A.H.P. Matthew Elementary 23-24
OUR CONTEXT
OUR LEARNERS
At A.H.P. Matthew, our focus is on creating educational opportunities and safe environments where students can develop, practice, and strengthen their social and emotional abilities. These skills are crucial in helping students achieve their fullest potential. Over the years, our staff has dedicated themselves to Culturally Responsive Social and Emotional Learning (SEL), striving to cultivate learning environments that support, sustain, and celebrate the diverse backgrounds, identities, strengths, and challenges of our students.
Continuing our commitment to honoring our past learning initiatives, throughout the school year, we have emphasized various topics, events, and themes aimed at helping students explore, understand, and enhance their relationship with themselves and others through the development of self-awareness. Last year, we expanded our focus in the student learning plan to include curricular competencies in literacy. By fostering students' self-awareness, we aimed to strengthen their proficiency in Language Arts, encompassing reading, writing, and oral language skills.
This fall and early winter, teachers gathered in grade groups to collaborate on understanding our students better and generating ideas on how best to support their literacy development. Several common themes emerged, including the increasing presence of students new to Canada with diverse educational and language backgrounds. Many students struggle to relate texts to themselves, with other texts, and the broader world, limiting their ability to extend their thinking. This prompted us to question whether students were finding themselves represented in the available texts and underscored the importance of teaching foundational literacy skills at each grade level.
OUR FOCUS
OUR FOCUS
Throughout the year, our staff maintained a daily focus on culturally responsive social-emotional learning (SEL). We understand that enhancing social and emotional skills is fundamental to fostering learning and development. This commitment was demonstrated through explicit lessons and the implementation of daily classroom routines and practices, including morning meetings, restorative justice approaches, and the integration of the First Peoples Principles of Learning. Programs like Second Step were also utilized to support these efforts.
We celebrated the rich cultural diversity of our school community by encouraging students to share their traditions both within their classrooms and with the broader school community. This included assemblies and our weekly community newsletter, Eagle Updates.
Student Learning Goals
1. Students can read fluently at grade level
2. Students can exchange ideas and perspectives to build shared understanding and extend thinking
3. Students can construct meaningful personal connections between self, text, and world
A Window Into Learning
Students received comprehensive support through several initiatives:
Eagle’s Nest (Learning Commons):
- Curating a culturally diverse story collection to engage learners in reading.
- Facilitating book clubs and school-wide initiatives like the Surrey Schools' Book of the Year Award program.
- Participating in the Reading Link Challenge with grade 4 and 5 students.
Collaboration between the TLC and classroom teachers:
- Implementing instructional practices such as literacy circles, inquiry-based learning, and story workshops.
Literacy Enhancement:
- Daily oral phonological awareness lessons and adoption of a Science of Reading approach with programs like Heggerty and Ufli.
Support for Struggling Readers:
- Expanding our collection of high-interest, low-reading-level novels tailored to support intermediate grade students facing reading challenges.
Newcomer Program:
- Establishing a dedicated program for students new to Canada, offering opportunities to learn about Canadian customs and develop foundational English language and literacy skills.
- Providing a safe environment for building connections with peers facing similar challenges, fostering a sense of belonging within the school community.
Our Cohorts
New Comer Program
This program catered to 28 students who participated in 90 minutes of intensive literacy instruction daily. Through storytelling, thematic exploration, and immersion in cultural traditions, students enhanced their vocabulary and practiced basic English conversation skills. The program emphasized the development of a solid foundation in English literacy skills.
At the beginning of the year, 43% of the students were non-English speakers, and 71% had limited or no ability to read English. By the end of the year, significant progress was evident: 64% of the students improved their reading skills by one to two years, while 14% made advancements equivalent to three to four years of growth.
Grade 1
In the 2022-2023 school year, our primary department embarked on collective professional development focused on the Science of Reading. This initiative aimed to enhance their teaching of foundational literacy skills.
This school year, educators explored programs such as Heggerty and UFLI. One division implemented daily instruction starting in September, yielding notably positive outcomes compared to other divisions.
OUR NEXT STEPS
Next year, our continued focus will be on building foundational literacy skills, with the following goals in mind:
Ensure students achieve fluency in reading at their grade level.
Foster an environment where students can effectively exchange ideas and perspectives to enhance shared understanding and broaden their thinking.
Encourage students to establish meaningful personal connections between themselves, the text they read, and the world around them.
Our Plans:
- expanding the use of Heggerty and UFLI to the entire primary department.
- continue to build our book collection focusing on diversity, student interest, and reading levels
- expanding our newcomer program to include the entire LST team
Surrey Schools
Formed in 1906, the Surrey School District currently has the largest student enrolment in British Columbia and is one of the few growing districts in the province. It is governed by a publicly elected board of seven trustees.
The district serves the cities of Surrey and White Rock and the rural area of Barnston Island.
