A significant aspect of building community in a school to ensure students are feeling cared for and thereby learning and having success is the involvement of staff – relational teaching and learning. When students feel valued and connected to staff, students are more motivated to learn, more engaged in class and more successful academically.

Teachers discussed, shared and set department goals stemming from the following questions:

• What are the biggest challenges for student learning in our school?
• How are these issues addressed in classroom practice?
• What are department goals?
• How can community building be reinforced in classrooms?

Department conversations were meaningful and thoughtful. For example:

ELL - Last year, we focused on creating safe spaces and engaging our learners to create community, especially for students who are without the support of family in Canada. This year, we would like to focus on supporting our learners in the content area classrooms by helping subject teachers create visual and sometimes translated guides that cover core course aspects and essential knowledge such as safety or key terminology.

We created “Jet’s Café” and we kept it stocked with student favorites like instant soup, boba tea and hot chocolate. ELL students and others have found this space to be safe, welcoming and inclusive so they gather before school, after school and at breaks.

Science – Challenges for Student Learning: Finding balance, focusing on getting 100% instead of true learning, facing lots of external pressure, struggling with time management, handling challenges. Department Goals: providing a safe and positive learning experience to encourage students to develop good independent work habits and time management skills both at school and at home.

Fine Arts and Performing Arts: Challenges for Student Learning: Cell phones continue to be a difficult habit for students to break. Department Goals: encouraging students to work together, exploring different possibilities for showcasing student work, promoting the value of a balanced school experience.

Business - Challenges for Student Learning: Sleep deprivation and mental health. Phone and technology distractions. Department Goals: Provide opportunities for experiential learning - make connections to the world. Inclusive Education - meet students where they are at every day. Core Competencies/Assessment of Learning - transparent assessment. Embed First Peoples' Principles of Learning in the classroom.

What is shared shared amongst teachers is creating learning spaces that are flexible, supportive and fun and seeking opportunities to bring in different ways of knowing. What is valued by teachers is the building of relationships and collaborating with students to create programs in the school that foster a stronger community.

The value of both a relational and an instructional environment creates a classroom that is conducive to learning and builds a school that is a strong educational community