SCHOOL AND COMMUNITYCOMMUNITY...keeping with the Google Apps project, PDHS began the introduction process of Chromebooks; both standard and touch screen. One could say PDHS has gone

Inside this issue:

School and Community Con-text –Who we are

1

School Advisory Council 1

Safe and School Environment 1

Assessment Results 2

Student Engagement 3

Professional Development 3

Planning for Improvement 4

Additional School Supports 3

Pugwash District High School opened in the Fall of 1958. It has always been a junior-senior high school housing students from grades 7-12. The first graduating class was in 1959. Prior to this, students had to finish their grade 12 in a larger community such as Ox-ford or Amherst . Additions were made to the original school with the addition of an annex that was completed in the mid 1960’s. In 1991, on the night of September 14, a disastrous fire destroyed much of the original structure. However, enough of the school was saved to carry on with the educational process. Within a fairly short period of time, a new gym-nasium, cafeteria, laboratories, and classrooms had been constructed (1993). One of the unique features of PDHS today is the Jean Wallace Art Gallery,

which opened in 1996. It contains many high quality works by well-known artists as well as our students. The school has also been the scene of some very important international events. It was the site of the interna-tionally renowned Thinkers’ Confer-ence. In 1997, at a special ceremony, Dr. Joseph Rotblat was honoured when the part of the new section known as “The Hall” was named the “Dr. Joseph Rotblat Hall”. Although the student numbers have declined in recent years, PDHS has always produced quality graduates, many of whom have gone on to distin-guished careers.

SCHOOL ADVISORY COUNCIL

The SAC has been engaged in a number of activities during the academic year. As well, the SAC Chair, Peter Lewis, has met with School Principal, Mr. Brunt, a number of times to discuss how the SAC could provide support to staff and students. The SAC has provided advice to Principal Brunt, at his request, from time to time. The SAC believes in healthy living among youth and support-ed the purchase of additional new Spin Bikes in co-operation with the Pugwash and Area Community Health Board. For several years the SAC has lobbied for a secure and accessible main entrance to the school that would come through the main office. Success was achieved when funding was announced for this project last year. The SAC is pleased to note that

construction of the secure access to the school is nearing completion. In co-operation with the local CCRSB board member, Adam Davies, the SAC has been exploring the Hub model concept. Suggestions for consideration included a work-out center which would promote a healthy living lifestyle and would be open to area residents and groups. Initial contact was made with the Village Com-mission and the YMCA. Another sug-gestion is that a “drive-thru” be con-structed for coffee and other refresh-ments be added to the building in the area of the cafeteria. Funding to bring these suggestions to fruition is a chal-lenge.

Chignecto Centra l Reg iona l School Board

CONTINUOUS SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT ~ ANNUAL REPORT 2014-2015 ~

We Believe Student Involvement Ensures a Safe and Orderly Environment

PDHS prides itself on high aca-demic standings and ensuring all students are provided with the sup-ports required to be academically successful. Our school also has very long history of extracurricular success. Many championships in sports have been won at district, regional, and provincial competi-tions. A variety of clubs, groups, and committees also keep our stu-dents interested in their school and community.

SCHOOL AND SCHOOL AND SCHOOL AND SCHOOL AND COMMUNITYCOMMUNITYCOMMUNITYCOMMUNITY

PROVINCIAL, BOARD, AND PDHS ASSESSMENT RESULTS

Page 2

CONTINUOUS SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT

ASSESSMENT PRACTICES

CCRSB is following the lead of the Depart-ment of Education and Early Childhood De-velopment in the use of Achievement Levels throughout the terms and final grades are reported as a percent. Achievement Levels is a more precise method to inform students of their strengths and challenges within the course. For example, if a student receives a mark of a 1, the lowest level, for a particular outcome, they have demonstrated a limited knowledge and understanding and are to re-view the content and concepts again. If a student receives a mark of 4, the highest Lev-el, they have demonstrated they have an in-depth knowledge and understanding of the content and concepts of the outcome. Teach-ers have found these recording process very beneficial for students as they have instant feedback and are aware how to achieve great-er success in the course. Final Grades are reported as a percentage using attached de-scriptors, such as:

⇒ 90-100% - Demonstrates excellent under-standing and application of concepts and skills in relation to the learning outcomes.

⇒ 80-89% - Demonstrates very good under-standing and application of concepts and skills in relation to the learning outcomes.

⇒ 70-79% - Demonstrates good understanding and application of concepts and skills in rela-tion to the learning outcomes.

⇒ 60-69% - Demonstrates satisfactory under-standing and application of concepts and skills in relation to the learning outcomes.

⇒ 50-59% - Demonstrates limited understand-ing and application of concepts and skills in relation to the learning outcomes.

⇒ Below 50% - Has not met minimum require-ments of the course

As you may be aware from conversations with your child, teacher, the PowerSchool Public Portal provides a wealth of infor-mation regarding our students progress as well as their demonstrated Skills and Attend-ance. Please refer to our website (www.pdhs.ccrsb.ca) and the CCRSB web-site (www.ccrsb.ca) for assessment updates.

For detailed information regarding the Assessment results as related to PDHS, refer to www.plans.ednet.ns.ca

RWM8 Mathematics Summary Reading, Writing, Math 8 Provincial Assessment - 2013/2014

Number of Students who Met the Requirements of this Assessment:

Province = 57% CCRSB = 54% PDHS = 88%

Math Improvement of 17% from Previous Year! Well Above CCRSB and Province!

Excellent Reading and Writing 8 Results as Well!

Results of the RWM82012 - 2014

68%

70%

72%

74%

76%

78%

80%

82%

2012-2013 2013-2014

Year Reading

2012-2013 73%

2013-2014 80%

CONCLUSION:

• Reading Comprehension:

� Increase of 7%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Reading Writing - Ideas Writing -

Organization

Writing -

Language Use

Writing -

Conventions

Mathematics

Nova Scotia Assessment: Reading, Writing and Mathematics 8

Students meeting or exceeding assessment expectations

Pugwash District High 2012-2014

2012-2013

2013-2014

CCRSB

Achievement

Target

The Pulse of PDHS is a mural that consists of six panels repre-senting the journey of students as they travel from grade 1 through to grade 12. The 10' X 27' mural, situated in the PDHS cafeteria, involved students from both PDHS and CEES. The elementary students had their hands traced onto each of the six panels and the high school students created person-

al logos that symbolically represent their passions, challenges, success-es, and loved ones. Students who favored sports over academic courses had their logos placed on, or hands painted, black. Students preferring the academic side of school are represented by the colour red. The total effect is that of a bar graph. By gauging the amount of red or black bars

on the mural, the viewer can decipher what matters most to our students, sports or aca-demics. We were also very pleased to of-fer more music opportunities for our stu-dents by introducing Music classes at the Grade 8 & 9 levels. Our first annual Grade 9 Quebec trip took place where students enjoyed a variety of cultural experiences as well as some tips and tricks while travel-ing. Our electronic communication with our community is by far the preferred method of providing fast and effective in-formation, averaging 1,000 Facebook hits and reaching over 20,000 hits in one par-ticular instance.

Our school continued to offer a ‘Breakfast Club’, which takes place during both Jr. and Sr. Recess. This is a student run club providing students with such items as yogurt, granola bars, fruit, and milk. PDHS has a strong team of dedicated individuals who ensure a number of supports

for our students, such as:

• Site Based Support Team

• Learning Centre Coordi-

nator

The PDHS Youth Health Cen-tre (YHC) was active again this year. The YHC was cre-ated in partnership with the Cumberland Health Authori-ty. We are very delighted to maintain Michelle Richard as our coordinator. Once again, with the YHC open to students they also had access to a Nurse Practitioner. Our YHC was open to students on Wednesdays. It was a very beneficial and well used ser-

vice.

• Guidance Counsellor

• Educational Assistants

• Librarian Technician

• Sports teams and Intra-

murals

• Clubs and Activities

• and of course, Mrs. Elliott

in the main office! Outside of our school-based supports, communities mem-bers have come in to assist our students with their learn-ing in such areas as Crib and

photography.

STUDENT ENGAGEMENT - HIGHLIGHTS OF THE YEAR

ADDITIONAL SCHOOL SUPPORTS

ducing an HP device using the Microsoft operating sys-tem. The advantage to these devices is students are famil-iar with this style as they appear to look the same as a typical desktop computer. Some basic PD was provided to staff related to our prov-inces’ Google implementa-tion. Google Apps for Edu-cation (GAfE) is the newest development in our educa-tion system and once again PDHS is a pilot school. All

students were provided with provincial www.gnspes.ca accounts which allowed them access to the GAfE world. In keeping with the Google Apps project, PDHS began the introduction process of Chromebooks; both standard and touch screen.

One could say PDHS has gone Googley!

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

During the 2014-2015 aca-demic school year PDHS was in it’s third year of the Continuous School Improve-ment (CSI) process. Staff spent many PD hours work-ing on their Strategies to achieve their Actions and ultimately meet our CSI Goals. Technology contin-ued to be at the forefront of our Professional Develop-ment sessions. We contin-ued to implement more of it into the classrooms by intro-

Two Pugwash District High School

students attend the Canadian Wide Science Fair in Fredericton, New

Brunswick!

“An experience of a Life Time!”

Page 3

PDHS is NOT

AFRAID!

during our

Annual Pink

Day!

During the 2013/2014 school year we selected and confirmed our CSI Goals and Actions and worked hard in an effort to meet our June 2015 time frame. This past year was no different and we were therefore able to successfully meet all three of our Goals.

Team One, Goal 1, focused on the academic status of our Jr. High Math skills. This goal was created based on original data indicating our students required more support with mental math skills. Many Actions and Strategies took place to improve in this area and another site-based assessment indicated solid results. In an effort to reinforce our data, more strategies were implemented during the 14/15 school year leading up to the Jr. High Math Scholar Olympics, which included activities such as Crib, use of Math Apps, and Problem Solving questions. The same site-based assessment was re-administered in June 2015 and the results overwhelmingly indicated Goal 1 was achieved.

Team Two, Goal 2, focuses on our Sr. High students feeling they are involved with school-based decisions. In an at-tempt to improve in this area, we repeated some of the strategies from the previous year such a reminder of the role of our SAC, our electronic media as a method to express concerns (Twitter (#pantherroar)/Facebook), and reminders at monthly assemblies. New this year was the creation of a video by students informing students of methods to provide feedback to Administration and a suggestion box was placed in the Main Office. We were provided with several sug-gestions such as fans and pencil sharpeners for classrooms, picnic tables in the courtyard, and new tables in the cafete-ria to name a few. Students were resurveyed and the data indicated students were feeling like they had a stronger voice. There were some challenges with this goal, however it was determined that Goal 2 was achieved.

Team Three, Goal 3, focused on an academic area that involves our entire student body - Reading Comprehension. After reviewing provincial data and site-based assessments it was determined our students needed more practice in both reading comprehension, increasing vocabulary, and active listening. Language based board games were purchased to help achieve this goal and teachers taught nonfiction reading strategies by using game instructions, one game per grade. Students practiced effective speaking and listening strategies by teaching other students to be experts in that games’ instructions with the goal of being a table leader on Game Day. The team hosted a game afternoon where all junior high students played language based games, learning from table lead-ers. The team developed an evidence-based Instructional Strategy sheet using quick and easy checks during instruction. The team also reinforced the use of electronic media as a method to motivate students to read. The results of the RWM8 indicated Reading Comprehension did improve and therefore Goal 3 was achieved.

CONTINUOUS SCHOOL IMCONTINUOUS SCHOOL IMCONTINUOUS SCHOOL IMCONTINUOUS SCHOOL IMPROVEMENTPROVEMENTPROVEMENTPROVEMENT

PROGRESS REPORT PROGRESS REPORT PROGRESS REPORT PROGRESS REPORT –––– 2014/20152014/20152014/20152014/2015

Chignecto-Central School Board, 60 Lorne Street Truro, Nova Scotia, www.ccrsb.ca

OUR CSI GOALS Goals and Actions are located on our Website:

www.PDHS .ccrsb.ca

1. To improve Junior High Math skills in the areas of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division by 5% as measured by the RWM8 provincial assessment and site based assessments by June 2015.

2. To increase the number of Senior High students who are in agreement, 70% or greater, in “School Leaders involve students in discussing and making decisions about this school” on the DEECD perfor-mance survey by June 2015.

3. To improve Junior and Senior High reading comprehension skills by 5% as measured by the RWM8 provincial and site based assessments by June 2015.