Thought Exchange Question # 3

Dear Families,

Thank you for sharing your thoughts on our last Thoughtexchange. We are using Thoughtexchange this school year to help us develop a vision for Balaclava Elementary School. We are asking a series of questions about how we can improve our school environment. Your feedback will help us guide our decisions as we move forward. Your participation and your child(ren)’s participation is completely voluntary. Even if you did not choose to participate in the past two Thoughtexchanges, we hope you will participate in this week’s Thoughtexchange and future Thoughtexchanges.

Student and Parent/Guardian/Caregiver Thoughtexchange

This week, Balaclava Elementary School is excited to offer an exchange for all of our parents/caregivers and students on the following question: When fully implemented what does understanding and being accepting of diversity look like, feel like, and sound like inside and outside the classroom?

 There will be a student from the Faculty of Education at Wilfrid Laurier University who will assist in collating the thoughts. Families, if you consent to your child participating, please use the link sent through School Messenger so we can hear directly from our students as well as parents/caregivers and staff. Please note we will continue to offer students the option of participating in class time as well. Should you not want your child to participate, please be sure to notify your child’s educator. Here are some things to consider:

What are the risks?

Your child will see comments written by other students. The Thoughtexchange is moderated so that statements identifying people or inappropriate statements are removed. But we cannot guarantee that this will always happen before a statement is seen. Your child may see comments from others who are upset or struggling. Your child may find this upsetting.

What are the benefits?

Your child will be part of a conversation with other students where they can collectively share their experiences. They may experience some joy or connectedness by reading what other students are thinking. If you consent to their participation, please share the link below with them.

We remind everyone to:

• Be respectful and kind;
• Do not share anything that you don’t want other people to read. Once you submit a thought it can be seen by anyone in the exchange;
• Do not include any names of people or schools, or inappropriate words.

If your children are too young to manage Thoughtexchange on their own, and you consent to their participation, please help them do so. If you have questions, please contact our Research & Analytics Department at [email protected].

Parents, please use this link to participate: https://my.thoughtexchange.com/942051243

Thank you for your interest and continued support.