Commitment to Success

The plan, accepted by the ministry of education, lays out the objectives, orientations, indicators and targets for student success for the coming years. It includes the context of the school board, its challenges and priorities.

Aligned with the ministry of education strategic plan, the objectives include: increasing the graduation and qualification rates, closing the achievement gap between certain groups of learners (boys, girls, students living in socio-economic disadvantaged areas), ensuring success in elementary schools and safe and secure buildings.

Show section: Background

On this page:

• Goal of the Commitment to Success Plan
• Legal Framework
• Groups that collaborated in the development of the Plan
• Consultations held during the development of the Plan
• School Board context
• Framework for Success – Four Directions
• Demographics
• Objectives and Targets set by the Minister
• Western Québec’s own orientations, objectives, indicators and targets
• MEES Orientations
• Declaration regarding the level and quality of services offered

The Goal of the Commitment to Success Plan

The goal of the Western Québec School Board’s Commitment to Success Plan is to share, with all educational personnel, parents and communities, a common vision of our reality and challenges to generate concerted action around the orientations and objectives that impact student learning and success. The plan also provides an opportunity for all to understand the orientations, directions and strategies the school board is undertaking to ensure educational success for all its students.

Show section: Legal Framework

Groups that Collaborated in the Development of the Commitment to Success Plan

The plan was developed by the senior administration with the collaboration of the management advisory group, and the Council of Commissioners. In addition, feedback from the Parent’s committee, the Special Education Advisory committee, school and centre Governing boards was taken into consideration as was that from staff and stakeholders.

Show section: Consultations Held in the Development of the Commitment to Success Plan

Western Québec School Board Context

The Western Québec School Board comprises 25 schools and five adult education and vocational training centres across two administrative regions, 07 and 08. The board’s territory is large, covering more than 90,000 square kilometres and spread over 155 municipalities. Schools and centres are located throughout this territory with the largest located in the urban tract of Gatineau. The sheer size of our territory and the dispersion of the English-speaking population within that territory have required an organization of schools and centres to meet this challenge and ensure access to our clientele.

The school configuration is as follows: 13 elementary schools, 2 Junior high schools (secondary I and II), 2 secondary schools (secondary I to V), 2 senior secondary schools (secondary III to V), 1 kindergarten to secondary II school and 5 kindergartens to secondary V schools. WQSB operates three joint adult general education and vocational training centres, one adult general education centre and one vocational training centre.

Schools and Centres 

Programs and Services

Programs and services offered by the Western Québec School Board include four-year old kindergarten programs in socio-economic disadvantaged areas, enriched French academic programs, adult general education, vocational training, transition and induction programs, Work Oriented Training programs (WOTP), life skills programs, along with pre-kindergarten and daycare services. WQSB offers a wide range of extra-curricular opportunities in sports, cultural, character building, and community-oriented activities along with a variety of student-centred services offered in our schools and centres.

Community Learning Centres

The Western Québec School Board has five Community Learning Centres (CLC) that are integral to the following schools: St. Michael’s High School, St. John’s Elementary School, Val d’Or Adult Education Centre, Pierre Elliott Trudeau Elementary School, and Maniwaki Woodland School. Each CLC has a community development agent whose role is to facilitate community partnerships, service-based learning and contribute and enrich student life. Funding for the CLCs is provided through the Entente Canada-Québec.

Framework for Success – Four Directions

In order to ensure student success Western Québec is building a framework for success to ensure its schools and centres are viable, sustainable, and provide the same quality of opportunity for all.  At the same time, Western Québec is committed to increasing graduation and qualification rates in all sectors and closing the achievement gap (reducing the disparity between the performance of groups of students) for all students.

Our core purpose has been articulated by the Minister of Education in the Policy on Educational Success.  In it he states “the government is working to ensure that everyone can achieve their full potential.”  He goes on to say that “success means providing everyone with the opportunity to display their talents at any stage of life.”

The Western Québec School Board is engaged and determined to realize the Minister’s stated objectives. Each of our four strategic directions and system alignment goals are focused to ensure that all of our decisions are based on individual student achievement.

Our directions

Alignment

While not a strategic direction in itself, WQSB strives to ensure that all improvement plans, resources and communications are aligned to MEES directions and WQSB goals.

It is through these strategic directions and the organization and delivery of services centred on a knowledge management system that Western Québec has set its objectives, strategies and actions.

Challenges

The following realities, while not all directly influential on student achievement, impact the board’s ability to make the most efficient and effective use of its resources. The overarching issues that continue to confront the WQSB include distance and dispersion (impacts the organization of schools and centres to ensure accessibility), a high mobility rate (impacts retention and success of students and skews statistics from MEES), socio-economic factors (impacts student achievement), recruitment and retention of qualified teaching staff in our rural schools and centres (impacts the quality of teaching and learning).

Demographics

In the last two years the Western Québec School Board demographics have shifted to an upward trend moving enrollment from 6910 in 2015-2016 to 7298 in 2017-2018. This increase, however, is concentrated in the urban tract of Gatineau as our rural, outlying areas continue to see a decline (the exception being Maniwaki Woodland, Queen Elizabeth, St. Michael’s and Dr. S.E. McDowell).

Demographic projections indicate that Western Québec’s student population will increase from 2018-2019 to 2022-2024.  Again, this holds primarily for our urban schools and less so for our rural and northern schools where we expect to see continuing decline. Student population decline in our rural and norther areas can be attributed to several factors including aging populations, and mobility out of the areas due in part to limited employment opportunities. The decline in our rural and northern schools poses a serious challenge to the delivery of education. As it is now, several of our rural and northern kindergarten to secondary V schools struggle to deliver the Basic School Regulation (BSR) offerings to students. Four of these schools have fewer than 80 students at the secondary level. In all cases additional staffing is assigned to ensure the continued delivery of quality teaching and learning.

The growth in our urban area (primarily the Gatineau corridor) has created its own set of challenges, specifically overcrowding in some schools. This has required a change in the use of space to accommodate the student numbers (library and cafeteria space converted into classrooms).

Due to the nature of the offering (variable entry and exit) it is difficult to track demographic changes in Adult Education and Vocational Training but in general there has been a decline in rural centres and stability in urban centres. The decline in the rural centres makes it challenging to offer viable programs, especially vocational training. In order to continue to provide English-language adult and vocational training, resource allocation must be adjusted to accommodate smaller numbers.

Socio-economic

Western Québec has a significant portion (15 of 25) of its schools that are 8, 9 or 10 on the Ministère de l’éducation et de l’enseignement supérieur (MEES) Indice de milieu socio-économique scale. Schools are classified on a range of 1 to 10, with 1 being considered the least socio-economically disadvantaged and 10 being the most socio-economically disadvantaged. Several factors contribute to the classification including family income and mother’s level of education.  These schools are designated as New Approaches New Solutions (NANS) schools and they focus on specific orientations to contribute to student success. These include five kindergartens to secondary V schools ranked 8, 9 or 10 and three elementary schools ranked 8, 9 or 10, and one secondary school ranked 8, 9 or 10. In addition, three more schools are designated as a 7. While the MEES does not designate Adult Education centres on the socio-economic ranking scale, it is important to note that 3 of the centres are located in the same geographic areas as schools ranked as 8, 9 or 10.  A significant portion of the population of learners in these centres are not in employment nor do they possess an initial diploma.

Schools ranked 8, 9 or 10 benefit from the New Approaches, New Solutions (NANS) measure provided by the Ministry to increase student success. In addition, NANS schools now benefit from additional resources to provide support in early literacy and numeracy, support for students with special needs, and additional support in academic subjects at the high school level. Our NANS schools have made significant progress in student achievement. Although many of the cohorts are small, results on the MEES and board objectives in our NANS schools continue to show improvement. This is evident in the success on the uniform exams at secondary IV and V levels. There is also progress, although slower, in the core subjects of French Second Language (FSL), English Language Arts (ELA), and Math at the elementary level.  At the board level, we have focused on providing additional support in the core subject areas as well as programs targeted to improve the quality of teaching and learning. At the school level, schools have developed and embedded strategies that focus on both prevention and intervention for identified groups of students.

Indigenous Learner Success

The Western Québec School Board has a significant Indigenous student population (approximately 15%). Much of the Western Québec School Board is on un-ceded Algonquin land and there are 10 Indigenous communities in the region in which Western Québec provides educational services through its schools and centres. Several Western Québec schools have significant First Nation, Metis, and Inuit student populations. These are:

• Maniwaki Woodland, Maniwaki (68%)
• Golden Valley, Val d’Or (55%)
• Theberge, Temiscaming (52%)
• Pierre Elliott Trudeau, Gatineau (16%)
• South Hull, Gatineau (12 %)
• Hadley/Philemon Wright High School, Gatineau (5 %)
• Symmes/D’Arcy McGee High School, Gatineau (7%)
• Val d’Or Adult Education Centre, Val d’Or (80%)
• Maniwaki Adult Education Centre, Maniwaki (85%)

Note: Percentages are approximate as they can vary from year to year. In addition, in the adult education centres, entry is on-going so numbers can shift weekly.

Canadian and Québec educational statistics indicate a significant gap in the success rates of Indigenous learners in comparison to non-indigenous learners. This is an area of focus for the board and Western Québec continues to develop and deliver a culturally relevant curriculum and an Indigenous pedagogy approach where possible. The board has engaged several community members and elders to work in developing resources, provide staff training, and support to students. In addition, Western Québec has established key partnerships with Native Friendship Centres in both Val d’Or and Maniwaki and works closely with several Indigenous community partners. WQSB adopted several strategies to ensure adequate support for Indigenous students. These include a centralized approach for use of the MEES Aboriginal success grant in our schools and centres with Indigenous students. The board supports the receiving schools through a network and research-based professional development for staff. The focus of additional assistance is language of instruction, French second language, certifying subjects in secondary, engagement and retention.

Students with Special Needs

The population of students with special needs in Western Québec Schools has increased in the last few years.  Since 2015 the number of students designated Éleves handicapé ou en dificulté d’adaptation ou d’apprentissage (EHDAA) has increased from 432 to 466 in 2017-2018. The Éleves en difficulté d’adaptation ou d’apprentissage (EDAA) population has increased by 81 students in the same period. All students with special needs are integrated into regular classrooms in Western Québec with the exception of three specialized board-run classes: Chelsea Centre (Chelsea Elementary), Transitions Centre (Eardley Elementary), and Lindsay Place (Hadley Junior High and Philemon Wright High School). The size of our territory is a specific challenge for the organization of services for students with special needs creating inequitable access to direct services from professionals (Speech Language and Psychology for example). In addition, recruiting and retaining qualified special education staff, whether they be teachers, technicians or attendants to the handicapped is sometimes difficult in our rural and northern schools. A lack of services and or bilingual staff in the helping agencies (social services and health care) in many of our communities compounds the situation further. Our adult education and vocational training centres also have a number of students with special needs and more and more support is required to ensure success.

Recruitment and Retention of Staff

The Western Québec School Board employs more than 1,000 people in several categories of employment, most of them working directly with students. Recruiting and retaining qualified personnel in rural areas remains a challenging reality, notably in the teaching and professional fields. The challenge we have in recruiting and retaining qualified teaching staff is generally across all subjects but is even more evident in specialized areas such as French, Math, Science and Special Education. The proximity to the Ontario employment market also impacts our ability to recruit and retain staff.

High Mobility Rates

Many Western Québec School Board schools border the province of Ontario. People often move back and forth between the two provinces in search of the best living conditions. This trend results in a high mobility rate for our student population. Consequently, the school board’s dropout rate is inflated because some high school students move out of the province prior to receiving a Québec high school diploma or certification.

The Ministry of Education views a drop out in Québec as any student who leaves the system without a qualification or diploma in a given year and whose permanent code does not reappear in the following year. This includes anyone from secondary 1 to 5 who has left the province, returned to an Indigenous band controlled school or died. In a 2011 study of its drop outs, the WQSB demonstrated that the statistics generated by the ministry do not accurately reflect the migration rate of families to Ontario and elsewhere. For example, between 2005 and 2008 the study found that the migration rate for its families was 5 to 8 times higher than the 2.6% put forth by the ministry.

The Western Québec School Board continues to challenge the Ministry of Education statistics on school leavers without qualifications or certifications. The school board tracks all leavers on an annual basis through it’s SARCA services. Each student leaver is identified as either a mover within the province, a mover outside of the province or a student who has made the decision to “quit”. As a board we have made the decision to focus on working to bring the students who have quit back into the system. However, we will be tracking the 2016 Secondary 1 cohort of students in an effort to produce a truer portrait of our leavers without diploma as well as a more accurate graduation and qualification statistic.

Ministry Objectives

The MEES objectives and intended outcomes focus on the following areas:

• Graduation and Qualifications
• Equity – reducing the achievement gap between groups
• Language Proficiency – increase proficiency on grade 4
• Educational Path – reduce delay on entry to high school
• Living Environment – all schools in good condition

The table below outlines the MEES objectives, targets and indicators.

Western Québec Data and Targets for MEES Objectives

The table below outlines the Ministry objectives, the WQSB school board data and targets.

Western Québec Objectives, Targets and Indicators

In addition to the MEES objectives, the Western Québec School Board has chosen to set objectives in the following areas: success at end of elementary cycles in core subjects of English, Math and French; success on MEES uniform exams in secondary 4 and 5; proportion of students registered in secondary 5 on September 30 of a given year who obtain a diploma in June of the same year.

MEES Orientations

The Western Québec School Board is also responsible for addressing the following two orientations.

To ensure the successful implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the commitment to success plan, the Western Québec School Board will develop action plans and provide support for both the MEES mandated objectives and the board objectives. Progress on the plan will be communicated to the system and stakeholders in the annual report.

School Board Declaration Regarding the Level and Quality of Services Offered

The Western Québec School Board provides educational programming to learners from the age of four to eighty! Our services include 4-year-old kindergartens in approved socio-economic disadvantaged schools, passe-partout and regular 5-year-old kindergartens as well as elementary and secondary education. Our Adult Education and Vocational Training Centres offer adult general education leading to secondary studies diplomas, pre-requisites for further education and ministry authorized vocational training programs. Western Québec also provides reference, referral and support, and counselling services to adults in its regions as well as customized training and business services.

The Western Québec School Board is committed to student success by providing quality of opportunity to all and an equitable distribution of resources. Our framework for success, the four directions, reinforces our core purpose and commitment to all students achieving full potential. Each of our four strategic directions and system alignment goals are focused to ensure that all of our decisions are based on individual student achievement. As such, the Western Québec School Board declares the following:

• The Western Québec School Board is a knowledge-managed organization committed to individual student achievement and each student achieving to full potential.
• The Western Québec School Board provides a safe and secure learning environment for students and staff.
• The Western Québec School Board is committed to the highest quality of teaching and learning.
• The Western Québec School Board is committed to providing all its students access to services that support learning success.
• The Western Québec School Board cultivates staff learning and growth in a culture of best practices.
• The Western Québec School Board has a formal complaints and resolution process.

Complaints Procedure

By-law 18, which establishes procedures for the examination of complaints, can be found on this page.