Village of Attachment
Post submitted by Bev Ogilvie and Steve Cairns
Byrne Creek Community Secondary School is committed to its culture of teacher collaboration. A weekly dedicated time slot is used by teams of staff to discuss student achievement and develop support plans. One student support plan was The Village of Attachment. Over six months, a group of staff met to learn the foundations and employ the strategies of this powerful paradigm.
Drawing on neuroscience, social science and developmental approaches, district counselor Bev Ogilvie and retired principal Steve Cairns, founders of the program, embrace the African proverb that it takes a whole village to raise a child. The village is a web of adults who are committed to the cause of connectedness in our homes, schools, and communities. Their belief is that it is vitally important that adults be in the lead with children, that we are a child's beacon, his north star, his lighthouse, his compass. When adults are in the alpha position, children are able to rest in this