Gender Diversity at KCS

Posted on February 19, 2020 by tdrummondkcs

We often talk about how our students are growing up in a world that is very different from the one we grew up in. The most obvious change is the rapid pace of technological development and the impact it has had on us as a society. But I think there is another change that is just as significant and far-reaching, and that’s the way we now approach the idea of diversity and inclusivity.

While previous generations opened up the conversation around racism and sexism, the conversation these days is centered more broadly on the idea of intersectionality, which is a complicated word that simply means that everyone’s lived experience is different. We all have a unique history and story that are grounded in our ethnicity, culture, faith, gender, and sexuality. These are elements that we have always tried to talk openly about with our students, as we want them to build a deep and authentic sense of empathy for everyone they will meet in their lives.

Over the past few years, we have widened this conversation to include both mental health and the experience of Indigenous peoples. This year, we have made a conscious choice to further widen that conversation by developing our faculty and staff’s understanding of gender diversity.

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Back at the start of January, every member of the KCS faculty and staff took part in an extensive workshop on gender diversity that was run by facilitators from The 519 – a Toronto organization that promotes inclusion and respect of the LGBTQ2S community. It was an eye-opening experience for many of us, as it asked us to challenge our own lived experiences and our understanding of what it means to be a “boy” or a “girl”.

To understand gender diversity, you have to realize that there is a difference between one’s biological sex and one’s gender. Biological sex is the category we are placed in at birth, based on discernable physical characteristics. Gender is the identity or “face” we show the world. It’s really about each person’s sense of their own gender identity, which may or may not align with their physical biology. It’s also worth noting that gender is not always a simple binary distinction (i.e., masculine/feminine) – it can be much more fluid and complex.

With a student population of approximately 400 each year, we know that we have 400 different individuals in our school, all of whom are on their own unique emotional journeys. We know that kids can only learn when they feel that they belong and are accepted. We must meet our students where they are, and the simple fact is that we will always have students who do not neatly fit into the traditional preconceived notions of gender.

So, if we want to be as inclusive as possible, then we have to keep trying our best to make KCS a brave space where every individual can talk openly about who they are, regardless of their ethnicity, culture, faith, gender, and/or sexuality. This means being aware of the language we use and the preconceptions we carry around with us. We know that these kinds of conversations can make some people uncomfortable, but we also know that it’s the right thing to do. Our students deserve to feel accepted and understood, and they must also learn to accept and understand each other. In many ways, it’s the most important lesson they’ll learn during their time at KCS.

– Tamara Drummond

If you wish to learn more about any of our diversity and inclusion initiatives, please reach out to Tamara Drummond, Director of Student Life, at tdrummond@kcs.on.ca. If you would like resources to discuss these issues with your own child in age-appropriate language, please speak to our librarians (or visit our online gender diversity collection) for books that can help start the conversation.

Be the ‘I’ in Kind

Posted on October 10, 2019 by tdrummondkcs

“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.” – Aesop

Initiated in 1992 by the World Federation for Mental Health, October 10 is recognized in over 150 countries as World Mental Health Day. The purpose of World Mental Health Day is “raising awareness of mental health issues around the world and mobilizing efforts in support of mental health.”

Here at KCS, we have made it a priority to do just that by promoting student well-being and educating both our students and our families about mental health. By recognizing World Mental Health Day and other events that promote mental health awareness, we can broaden everyone’s understanding about the importance of taking care of not only our physical health, but also our mental health.

The focus of World Mental Health Day this year is suicide prevention. This is a topic of great importance as more than 800,000 people die by suicide a year, making it the principal cause of death among people fifteen to twenty-nine years old. While we know this is a troubling and complex issue, we must do our part to help remove the stigma that surrounds talking about suicide and its impact on all age groups.

However, we also know that this is a challenging topic for many of our learners to understand, so we wanted to address the issue in an age-appropriate manner. Therefore, we have chosen to help recognize World Mental Health Day 2019 by inviting all of our school community to share in one simple message – being “The I in Kind.” One simple act of kindness can brighten someone’s day, let them know they matter and that someone cares about them. This gesture can make a significant difference in one’s day.

To help share this message, we hung a banner in our school lobby and are asking everyone to literally be the “I” in kind. Of course, this is not a new topic in our school, but this week our teachers have spent a little more time talking to the students about what it means to be kind and how it shows others that you care.

Students are being encouraged to “catch” each other being kind and then write about it. As well, we are encouraging everyone – students, faculty, staff, and parents – to take their picture in front of the banner, share it on social media, and spread the word about how sharing acts of kindness can also help spread awareness about the importance of mental health education.

Kind acts are like a stone thrown into a pond. The acts ripple outwards and have impacts we may never even know about. Every single one of us will have people in our lives who will struggle with mental health issues at some point. But when we talk about mental health, we help those in need feel less alone. And if we make the world a kinder place, we create ripples that can ease pain, give hope, and maybe even help save a life. I got caught being kind tamara i in kind

WHAT WILL YOU BE TALKING ABOUT ON JANUARY 30?

Posted on January 28, 2019 by tdrummondkcs

When we talk openly, accurately, and without judgement about mental health, we are making a difference for those who are affected by it. Who are those that are affected by mental health? As the tag line for Bell Let’s Talk Day has said for the past two years “Mental health affects us all.” Just like we all have physical health, we all have mental health. Just like we can all get physically ill or be in physical distress, we can all experience mental illness or mental distress. The more we know about mental health and the better we understand it, the more that we can help ourselves, our friends and family, and society at large access the supports and resources needed from both a prevention and an intervention standpoint.

As part of their message, Bell Let’s Talk promotes five ways to help end the stigma around mental illness:

Language matters
Be kind
Educate yourself
Listen and ask
Talk about it

One way we help promote such an understanding is through our Encouraging Dialogue speaker series. On Tuesday, January 29, we will be hosting Dr. Greg Wells, author of The Ripple Effect: Sleep Better, Eat Better, Move Better, Think Better. His talk is focused on the four stages of physical and mental wellness, how they are interconnected, and how simple changes can create a ripple effect that improves overall functioning. He will share this message with our grade 5 – 8 students in the afternoon, and then address our parents and the wider community that evening.

Talking about mental health is not something that we shy away from here at KCS. We understand the need to reduce the stigma around mental health and help everyone better understand that if you are experiencing a mental health issue you are not alone, you will not be judged, we will listen, and we will work with you and your family to get you the help and support that you need. Through avenues such as our Talk That Matters series for students, our above mentioned Encouraging Dialogue Speaker Series for parents and the wider community, Children’s Mental Health week, and Bell Let’s Talk day, we are able to educate and promote an understanding about mental health and overall wellness. But we aren’t going to stop there. We purposefully embed wellness, physical health, and mental health into what we do every day in all of our classes at every grade level. Discussions and learning about a variety of topics take place. Some such topics are: being active, healthy eating, getting enough sleep, and taking time for ourselves. Our students also learn about mindfulness, yoga, movement, other stress-reducing strategies and who we can talk to and what we can do if we aren’t feeling healthy.

To strengthen our understanding about mental health and how we can help someone who is in distress, beginning in 2013, all of our faculty and staff have been certified in Mental Health First Aid, a 16-hour course provided by the Mental Health Commission of Canada. This past August, we completed a refresher course. We are also all certified in Red Cross First Aid; however, ask any of our faculty or staff and they will tell you that they use what they learned in their mental health first aid far more frequently than what they learned in physical first aid.

To continue our students thinking about mental health, and in support of the important initiative of Bell Let’s Talk Day, we asked all of our students from PK through grade 8 to think about what they could say, what they could do, or how they or someone else might feel if they were experiencing a mental health issue. They shared those ideas by filling in a speech bubble, a hand, or a heart. Take a moment to look at the display in our front lobby and you will see our students are doing their part to reduce the stigma and understand that mental health matters.

On Wednesday, January 30, there will be a lot of talk about mental health. Please join the conversation and help raise awareness about and funds for mental health. However, I challenge you to keep the conversation going and make mental health part of what you talk about every day.

World Mental Health Day Every Day

Posted on October 10, 2018 by tdrummondkcs

“There is a growing recognition of the importance of helping young people build mental resilience, from the earliest ages, in order to cope with the challenges of today’s world.” – World Health Organization

October 10 is World Mental Health Day, a day set aside by the World Health Organization (WHO) to educate, increase awareness, and mobilize efforts to promote better mental health around the globe. This year, the focus for World Mental Health Day is Young People and Mental Health in a Changing World, a topic that is obviously near and dear to the hearts of everyone at KCS.

For far too long, mental health was seen something that mainly affected adults. It just wasn’t on the radar when it came to young kids. But one only has to glance at the statistics and facts provided by organizations such as CAMH to see that there is a clear need for families and schools to pay close attention to the mental health of our young people. Perhaps most telling of all is the fact that 70 per cent of mental health problems begin during childhood or adolescence.

Faced with numbers like that, it’s clear that we must continue to make mental health awareness a core component of our overall wellness strategies at KCS. Events like World Mental Health Day and the annual Bell “Let’s Talk” campaign certainly help to bring greater awareness and understanding that helps to reduce the stigma around mental illness. But it can’t stop at awareness. Any effective strategy must also include a proactive approach to both prevention and recovery.

We know that when children are given the skills that they need to foster resiliency and accept challenges as an obstacle they are able to work at to overcome, they are better equipped to cope with adversity and the inevitable bumps in the road of life. Because early intervention is key, learning these skills can and must begin at a very young age. When children learn and recognize that they do have the skills and the strength to pick themselves up and dust themselves off after something does not go as planned, they are building up that resiliency.

At KCS we recognize this and continue to make mental health a fundamental priority. Beginning right from PK, our students are encouraged to talk about and recognize their feelings. Social-emotional growth and development is an intentional component of our curriculum, and the adults in the building use those “teachable moments” to role model and discuss dealing with disappointment and asking for help. Our faculty and staff are certified in Mental Health First Aid, allowing us to recognize early warning signs and symptoms of mental distress, and assist our students in getting the help they need.

We also recognize that we need to help our entire school community better understand the importance of mental health and wellness. Through our Encouraging Dialogue Speaker Series, we have shared information about brain development, mental health, and our children, volunteerism and contributing to the community, moving from stress to strength, developing resiliency, internet, and online safety, and we will continue in January 2019 when Greg Wells – author of The Ripple Effect – comes to speak with us about our overall well-being. The more we talk about mental health, the better we understand its importance – not just on World Mental Health Day, but every day.

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Let’s Talk About Mental Health

Posted on January 25, 2018 by tdrummondkcs

It seems a day doesn’t go by that we aren’t reading or hearing about something related to mental health. Although what we read or hear is more often about insufficient services or concerning statistics, especially among youth, at least we are beginning the conversation! The more we talk about, educate, and promote an understanding around mental health, the more it will discourage people from seeing themselves or others struggling with a mental health issue as fundamentally different from anyone else.

As the tagline for this year’s Bell Let’s Talk Day says, “Mental Health Affects Us All.” Anyone can be affected by mental health concerns, at any age. A mental health problem occurs when thoughts or feelings continue for a long time, become overwhelming, and make it difficult to carry on with typical daily activities. Two people who are experiencing the same event, social circumstance, challenge or success in life will not react and respond in the same way. How they react and respond is influenced by many factors (biology, life events and experiences, personality, social circumstances, age, etc.), and even two siblings can have different reactions. However, we do know that everyone does better when they are surrounded by a community of people who are kind, compassionate, caring, and understanding. Being open in our thinking, willing to listen without judgement, and accurate in our understanding of what constitutes a mental health issue, allows us to help get or give the support needed.

Stress is a natural and healthy part of life. It keeps us safe, can help us concentrate, focus, get motivated, and even exhilarate us. However, if not kept in check, it can interfere with our ability to carry on with our daily activities, feel crippling, and even lead to further mental health issues. Our mental health is influenced by how we think and feel about life in general, how we cope with everyday stressors, how we feel about ourselves, how we deal with negative things that happen in our lives, and how we manage our emotions. If we have never had to deal with failure or mistakes, or if we are under the belief that if we aren’t happy or stress-free something must be “wrong” with us, when life throws us one of its inevitable curve balls, no matter how big or small, it could have a very negative impact on our mental health. Life is full of both positive and negative events, steps forward and setbacks, and having the strategies and tools to cope will influence how we react and respond, and how that affects our mental health.

When we talk openly, accurately, and without judgement about mental health and mental illness, we are promoting mental wellness and helping to reduce the stigma that surrounds it. By providing opportunities for failure and mistakes, we are teaching our children an important skill and helping to build resiliency. Learning to identify and manage emotions helps us to recognize in ourselves and others when a reaction does not seem to fit the situation. This understanding is something we strive to instill in our students and staff every day at KCS because we know that early diagnosis and intervention are key to helping when a mental health issue arises. Resiliency, positive thinking, self-efficacy, and recognizing and naming emotions won’t stop a mental health problem from occurring, but it will influence how we react and equip us to respond. That can make all the difference.

On Tuesday, January 30, we will be hosting our Encouraging Dialogue speaker series “Mental Wellness: Guiding our Children from Stress to Strength” in order to continue to better inform and educate our community about mental health. As is evinced by our sold-out evening, this is an important topic to discuss, better understand, and keep talking about.

Mental Health

What does Mental Health mean to you? Let’s talk about it!

Posted on January 26, 2016 by tdrummondkcs

Tomorrow, Wednesday, January 27, is Bell Let’s Talk Day. This is a day where Canadians are encouraged to talk, text, and tweet in order to help encourage conversation around mental health, increase awareness, reduce the stigma, and raise funds to support mental health initiatives across the country (to learn more, go to http://letstalk.bell.ca/en/ ).

Here at KCS, we have made it a priority to address the importance of mental health and wellness for our students and our staff. We strive to promote overall wellness through our programs, curriculum and extra-curricular offerings, and we’re determined to keep the conversation going every day. We encourage students to talk to their teachers, parents, or other adults in their lives when they are feeling as if something may not be quite right. We work to assure all of our students that if they choose to talk to someone here at KCS, they know the conversation will happen without judgement or the need to feel any shame for how they are feeling. And in doing so, we hope that this helps to reduce some of the stigma that exists around mental health.

Over the past couple of weeks, in grades 1 – 8 either your child’s health teacher or I have taken some time to talk about mental health. The conversations and lessons have been tailored to be age- and developmentally appropriate, and aligned with the Ministry of Education Health curriculum. As part of the lessons, and in following one of the Bell Let’s Talk initiatives of answering the question: “What Does Mental Health Mean to You?”, the students were asked to fill in a thought bubble to share their ideas around mental health. These are now displayed in our front lobby and throughout the school. Our youngest students framed their answers by telling what they do when they are worried about something; our grade 4s answered the question “What Makes me Happy?”; and our grade 5 to 8 students and many faculty explained what mental health means to them.

The answers are moving, insightful, and show that there is a growing understanding of what mental health and wellness means at KCS. These answers weren’t prompted; they came from the heart of everyone who chose to share their ideas. Read them, and be inspired to do your part to make sure this is a conversation that will continue each and every day. It is just that important.

Tamara Drummond
Director of Student Life

Bell Let’s Talk Day and Beyond

Posted on January 27, 2015 by tdrummondkcs

The statistics tell us that 1 in 5 Canadians will experience a mental health issue in their lifetime, yet 2 out of 3 of those individuals will never seek help, choosing instead to suffer in silence because of the stigma that surrounds mental health issues. That stigma stops people from getting the help that they need and can make those individuals feel even more isolated. But we can change that, and we’re encouraging our students to do so.

On Wednesday, January 28, our grade 7 and 8 students will join thousands of other students from grades 7 through 12 from across Canada as they participate in the Bell Let’s Talk Day webcast. This webcast will feature Clara Hughes, Michael Landsberg and other guests who will share their personal stories and help encourage those watching to work to end the stigma using Bell’s Let’s Talk 5 simple steps:

Language Matters
Educate Yourself
Be Kind
Listen and Ask
Talk About It

Although Bell Let’s Talk Day takes place on Wednesday, January 28^th, talking about mental health issues is not just a one day event. We encourage our students to have these conversations every day and we actively work to help them better understand what overall student wellness includes. If they can recognize when something just does not feel right, and they know that they will be listened to without shame or fear, then we’re doing our part to help reduce the stigma and encourage dialogue around such an important topic. We also know that prevention and early intervention are key for those experiencing a mental health issue. This was a reason why our school trained our faculty and staff in Mental Health First Aid during 2014. It is why we strive to promote overall student wellness through our programs, curriculum, and extra-curricular offerings. It is a reason why our Parent Network began the #KCS_TTM (Talk That Matters) Speaker Series for students this year. And finally, it is because knowing each and every one of the students at the school is important, not just for academic planning, but also to ensure that we can see when that conversation needs to happen as early intervention in the area of mental health is so important.

Tamara Drummond
Director of Student Life

Mental Health at KCS

Posted on September 2, 2014 by tdrummondkcs

According to Children’s Mental Health Ontario, in Canada, one person in three will experience a mental health problem in their lifetime and 70% of those mental health problems begin during childhood or adolescence. However, it also notes that mental health crises can be avoided with early intervention and support. At KCS, we are working hard to help provide some of that support.

When your children return to school on September 3rd all of our teaching staff and many of the non-teaching staff will have been certified in Mental Health First Aid. The rest will become certified as the year progresses. Just as physical first aid does not make one a health care professional, mental health first aid does not turn the faculty and staff into mental health professionals; however, what it does do is allow us to recognize signs and symptoms of a wide range of mental health concerns so we are better equipped to have a conversation with you about what we are seeing, as well as what some of the possible next steps may be. But this isn’t all we are doing.

We have been having the conversations about mental health for quite some time – our Encouraging Dialogue Speakers Series over the past three years have focused on mental health concerns in order to better educate our wider school community. Our Habits of Mind, Body, and Action and the three school rules (Respect, Manners and Try Your Best) help to provide balance, enable resilience, and create a common language that we can use to talk about what our students are experiencing and what they can do to help themselves and each other. Teachers attend weekly divisional meetings where, among many other topics, we discuss concerns that we may have and work together to best help the student(s) in need. Teachers attend workshops, conferences, take courses, participate in personal learning and reading to strengthen their understanding and awareness, and better their strategies for doing what is best for our students. Our small class sizes allow us to truly get to know each child, allowing us to recognize when something just doesn’t seem right. Class meetings are held where students can talk about what is going well, and what concerns they may have. During Health class and other instructional time, teachers use the Steps to Respect or Second Steps program, along with other resources, to help provide their students with skills in areas such as stress reduction, dealing with disappointment, sharing successes, navigating friendships and positive relationships, dealing with bullying, and negotiation and compromise.

In September of 2013, a new position was established at KCS, Director of Student Life, so that there would be a designated person, a trained counsellor, to address the needs of the students and provide them support and guidance.

You may recall Andrea Fanjoy’s blog about our Student Voice this past spring. We asked the students to let us know how they perceived the health and wellness at KCS and what we could do to make it better. We listened, and we have put some of those ideas into action – being physically, socially, emotionally, and intellectually healthy makes us mentally healthy as well.

But most importantly, what we are doing about mental health at KCS is talking about it and working to end the stigma. As Clara Hughes said when promoting Clara’s Big Ride “Let’s turn mental illness into mental wellness”. By having the conversation we are helping to do just that.

Over the pasts few years, schools and businesses across the country have begun to make positive steps towards this goal. KCS belongs to the Canadian Accredited Independent Schools (CAIS). Each year, CAIS holds a conference for Heads and Chairs in October. One of the speakers at this year’s conference is Eric Windeler, from The Jack Project, who will speaking on the topic of mental health, and explaining why it should be a school’s top priority.

If you have any questions on this topic, please come in and speak to us. For further information and additional reading please see the following websites.