“CHECKERED FLAGS” Everyone’s Responsibility

1. School Teams School Team Community Partners Student Parents/Guardian “CHECKERED FLAGS”Everyone’s Responsibility PowerPoint April 2011

2. This resource was developed as a result of discussions with community partners in the eight counties to help address the goals of the SSLI (Student Support Leadership Initiative). Counties of: Lanark, Leeds, Grenville, Stormont, Dundas, Glengarry, and Prescott-Russell

3. The Purpose of this guidebook is to: • To help children by building a useful resource to help guide professionals in responding effectively to the children we all care about. • Promote a collaborative approach within our community and to increase the level of awareness of community services. “We all have a piece of the puzzle.”

4. Who is this resource for? • School Staffs • Administrators • Parents • Community Partners

5. Key goals • Reinforce “upstream” thinking • Catch a concern early before it has a chance to become entrenched. • A guide that focuses on a collaborative response and uses consistency within. • Community partners learn with and about each other. • Shared understanding, language, strategies, mandates etc.

6. This guidebook Provides information and education only. • May assist in determining when to ask questions and seek out help. • Provides action strategies-practical ways to help the student.

7. Organization of the Resource Chapter 1, 2, 3 • Chapter 4,5,6,7 • Chapter 8,9 • Where to go section

8. Chapter 1, 2, 3 • Chapter One • Introduction-Background information • Chapter Two • Resilience is that capacity that helps us thrive even when faced with adversity. Resilient students are more likely to weather difficulties, resolve problems, and see their education through to completion. • All students will experience hardship at some point during their school career and their lives. Resilience helps students overcome those hardships. • Chapter Three • School Success (alerts), attendance (absenteeism)

9. Chapters 4-7 Introduction • Consistency of Format for each chapter • Fact Sheets- concise, 2 pages

10. Chapters 4,5,6,7 • Chapter 4-Mental Health- 13 fact sheets • Chapter 5-Impact Issues- 5 fact sheets • Chapter 6-Special Education- 6 fact sheets • Chapter 7-Areas for Focused Attention- 3 fact sheets

11. Chapters 4-7 • Fact Sheets • General information • General characteristics (in the classroom, home) • Impact on School Success • Connection to Where to go for help • Action Strategies

12. Fact Sheet-Attachment • GENERAL INFORMATION Children whose early life experiences have left them with the belief that adults cannot be trusted to keep them safe and that they have only themselves to count on are at risk of suffering from attachment-related difficulties. Sometimes these children have been victims of long-standing neglect and abuse, without a consistent and nurturing primary caregiver, or have had to endure multiple moves. Understandably, these children may find it very difficult to form healthy relationships with those around them. • Children who have had to figure out how to manage their world on their own, without having been given the requisite care and instruction about how to do so, are at a clear disadvantage. They often seek out the attention and approval of teachers and peers, only to “ruin” what they have tried to secure. • .

13. GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS TO LOOK FOR: • inappropriately demanding • and/or clingy • indiscriminately affectionate with • strangers • manipulative—superficially • charming and engaging • lack of cause and effect thinking • demonstrates little or no capacity • for empathy • hypervigilant/hyperactive • learning gaps/delays • speech and language problems • intense control battles, very bossy and argumentative • destructive to property, self, and/or others • incessant chatter and/or questions • stealing • sexual acting out • lies about the obvious for no reason • poor peer relationships • denial or lack of accountability— always blaming others • may appear to swing back and forth between high anxiety and high self- reliance

14. IMPACT ON STUDENT SUCCESS: • Students can suffer delays in motor, language, social, and cognitive development. • Their behaviours may leave them isolated from peers, and they may withdraw from the social growth opportunities afforded by school life. • They may gain but then quickly lose the trust of teachers, administrators, and other adults, leaving the adults around them feeling defeated. • They may not always feel motivated toward success. • They may not be motivated by some of the more tried and true strategies used to engage students at risk. • Students dealing with attachment issues who are in the care of the Children’s Aid Society (CAS) may have to contend with placement changes, and this in turn may affect their ability to commit to school life.

15. WHERE TO GO FOR HELP • See Mental Health in the Where to Go for Help section at the back of this guidebook.

16. WHERE TO GO FOR HELP ? • The chapters in the WHERE TO GO FOR HELP SECTION are listed by chapter in numerical order. Specific information is included for some individual fact sheets. These are organized in alphabetical order within their chapter headings. • CHAPTER 4 Mental Health Promotion

17. Other contact numbers and links: Ministry of Children and Youth Services www.children.gov.on.ca link to mental health services at www.children.gov.on.ca/htdocs/English/topics/specialneeds/mentalhealth/index.aspxEMentalHealth: This site is a rich source for local mental health help. www.ementalhealth.caABCs of Mental Health: A Teacher Resource www.brocku.ca/teacherresource/ABC/index.phpTalking About Mental Health (TAMI): www.camh.net/education/Resources_teachers_schools/TAMI/index.htmlMental Health Crisis Line 1-866-281-2911 www.rohcg.on.ca (ages 16 and up)KIDS Helpline 1-800-668-6868 www.Kidshelpphone.ca/en or http://org.jeunessejecoute.ca/fr/Eating Disorders – www.nationaleatingdisorders.org

18. Action Strategies • What We Can Do Together • Teachers and Support Staff • Administrators • Parents and Caregivers • Community Partners

19. ACTION STRATEGIES • What Can We Do Together • Become a good observer of children's nonverbal responses (facial expressions, body position and movements, eyes, voice tone, etc.), the most accurate signs of what is going on inside the child. • Avoid power struggles- present your request in a light and matter of fact style. This reduces the student’s desire to control the situation. • Consider the student’s behaviour as his/her attempt to solve a problem that they cannot find means to express in words. Try and give it “words” for them – i.e. “Maybe you broke your pencil so you didn’t have to finish work you are worried you can’t do well today”. • Consistently reinforce the concept of choice – the ideas of people making choices and having responsibility is not something they have experienced. They need to have it pointed out, matter of factly, over and over, that they are making choices all the time. Then discussion can begin to move towards making better vs. worse choices. • Inquire in order to unmask the child’s hidden agenda. Student’s reactions will tell you much more than their answers.

20. Teachers and Support Staff • Teach appropriate social behaviours. One of the best ways is to model the behaviour and then narrate for the child what you are doing and why. • Make sure rewards are absolute and not contingent upon anything. This effectively subverts the student’s strong tendency to self-sabotage and thereby prove to the adults they can’t “make them succeed” This approach puts the student’s succeeding under the complete control of the teacher. • Identify a supervised place for the student to go to regain composure during times of frustration and anxiety.

21. Community Partners • Consult with schools to help them contain and manage the unique profile of a student with attachment difficulties. • Support use of recreation and mentors to help build a student’s sense of capacity and accomplishment across all environments. • Be mindful of the need for consistency for students dealing with attachment problems – consider how to maintain relationships with therapists, coaches, former caregivers, and other significant relationships. • Increase communication around clarifying roles, responsibilities and limitations of each other’s mandate or service provision. • Engage in ongoing joint training initiatives. • Focus on “up stream” prevention initiatives.

22. Chapter 8 and 9 • Consistent language and understanding • Chapter 8-Children in Need of Protection • Chapter 9-Youth Justice

23. Chapter 8Children in Need of Protection • Consistent language • Legal status • Continuum of relationships • Resiliency • Where do teachers fit in? • Duty to report • Where to go for help

24. Chapter 9Youth Justice • Consistent language • Community options • Youth Justice Committees • Confidentiality • Where teachers fit in? • Offences on School Property • Community Threat Assessment Protocols • Where to go for help

25. Web Link Directly to resource website at http://web.me.com/markee/Guidebook/Start.html or Linked into Every Kid in Our Communities website through the members section at http://www.everykid.on.ca/

27. Process After the writing team completed the draft version with community agency support the next steps were: The draft version was presented to focus groups on April 20th, 2010. Used feedback from focus groups held on April 20th to complete “Checkered Flags” Guidebook-version 1. (The guidebook was in the process of being professionally edited.) Version 1 was presented at the June 24th, 2010, Community Launch. The feedback was used to complete “Checkered Flags” Guidebook. Guidebook was ready for distribution to schools and agencies in September 2010.