Our school Child Development Advisor (CDA) provides the school community with support regarding social and emotional health. Working in a proactive role, the CDA focuses on the strengths of each child and encourages the development of skills important for success at school. The CDA offers individual support or small group support to those students who may benefit from it. The CDA also facilitates opportunities for the general school population to take part in large group activities. These activities focus on developing positive interpersonal skills as well as promoting health and safety.
Our CDA serves to support students and families in the following ways:
- Referrals (counselling services and other programs outside of school)
- Assessments for Suicide risk, non-suicidal self-injury and risk assessments such as threats of violence (with VTRA Team)
- Individual counseling for grief/loss, anxiety, anger, big emotions, stress, family issues, friendship issues, absenteeism etc.
- Supply access – school supplies, clothing etc.
- Providing a safe space or alternative space for kids who are having a rough day
- Small Social Emotional Learning classroom lessons on request
- Facilitating and supporting Children's Healing Arts Time (CHAT)
- Providing Snacks and Lunches
- Listening/Caring Tails
- School Safety Patrol
- Consult on making a call to Child and Family Services (CFS)
The CDA holds meetings with teachers and administration to assess the individual needs of the students. They also make arrangements to involve outside agencies and make referrals to Rocky View Schools in order to access the support of their specialized staff. It is vital that all members of the school community are able to access the support of the school CDA. Once this contact has been made the CDA will set up a meeting in order to determine how best to support the student.
Child Development Advisor
Listening Tails
Listening Tails is a program designed to help young children improve their reading skills and confidence in reading out loud by reading to therapy dogs. The success of the program stems from the fact that dogs love the attention they receive by children reading to them and are non-judgemental listeners. - Community Therapy Dog Society