Every school in the province is required to have  Safe, Caring and Inclusive School (SCIS) team. These teams may have different names, but within the WRDSB they have common features:

  1. To promote a positive school climate for all members of the school community;
  2. Membership represents a schools’ community with the inclusion of an administrator, teacher, support staff member/paraprofessional, a parent, students, and a community partner.

What is involved in being part of an SCIS team?

  1. Meet with the team members at least four times through the school year to develop and support activities within the school that are focused on improvement of school climate through:

    • providing ideas and suggestions to help with developing and maintaining the kind of climate where everyone can feel welcome and safe;
    • discussing the challenges identified in the school climate surveys, by stakeholders and from other data and recommending practical ideas to address some of those challenges;
    • making plans and setting goals and objectives;
    • identifying resources within the broader school community to help with achieving goals;
    • determining indicators of success, reviewing progress and identifying future directions;
    • selecting strategies to engage students, parents and members of the community so that dialogue regarding school climate adequately reflects the diversity within the school.

  2. Provide input to the administration:

    • in the development of a well-being focus for the annual School Improvement Plan for Student Achievement and Well-Being;
    • on the development and implementation of the Bullying Prevention and Intervention Plan;
    • for the assessment of the data from the school’s annual Safe, Caring and Inclusive School Surveys.

A positive school climate is one where:

  1. Healthy and respectful relationships are promoted among all members of the school community.
  2. Staff, students, parents and community members are actively engaged.
  3. Positive behaviour is reinforced.
  4. Disrespectful and inappropriate behaviour, such as racist, sexual, sexist or homophobic comments, is not accepted.
  5. Students are given opportunities to develop relationships that are free of racism, discrimination and harassing behaviour.

Looking for more information on SCIS Teams? Read our SCIS Teams orientation manual.