School Council Partnerships

It was always a goal of mine while working on school councils for more than 15 years to find a way to bring together schools and offer parents of these schools, both small and large, great resources to support their children’s learning.

In the 2013-14 school year, I coordinated a PRO partnership of seven schools to partner on a PRO grant application. We held two very successful events which attracted over 500 people each. These focused on providing interactive activities to families in the areas of Math and Literacy. Parents learned fun and simple ways to work with their children at home to increase their awareness and skills in these areas.

In the 2014-15 school year, we expanded our group to a total of 15 schools and received a combined grant of $15,000. ($1,000. For each school). This allowed us to offer exciting opportunities to even more families by including the extra schools. We were pleased that the Hon. Liz Sandals, Minister of Education, was able to speak at our math event and address the important issue of parents engaging with their children in their learning. Our literacy event featured the Young People’s Theatre Company who taught families how to learn through developing inquiry based strategies.

Not only did the school communities benefit from the quality events and resources we were able to offer as a large group, the planning committee members became like a family, working together for a common goal.

Not only did the school communities benefit from the quality events and resources we were able to over as a large group, the planning committee members became like a family, working together for a common goal.

Meetings were a great opportunity to share experiences and support each other in all areas of council operations. We were very fortunate to have a wonderful group of Principals who contributed and participated in all the events as well.

As most councils will attest, attracting parents to attend events at school can be a challenge and it is often very discouraging when a council uses their $1,000 grant and only 20-40 people attend their event. It is also common that even though a school council may receive a PRO grant, they cannot complete their project because the work is overwhelming for their council volunteers. Working with a large group means that the volunteer participation for any one partner is limited thereby increasing the chance that the event will be a success in terms of participation.

Thee PRO partnership was a very fulfilling and fun project to be involved in and I encourage others to try this when planning their 2016-17 PRO grant application.

BENEFITS OF PARTNERING ON A PRO GRANT APPLICATION

Ability to offer enhanced project/events to parent communities of all schools.
The involvement of more school council members allows for the development of a greater number of ideas.
School councils working together can network on other areas in addition to the grant application.
Implementation of the project is made easier because of increased number of volunteers from all schools involved.

SIMPLIFIED SUGGESTED PROCESS TO DEVELOP A PRO PARTNERSHIP

The Chair or Council member presents the idea of forming a partnership to the Council for approval.
Identify possible schools to approach to partner.
Prepare a communication (approved by the Principal) to send to all possible partner schools.
Request that all schools that wish to partner provide 1 or 2 volunteers to participate on the “PRO Planning Committee”.
Plan a meeting of the planning committee to discuss and decide on the type of project that the partnership will conduct.
Appoint a small application writing group to draft the application.
Provide every school council chair with a copy of the draft application for approval by their council.
Each school council must submit an application for their $1,000 grant and identify each of the partners in their form. is is very simple as the application that was approved by the councils can simply be copied and pasted into the appropriate sections of
the online application.
Schools should alert each other when grants are approved, declined or amended by the Ministry.
If the project is approved, a meeting of the planning committee should be held as soon as possible and processes established to handle the various aspects of the project.
How will matters be decided? (i.e. Majority required for approvals)
Who will coordinate and co-coordinator the project (similar to Chair and Co- Chair)? is person would be responsible for meeting dates, agendas and keeping track of task lists etc.
Who will track the expenses and report at each meeting?
Vote on the “theme” of the event or resource.
Vote on the timing of the event or resource.
Develop a task list and request volunteers to take on specific responsibilities.
Establish timeframes for task completion.
Conduct the planned events/resources.
Prepare a report back to the Ministry and provide to each school council to copy and paste in their report back as well.

*Remember if you partner on a grant the same terms and conditions apply as if the council applied for a stand alone grant (i.e. 15% limit on refreshments etc.).

SCHOOL COUNCIL ACROSS ONTARIO WERE AWARDED PRO GRANTS IN 2016-17 WHICH INCLUDED PROJECTS LIKE:

SNUGGLE UP AND READ
Family literacy night for parents to encourage reading with their children and support their literacy skills

PARENT COMMUNICATION
Provide support to encourage parent participation in school events and activities to support their children’s learning and success

HEALTH AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION
A health and wellness fair to strengthen home-school community partnerships to promote nutrition and wellness, active lifestyles, and social and emotional well-being

SUPPORTING TEENS IN MAKING HEALTHY CHOICES
Mental health awareness information night and resources to help parents support student achievement and well-being

TECH-SAVVY PARENTS
Parent information sessions on classroom technology and social media and how it can be used safely to support student achievement

SUPPORT FOR OUR NEW CANADIAN FAMILIES
An event to welcome new families to the school and to highlight the many ways that parents can engage in their children’s learning at home and at school

SOCIAL MEDIA LITERACY FOR PARENTS
A parent information evening to highlight the benefits of social networking technology and ways to help keep students safe online

CURRICULUM INFORMATION
Presentations to improve parents’ understanding of the curriculum and how parents can support learning at home and at school

JUMP UP INTO MATH
A family math night with hands-on activities, including strategies for parents to support their children’s numeracy learning at home

MONEY MANAGEMENT AND BUDGETING
Workshop for parents to support their children’s financial literacy skills

A GLOBAL FAMILY
Workshops to engage parents and promote an equitable and inclusive school climate

BULLYING PREVENTION STRATEGY
A presentation for parents on the impacts of bullying and workshops on bullying awareness and how to promote a safe school environment

THE NEXT STEP
Information sessions to connect parents and students with course plans that support students through high school and prepare them for the transition from school after graduation

POSITIVE HEALTH NIGHT
A series of workshops for parents to promote healthy lifestyle choices for active living and healthy, nutritional eating to support student achievement and well-being

CULTURAL EDUCATION NIGHT
Workshops to welcome parents to the school community and provide information and resources, including translated school information, to enhance parent engagement in their children’s learning

INDIGENOUS PARENT INVOLVEMENT
An Indigenous awareness event to encourage parent engagement and student success at school and home by supporting a positive and welcoming school climate

STEM (SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATH) LEARNING
A series of interactive and hands-on workshops and activities for families to experience science together and for parents to support their children’s learning at home

THE IMPORTANCE OF PHYSICAL LITERACY AND FUNDAMENTAL MOVEMENT SKILLS
A presentation for parents to promote the importance of physical fitness and healthy lifestyle choices to support the achievement and well-being of their children

PEIE wishes every school council and PIC in Ontario the best of luck in planning and applying for a Parent Reaching Out Grant this year!!

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