Sudbury Catholic District School Board

Proposed 2019-2020 School Year Calendar

We want to hear from you! You are invited to review the proposed school year calendar options for the 2019-2020 school year and indicate your preferences for the PA days. You can access the survey up until January 21, 2019 at the following link.

We look forward to hearing from you!

St. Albert PSW students receive special visit!

On November 22, 2018, St. Albert’s Personal Support Worker Program enjoyed a visit from Andrew Olivier to reinforce the importance of PSWs. Without PSWs, many people would not be able to perform basic activities of daily living that so many of us take for granted. Andrew offered a first-hand perspective as to what it’s like working with a PSW on a daily basis and the valuable role they play. Personal Support Workers are often the unsung heroes of the health care field, providing clients with assistance in their day-to-day life with respect, dignity, and compassion.

This visit was a great way to cap off the theoretical portion of the program. Students have now headed out to placements in our community to build on what they learned in class and put their knowledge into practice. St. Albert’s is extremely fortunate to have supportive partners in education: St. Joseph’s Villa, St. Gabriel’s Villa, and Pioneer Manor continue to be integral and valued community allies in the drive to provide our city with quality PSWs.

St. Albert’s offers the PSW program twice per school year starting in September and January. There are still a few spots available for January 2019: feel free to come to an intake session December 10, 2018 at 2:30pm to learn more about our program and how to become a PSW.

St. Albert Adult Learning Centre hosts Provincial conference

CESBA, the Ontario Association of Adult and Continuing Education School Board Administrators, held its annual PSW program meeting on May 23 at St. Albert Adult Learning Centre in Sudbury. Representatives from 12 of the 22 cities gathered at St. Albert along with several skype participants. The purpose of the day was to share best practices, look at common challenges, and explore job opportunities for graduates of the program. Recognizing that there is a shortage of PSWs provincially, the group gathered to talk about the advantages of students taking the PSW program through the continuing education schools.

St. Albert next PSW course begins September, 2018 and the school is holding another information session in June.

Youth Mental Health Walk-in offered for secondary students

The Sudbury Catholic District School Board in partnership with the Child and Family Centre is offering a unique service to all our secondary students. We will have a Youth Walk-In Service available on Tuesdays from 10:30am to 6:00pm (last one hour session at 5pm). Starting tomorrow!

Where do you go to see a clinician? Go to the Guidance Area at St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School. This service is open to all secondary students, not just those from St. Benedict.

For more information please call 705-525-1008.

Remember: You don’t have to face your problems alone.

Need to Talk?

SCDSB Bringing Literacy to the Community

Christine McCracken, a teacher with the Sudbury Catholic District School Board does not teach out of your typical classroom. With the board since October, 2015, McCracken works with adult learners in two different locations. One of her locations is on the Atkikameksheng Anishnawbek First Nation Reserve. The second is at the Sudbury jail. It is this second location that inspired a call-out to her fellow SCDSB staff. After meeting with the learners in jail, she realized that many were desperate for something to read. McCracken brought the newspaper in with her during her visits and they couldn’t get enough. After some inquiry, she realized that there weren’t very many books available to the inmates. Inspired by the enthusiasm of these learners, McCracken discussed some strategies with her principal at St. Albert, Aaron Barry. The two decided to do a call-out to all SCDSB staff to see if anyone wanted to donate any new or gently used books to the Sudbury jail. After only a two-week collection period, the staff had donated close to 500 books. “We currently have at least 50 inmates taking part in this programming at the Sudbury jail,” explain McCracken. “We even already have a few really close to getting their high school diplomas. Reaching out to them in this environment has inspired them to want to continue their education after as well, which is wonderful. These books will really help in their learning!”
The St. Albert principal explained that through the St. Albert Learning Centre, some of these individuals were able to gets some credits through PLAR which is the Prior Learning Assessment Recognition program. This assigns credits to individuals towards the secondary school diploma (OSSD) for knowledge and skills that they have acquired outside of secondary school. “McCracken has been a real inspiration with these particular learners as she really motivates learning and encourages them to continue working towards their OSSD,” Barry stated. “Through the support of the SCDSB, we are able to bring continuing education to a group that may otherwise not consider continuing on with their education. It is a great program, and we are thankful to all of our coworkers and SCDSB staff for their generous book donations –they will make a positive difference!”

For more information about continuing education, PLAR, or getting your OSSD, contact St. Albert Learning Centre at (705) 673-3031.

Summer Camp with a Spin

This year, the Sudbury Catholic District School Board is running a three week summer camp for students in grades 1-5 until July 24th. As well as offering programming for literacy and numeracy, there is also an Aboriginal Art and Literacy camp, which is designed to include literacy games and activities with culturally relevant curriculum including the Seven Grandfather teachers, Métis history, culture and the Pow Wow experience. All three programs are infused with technology and are geared to meet the students’ individual needs. What gives this summer camp its unique spin is that the board was able to hire some of its own students as youth counsellors. These counsellors are given the opportunity to learn as well, while getting on the job experience working with the younger students. Some of these students are currently enroled in the SCDSB Peace program. The PEACE program, which stands for Personalized, Experiential, Alternative, Catholic Education, is an alternative program for secondary students who are disengaged, on a long term suspension or expulsion, or are behind in credit accumulation. The students learn techniques to overcome obstacles all while earning credits towards their secondary school diploma and are supported with their social and emotional needs, and learn how to give back to the community through community partnerships. “We are so fortunate that the Ministry of Education was able to fund this program allowing for our students to gain on the job experience,” Christina Raso, Special Education consultant for the SCDSB stated. “These elementary students enroled in our programming are having so much fun with all of their hands-on learning, and our students who have been hired as counsellors are really gaining great work experience that they will be able to take with them to their next job opportunity.”
The camp currently has 95 students enroled with 6 teachers, 6 student tutors, 8 youth counsellors. The students also get 45 minutes of physical activity a day with 6 taekwondo instructors teaching the students.

June 2015 OAPCE Newsletter

As part of our ongoing commitment to supporting our Sudbury Catholic parents, the SCDSB would like to provide a link to the latest newsletter from The Ontario Association of Parents in Catholic Education (OAPCE).

This month’s newsletter comes in three parts:

June 2015 Part 1
June 2015 Part 2
June 2015 Part 3

Indigenous Celebration Held

The Diocesan Centre is planning an inclusive day of celebration based on indigenous culture, and would love a big turn out at this event. All students, staff, families and friends are welcome and encouraged to attend! It looks to be a great day planned!

INDIGENOUS CELEBRATION
Saturday, May 23, 2015
Fielding Park

5:30 am. Sunrise Ceremony ~

8:00 am. Pancake Breakfast ~

9:00 am. Teaching Carousel – Stations will be set up to be rotated through – 6 stations with 20 minute presentations at each~

a) Children drumming station~

b) Craft – decade of the rosary with four/six colour beads + leather OR~leather bookmark

c) 7 Grandfather teachings

d) Legends – Elders telling the stories~

e) Medicines and Wheel

f) Sacred Elements (fire keeper, tobacco, stones, feather, pipe, drums, smudge, animals) ~

11:00 am. Healing Circle – prayers, scripture (trilingual), blessing~

1:30 pm. Feast – “pot luck”

3:00 pm Travelling Song/Blessing~

For more information and access to resources, please consult:

http://arise-ssm.weebly.com

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