Imagine: An adult is hit by a soccer ball on a playground, and unfortunately suffers a concussion. What would you do, if you administered a school? An administrator in a public school in Toronto faced this issue recently, and so banned the use of inflated balls in the schoolyard. In some schools, games of tag and other chase and elimination games have been banned, following particular complaints of injury or the bruising of self-esteem. Click here to read more

In this Morning’s Vancouver Sun, there was an Op-Ed by Geoff Johnson, a retired public school Superintendent, entitled, “Make report cards relics of the past”. Mr. Johnson suggests that “All the fuss about report cards and the importance of letter grades supported by vague generic comments is a fuss about the wrong thing. As public education moves toward 21st-century individualized learning, the systems of reporting progress will need to move with it and the traditional report card will become a quaint relic of the previous century.” Click here to read more.

Labels are helpful. They assist when deciding who has the information we need. They tell us sizes on clothing. They can tell you whether your food is organic or locally grown. We love labels! They carry embedded messages. But do they really do the subject justice? Is a piece of art just paint on a canvas? There is so much more to us than the label we give to each other. This is the way with the Board. We always refer to the Board as a whole. The Board sets strategic policy. The Board meets monthly. The Board has sub-committees who meet regularly. The Board holds an AGM and approves the audited financial statements.

The headlines in the Sun yesterday were about teachers in Vancouver who had planned a professional development day which included Ping-Pong, hay rides, playing guitar, and on and on. In this context, parents may feel a bit puzzled as to the realities of teacher education and development. The B.C. Public School Employers’ Association have addressed such situations in a document that states desirable practices, which includes: Click to Read More.