Over the last 15 years, FMPS has grown in its diversity and now welcomes approximately 550 students from a variety of cultures, backgrounds and life experiences. We offer a safe, empathetic and supportive space for all students. We meet each student where they are at and recognize their individual learning needs in order to foster their social and academic success. We also support students’ mental health, as well as those with special education needs such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Developmental Delay, Global Delay, speech impairments, and physical disabilities as we work diligently to ensure that each child in our care reaches their full academic and social potential. The diverse needs in our school are met by our staff through a variety of strategies and methods.
Our inclusive and supportive approach also encourages the involvement of parents/guardians in their child’s education and in our school activities. This practice fosters a culture of respect and belonging, as well as the opportunity to learn about and accept individual differences.
Our student population reflects the diversity of Canadian culture and consists of children from a variety of backgrounds and races, including those from Black, East Asian, First Nations, Indigenous, Inuit, Métis, Latin, Middle Eastern, South Asian, South East Asian and European descent.
We have started the process of collecting data from our families to better understand who makes up our school community. From the 2019-2020 Valuing Voices-Identity Matters! survey, some FMPS participants identified their ethnic/cultural origins. These include, but are not limited to:
At Farley Mowat PS, many of our students speak another language other than English and French. Some of these languages include, but are not limited to Albanian, Algonquin, Arabic, Bengali, Cantonese, Chinese, Dari, Dutch, French, Farsi, Greek, Korean, Mandarin, Pashto, Portuguese, Punjabi, Russian, Serbian, Serbo-Croatian, Somali, Spanish, Tamil, Turkish, Urdu, and Vietnamese. Students from our community also share a variety of connections to religious, creed and spiritual affiliations, including Agnostic, Atheism, Buddhism, Christianity, Orthodox Christianity, Hinduism, Indigenous Spirituality, Judaism, Islam, and Sikhism.
In a recent school-based survey, focusing specifically on which holidays, celebrations and traditions are observed by our parents and students, participants from our school community shared the days of significance that are celebrated by their families. Communication through social media, morning announcements, and weekly FMPS Wolf Pack Messages to parents, acknowledge the various holidays and celebrations that our school community participates in. We work with families to best support their children during various times throughout the year to ensure that their well-being, spiritual, physical and academic needs are met. We encourage our students and parents/guardians to communicate with staff any accommodations required due to religious holidays, celebrations or traditions observed. Some of the celebrations and holidays that our families participate in include:
At FMPS, our ultimate goal is to celebrate and recognize the diversity of our staff and student population, and to create a space where everyone feels valued, safe and respected and to prepare students to achieve success in life and to develop the skills and characteristics as outlined in the OCDSB Exit Outcomes. In our recent community survey, parents/guardians acknowledged some of the work that FMPS is engaged in and shared the following:
“The FMPS staff are very conscious of the different cultural backgrounds at the school. I often hear the teachers inviting their children to discuss family traditions with the class - it's great to see them model a genuine interest (and respect) for the diversity in our school, so the kids learn and adopt the same attitude. Well done!”
“I think FMPS does a great job at recognizing and making mention of the various holidays and days of significance.”
Through a variety of learning opportunities, our students and staff are actively involved in discussions related to social justice, diversity, inclusivity, anti-racism and equity. We are engaged in work related to examining, reflecting and identifying our own unconscious biases, and we continually strive to implement culturally responsive instructional strategies. This includes purchasing culturally relevant materials and engaging in ongoing professional dialogue related to these important issues. We reach out and make use of community and District resources to enrich the learning for our students, and we anchor our work in the goals outlined in the OCDSB Indigenous, Equity and Human Rights Roadmap. Recently, our students engaged in a virtual “The Saidat Show” learning experience which focused specifically on Black History Month. We continue to look for ways to ensure that all students see themselves in their learning, and this includes ensuring that culturally responsive resources are being used and implemented on a daily basis.
We recognize that in order for students to reach their full potential, both academically and socially, they need to feel safe, and have an overall positive experience in school. In the 2019-2020 Valuing Voices-Identity Matters! survey, 78% of 150 participants shared that their child always/often feels happy and they enjoy their daily activities at school while 85% indicated that their child feels a positive sense of belonging. We recognize that over time this data may change and it is up to our staff to be flexible and adjust to the needs of our community.
In our 2018-2019 school climate survey, some of our students shared a few comments about their experiences at FMPS:
“One thing I like about this school is how diverse this school is.”
“What I like about this school is that everyone in the school is very nice and that the teachers really understand you and make you feel safe and trustworthy.”
“My teacher always wants me to learn a lot of stuff and to never give up”.
We are proud of the ongoing equity and inclusive learning that our staff, students and parent community have engaged in so far, and we look forward to strengthening this journey in the years to come with our entire Wolf Pack community.
Data collected from Valuing Voices - Identity Matters! Survey 2019-2020 and FMPS Community Survey April 2021