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Mindfulness Workshops for School Councils

Mindfulness Workshops for School Councils

Stay tuned for the upcoming 2024-2025 School Council Innovation Grant!

Grants for School Councils

Since March 2006, the Ontario Ministry of Education has been providing funding to school councils and regional parent groups to encourage parent involvement. Individual school councils have access to Parent Involvement Committee (PIC) grants which is explained in the section below.

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Please fill out the form below if you wish to be kept informed of when the applications for the School Council Grants are open, and if you wish to chat with us about an idea for your submission. We would be pleased to help. 

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PIC Grants

Each school council receives $500 to assist with parent communication and other parent engagement efforts. Schools with both an intermediate (Grades 7-8) and secondary (Grades 9-11) stream receives $500 for each, for a total of $1,000.

The Ministry provides this money to the school board, which in turn works with the Parent Involvement Committee (PIC) to distribute the funds through budget allocations provided to each school administration. The School Council should collaboratively decide how the money is to be spent.  All funds are to be spent on activities that support or enhance parental involvement, parental engagement, in-person and virtually, or on improved communication between the school and home. 

Some ideas for spending this Parent Involvement funding that support Mindfulness include:

Eligible PIC and PRO Activities or Initiatives

Initiatives that identify and address local barriers to parent engagement and may include, but not limited to:
✓ Development of parent resources (e.g., leadership resource for parents, resources addressing well-being, mental
health, etc.);
✓ Delivery of parent information sessions (e.g., how to support children and families at home; transition to high school, etc.);
✓ Creating a parent lending library (e.g., books, curriculum documents, pamphlets, information packages, that provide parents with information and strategies to assist their children).

Projects must be completed by May 16, 2025

Mindfulness Everyday, as a long-time partner with the TDSB, and an approved vendor with TCDSB, YRDSB, YRCSB, is experienced at providing workshops that focus on supporting student well-being at school and supporting parents and care-givers with authentic, practical skills and strategies that are of benefit to their families at home. 

  • School Councils may submit one request for support up to $1,500 to support innovative (the development of new ideas) projects/activities that engages parents/caregivers (in-person, virtual and hybrid) and builds School Councils’ parents/caregivers/guardians capability around:
  • Anti-Black racism
  • Anti-Indigenous racism
  • Anti-racism
  • Equity/anti-oppression
  • Food sovereignty
  • Human Rights
  • Mental health and well-being
  • Creating safe spaces of belonging (tackling bullying and violence)
  • Engaging parents/caregivers in early literacy and numeracy

To learn more about the grant thematic areas, please visit the FAQ tab. 

School Councils may collaborate and submit one application; however, allocation will remain at a maximum of $1,500 per school. NOTE: Collaborative projects must submit one application, however, please ensure the following criteria are provided:

  • The contact information provided in the application is the lead School Council of the project
  • The roles and responsibilities of each School Council in the collaborative project must be provided in the project description
  • The amount requested by each school for their part in the collaborative project must be provided in the project description (maximum $1500)
  • Funds awarded will be deposited in the lead School Council’s Cc #xxxx0565 and GL #41500 account.
  • Responsibility of all collaborating School Councils to submit all invoices for reimbursement to the lead School Council no later than May 31, 2024 

Eligibility

 

Projects/Initiatives will be required to:

  • Demonstrate a commitment to respecting the role of all parents/caregivers in students’ educational experiences by addressing, racism anti-Black racism and anti-indigenous racism and centering the voices of racialized parents/caregivers, and elders
  • Provide spaces for the voices of racialized parents/caregivers, to address issues of equity anti-oppression, and human rights
  • Create a sense of belonging within the school environment by acknowledging and valuing parents/caregivers’ identities and assets, ensuring their representation and reflection in all spaces, activities, and the building
  • Respect parents/caregivers as co-collaborators with teachers by ensuring their identities are embedded in the curriculum
  • Contribute to raising awareness around local food production, and building skills around planting, growing, harvesting, budgeting and distribution in a way that is sustainable in the long term
  • Increase affordable local food system control, including access to fresh and healthy food
  • Demonstrating a clear and measurable impact on improving mental health outcomes
  • Engaging parents and caregivers in early literacy and numeracy
  • Establishing safe and inclusive environments where individuals feel a sense of belonging and are empowered to prevent and address bullying and violence
  • Projects must be completed by May 31, 2025
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