1. Leeds-Grenville Best Start Network

2. Transition to Kindergart en Regional Network The Learning Partnership Welcome to Kindergarten Special Needs Reference Group West Leeds Pilot

4.  Promoting truly meaningful inclusion of all children entering the school system through strong parent engagement practices. West Leeds Pilot Project / Little Steps Big Strides

5.  Harvard Family Research Project (HFRP)  A clear and commonly shared framework and definition of family engagement can – and will-inspire policy investments in family engagement.  Definition of family engagement – “one that focuses on the multiple contexts in which children grow and learn from birth through adulthood”.

6.  HFRP identifies three core principles of family engagement  http://www.hfrp.org

7. 1. Family engagement is a shared responsibility in which schools and other community agencies and organizations are committed to reaching out to engage families in meaningful ways and in which families are committed to actively supporting their children’s learning and development.

8. 2. Family engagement is also continuous across a child’s life and entails steadfast commitment but changing parent roles as children mature into young adulthood.

9. 3. Family engagement is about promoting children’s learning anywhere, anytime. Effective family engagement cuts across the multiple settings where children learn—at home, in prekindergarten programs, at school, in afterschool programs, at faith-based institutions, and in the community.

10. All families want their children to succeed. HFRP’s expanded definition emphasizes shared responsibility, and thus, our policy work focuses on creating institutional capacity to provide all families with opportunities to enrich their children’s learning and nurture the character traits that are essential for educational and lifelong success.

11. To support implementation of FDK across region: Members: Min EDU CMSMs 4 School Boards Best Start Networks

13.  To promote truly meaningful inclusion of all children entering the school system through strong parent engagement practices. __________________________________________________ We represent:  The Catholic District School Board of Eastern Ontario  The Child Development Centre (Children’s Treatment Centre)  Data Analysis Coordinator (United Counties Leeds-Grenville)  Developmental Services of Leeds and Grenville  Language Express (Preschool Speech and Language)  Lanark Leeds Grenville Health Unit  Ontario Early Years Centre  Upper Canada District School Board

14.  Grew out of the work of the Leeds Grenville Lanark Special Needs Reference Group (SNRG), which was formed in February of 2010  Focus - a shared commitment to truly meaningful inclusion of children with special needs in the school system

15. Some members of the SNRG wanted to move forward with a more universal transition to school project – one that incorporated best practices around parent engagement, had a strong emphasis on inclusion of children with special needs, and benefited all children entering kindergarten – “necessary for some, good for all”. In January of 2011 our group met, articulated our mission and mapped out a work plan

16.  Coming together of school boards (UCDSB, CDSBEO) and community agencies to streamline early communication to parents. The long-term aim of this group is to create coordinated and consistent messages from school boards and community partners around the importance of registering children for school, and the importance of family involvement in the child’s education.

17.  Schools and community agencies working together on the Kindergarten registration process, with a focus on services available to families.

18.  Planning a one week summer program for children transitioning into kindergarten, and their families. In developing this component we built on the extensive work of our Lanark partners.

19.  Developing a measure for determining success of our work; include parent and staff questionnaires; reflecting on data and planning for next steps.

20. Learning Partnership of Canada Welcome to Kindergarten Award for Partnership Excellence 2012

21.  to adapt what we learned from this project to support family engagement and transition best practices in all school across the catchment areas of the two school boards  Working with our school boards and community partners across the larger board catchment areas (four Best Start networks), came together as Early Learning Partners (formerly Transition to Kindergarten) Working Group  Officially “wrapped” the pilot in the fall of 2014 to focus on supporting this broader initiative

22.  Archive the learning  Strengthen the Welcome to Kindergarten connection  Continue the work through this network and the Early learning Partners

23.  Goal: one BSN representative assigned to each school in Leeds-Grenville to support WTK activities and provide information on community resources/support

24.  Learning to Play, Playing to Learn (provided by UCDSB)  Nippissing Screening information  Community Resource Guide (regionally based)  Triple P Information  “Bubbles” for kids

25. What would we do again (Continue) What changes would you recommend? Timelines: