TRANSITION TO KINDERGARTEN

Leeds-Grenville Best Start Network

Transition to

Kindergarten

Regional Network

The Learning Partnersh

ip

Welcome to Kindergarten

Special Needs

Reference Group

West Leeds Pilot

What the Research Says

Promoting truly meaningful inclusion of all children entering the school system through strong parent engagement practices. West Leeds Pilot Project / Little Steps Big Strides

Family Engagement

Harvard Family Research Project (HFRP)

A clear and commonly shared framework and definition of family engagement can – and will-inspire policy investments in family engagement.

Definition of family engagement – “one that focuses on the multiple contexts in which children grow and learn from birth through adulthood”.

HFRP identifies three core principles of family engagement

http://www.hfrp.org

1. Family engagement is a shared responsibility in which schools and other community agencies and organizations are committed to reaching out to engage families in meaningful ways and in which families are committed to actively supporting their children’s learning and development.

2. Family engagement is also continuous across a child’s life and entails steadfast commitment but changing parent roles as children mature into young adulthood.

3. Family engagement is about promoting children’s learning anywhere, anytime. Effective family engagement cuts across the multiple settings where children learn—at home, in prekindergarten programs, at school, in afterschool programs, at faith-based institutions, and in the community.

All families want their children to succeed. HFRP’s expanded definition emphasizes shared responsibility, and thus, our policy work focuses on creating institutional capacity to provide all families with opportunities to enrich their children’s learning and nurture the character traits that are essential for educational and lifelong success. 

Regional FDK Network

To support implementation of FDK across region:Members:Min EDUCMSMs4 School BoardsBest Start Networks

THE WEST LEEDS TRANSITION TO KINDERGARTEN PROJECT

We are…a creative and energetic group of community partners committed to helping all children and families experience a welcoming and smooth transition into the school system.

  

Mission

  To promote truly meaningful inclusion of all children entering

the school system through strong parent engagement practices.

 __________________________________________________  We represent:  The Catholic District School Board of Eastern Ontario The Child Development Centre (Children’s Treatment Centre) Data Analysis Coordinator (United Counties Leeds-Grenville) Developmental Services of Leeds and Grenville Language Express (Preschool Speech and Language) Lanark Leeds Grenville Health Unit Ontario Early Years Centre Upper Canada District School Board

History and background

Grew out of the work of the Leeds Grenville Lanark Special Needs Reference Group (SNRG), which was formed in February of 2010

Focus - a shared commitment to truly meaningful inclusion of children with special needs in the school system

Some members of the SNRG wanted to move forward with a more universal transition to school project – one that incorporated best practices around parent engagement, had a strong emphasis on inclusion of children with special needs, and benefited all children entering kindergarten – “necessary for some, good for all”. In January of 2011 our group met, articulated our mission and mapped out a work plan 

Working Group 1: Pathway to Kindergarten

  Coming together of school boards

(UCDSB, CDSBEO) and community agencies to streamline early communication to parents. The long-term aim of this group is to create coordinated and consistent messages from school boards and community partners around the importance of registering children for school, and the importance of family involvement in the child’s education.

Working Group 2: Enhanced Kindergarten Registration

Schools and community agencies working together on the Kindergarten registration process, with a focus on services available to families.

Working Group 3: Little Steps Big Strides Summer Session

Planning a one week summer program for children transitioning into kindergarten, and their families. In developing this component we built on the extensive work of our Lanark partners.

Working Group 4: Evaluation

Developing a measure for determining success of our work; include parent and staff questionnaires; reflecting on data and planning for next steps.

Learning Partnership of Canada Welcome to Kindergarten Award for Partnership Excellence

2012

Long term goal

to adapt what we learned from this project to support family engagement and transition best practices in all school across the catchment areas of the two school boards

  Working with our school boards and community

partners across the larger board catchment areas (four Best Start networks), came together as Early Learning Partners (formerly Transition to Kindergarten) Working Group

  Officially “wrapped” the pilot in the fall of 2014 to

focus on supporting this broader initiative  

Where to now?

Archive the learning

Strengthen the Welcome to Kindergarten connection

Continue the work through this network and the Early learning Partners

Our Local WTK Plan

Goal: one BSN representative assigned to each school in Leeds-Grenville to support WTK activities and provide information on community resources/support

Resources for WTK

Learning to Play, Playing to Learn (provided by UCDSB)

Nippissing Screening information Community Resource Guide

(regionally based) Triple P Information “Bubbles” for kids

Planning for 2015

What would we do again (Continue)

What changes would you recommend?

Timelines: