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Renovations to in-patient area to be done by Sept. By Jim Brown Wingham Advance-Times The rehabilitation office has been moved onto the first floor of the Wingham and District Hospital in order to create space for nutrition and food counselling, Clinical Leader Liz Phelan told the April 24 meeting of the Wingham and District Hospital Board of Governors. She added that Chaplain Chris Beaumont now has his own office. The facilities planning committee recommended an additional wash- By Stew Slater Special to The Citizen The pursuit of identifiable aca- demic improvements, to satisfy the provincial government's increasing desire for public sector "accounta- bility," has taken up a lot of time during recent meetings of the Avon Maitland District School Board. But despite the fact the most recent meeting featured four lengthy principal's presentations describing their schools' approaches to so-called "results-based learn- ing." board officials say striving for accountability isn't going to alter the primary roles of the schools' leaders. "Curriculum leadership is absolutely what this is all about," said Superintendent of Education Marjatta Longston, following a Tuesday, April 24 meeting at which she acted much like a Masters of Ceremonies, introducing a short report called "Results — The Key to Continuous School Improvement," before giving way to the four ele- mentary principals. "Our principals need to learn the room be added to the in-patient area. Phelan indicated the renovations should be completed in September and will meet accreditation recom- mendations. She noted minor renovations have been recommended in Diagnostic Imaging as part of the initial plan- ning phase for reconstruction of the area for the digital imaging equip- ment. Executive and finance committee member Judith Gaunt said the hospi- tal foundation has committed $125,000 for the_ equipment and another $200,000 will come from the skills of data collection, so they can look at results and identify what portions of the curriculum the school or the class should be con- centrating on," Longston explained. "Before; our teachers have had marks for their students, but they haven't necessarily been able to take those marks and identify exact- ly where the weaknesses are." "I think accountability is always a key issue in our job," agreed Alice McDowell, principal of Grey • Central Public School in Ethel and one of the presenters. Neither the superintendent nor the four speakers, however, seemed to deny the fact the role of principals is changing with the government's move towards such things as stan- dardized (EQAO) testing and the increased ability of students to choose which school to attend. (Later in the week, it was reported Premier Mike Harris would announce plans to limit the promo- tion of students from one grade to the next if they don't achieVe certain standardized academic goals.) Indeed, part of the presentation described an ongoing training initia- Ministry of Health. Phelan said the hospital is in the process of organizing its accredita- tion teams. "We need to complete our stan- dards for the regional teams, leader- ship and partnership human resources, environment and informa- tion management," she said. -She added that a representative will then be sent to the integrated teams across the partnership. The care teams of the in-patient and out-patient areas will complete the standards at a one-day workshop in early June. tive aimed .at enabling Avon Maitland principals to collect achievement data, observe class- room performance. and relate such factors back to standardized meas- ures of student success. Ron Aitken, principal of Arthur Meighen elementary school in St. Marys, offered praise in his presen- tation for a recent workshop entitled "The Principal as Assessor." According to Longston's report, the initiative was inspired by a book which "combined three concepts: meaningful, informed teamwork; clear, measurable goals; and the reg- ular collection and analysis of per- formance data." The current phase of the training initiative draws from another book, with the creative and perhaps deceiving title of "Management by Wandering Around," which pro- motes brief so-called classroom "walk-throughs." Longston says principal work- shops are being held over the com- ing weeks in the board's various regions to discuss the walk- throughs. "When I was a principal, I always "We are actively recruiting com- munity partners and public represen- tatives," she stated. According to Phelan, 22 staff members are currently enrolled in an eight-week program, entitled "Person Centered Care". The course is designed to assist staff and others to live out the mis- sion, vision and values of the part- nership. It will be offered again in the fall and in the spring of 2002. The course is held at the Wingham hospital and is open to all staff, physicians and board members. A total of 16 physicians and regis- did a lot of walking around, going into classrooms," explained the superintendent. "And I know that it felt good — that I was having a pos- itive effect. But I didn't necessarily know why. "This gives (principals) some- thing to hang that good feeling on," she said, adding the walk-throughs are designed only to last a couple of minutes. "It gives them a concrete focus for what they're looking for when they go into the room, and what they can take away from the visit. It's a focus which hasn't been there before." Central Huron trustee Charles Smith wondered if Ontario's post- secondary faculties of education have reacted to the increased call for accountability, by creating or adapt- ing courses to provide information about results-gathering and goal- setting for prospective teachers and administrators. "It would be good to know such changes have been made, so maybe we can hire new teachers who could hit the ground running, so to speak," Smith said. The answer — or as much of an tered nurses have registered to date for an Advanced Cardiac Life Support program which will be offered on May 6 at the hospital. A funding request to help support a Canada Health Day event was denied by Public Health. The theme for the event is "Building on a Healthy Future" and will look at how the new North Huron-Wescast Community Complex will promote healthy living in North Huron. The project will proceed, with alternative sources of funding being sought. It will be held at the complex on May 12. says board answer that could be provided, con- sidering there were no representa- tives from such faculties of educa- tion at the meeting — was not over- ly optimistic. Pat Stanley, principal of Anne Hathaway elementary school, noted a couple of student teachers doing work at the Stratford school had asked to participate in accountability-based training .ses- sions. And Superintendent of Education Bill Gerth offered this opinion: "Occasionally, faculties of educa- tion — perhaps not all of them, but some of them — can be accused of not always keeping up to the pace of change as it occurs at the school level . . . The results-based focus is a bit unusual and, as such, may not be presented." According to Longston, Avon Maitland administration is also committed to what she calls "sys- tem accountability," meaning some of the extra time now needed for the results-based activities will be made available by putting some of the principals' current responsibilities in the hands of centralized senior staff. Accountability won't alter school leaders' roles, Business Directory AUBURN CO-OP 526-7262 McKILLOI MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY 91 Main St., South, Seaforth Office 527-0400 1-800-463-9204 FARM, HOME, COMMERCIAL AUTO COVERAGES (iHE RURAL VOICi\ MAGAZINE Don't Delay - Subscribe Today The Rural Voice Produced by people with farming in their blood. Serving more than 13,500 readers in the region. One year for $17.12; two years for $28.35 (GST included in prices above) The Rural Voice Box 429, Blyth, Ont. NOM 1H0 , 519-523-4311 BELGRAVE CO-OP 357-2711 OR 1-800-267-2667 /SUNSHINE COUNTRY CONSULTING ACCOUNTING & INCOME TAX SERVICES COMPUTER SALES & INSTALLATIONS AUTH. 01ST. 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