Princess Margaret »

Who We Are

Our students reside in the Newton area of Surrey and are primarily first generation Canadians or new immigrants. They are predominantly from South Asia, but we also have significant representations from Africa, the Middle East and other regions. When talking to the families of our community it is clear that the main motivation for moving to Canada was to provide a better life and future for their children. Their experiences and journey to Canada has created some common character traits in our students; in general they are resilient, resourceful and value community. Education is held in high regard and is seen as a means to becoming successful.

Princess Margaret Secondary is a community of over 1400 people.  As in any community, people must work toward a common purpose in a spirit of cooperation.  Our mission is to create a caring, inclusive community where everyone is a lifelong learner. Princess Margaret is committed to being a community where learning is intellectually challenging, relevant, and responsive to the needs of the individual.

The Princess Margaret Community will:

• Establish clearly defined expectations and beliefs about learning.
• Encourage an environment in which debate and dialogue about education are valued.
• Provide school members with quality citizenship and learning opportunities.
• Promote understanding and use of sound educational practices.
• Endeavour to provide up-to-date technologies and information systems.

Our process in arriving at our inquiry question was aided through the administration of a staff questionnaire and interviews of a student focus group (Grades 8 to 12). The objective of these two procedures was to generate opinions and responses in regards to student learning and what is required to be a successful learner.

Who Are Our Learners and What are Their Strengths? (Their own words)

“Princess Margaret students are very inclusive, we bring each other up”

“Students at PM are very encouraging and they are really good role models and leaders”

“PM students are always wanting to improve. They have a growth mindset and are inclusive of others”

“I think some of the strengths of PM students are when it comes to school events or even just in the hallways they work together. If there is someone upset in the halls they (students) will always come up to them and ask what’s wrong and try and cheer them up. If there are events that the leadership students put on in the gym, there is always so much fun and there is always so much energy not only because of the leadership students themselves but because of the students that come to support them and participate in the events.”

“PM students work together, they are kind to each other”

“PM students are respectful, willing to go out of their way to improve, and have fun…. and everyone is very social with everyone. Everyone talks to each other”

“I think the strengths of the students of PM are that are students respect the pride values: participation, respect, inclusion, determination, effort.  In grade 8 we were taught those pride values and throughout gr 8, 9, 10 if we feel that if anyone is left out we invite them and include everyone and respect everyone.  Another strength is that our students are really supportive. For example if you go to any of the basketball games, gr 8, gr 10 or seniors, there is always a crowd there supporting our team whether they are winning or losing.”

“I think the strengths of PM students are that we are all self -aware.  That allows for us to identify our own personal goals, our learning styles and what works for us.  Another strength of PM students would be that we know what our Pride values are participation, respect, inclusion, determination and effort.  We see that school wide, it’s not just individuals, we are aware of what are pride values are and we try to implement them into our everyday lives.”

What Is A Successful Learner And What Do You Need To Become One? (Their own words)

Our students expressed a number of common perspectives in regards to what they believed was necessary to acquire and what is needed in order to work towards becoming a successful learner. Some of these included: developing a caring supportive relationship with their teachers, developing a growth and learning mindset, taking positive risks, being open minded, becoming goal oriented, be a collaborative learner and engage in school work that is relevant and has “real world “ application.

“To become a successful learner you should definitely have a great attitude towards learning, you should be curious, excited about every topic you want to learn about.  You should also have a goal in mind of where you want to go, how much you want to learn about it, and you should stick to it, and you shouldn’t let yourself stray from it. It’s great to pick up other goals but keep in mind your main focus.”

“Someone who is self -motivated so they don’t need someone to tell them to get back to work or anything they are just ready”

“I think a successful learner is someone who is willing to improve on themselves and help others, that is motivated and dedicated to whatever they do, and that pays attention and has support let’s say from their teachers and their peers  – those are I think the biggest things.”

“What I think a student needs to become a successful learner is they need a lot of support from their teachers, peers and family.  From teachers; it would help students if they did stuff that the students are interested in, if it’s something boring, kids aren’t going to pay attention to that.  They should involve the students more, more stuff in groups, working alone is boring and you lose attention fast and stuff.  And then, support from your family to pushing you to do your homework, go to school and actually try in school and stuff.”

“I think a successful learner is someone who is consistent and proactive when it comes to their academic and social life.  They would also use previous experiences to impact the decisions they make in the future.“

“I think a successful learner needs would be a good support system, be that a teacher, friends or family or all three as well as being able to accept that they will make mistakes and that they can learn from them.”

“A students would need from a teacher is that some sort of relationship, that they know each other personally…. If on the first day or week if we are able to start having a relationship with that teacher then that would clear the bias and that would be a good thing.”

“I think a successful learner is someone who is willing to learn and has an open mind. They are able to explore different learning styles, they use effective learning strategies and are able to set goals and achieve certain learning outcomes that are part of the curriculum and part of the material that they are learning.  One of the key factors is open mindedness because it’s hard if you don’t have that mindset that allows for you to strive to be successful and try to set the goals and try to achieve them for yourself… It’s also about positive risk taking and setting the goals first before you step in and try to make that difference.”

“To become a successful learner I think it’s vital for students to have a source of motivation and it’s most likely to stem from their teachers and other students. Within the school another aspect that contributes to successful learning would be that the curriculum and material in class could be taught in a variety of ways.  Students with different types of learning styles such as visual, hands on, etc. they have the opportunity to learn in the way that suits them best and allows them to take part in activities and have the material conveyed to them in the way that works best for them so that they get the best understanding of it and apply it in real life as well.  Which is another important part in their learning because if they are unable to apply it in the real world, they start to question ‘what’s the point of school?’  To be a successful learner you have to be able to have these goals and then be able to apply the learning to the real world, with an open mind, always.”

“To become a successful learner, for me, it’s really important to have a good support system around me.  For others, a lot of people don’t have a good support system at home so it’s really important to provide one at school.  At PM we have a lot of teachers, we have a lot of administration that are just there helping out our students.  One thing I’ve noticed about our teachers is, if we don’t come to school for a couple of days they don’t ask us about the homework in particular they ask us if we are okay or if anything has been happening, and to me that makes me feel really good and really proud to go to this school.”

“I think a successful learner is someone who has the ability to adapt to a learning situation, no matter what, regardless of their learning capabilities.”

“The main thing you need to become a successful learner is support from your teachers and support from your parents.  I say teachers, because I feel like if there is a lot of pressure put on students we won’t be able to focus and it will stress us out more because we already have enough stuff going on outside of school that I feel like pressures that are too high and expectations that are too high are going to take us off task.  We need teachers who are going to understand that we all learn at different paces and that are going to teach us according to that.  And another thing, which I think we already have here at PM would be programs that would encourage us to be active in our learning and to help with our struggles”

Who Are Our Learners, What Are Their Strengths And What Do They Need To Be Successful? (In The Educator’s Words)

Through examining the responses to our staff questionnaire and reflecting on discussions our staff members have engaged in in respect to student learning, certain concerns in regards to traits our students may be deficit in have arisen. The general theme of these concerns relates to metacognition; student awareness of how they think and what they think in regards to their own learning. Some of the specifics teachers brought up referred to issues concerning emotional intelligence; self-regulation, mindfulness and resiliency. Another area of staff concern was in regards to practical behaviours such as setting goals, establishing priorities, and time management. A third theme related to student mindset; being growth oriented and motivated rather than marks oriented and motivated, being critical thinkers and to being aware of their own learning styles and traits.

“Competencies that personal responsibility and awareness of one’s own behavior, effort, and purpose directly impacts thinking competencies in real world situations and school curriculum. “

“The ability to regulate their behaviour (mindfulness) behaviour awareness, strategies to achieve focus.”

“This is difficult for them as they are marks driven as are their parents. This has lead to cheating that gives them the illusion of success…rather than increased effort that might lead them to actual success.”

“The goal is intended to encourage students to think critically for themselves; intended to create an environment at PM where independent thinking is encouraged. Many students come into my classroom with the expectation to sit back and take in notes, answer chapter questions, and figure out what the teacher likes; many have not had the opportunity to develop their own thoughts, to develop questioning techniques, to have a say in what they learn”

“Some students felt that they weren’t “good” at school—never have been, never will be.  They are deflated and feel that they are just going to fail or get “bad” grades no matter what they do.”

“Students want to succeed, students value lifelong learning, students are interested in learning and how to learn.”

“That they need to be invested in their own future, not just go through the motions. If they don’t buy in and believe that they can do it, they have already set themselves up to fail.”

“Grade 8s are more willing to accept help and guidance that can lead them into becoming a successful learner.”

“On the whole, grades 8s are lacking LIFE SKILLS and RESILIENCY.”

“How will a focus on student mindsets, beliefs, strategies and competencies and the purposeful development of positive students/teacher relationships affect Grade 8 students in becoming successful learners?”

Methods And Strategies Our Educators Believe Will Help Answer Our Question:

“Multiple methods of assessment.”

“Resources to access and create lesson plans that incorporate students showcasing their competencies.”

“Guest speakers, camp, team building.”

“Capable teachers who are curious, willing to take risks, willing to fail, to evaluate their own success, to reset their goals and re-establish achievable measurable goals for themselves. You can’t teach the process if you don’t use it in your own life and believe it works.”

“Collaboration is the key here: we have great ideas, we need time to share them. We need each other for support in this transition.”

“Teachers need to help students develop an awareness of their learning—what helps them learn and what gets in the way of their learning and then personally or collaboratively with peers and teacher develop strategies to get past those blocks and challenges.”

“Teachers who employ a variety of teaching methods; who hold students accountable and help them achieve the high expectations that we set for them (or hopefully that they set for themselves!) to challenge and engage them, so that they continue to ask questions and want to know more.”

“Accessible resources (technology, apps, ebooks…).”

“Greater parent involvement”

“A student that feels safe, connected and respected will become a successful learner.”

“Continuous support for teachers to take risks as they experiment with new curriculum.”

To continue working with our grade 8s within the structure of our Lion’s Pride Program:

“Our Grade 8 program at PM is uniquely structured to help transition our newest Lions into high school. Students are placed into “Lion” Pride Groups, where they work closely with the same group of students and academic teachers all year long. Having only two core academic teachers and the same classmates for two blocks allows our students to focus on building positive relationships and connections within our school community. Additionally, this allows our Grade 8s to develop the competencies, beliefs, processes, and strategies that we feel will help them become successful learners. We strongly believe that by providing students with the support they need early on will aid in their successes for the future!”

Continue to provide professional learning opportunities, strategic planning and implementation on the part of the Pride teachers and associated staff throughout the 2017/18 school year in the support of investigating our inquiry question.