Torch - Spring 2015

The Language of

Support

By Lois Rowe, Vice Principal

A t a recent whole school faculty meeting, Kevin Walsh, an Upper School Science and Physics teacher, concluded his presentation to the teachers by sharing an image that illustrated how he had come to understand the individual students who make up his class. It was a simple illustration with a powerful meaning. He had created a class made up of a series of stick drawings of girls. On each stick drawing, a number of water glasses were drawn; the amount of water in the glasses varied within and between the individual students. The glasses represented the many different needs of the individual.

learning in other fields, to delineate its role relative to other community health and support providers and to provide a structure of support for the many complex needs of students. A wrap-around team describes the collaboration of school faculty and staff members who provide support to students with known challenges— physical, cognitive, mental, social and/or emotional—they might face. Common in the field of mental health, a wrap-around team supports an individualized plan for a child or youth and their family to achieve a positive outcome. At the centre of the team is one school staff member who is responsible for coordinating the work of the support group. Depending upon the grade, House and residential status (Day or Boarding), this person is either an Assistant Head (Junior or Middle School) or a Guidance Counsellor (Senior School). CONTINUED >>

students who are prevented from being their ideal self because they may be facing physical, cognitive, mental, social and/or emotional barriers or bottlenecks. Supporting a student to knock down a barrier or to navigate a bottleneck increases her capability as a student in a classroom. Looking to professions beyond those common in schools, there is language that is useful in framing the way a school can find its place in supporting the many needs of students beyond developmental growth and curriculum content. Although the specific terminology may be associated with a particular field of support (like mental health) or a specific diagnosis (like a concussion), the language and its meaning has broader applications. Through adopting and adapting certain language and its meaning, Havergal College is able to take advantage of the

Pictorially, it conveyed the message that everyone has a unique set of needs. Some of these needs are filled while others are not. If we, as teachers, are able to name the needs of our students then we validate their worth and water is added to an empty glass. That student now feels honoured and known. In an ideal world, classrooms would be occupied by students who are fully open, attentive and receptive to the thinking and learning possible within the space and time of a class. Through positive, constructive and supportive interactions with the teacher and with their peers, through differentiated strategies for all learning profiles and with an accessible curriculum, all students would thrive in every class. All glasses would be full. This is the ideal; however, the reality is quite different. Classrooms are complex spaces. In each class, there are individual

TABLE OF CONTENTS | SPRING 2015 • TORCH 19