Back to School – a busy, engaging and eventful year ahead
WorldSkills, Speak Out and tips for parents and students
Edmonton… Parents, students and teachers will find many resources, tips and information in the Alberta government’s online-back-to-school information kit. It promises to be a busy and eventful year ahead for Alberta’s Kindergarten to Grade 12 education system. Visit: www.education.alberta.ca/resources/backtoschool.aspx.
Back-to-school tips for parents
Parents and guardians looking for information on preparing their kids for back to school have access to a variety of online resources, including things to consider before the first day of school, study tips, managing homework and safe Internet use. Other valuable online information for parents and students includes learning resources, tips on time management and being a successful student, and curriculum handbooks and summaries, which provide both in-depth and at-a-glance information on what students are expected to learn at each grade level. For more information, visit: www.education.alberta.ca/resources/backtoschool.aspx
H1N1 information toolkit for schools
H1N1 has been reported throughout the world. An Alberta Education toolkit will answer questions from students, parents, school-based staff and jurisdiction administrators regarding the H1N1 virus. This comprehensive toolkit includes updates and information from Alberta Health Services and Alberta Health and Wellness. For more information, visit: http://www.education.alberta.ca/admin/healthandsafety/h1n1.aspx
WorldSkills Calgary 2009
As the new school year approaches, so does the biggest international event of its kind in the world. The WorldSkills Competition, happening from September 1-7 in Calgary, hosts more than 900 skilled young people age 17 to 22 from skilled trades and technology programs in 51 member regions/countries. About 50,000 students from all over Alberta are expected to attend the event at Stampede Park. Visit: www.worldskills2009.com for more details about the event.
Arts Days School Challenge
Arts Days, September 18-20, are an opportunity for all Albertans to celebrate our artists and demonstrate our strong community spirit. In honour of Arts Days 2009, Education Minister Dave Hancock has issued a challenge to all schools to find innovative and creative ways to celebrate the arts in our classrooms or schools on September 18. More information about Arts Days, as well as resources and ideas to help schools plan an Arts Days event, are available online at: www.education.alberta.ca/artsdays
Inspiring Education: A Dialogue with Albertans
Inspiring Education continues to engage Albertans from across the province in shaping the future of education in the province. Share your thoughts and ideas by posting comments to the blogs or sign up for the online discussion forums leading up to the provincial conversation in Edmonton on October 18-20. Through this unique process, participants are changing relationships and improving how we work together. Share your comments and get more information at: www.inspiringeducation.alberta.ca
Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games
The Vancouver 2010 Winter Games is approaching fast and schools across the country can be involved. The Vancouver 2010 Olympic Education Program has developed excellent teacher resources to help our children live the Olympic values. To share in the spirit of the 2010 Olympics and see details of the many educational resources available, visit: www.education.alberta.ca/teachers/events/olympics.aspx
Resources and curriculum handbooks for parents
Parents play an important role in the education of their children. Their involvement and encouragement can help a child excel. Alberta Education encourages parents to take an active role in the education of their children and provides resources to support their involvement. Please visit: www.education.alberta.ca/parents/role.aspx to access a number of informational brochures. Parents can also tap into what their child is learning in the classroom through the Curriculum Handbooks for Parents series, which offers in-depth information about what students are expected to learn at each grade level of the curriculum. To view the curriculum support documents, visit: www.education.alberta.ca/parents/resources/handbook.aspx
Career and Technology Studies (CTS)
Students’ exploring opportunities and discovering their passions is the focus of the revised CTS program of studies, which begins implementation this fall. Courses contained in the new program align with industry and post-secondary institutions to provide meaningful career pathways. Additional information about the revisions to the CTS curriculum, implementation schedule, and implementation supports are available on the Alberta Education website at: www.education.alberta.ca/cts
Learning Clicks
On August 31, 17 post-secondary Learning Clicks Ambassadors will be hitting the road across the province to inform and motivate students to explore post-secondary options in Alberta. Teachers can now book a free presentation by an ambassador that involves sharing their knowledge, experiences and an award-winning interactive CD-ROM to engage students in post-secondary planning. Learning Clicks encourages Alberta students to complete junior and senior high school and pursue post-secondary education and training opportunities that are meaningful to them. The program also offers free presentations for parents and others in various communities. To book a presentation or for more information, visit www.learningclicks.ca
New and improved Alberta Education Français website
The French section of the Alberta Education website now offers a What's New section (Quoi de neuf?) with news of the latest events and/or resources of interest to various stakeholders. Visit: www.education.alberta.ca/francais.aspx
Speak Out – the Alberta Student Engagement
Speak Out, now into its second year, will continue to engage thousands of students from across Alberta through small focus group discussions at Speak Out forums and through the Minister’s Student Advisory Council. The second annual Student Conference will be held on May 14-16, 2010, in Edmonton. On the fully-moderated and interactive website, www.speakout.alberta.ca, students are driving the conversation by talking about issues that are important to them and their education. The Speak Out team remains committed to strengthening student engagement and will be releasing an interactive Speak Out DVD ToolKit in October 2009, so that students will be able to host their own Speak Out forum and lead their own discussions.
Speak Out Forums – COMING SOON
In the 2008/2009 school year, 1,590 students from 29 jurisdictions attended one of the 38 Speak Out forums held across the province. A Speak Out forum is a facilitated focus group discussion where 40-50 students are asked to reflect on their educational experience and share what is working, what is not and what we all can do about it. Planning is underway for the next round of Speak Out forums for the 2009/2010 school year. Some jurisdictions might be contacted by the Student Engagement Branch to gauge their interest in possibly hosting a Speak Out forum at one of their high schools. For more information on the initiative, please check out our Speak Out Fact Sheet at:
www.speakout.alberta.ca/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=D23CsaGwGy8%3d&tabid=60
World Suicide Prevention Day
September 10 is annually recognized as World Suicide Prevention Day by the International Association for Suicide Prevention and the World Health Organization. This day is nominated to raise awareness of suicide as a major preventable cause of death and of the many suicide prevention strategies at the national and local level. Bullying is sometimes connected to teen suicide, and as part of the province’s Bullying Prevention Strategy, a number of resources are available to children, youth and adults.
www.teamheroes.ca
www.b-free.ca
www.bullyfreealberta.ca
