Tutors and day camps planned by school boards to help tackle learning loss

Local school boards are using provincial funds to create programs to address learning loss during the pandemic.

The plan includes before- and after-school tutoring programs, in-school help with reading and summer classes or day camps.

Lila Read, associate director with the Waterloo Region District School Board, says they're adding tutors to various other programs that were already in place.

"In elementary, those tutors are available to students before and after school. They are qualified educators that are providing support to students with a focus on literacy, reading skills and also math and numeracy skills," she said.

Similar supports are in place now for secondary schools, with the focus on helping students rescue or recover a course credit.

"Where a student maybe is encountering some difficulty in in earning their credit or passing their course, the tutoring supports are being put in place to assist that student to help them cross the finish line successfully and set them up for success as they as they move into next year," Read said.

WCDSB tutor plan

The Wellington Catholic District School Board is also going to offer tutors to students from grades one to 10 from now until June.

The tutors will be available to students for one-hour sessions after school Monday through Thursday. 

Students up to Grade 8 will receive support in literacy and numeracy. Students in grades nine and 10 can get help with English, mathematics, languages and foundational learning skills.

Upper Grand reading pilot

Funding for the programs comes from the province's Learning Recovery Action Plan, which was announced in February.

The $600 million provincial fund is meant to address learning gaps as well as student mental health.

The Upper Grand District School Board is using the final months of the school year to pilot a program for grades one to three, Director of Education Peter Sovran said.

The board redirected 25 teachers who were already working in the system, to focus on reading skills. The board then hired teachers to fill the vacant positions.

"What we're hoping to do is to use April to June as a pilot to understand the level of intervention. Is it meeting the needs?" he said.

"We are going to keep measuring periodically between now and the end of the school year around the progress that these students are making."

He said Upper Grand opted not to offer before- or after-school programs at this time because not all students would be able to access those supports.

The hope is that this program would return in September and be expanded to other grades. Sovran said the board also wants to keep the program beyond December, when provincial cash is due to run out. It plans to propose the extra reading help in future budgets.

Summer help

The school boards are all making plans to continue learning support through the summer months.

WRDSB will continue to offer summer learning options, Read said, including summer school subjects for students in grades seven and eight.

Secondary students will be offered virtual summer school classes and tutoring, which Read said worked well last year.

Wellington Catholic District School Board says they're still working on summer programming plans now, and students and parents can expect more information in the coming weeks.

Sovran says the Upper Grand board is looking to run a day camp experience for students and it will be open to all elementary students.

"We want to embed the learning, but also provide our students and families with that other opportunity to have that camp-like experience," he said.

Details are still being worked out and he said it's hoped the board will have more information for parents — who may be eager to finalize summer camp plans — by the end of the month.

'Staff are absolutely prepared'

Read says she wants parents to know that educators are aware there have been struggles, but now they're ready to focus on next steps.

"Staff are absolutely prepared for that. They have the resources to address it," she said.

"Now we have the tutoring support side, to really zero in on those students who require that additional support."

She added that the tendency right now is to "focus on the deficits that have come about as a result of the pandemic." But she says remote learning has taught students and educators to adapt and learn new technologies and "develop their resilience muscles."

"There's a whole new skill set that's been developed as well. So it's not all bad news," she said.