Part 1: Analysis of Context

1. What do we know about our learners?

L.A. Matheson Secondary is located at 9484 – 122 Street in Surrey, British Columbia. We are a school of approximately 1100 students and over 100 staff.  We are an excellent school that has many academic, athletic, cultural and service oriented activities available for our students. Our students primarily come to us from our K – 7 catchment  schools of Senator Reid Elementary, Cedar Hills Elementary, Prince Charles Elementary, Kennedy Trail Elementary, Royal Heights Elementary and Kirkbride Elementary.

Our Mission Statement:

L.A. Matheson provides a safe, cooperative, and supportive environment that promotes social, intellectual and creative growth for students. Our aim is to create an environment that fosters healthy, productive and responsible citizens for our global community.

Our Beliefs and Values:

  • Students develop responsibility for their actions and decisions as these relate to their own academic and social development.
  • In order for a positive learning environment for students to exist, a positive environment must also exist for the staff members.
  • Positive self-esteem enhances students’ learning and cooperation.
  • All students have inherent abilities that can be developed and expressed.
  • The ability to critically assess needs and plan through goal setting are necessary features of citizenship and lifelong learning.

What we know about our learners:

At L.A. Matheson we care about all of our students and value the communities from which they come.  We take pride in our work and always strive to improve on how we deliver education.  Below is a list of bullets that describe how we have come to know our learners and their families.  We know as educators, that in order to improve our practices, we must be forthright with our data and honest in how we interpret and post our beliefs. The first step to improving our practice is to honestly identify what we know about our learners and our community. At L.A. Matheson:

  • Our learners are a diverse multicultural group of students who represent over 30 different countries.
  • Over 50% of our students speak a language other than English at home.
  • Our students have plenty of school pride and work hard to be successful.
  • We have some students who have have gaps in their learning because of their varied experiences and having moved around many times and attended many different schools.
  • We have identified that our learners tend to have a gender disparity where our girls at times do better than our boys in some aspects of their education.
  • Some of of our families find it challenging to be involved with our school, communicate with our teachers and struggle with knowing how to support their child’s school work at home.
  • Some of our students have disclosed that they find it difficult to connect with their teachers.
  • We have some students who have faced such adversity in their lives that they now find it challenging to achieve high standards and at times become overwhelmed.
  • We have an identified small cohort of students who have chronic attendance issues and struggle to find engagement in their learning.
  • The majority of our students attend school regularly and are fully engaged in their learning.

   

2. What evidence supports what we know about our learners?

In regards to what we know about our learners, the evidence we used to support each statement comes from these sources:

Our learners are a diverse multicultural grouping of students who represent over 30 different countries

  • Student cultural and demographic background data

Over 50% of our students speak a language other than English at home.

  • Student demographic data

Our students have plenty of school pride and work hard to be successful.

  • Teacher & student interview matrix data
  • Number of students volunteering and participating in school activities

We have some students who have have gaps in their learning because of their varied experiences and having moved around many times and attended many different schools.

  • Academic marks analysis
  • LAM support services data
  • Student attendance data
  • Family migration patterns in and out of schools
  • Grade 8 – 12 school completion data

We have identified that our learners tend to have a gender disparity where our girls, at times, do better than our boys in some aspects of their education.

  • Marks analysis by gender and grade
  • Participation in clubs, athletics and programs by gender
  • Gender disparity data in student leadership and volunteer roles

Some of of our families find it challenging to be involved with our school, communicate with our teachers and struggle with knowing how to support their child’s school work at home.

  • Parent attendance at monthly PAC meetings
  • Parent attendance at Parent – Teacher interviews
  • Grade 7 & 8 parent night participation numbers
  • Teacher interview matrix data
  • Use of our school website
  • Overall use of our school app
  • Current economic reality of having both parents working
  • Our LAM grade 8 parent involvement program numbers

Some of our students have disclosed that they find it difficult to connect with their teachers.

  • Student interview matrix data
  • Teacher interview matrix data
  • LAM Support Services data
  • Counsellors qualitative data

We have identified a small cohort of students who have chronic attendance issues and struggle to find engagement in their learning. 

  • Student attendance data
  • Teacher interview matrix data

Part 2: Focus and Planning

3. What focus emerges as a question to pursue?

The focuses that emerged as questions to pursue are around improving assessment strategies, instilling more authentic aboriginal content, developing an ethic of care to enhance student resiliency and connections and working to help teachers successfully implement the new curriculum.

Assessment Strategies

  • How will the implementation of having common school wide assessment strategies in the form of conferences and self-assessment affect our students’ learning, in terms of growth, engagement and understanding?

Aboriginal Content

  • How do we ensure that we are successfully and authentically incorporating Aboriginal content and ways of knowing (following the FPPL) so that it is both strengths based and culturally responsive for all learners?

Student Resiliency and Connections

  • How can we improve on the ethic of care we apply as teachers, parents and a community so that our students have more resiliency in overcoming barriers to their learning and social development?

New Curriculum

  • How will departments and teachers collaborate to develop a plan of support to successfully implement the new curriculum and how it changes over time for our students?

4. What professional learning do we need?

Our LAM teachers have identified that they need more time and opportunities to learn:

  • More about the Core and Curricular Competencies.
  • How to more effectively use social media and technology in the learning and assessment process.
  • How we can better implement Social Emotional Learning  into our teaching and classrooms.
  • How to use digital portfolios using FreshGrade & the MyEd Locker Room.
  • How to interface with and use the Parent and Student portals in MyEd.
  • How to effectively use GradeBook.
  • New and inovative teaching strategies and assessment practices.
  • And collaborate on the development and sharing of resources.

5. What is our plan?

Our plan at L.A. Matheson is to continue to Build Community, Enhance Capacity and Bridge Connectivity.

Building Community  

  • We will work to answer purposely designed authentic questions of inquiry developed from each school department.
  • We will work to increase our parent involvement with PAC and continue to seek better ways to communicate with our students’ parents and guardians to develop ways to increase their involvement in their child’s learning process.

Enhancing Capacity

  • We will work to develop a “Unified Process of Support” for our support services that encompasses referrals, early identification, at-risk support and attendance concerns.
  • We will work to meet the changing curriculum innovation and assessment practices.
  • We will utilize the student and parent portal to effectively communicate student learning and help promote more authentic assessments.
  • We will foster and support a “Teacher Learning Partners” initiative.

Bridging Connectivity

  • We will work to develop an inventory of strategies that address student resiliency in order to help our students overcome obstacles and barriers to their success.
  • We will work to authentically incorporate aboriginal context into classrooms and school culture.
  • We will work to improve how we recognize and celebrate student successes.
  • We will work to improve our delivery of social emotional learning to our junior grades.

PDF Download: Supporting Student Success at LAM

Part 3: Reflect, Adjust, Celebrate

6. How will we know our plan is making a difference? (evidence / success criteria)

  At LA Matheson, we will know our plan is making a difference because of the evidence and or success criteria outlined below.  

BUILDING COMMUNITY

We will work to answer purposely designed authentic questions of inquiry developed from each school department.

  • Our teachers and departments will be able to communicate that their inquiry questions have been explored and their work has helped to further meet the  the needs of students and our school.

We will work to increase our parental involvement with our PAC and continue to seek better ways to communicate with our students’ parents and guardians to develop ways to increase their involvement in their child’s learning process.

  • We will have greater parent involvement at PAC meetings.
  • We will have more parents participating in our Parent Involvement Program.
  • We will have greater participation in our parent information sessions.
  • Our teachers will effectively use our “communicating student learning week” to provide information to parents regarding their child’s progress.
  • Our teachers will use digital portfolios to further communicate student learning.
  • The majority of our parents will use our school APP.
ENHANCING CAPACITY

We will work to develop a “Unified Process of Support” for our support services that encompasses referrals, early identification, at-risk support and attendance concerns.

  • We will have a document in our “Staff Handbook” for teachers that clearly communicates how to access LAM supports for the students in their care.
  • We wil have greater unity on how we support students at LAM.

We will work to meet the changing curriculum innovation and assessment practices.

  • Our teachers will feel confident working with and delivering the new curriculum.
  • Our teachers will be using the “Knowing, Doing and Reflecting” approach to instruction and assessment.
  • Our students will be able to demonstrate their learning in a variety of different ways.
  • Our students will feel confident in their ability to self-reflect on the core competencies. 

We will utilize the student and parent portal to more effectively communicate student learning and help promote more authentic assessments.

  • Work habits, assessments, attendance information and report cards will all be available on-line.
  • Our students’ core competencies self-reflections will be uploaded to MyEd.
  • Our parents will communicate that they value being able to access this information on line.

We will foster and support a teacher learning partners initiative.

  • Teachers will communicate that they value the sharing opportunities and acknowledge that it helped improve their practice.
  • Teachers will feel comfortable opening their doors to allow colleagues to watch and learn from their teaching strategies.
  • Teachers will explore and implement new teaching practices and strategies for their classrooms.
BRIDGING CONNECTIVITY

We will work to develop an inventory of strategies that address student resiliency in order to help them overcome obstacles and barriers to their success.

  • The inventory of strategies will be made available for all teachers.
  • Our teachers will incorporate the strategies into their teaching. 
  • Our students will communicate that they feel teachers are making efforts to help improve their resiliency to overcome difficult and challenging situations.

We will work to authentically incorporate Aboriginal context into classrooms and school culture.

  • Teachers will communicate that they are effectivley incorporating Aboriginal context into their teaching.
  • Our students will report that they are learning more about aboriginal culture and becoming more emotionally aware of Aboriginal historical context.

We will work to improve how we recognize and celebrate student successes.

  • Our hallway display cases and school awards will be brought up to date to more effectively honour our students’ successes.

We will work to improve our delivery of social emotional learning to our junior grades.

  • Our grade 8 and 9 students will have been through a process that unifies them as a grade.
  • Our grade 8 and 9 students will have worked to identify a theme or acronym that will be used to identify them as a unified group.
  • Our teachers will communicate that their students are starting to display a greater social emotional response towards themselves and others. 

   

7. Based on the evidence, does our inquiry require adjustment?

To be addressed in the early fall of 2017.