Safe Positive Schools
Anti-bullying
St. Marguerite School is a Catholic school where we view Jesus as our teacher and role model. Our mission is to provide an inclusive, faith-filled Catholic education. We will not tolerate bullying behaviour. Guided by this policy and our Gospel values, bullying behaviour will be dealt with in a serious and timely manner.
We believe that all students have the right to a safe, caring and respectful school environment, free from bullying behaviour. We also believe students have the responsibility, through their actions, to assist the staff in creating a safe, caring and respectful environment.
Safe Positive Schools Every student has the right to a safe, positive school environment. With Jesus as our primary example and his teachings as our guide, we try to establish each school community as a place where everyone can feel accepted, respected and valued—simply because they are a beloved child of God with an inherent dignity.
It takes the whole community to realize this goal. Students, families, teachers and staff each have the responsibility to contribute to the safe, positive school environment we all want for our children. Building safe school communities involves developing social skills and addressing bullying behaviour, resolving conflict, and being prepared for emergencies.
Social skills and bullying
Loving others as you love yourself seems like a simple concept. But we all fall short from time to time. Using gospel values as a basis, we promote positive relationships between and among students, staff and families using a variety of age-appropriate strategies.
Students and staff have the right to a safe, caring and respectful school environment that is free of bullying—they also have the responsibility to help build that environment.
Bullying is both serious and unacceptable—at school and outside of school.
"Bullying is a relationship issue where one person or group repeatedly uses power and aggression to control or intentionally hurt, harm, or intimidate another person or group. It is often based on another person's appearance, abilities, culture, race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation or gender identity. Bullying can take many forms: physical, emotional, verbal, psychological or social. It can occur in person or through electronic communication."
Saskatchewan's Action Plan to Address Bullying and Cyberbullying November 2013
- Ways we combat bullying include:
- Promote a culture of "see it, report it"; if you see a possibly bullying situation, tell a staff member immediately
- Social skills instruction
- Division anti-bullying policy
- Division code of conduct
- School code of conduct
Helpful resources:
Government of Saskatchewan Anti-Bullying Homepage
Be Kind Online (a SaskTel initiative)
Conflict resolution
We all experience conflict in our lives, and it's not always bad. Learning tools and techniques to resolve conflict are valuable to help students respect other views and perspectives, learn how to cooperate and compromise, and how to solve problems.
As parents and guardians, you may have concerns specific to your child's school experience. We want to work with you to resolve those issues as soon as possible. Our process to resolve issues includes:
- Start with your classroom teacher. A private, in-person conversation is often all that is needed to come to an agreement on how to remedy the concern.
- If things are unresolved, contact your school principal. S/he may want to meet as a group or talk to parties individually to ensure all perspectives are heard, understood and considered.
- If concerns persist, contact your school's superintendent who will review the issue and continue work towards a resolution.
- If concerns remain unresolved, contact the director of education who will review previous steps, discuss the issue with all relevant people and determine a course of action.
Read more about our process to work together to resolve concerns at schools.
Community safety and emergency preparedness
Preparing for emergencies and keeping students in our care safe has become increasingly complex—the occasional fire drill many parents grew up with is no longer sufficient.
In partnership with other school divisions, Saskatoon Police Service and Saskatoon Fire and Protective Services, we have developed safety and emergency plans for a variety of scenarios, including:
- Fire and evacuation plans;
- Severe weather emergency plans;
- Perimeter lockdown: external doors are locked to allow learning to continue inside the safe confines of the school;
- School lockdown: safety protocols are activated to protect against a potential threat in the school
Learn more about Working Together for Safer Schools
Since 2013, Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools has been part of the Saskatoon and Area Community Threat Assessment and Support Protocol (CTASP).
The protocol helps organizations respond proactively to prevent and reduce the potential for school violence. Organizations work together and share information to assess a threat level and plan intervention to support the young person and his or her family.
More detail is available in this 2-page CTASP flyer, or read the full CTASP protocol.
