Dear Banff Trail School Families,
Each year, schools determine a focus for school development, as we continually seek to improve student learning and enhance teaching quality.  We look at school data to inform our yearly focus, which, among other factors, includes teacher perception of need and student achievement.  This year, we will be looking to enhance learning opportunities in French Oral Skill Development. 
Within this holistic goal, we will be addressing the areas of literacy, mathematics, and well-being.  In relation to literacy, student ability to communicate orally is an important life skill and pre-cursor to both reading and writing in French.  We will address Mathematics as teachers make use of understandings connected to Number Talks; having students engage in structured mathematical discourse will develop student fluency in both language and math.  We will address well-being under the umbrella of French oral skill development as students explore vocabulary conducive to working through interactions with peers, in a healthy, supportive way.  For example, students may examine vocabulary that can be used to encourage others to do well, or words/expressions to use when they find someone in need of emotional (or any kind of) support.  We are very excited about this overarching theme, as it transcends a particular subject in our environment—the improvement of French oral capacity will serve our entire community, from Kindergarten to Grade 5, well.
How will we look to make such improvements to our practice?  An example of one instance would be a large portion of tomorrow's Non-Instructional Day.  Expertise and passion for various educational areas can be found throughout the staff in our building, as we have various staff members who after having experienced various professional learning opportunities, are ready to 'teach the teachers'.  After working though some other business items, Mme Sophie, Mme Stafford, and Mme Sarah will be taking staff through some practical ways to incorporate the Neuro Linguistic Approach to French oral language learning for about an hour.  Another hour will have Mme Heather exploring learning connected to Number Talks and problem-solving.  Mme Toy will then lead learning connected to Formative Assessment, including some of the latest findings from assessment expert Dylan Wiliam.  We will then allocate some time for teachers to synthesize all of this new learning in the form of targeted lesson planning connected to their specific grade-levels. 
I look forward to seeing how all of this new learning positively affects students' experiences in the classroom.  Though I am very proud of the work that Banff Trail teachers do on a daily basis, I am even more inspired by all of their curiosity and engagement around finding ways to continually improve practice. 
For your consideration:
Residencies:  Thank you to our School Council/School Society, who have again arranged to cover 100% of the costs for some upcoming residencies planned for this year.  We continue to welcome Anita Crowshoe (Knowledge Keeper and member of the Piikani Nation, and daughter of Reg and Rose Crowshoe), and will also have a FitSet Ninja/Indoor Obstacle course residency in January, a Sound Kreations/dance residency in in May, and an Elev8 lacrosse residency in June.  We will also be welcoming some new Francophone guests during our Carnaval celebration in February.  These opportunities should complement the existing programming at our school beautifully.
Morning Drop Off: Thank you to the many families who are making good use of our morning Hug & Go drop off area to drop their children off in the morning.  Please continue to pull ahead as far as possible in this zone (in front of the main office doors), to maintain good traffic flow.  I also encourage families to avoid dropping students off in the alleyway that runs parallel to the northern border of our field, for the safety of walking students and to be a good neighbour to families who live along the back lane, as well as to avoid stopping (even briefly) in our bus zone along Canmore Road.
Pyjama Day: For our final Spirit/Theme day of the 2023 calendar year, we invite staff and students to come dressed in their coziest pyjamas on the final day of school (Friday, December 22).  Should be a great way to enjoy a final day before a well-deserved break.
Upcoming Dates:
Friday, December 8: Non-instructional day; no school for students
Friday, December 15: As of today, we will donate any remaining items in the Lost & Found to the Women in Need Society (WINS)
Friday, December 22: Pyjama Day and Last Day of Classes before Winter Break
Saturday, December 23 to Sunday, January 7th, inclusive: School Closed
Monday, January 8th: School Resumes
Monday, January 15th: Non-instructional day; no school for students
January 22,23,24,25,29: FitSet Ninja/Obstacle Course residency
Tuesday, January 30th: Report Cards become visible in MyCBE accounts
​Have a wonderful weekend,
Ryan Turner
Principal, Banff Trail School
​