Council was successful in receiving a Parent Reaching Out (PRO) Grant to fund an emotional intelligence initiative. Three workshops were organized with over 100 adults and more that 30 children attending. Dr. Caroline Sullivan led these workshops discussing the import role parents play as emotional coaches, and discussing strategies for worry taming. The most frequent comment coming from parents that attended was that they wanted MORE. As a result, Council has applied for the Parent Reaching Out Grant again, and hopes to host more workshops during 2014-15 school year. Take a look at the worry taming budget for more information on how the PRO grant money was spent.
Woodroffe Ave. P.S. Council 