A new school calendar to be implemented this year will see Wolf Creek teachers granted professional development days almost every second Friday.
Rimbey Junior/Senior High School principal Tim Lekas said these days will allow staff to create strategies to address student deficits in the areas of literacy and numeracy.
“Our students generally perform very well, but we are always looking for ways to help our students improve, and literacy and numeracy skills are a key area in addressed in the Inspiring Education (format), he said.
To identify those students in need of additional instruction, all students in Wolf Creek school division from grades one to 12 will be tested to determine their level of literacy and numeracy four times per year using a software program called Star Testing.
“The tests are fairly short and will guide interventions for each child who scores below grade level. This strategy, in combination with the tutorials we already offer twice per week are designed to help us in meeting the needs of our students.”
Bramfield said all elementary school staff will attend the tech symposium on Sept. 26 and the majority of staff will attend the two-day Daily 5/CAE training in Red Deer in February.
The school also continues to focus on healthy living and a group of student leaders will attend the Health in Action School Symposium in Oct. in Red Deer.
The aligned school calendar which sees a regular school day running about six minutes longer than the previous calendar will pave the way for a changed curriculum to be implemented by 2016.
“There is so much change about to happen in Alberta in education. There will be a lot more project learning and the teachers all need to work together to plan and prepare for these coming changes.”