SchoolsPlus | Nova Scotia Public School Program

SchoolsPlus is an integrated service delivery model for services offered to children, youth and their families.

The vision of SchoolsPlus is to serve as a center of service delivery, bringing together professionals, community partners, and other service providers to help children, youth and their families overcome barriers, and navigate services while seeking opportunities for enrichment to help students fulfill their potential.

SchoolsPlus is a model rather than a program; however many programs are offered by the SchoolsPlus staff and their partners. The model is intended to leverage existing services through navigation and service brokerage, reduce duplication, increase knowledge around service gaps and help identify collective strategies to address service gaps. SchoolsPlus provides a range of mental health and social emotional supports and services as well as other services such as mentoring, social work, after school programing, homework support, parent support, recreational and justice services into schools where students and families can easily access them. SchoolsPlus offers students and their families the support and services they need, in a safe, inclusive space. SchoolsPlus welcome students and families to dedicated spaces within schools (SchoolsPlus hubs and community rooms).

The school staff team include SchoolsPlus Facilitator/Lead, who are professional Social Workers, SchoolsPlus Community Outreach Workers, and SchoolsPlus Mental Health Clinicians. The SchoolsPlus Mental Health Clinicians are employees of the NSHA and IWK, and are co-located within schools, which is a major step forward in an integrated service delivery model. The SchoolsPlus team work with a wide range of education, health, justice and social service providers, in a location that is convenient and accessible for families. Within this broad mandate, SchoolsPlus offers individual case management and wraparound support to children, youth and families requiring more intensive services.

A SchoolsPlus common consent form and Information Sharing Guidelines was created and approved by the deputies of the Departments of Education and Early Childhood Development, Justice, Community Services, and Health and Wellness, the CEOs of the NSHA and IWK, and Regional Centres for Education/CSAP.

SchoolsPlus is supported through governance and advisory structures including Regional Advisory Committees, and a Provincial Steering Committee. Regional Advisory Committees are formed at the local level with representation from government departments (Health and Wellness, Education and Early Childhood Development, Community Services, and Justice), and non-government and community organizations. The purpose of the committee is to identify opportunities to enhance and expand the array of services and programs for children, youth, and their families, and the identification of gaps in services. At the Provincial level, the Steering Committee meet quarterly to share best practices, and create alignment for the ongoing need for the identification of barriers for services, as well as transformational opportunities to collaborate.

References

SchoolsPlus

The Nova Scotia Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (EECD) recognizes and endorses the basic right of all students to full and equal participation in education as individuals.

The right to a meaningful education is a fundamental human right of every person. Nova Scotia public education is designed with all learners in mind with an emphasis on the value of diversity in learning and an understanding of various perspectives. Learning happens best when all students are accepted, understood and valued for their unique talents, skills and assets.

Inclusive education is a commitment to ensuring a high quality, culturally and linguistically responsive and equitable education to support the development, wellbeing and learning (academic achievement) of all learners. In an inclusive learning community, every learner feels they belong – accepted, safe, and valued so they can best learn and succeed.

This requires:

Commitment to excellence in supporting the well-being and overall academic success of all students

Teaching and supports, based on evidence, that focus on students’ physical, social-emotional, and behavioral well-being and that promotes well-being and academic development

Promoting the independence of all students and developing their resilience as they progress through their academic careers

Focus on equity by supporting success for students who are historically marginalized, racialized, or come from other groups that have been traditionally underrepresented and underserved

Stimulating learning opportunities to keep all students engaged, challenged, and inspired

Ensuring that all students see themselves reflected throughout their schools and within their learning

Safe, caring schools to welcome parents/guardians, families, and the broader community as key partners. Parents are particularly important in identifying the strengths, interests, and challenges of their children and in working with teachers and others in the school to determine the best way to support them

Partners, (health, community services, and justice), who work together to meet students’ needs in a culturally and linguistically responsive, accepting, respectful, and supportive manner that honours each student’s cultural and linguistic identity and values their experiences and ways of knowing

The following guiding principles show the desired state that all partners in education should strive to achieve.

Inclusive education is a commitment to the well-being and achievement of every student

Every student can learn with enough time, practice and equitable and responsive teaching

All students are entitled to full-day instruction every day, with flexibility based on the student’s individual needs

All students are entitled to be taught within a common learning environment (e.g., classroom) with their peers within the community school, with flexibility based on the student’s individual needs.

Inclusive education values student voices and choices in achieving their goals

Each student deserves to belong (affirmed, validated, and nurtured), be safe, and feel welcomed in all aspects of their daily experience

Validate – The intentional legitimatization of the home culture and language of the student.
Affirm – The purposeful effort to reverse the negative stereotypes, images, and representations of marginalized cultures and languages.

Inclusive education practices use evidence of students’ strengths and needs to determine a system of supports

All partners are committed and empowered to work collectively to identify and overcome barriers that interfere with student well-being and success