The book "The Circles Around Us" was the theme for the beginning of the 2023-24 school year. It helped to re-ground staff and students in our school wide language of Care for Self, Others, and Place that came to life at the end of last school year. Each class in the school was read the book through class visits to the school library. They participated in a discussion and art activity around the idea of concentric circles which helped to foster a sense of belonging and interconnectedness while promoting a Care for Self, Others and Place. The results of the discussions and student art helped confirm for us as a staff that staff and student core values were still aligned. Please see the picture below - student art samples are on the right and a web of staff values are on the left. Knowing that our values still aligned, gave us "permission" to continue our journey with our school wide language with a next step of creating something visual for the school.