A gathering of teachers at Maclean Hall

VANCOUVER-In an effort to create an opportunity for teachers from all the different departments at the school to meet together, the St. George’s faculty now hosts monthly collaborative meetings. The meetings are meant to serve as briefings and whole-staff professional development. As well as being beneficial for teachers, the meetings are also enthusiastically welcomed by the students.

The Faculty Collaboration Meetings (FCM) take place approximately every month, and are attended by all staff who come in direct contact with students. The first meeting took place on Monday, September 24th. They are held early in the morning from 8:00-8:55. As a result, on the days of the meetings school will start 30 minutes later than usual. The FCMs are held in the morning to avoid conflict with co-curricular activities.  During the meetings the faculty collaborate on a number of issues but mainly focus on improving the educational experiences of the students. A variety of issues are discussed such as 21st century learning, experiential learning, and off-site learning.

“It’s a sacred time for us to come together as a faculty,” claimed Mr. Lawrence, the interim principal at the school. Mr. Lawrence is also in charge of heading the FCMs.

“I think it’s a step in the right direction, because it’s hard for teachers to find time to work together on important issues,” commented Ms.Gin, a teacher in her first year at St. George’s. “I feel like it’s the right amount of time and the perfect time of day for such a meeting.”

With school starting 30 minutes later because of the collaboration meetings, students are quite excited about the change as well. Matthew Lee, a grade 10 student said, “it’s great that we can go to school 30 minutes late, but I hope that they announce it at assembly so I won’t forget about it.”

The FCMs are held in Maclean Hall.