River East Transcona School Division: A Comprehensive Approach to Supporting Attendance, Presence and Engagement

River East Transcona School Division (RETSD) continues to demonstrate strong leadership and intentional system-wide action to improve student attendance, presence, and engagement. Our work aligns closely with the province’s focus on early identification, targeted intervention, and removing barriers that prevent students from regularly attending and engaging in school.

Strategic Investment in Staffing and Capacity
 RETSD has made deliberate staffing investments to strengthen both prevention and intervention supports across the division. This includes:

• Two Safe Schools Consultants providing system-level leadership and coordination, with a portion of their portfolio assigned to supporting attendance, presence and engagement.
• Nine Attendance Youth Care Workers embedded in schools to support students experiencing chronic and severe chronic absenteeism through relationship-based, student-centred approaches.
• One Divisional Social Work Clinician with the responsibility to support attendance at the early years level.
• Partnership with ACES (Attendance Counselling & Education Services Inc.) to contract an Attendance Support Worker who liaises between school teams and families in communities across the division.

Building Staff Knowledge and Consistent Practice

Recognizing that attendance is a shared responsibility across school roles, RETSD has invested significantly in professional learning to build a common understanding and consistent practice:

• Professional development for all clerical staff to strengthen attendance tracking, communication with families, and early identification of concerns.
• Division-wide professional learning for school administrators, reinforcing attendance as a leadership priority and supporting consistent, trauma-informed responses.
• Professional Development for Student Services staff (including school counsellors, resource teachers and clinicians), reinforcing their role in supporting school-wide and student-specific support for presence and engagement.
• Creating a Culture of Attendance Toolkit is currently being developed by a divisional committee of classroom teachers, which will include universal strategies and accompanying lesson plans.

Student-Centred and Strengths-Based Interventions
 RETSD has implemented a range of practical, student-focused strategies designed to reduce barriers and re-engage learners:

• Celebratory letters sent to students when they return to school, reinforcing belonging and positive connection rather than punishment.
• Attendance assemblies that promote the importance of being present while celebrating improvement and effort.
• A Walking School Bus program, supporting safe, consistent access to school while strengthening relationships and routine.
• Co-planning with families and student-specific planning meetings that centre student voice, family context, and individualized supports.

Innovative Programming and Flexible Pathways

To meet diverse student needs, RETSD has expanded flexible learning options and supports:

• The Bear Den, an online learning program that provides an alternative pathway for students who may struggle with regular attendance in traditional settings.
• Continued review and refinement of division-wide data collection to better understand trends, target supports, and monitor progress over time.

Improved Systems and Data-Informed Planning
 RETSD has strengthened its internal systems to support students experiencing severe chronic absenteeism:

• Development of a student planning template within their student information system, specifically designed to support coordinated planning for students with complex attendance challenges at the school and divisional level.
• Increased alignment between school-level planning and divisional oversight to ensure early intervention and sustained follow-up. 

Early Signs of Impact
As a result of this comprehensive and coordinated approach, RETSD is beginning to see positive trends in student attendance data, reinforcing that sustained investment in relationships, capacity-building, and flexible supports can make a meaningful difference for students and families.