Updates from Andrew Cross
Andrew Cross, our Head of School, will send out monthly communications to the community to provide insights and updates into all the happenings during the school year; opportunities for students, parents, faculty, staff, alumni and board members to participate and engage with the school community; and to celebrate milestones as we achieve them. These communications will be placed here for easy access should you wish to reflect back.
Please select an update you would like to read:
November 9, 2023
For this edition of Updates from the Head I would like to shine a spotlight on our new strategic pillar of Innovation. According to the Collins English Dictionary, “innovate” means “to introduce changes and new ideas in the way something is done or made”.
This is an easy word to include in a Strategic Plan, but it has little value unless it is visible in the daily practices and culture of an organization. For this reason, I am particularly proud of what has already been achieved here at TMS, and we will only intensify these efforts as we move forward.
“The children of today will make all the discoveries of tomorrow. All the discoveries of humankind will be known to them and they will improve what has been done and make fresh discoveries…The future generation must not only know how to do what we can teach them, they must be able to go a step further.”
Maria Montessori
The 1946 London Lectures
Both the Montessori and IB pedagogies are committed to the notion of cultivating innovation in learning. As one of the few schools to offer both, we celebrate the educational journey we offer to the innovators of tomorrow.
Maria Montessori was an innovator and forward thinker who believed that we must help the child adapt to their place and time. The pedagogy she created over 100 years ago and its understanding of the developmental stages of children has not changed. What has changed are the external and societal influences on our children.
Fundamental to our practice is creating a community of collaboration and ensuring that we support the pursuit of academics through the lens of inquiry, innovation and a child centered approach.
Here are some ways we are currently seeing innovation in learning at our Lower School:
- Observing the unique and unanticipated ways our Toddlers use new materials in our play spaces including a versatile sand/water/sensory table, Montessori stairs, balance beams, and a Pikler climber.
- Cultivating new techniques for breathing, calming strategies, wellness and positivity with our Children’s House students through Mindfulness Circles as a way to help students manage the transition back to school.
- Encouraging our Elementary students to use their “heads, hearts and hands” as they approach problems to think critically, feel openly and take action for the betterment of others. Some of the work planned this year includes:
- Introducing a design thinking partnership with Boreal Farms to find solutions to food insecurity and building a foundation for the TMS Schulich Innovation and Entrepreneurial Experience.
- Promoting experiential learning and exploration of real world projects through community partnerships and initiatives across the grade levels.
- Introducing our new Integrated Arts program to make meaningful connections between disciplines.
An innovator needs to have competencies like creativity, critical thinking, communication, strategic thinking, digital literacy and problem solving to find and develop creative solutions for the complex world in which we live. Every IB course fosters the development of these skills, and uses design thinking as a backbone to do so.
Here are some ways we are currently seeing innovation in learning at our Upper School:
- The TMS Schulich partnership and the extension of the student projects into their CAS (Creative, Action, Service) and/or Personal Project (PP) studies.
- Our design thinking program is delivered through the design technology curriculum from Grades 7-10.
- Real life experiences so that learning is both engaging and authentic including:
- Upper School students designing chairs for Toddlers
- Grade 10 students designing Canadian currency notes and bills through a lens of inclusion and diversity that are then judged by a panel from the RCMP.
- The DECA competition where students design business solutions to real life case studies
We are excited by the possibilities of continuing to build a culture of innovation in all our practices as we know that is the foundation on which to prepare our students for life after TMS.
I invite you to read more about our Innovation Pillar and the goals we have set for ourselves this year:
October 4, 2023
I am pleased to share with you a brand new section to our school website, the Road to Lauremont School Information Hub. This is an exciting step forward in the life of our school and we hope you will find it useful as you move through its different sections. It has taken some time to create and we wanted to ensure that it addresses all of the elements and information that our community will need as we move forward with our new name in the summer of 2024 and our new Strategic Direction. Your patience has been greatly appreciated. This site will continue to evolve and grow as we add material in the coming weeks and months, so please do be sure to check in regularly for updates. We would love to hear your feedback on your experience of using this site so that we can ensure it meets your needs.
To give you a brief roadmap of the site, it includes the following tabs:
Updates from the Head
Monthly articles focusing on various aspects of our name change and new Strategic Direction from the Head of School. The first one is on the theme of Innovation and can be found by clicking on “Updates from the Head.”
Our School Story
This section touches briefly on the history of TMS over the years and then focusses on the elements of the community survey which contributed to the new strategic direction of the school.
Our Strategic Pillars
Clicking on this tab will take you to information about our new Strategic Pillars of Innovation, Sustainability and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.
Journey Milestones
This section shows the exciting events and special moments relating to the preparation and roll-out of our new Strategic Direction and name change on a monthly basis.
Upcoming Events
As you know, we have a very full calendar of community activities at TMS! Click on this tab to sign up for Coffee Mornings with the Head, and learn about other very special events like the Holiday Marketplace and the opening of our new Middle School. More events will be added as we move through the year together.
FAQs about Lauremont
Here you can click on a list of questions and become better informed on a range of topics relating to the new Strategic Direction and name change.
As always, you are welcome to write to me at: strategicdirection@tmsschool.ca with any questions, feedback, comments or concerns.
I wish you and your families a restful and enjoyable Thanksgiving Weekend, and stay well.
Sincerely,
Andrew Cross
Head of School