Thoughtexchange week 5

This is the fifth and final question from our Vision process work. Thank you to the many parents/caregivers, students and staff who have participated. If you have not yet visited the Thoughtexchange – it’s not too late.

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 three 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 on the following question: When fully implemented what does pro-active and solution seeking communication look like, feel like, sound like among students, parents/caregivers and staff?

 We are also excited to offer an exchange for all of our students on the following question: When fully implemented what does effective communication, especially listening to and being listened to, look like, sound like and feel like?

 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 share the link at the bottom of this message with them so that we can hear directly from students as well as from parents/guardians and caregivers. 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.

Students will be provided opportunity in class to respond to this question. If your children are too young to manage Thoughtexchange on their own, and you consent to their participation, please help them do so using the version of this letter you received through school messenger which contains the student Thoughtexchange link. If you have questions, please contact our Research & Analytics Department at [email protected].

Parents/caregivers, please use this link to participate: https://my.thoughtexchange.com/536500339

Thank you for your interest and continued support.