MOOSE JAW — Students can sometimes lash out in violent or threatening ways at school, which is why staff in Holy Trinity Catholic School Division train almost annually to handle those situations proactively.
Sarah Phipps, superintendent of learning, presented a student services accountability report during the February board meeting that summarized her department’s many activities. Some include training staff to handle violence, threats, traumatic events, crises, CPR, First Aid, suicide and mental health.
Holy Trinity has used a training program for years called Violent Threat Risk Assessment (VTRA) that is evolving into At Risk to Others (ARTO) training, Phipps said. This is happening because the Alberta company that offers the training, the North American Centre for Threat Assessment and Trauma Response, has rebranded to the Centre for Trauma Informed Practices (CTIP).
School administrators, teachers and support staff take two levels of VTRA training, with two in-house staff providing level 1 training and refresher courses; those two trainers updated their skills in April 2024. CTIP then provides level 2 training.
The report shows that 13 administrators, eight teachers and two support staff have taken level 1 VTRA training and 11 administrators, three teachers, and one support staff have taken level 2 VTRA training.
All school administrators must have level 1 and 2 training, while a minimum of two people per school must be trained in VTRA/ARTO, the report said.
“The training is there for us in leadership at schools to recognize when a threat is viable, to look at the different levels of threats and the different plausibility of threats,” said Phipps. “And then the supports that need to be brought in in order for students to have the best outcome where they are not at risk to others.”
The division tells parents that the training also helps staff determine whether students are risks to themselves, she continued. The training enables teachers to step in when needed, such as when they find a threatening letter or hear verbal threats.
Phipps noted that Holy Trinity signed an updated Community Threat Assessment and Support Protocol (COMTAST) with several community partners in October 2024, which means the organization works with all of them when a VTRA incident occurs.
Meanwhile, the division offers traumatic events systems (TES) training, which helps staff lead teams and students through incidents and how to address those situations in the short-, medium- and long-terms, including anniversaries, said Phipps.
The report noted that eight administrators, five teachers and one support staff have taken TES training.
Furthermore, two employees provide non-violent crisis intervention training (NCI) every three years — January 2024 was the most recent training — to all teachers and EAs directly involved with children.
Such students could be non-verbal and communicate physically, like hitting a desk, so staff learn when to intervene before the student becomes violent, said Phipps. The training can also be used to calm an angry parent or coach.
The report said 10 administrators, 30 teachers and 28 support staff have taken NCI training.
Ward Strueby, director of education, pointed out that the training says there’s no such thing as students who just snap. Instead, the growth of their anger or frustration is similar to shaking a pop can. Therefore, the training helps staff know when to intervene before that pop can explodes.
Phipps’ report also highlighted the division’s CPR and First Aid training, which requires re-training every three years; the last session was in January. Moreover, each school must have at least two trained staff members.
The data show that eight administrators, 20 teachers and 20 support staff have CPR/First Aid training.
Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) helps staff identify and handle a child with suicidal ideation. Each school must have one employee trained in this program; the four new people were trained in November.
The data show that 11 administrators, 17 teachers and four support staff have this training.
Mental Health First Aid is for adults who interact with young people, while the training is a priority for administrators and is offered to all interested staff; four were trained recently.
The data show that 12 administrators, 31 teachers and 14 support staff have this training.
