Dear Banff Trail School Families,

Each year, schools across Alberta are required to post three pieces of information that reports on each particular school, by November 30^th.  These three reports are: this year’s School Development Plan (SDP), which examines our school’s plan for improving teaching and learning for the coming year and accompanying rationale; the School Improvement Results Report, which reflects on the school’s achievement in relation to (among other things) last year’s School Development Plan, and; the Report to Parents on Fees, which details fees that were paid by families to the school last year.  At an upcoming School Council meeting, I will review this information, answer questions, and solicit feedback, as I do every year, but if interested, these documents can be found here.  Many hours are spent examining student data points and considering teacher feedback about professional development opportunities that they feel could best serve our students, all in the creation of our SDP.  Though the SDP ends up being summarized into about a single page, much thought is always put into this plan.  Banff Trail School’s overarching school goal for a planned 3-year cycle of learning will be that Students’ French language proficiency will improve as a result of equitable assessment practices.  As we break down this large idea, for this first of three years, our outcome will be that Student writing in French will improve by examining the learning intentions and success criteria for their tasks.  In essence, when students are aware of what they need to learn, as well as what success looks like, they are more likely to succeed.  To do this, teachers will be looking carefully at curricular content and using sound professional judgement to plan responsive writing tasks that clearly delineate the reason this work is important, and what students need to do to show mastery of this work.  This could happen by sharing exemplars, or carefully reviewing checklists that delineate task requirements.  It will also require adapting the language of the curriculum to one that is more accessible to students (which can also be assisted with the use of Artificial Intelligence, as I discussed in my last Principal’s message), which in turn can allow students to make connections between the learning they do at school and the world around them…and work towards the broader goal of developing our students and children into happy, healthy, productive citizens.    

I look forward to discussing Banff Trail students’ many successes from last year at our council meeting in the new year, while also exploring what we can do to continue to improve both teaching and learning in our amazing school.

For your consideration:

Illness: Over the past couple weeks, as is typical this time of year, we have noticed illness rates ticking up.  Thank you to everyone for keeping children home when they are sick, which helps to reduce the spread of illness to other students and staff.  We are also very appreciative of our families who come quickly to school when their child is sick; I know how disruptive this can be to daily schedules and work life.

CBE Land Acknowledgement: About one month ago, the CBE released a refreshed Land Acknowledgement, which is used at the beginning of large and/or significant gatherings.  Feel free to visit this landing page, where it can be found, along with guides for proper pronunciation of greetings, Nations, and places. Our CBE Languages team is working on a French version of Acknowledging the Land for use in Immersion schools.

Morning drop-off: In the Hug & Go section in front of our school, I have appreciated how most families are pulling up further down the line, to allow other cars to also stop behind them.  Thank you for this; it really helps with congestion in the morning!  As always, a thank you in advance for obeying all traffic laws during drop-off and pickup, for the safety of all students, families and staff.

Lost & Found, Last Call: A reminder that any remaining items in the Lost & Found will be donated to the Women in Need Society (WINS) next week, on Thursday, December 12^th, 2024.

Theme Day:  Our final theme day of 2024 will be on the final day of school—Friday, December 20^th.  The theme will be Pyjama Day; we encourage all to come dressed in their most cozy pyjamas that day, ready for a warm send-off for Winter Break.

Upcoming Dates:

December 12: All Lost & Found Items donated to WINS

December 20: Last day of classes

December 21-January 5: Winter Break

January 6: School Resumes

January 7-21: Alien Inline Residency, all grades

January 15: School Council Meeting, 6:30pm

Have a wonderful weekend,

Ryan Turner

Principal, Banff Trail School