We are very pleased to present the Director of Education’s Annual Report for the 2021-2022 school year.
We thank our Board of Trustees, Senior Administration, staff, students, families, volunteers, community partners, and our parishes for their continued support and commitment to Sudbury Catholic. Together we are providing a caring, progressive, high quality Catholic school system that is nurturing our students – mind, body, and spirit.
To raise awareness of the importance of open dialogue surrounding mental health, Sudbury Catholic District School Board invites students, staff, and community members to wear blue and white on Wednesday, January 25th, 2023. By wearing blue and white (symbolic colours for the Bell Let’s Talk Day campaign), our hope is for our Board community to unite and visually and emotionally show our support for mental health initiatives.
The Sudbury Catholic School community is encouraged to share their actions with our Board by tagging us on social media and sending pictures, captions, and highlights to info@sudburycatholicschools.ca
Bell Let’s Talk Day is an important event celebrated annually worldwide and is dedicated to raising awareness about mental health and breaking the silence around mental illness.
Sudbury Catholic recognizes the importance of mental health and well-being for our students. Mental health is a critical component of overall health and well-being, and it plays a vital role in the success of our students both in and out of the classroom.
We also acknowledge the importance of reducing the stigma around mental illness and encouraging open and honest conversations about mental health. The more we talk about mental health, the more we can help those struggling and support them in getting the help they need.
That is why we encourage all of our students, staff, and families to participate in Bell Let’s Talk Day activities. Whether it’s through social media, in-school events, or one-on-one conversations, every action counts in the fight against mental health stigma.
This year’s Bell Let’s Talk Day campaign highlights ways we can all create meaningful change and take action by doing one or more of the following:
On January 25th, let’s continue to work together to create a safe and supportive environment for all our students. Let’s break the silence around mental health and support each other in promoting mental wellness.
To learn about the activities and events planned for Bell Let’s Talk Day, and view a variety of resources, check out our Bell Let’s Talk Day 2023 resource page.
November 20th, 2022 is the beginning of Ontario’s 9th annual Bullying Awareness and Prevention Week. This week allows school boards to focus the spotlight for one week on promoting safe schools and creating a positive learning environment.
Bullying prevention promotes the development of healthy relationships that involve respectful interactions between people, face-to-face and online. The goal is to help ensure that all students have healthy, safe, respectful and caring relationships with everyone in their lives.
Teachers, parents/guardians, and other adults support and act as role models for students by showing them how healthy relationships can work. Students’ positive relationships with other students depend on positive relationships with adults.
Students who have healthy relationships will be less likely to bully others, more likely to support students who are bullied and better able to reach their educational goals. Together, we are all invited to learn more about bullying by exploring reverent resources and participating in activities to identify and eradicate it.
Sudbury Catholic District School Board is excited to announce our upcoming virtual event “Transition to School,” designed to provide the support students need to take the next step in their learning journey!
From August 29-31st, students and families are invited to attend live, online presentations from various Sudbury Catholic teachers to help them prepare for a new chapter this fall. Each session will run twice throughout Aug 29-31. See below for session dates/times and click here to attend!
Kindergarten, Primary, Junior, Intermediate, and Senior teachers will cover essential topics during this event. By attending, you will learn what to expect as a new student, know what to do if you want to speak with a resource or guidance teacher, learn who the key people you should connect with and so much more! Sessions will also deliver simple strategies to help ease anxiety and teach essential organization skills to help support student success.
“Getting ready to take the next step in any learning journey can be scary. Whether it’s the first day of kindergarten or the first day of grade 12, the transition to a new grade level should be smooth and worry-free. Because every child’s journey is unique, each presentation will focus on how to help students in that grade level prepare for Sept, so they can reach their full potential at school.” – Jennifer Connelly, St. Francis Principal
Students and parents can join teachers live on Aug 29-31, to help them prepare for school in September. To join the event, click the button below!
STRESS! We all experience it.
That’s why Sudbury Catholic Schools is pleased to invite you to register for our upcoming wellness webinar in January. At this webinar, two outstanding guest presenters will tackle this topic and provide coping strategies for dealing with stress.
WHEN: WEDNESDAY JANUARY 19 AT 5:30 PM
Alina Rukkila MSW, RSW and Jessie Jones CYW will lead us through an engaging session on dealing with the different types of stress and provide helpful strategies and tips we can incorporate to help us manage it when it happens.
We all know that not all types of stress are bad. Good types of stress can help you focus, ensure you meet your daily challenges, and encourage you to reach specific goals you have for yourself. However, it’s essential to understand the difference between good and harmful types of stress. Over time, a continued strain on the body put on from stress can get the best of you. It’s paramount to identify the causes of daily stress and manage the intensity of these feelings. By knowing healthy coping strategies, we can enjoy life and learn happily.
Bullying in all forms is considered a serious issue that affects student learning, sense of safety and overall well-being. Having respect and kindness towards one another is extremely important for our school board because a school should be a place where everyone feels included and everyone is welcome. By providing a safe learning environment, SCDSB can ensure student success and create responsible and compassionate leaders in learning and faith to help change the world for the better.
November 21 – 27, 2021 is Bullying Awareness and Prevention Week. This week is designed to promote safe schools and positive learning environments and will encourage everyone to play their part in preventing bullying at school, online and in the community.
Yet one of the most important things to understand during these conversations of bullying, is that it’s not just something that happens at school or online – it also happens in your home and in your neighborhood as well as other places where children spend time. This week’s we ask everyone in our community (students, educators, staff, parents and guardians) to consider how they can play their part to prevent bullying wherever it might happen so that all children and people can learn and grow in safe, positive environments.
To help understand how you can play your part to stop bullying, please review the following resources provided by the Ministry of Education.
Bullying Awareness and Prevention Week is significant to note because it enables schools and community members to promote positive change in student learning, achievement, and well-being for a safer learning environment, which is essential to student success.
Everyone has a responsibility to stop bullying. This week is an opportunity to increase awareness of the available tools and resources that will encourage everyone to get involved with bullying prevention.
To assist in this effort, the Ministry of Education has provided themes that can be focused on each day during this week:
Providing a safe environment ensures student success. Bullying Awareness and Prevention week is about spreading kindness and gratitude and being aware of what’s happening around you. Are you being accepting and inclusive? Can you do something to help someone who is being bullied or could be a bully? The leaders of tomorrow will be impacted by the leaders of today. By acknowledging bullying’s impact and finding ways to stop it, you will help keep our community rooted in respect for all.
Bullying in all forms hinders children, teens, and all individuals from fully reaching their potential and discovering the path they want to take. Sudbury Catholic Schools continues to foster acceptance, unity, and kindness in projects and organizations that aim to fight bullying and invite everyone to do their part.
Canada’s Healthy Relationships Hub
PREVNet is a national research and knowledge mobilization hub that brings together researchers and national organizations to build research capacity, assess youth relationship problems including bullying and dating violence, and promote evidence-based programs and effective policies across Canada to address and reduce youth interpersonal violence and promote healthy relationships.
The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation is a small nonprofit that invests our resources into making kindness the norm.
Their evidence-based Kindness in the Classroom® curriculum gives students the social and emotional skills needed to live more successful lives. Their workplace kindness calendar shows companies how easy it is to change workplace culture through simple kind gestures.
Despite the rainy weather, it was a spectacular day for the third annual Sudbury Catholic Outdoor Adventure Race in Killarney on June 8, 2011. Students from all four of the Board’s secondary schools entered teams to take part in a four part outdoor race which included biking, canoeing, orienteering and a mystery challenge which involved a first aid rescue exercise. A total of fifteen teams with three students per team participated and, although rain-soaked for part of the race, managed to keep smiles on their faces throughout the entire challenge. The past two years has seen St. Charles College and then St. Benedict take home the coveted banner, and this year St. Charles managed to win back the first place spot. A team from St. Benedict won in terms of time, however, due to a small mistake in the orienteering section, they were given a 5 minute penalty which put the St. Charles team consisting of Adam McKibbon (Grade 12), Michael Wandziak (Grade 11) and Jonah Lynott (Grade 11) in first place. Awards were also given out for first place for a co-ed team as well as an all-girls team.
Immediately after the ribbon cutting, students at Bishop Alexander Carter Catholic Secondary School stormed the pathway into the school’s new courtyard on June 9, 2011. At the official opening for the courtyard, staff and students joined together to celebrate the vision of many of the students. This courtyard has been a space that the school had been planning for several years and had finally come to fruition as a result of a speak-up grant that was applied for and granted by the Ministry of Education. Grade twelve students from last year had been collectively planning for a quiet restful place to gather between classes and during breaks, but until this past year, the monies were unavailable. Because of the funding from the successful Speak Up grant application, the school officially open their courtyard on June 9, 2011, which includes several picnic tables, a lush green lawn, a bricked pathway and several benches and picnic tables – which were built by the school’s woodshop classes. Lori Roy, a Bishop teacher who worked with the students and their applications was thrilled with the space and the happiness of the students. “Before, this space was just rocks and dirt, and a few holes in the ground as a result of some unsuccessful attempts to make it into something better,” Roy stated. “ Now, it is a quiet, reflective, positive gathering space for our grade twelve students and as a result they are just ecstatic. The only sad part, is that the students who were successful in their grant application have already graduated so they weren’t able to be here for the official opening. I really hope they will come back to visit to see that their dream became an actuality – our presents students will be forever grateful for this gift.”
As part of the Ministry’s Student Voice Initiative, Speak up Grants allow for projects inspired by students’ ideas to become a reality.
