“Leadership in the OCDSB is the demonstration of personal initiative to achieve a positive outcome.”
Students
The students at Westwind Public School are offered a variety of opportunities to develop their leadership skills. as they participate in diverse activities which augment life at school and in the community. Junior students demonstrate leadership through participation in Junior intramural programs such as basketball, soccer, bordenball, volleyball, cross country running, skipping, badminton and track and field. Junior students also support the running of intramural activities for our Primary students. For art enthusiasts, there is an opportunity to participate in singing groups, drama, dance, and craft clubs. In some years, students have expanded their artistic skills through participation in after school ukulele and drawing lessons as optional, user-pay programs. In addition to the promotion of coding skills through our Maker Space and University of Ottawa partnerships which are available to all students, Westwind's grade 6 girls have participated in the annual Hackergal program, which aims to spark interest and promote careers in computer science and technology for female students.
Giving back to our local community is one of our school goals and Westwind students are keen participants in all school initiatives. Examples include: the Terry Fox Foundation, "We Scare Hunger" Food Drive, Pajama Patrol, and Jump Rope for Heart. The school's biannual Readathon spurs students on to record amounts of reading, while raising funds for technology which is shared throughout the school.
Our students demonstrate caring and leadership through their community service within the school, as student bus helpers, student lunch helpers, kindergarten helpers, recycling team members, compost helpers, and reading buddies. In addition to informal recognition on a regular basis, we also acknowledge student contributions in our classrooms, through school announcements, newsletters, website, assemblies, our principal’s report to school council, and end of the year ceremonies.
Staff
Westwind Public School staff members are dynamic and caring professionals. Our team brings a wealth of talents and interests to our school and these enhance the learning environment and opportunities for our students. Our staff members have continually demonstrated leadership as Westwind has evolved from a new school into an established school. The Westwind staff actively participates in all Board-wide professional development initiatives and in self-directed initiatives such as Additional Qualifications courses, especially in Mathematics, French as a Second Language, and Equity initiatives They formed part of the Eastern Ontario School District Network (EOSDN), focused on of-the-moment initiatives related to learning in mathematics while collaborating with mathematics teachers from across our region. Westwind staff also participate in school-based professional growth activities. For example, prior to the introduction of the updated mathematics curriculum in 2020-2021, our mathematics teachers implemented a whole-school project to deliver the mathematics curriculum using a spiral approach to organize the expectations.
Each and every member of the Westwind Public School team works to provide the best possible care and support to our students. The staff always demonstrates integrity, good humour and collegial support with one another. Their dedication and professionalism is recognized individually and in school newsletters, on our website, at assemblies, in morning announcements, with letters of thanks, through performance appraisals, at school council meetings and by the positive comments and appreciation of our parent community.
Parents/Guardians/Volunteers
Our parent volunteers contribute a commendable number of hours in support of our school, by working in our classrooms and library, accompanying our students on field trips and by organizing a variety of weekly food programs as well as a daily milk/juice program. They fundraise through such initiatives as the much-loved Westwind Cake Walk, and they foster our sense of community through social events such as family movie nights and the spring Fun Fair. A sincere and heartfelt thank you goes out to our volunteers. We acknowledge the great work of our School Council, parents and volunteers through the school newsletter, on the website and at council meetings. Our School Council's successful fundraising contributes to the enrichment and enhancement of students' experience through projects such as the purchase and installation of the projector and screen in the gym, funding the purchase of materials and storage for our Maker Space, funding three years of visits by the University of Ottawa Maker Mobile, and the 3-year purchase of licences for an on-line reading program for our primary students.