If I was asked to describe what it is like at Ochre River School, I would say that it is a place that is brimming with excitement and activity. A lively school that believes in developing the whole child through a balance of curricular outcomes, whole school events, student-led activities, community outreach, youth sports, and experiential learning.
Throughout the year, the students and staff and Ochre River School prioritize scheduling events designed for maximum participation and engagement. As a newer teacher to the school, I was amazed at how many events and activities ORS offers the students compared to much larger schools. The events are all designed with students in mind and have enough variety to allow students of all grade levels to interact with one another. This has such a positive effect on students as it allows younger students to learn from older students and provides opportunities for older students to develop leadership qualities which are invaluable to the building.
Planning a visit to ORS in the fall? You might find yourself in the middle of cross grade level activities. Planning a visit around the winter holiday? You might find yourself involved in overnight camping, a holiday concert, winter Olympics or a whole school STEM building challenge. Planning a visit in the Spring? You might find yourself involved in a tropical fun fair, passion project displays, a science fair, Minecraft builds, or a singing club. Planning a visit in June? You might find yourself involved in a bike rodeo, community pancake breakfast, community bike ride, summer Olympics, or a classroom field trip.
Regardless of the season, you will find that the learning that takes place and the events that are offered are centered around student interests. The goal of the ORS school community is to educate students to be empowered, yet empathetic and understanding to people of all walks of life. As a school that has only mixed grade classes, ORS organically has opportunities for students of different ages to work collaboratively with one another.
As part of writing this article, I wanted to get the thoughts from students at ORS about how they feel about their school. The prompt that the students were given was: What is something you appreciate about ORS? Their responses are what I will leave you with.
“I like how much attention the staff pay to the students’ physical and mental well-being." - (Grade 7)
“I truly appreciate the amount of trust the staff put on not just me but many other students for almost anything, whether it is something as simple as handing out snacks to a class or helping build a stage for a school concert.” - (Grade 8)
“I appreciate all the sports that you can do, and all the after-school activities. I appreciate the parent advisory council and all the fun activities.” - (Grade 6)
“Things I appreciate at our school are the programs run by student council, PAC, the kind teachers, and all the events that are offered to us.” - (Grade 5)
“Something I appreciate about Ochre River School is the kindness in the school.” - (Grade 4)
“I really like how the teachers are very helpful and supportive.” (Grade 3)