Bothwell Elementary 24-25
OUR CONTEXT
ey kw'ese xwe' í mékw'ewát
Welcome to all. It's good that we are all here.
(həṅq̓əmín̓əḿ, the downriver dialect of Halkomelem, is still spoken by Katzie peoples)
Bothwell Elementary is located on the traditional, unceded territories of the Coast Salish First Peoples, The Katzie, The Kwantlen, and the Semiahmoo First Nations . When we gather in community, we remember that acknowledging whose land we work, live, and play upon is an essential part of our commitment to reconciliation.
We are a community of just under 360 wonder-filled students, K-7, a staff of 49 caring adults, and hundreds of supportive family members. Nearly 60% of our students speak a language other than English at home. In addition to daily learning routines, we also enjoy time spent with buddy classes, having fun on Spirit Days, watching our leadership team lead Sports Day, making music in grade 7 band, field studies expanding our learning, creating musical performances, playing on various sports teams, and spending time outside learning from our environment.
We are grateful for the enduring support of our PAC. With their generous efforts, time, and fundraising for contributions towards increasing technology in the school, bussing on field studies, classroom materials, numerous hot lunch events, and Sports Day treats.
We treasure the natural beauty of our grounds, including Salh Tumuxw (our learning circle), located on the front lawn near the school gardens. We continue to work towards developing our outdoor learning area to create a learning space connected to the territories was live and learn on.
We are curious...
about the resiliency in our students when it comes to their development in their writing skills. Students shared with us that they wanted and needed more structured lessons to help them feel more confident in their writing.
Given many positive outcomes to learning, well-being, relationships with one another and with the land, we remain dedicated and continue our vision of providing more opportunities for the students at Bothwell.
OUR LEARNERS
Our learners are the ones who drove this dive into The Spirals of Inquiry. When we began thinking of where we would like to take our student learning plan, June 2024, we wanted to stick with the core competencies of personal awareness and responsibility to help guide the teachers. We wanted an authentic way to have an opportunity for the students to share their voice and to share where they wanted their learning to go. We hoped that student voice would drive our inquiry and was amazing at how open the students were with us on their learning journey.
We have focused on four co-horts, a K class, a K/1 class, a grade 3/4 class, a grade 6/7 class, and a grade 7 class. What was amazing to see as we read through the student surveys, was that for the majority the students were wanting many of the same things to help them in their writing. What was also surprising to us, was that they not only wanted more structure in their writing lessons, they also loved to write. Starting in the fall the student learning committee began conversations with their classes to see what they needed to further enhance their writing.
Unstructured moments, like playing in the sand, reminded us of the importance of joy, curiosity, and student-led discovery.
A love for learning—students found calm and confidence in reading, setting the foundation for their writing growth.
Exploring the land together—students connected with nature and each other, building personal awareness beyond the classroom.
OUR FOCUS
Building on the plan developed at the end of the previous school year, we continued to use the Spiral of Inquiry framework to guide our professional learning and instructional planning. We began with the scanning phase, reviewing and discussing our observations of student learning and behaviour.
Our focus remained consistent with the previous year, emphasizing the development of engaging, structured lessons aligned with student needs and interests. To validate our observations—that students were seeking more structure to support their writing development—we conducted a cohort writing activity across all participating classes.
Throughout the year, we engaged in targeted professional learning to inform our lesson planning. We held multiple collaborative meetings to assess student progress, share instructional strategies, and reflect on emerging questions and insights from our classrooms.
OUR NEXT STEPS
Having spent the past year focused on writing through the Spiral of Inquiry framework, we feel confident that we have addressed the key areas identified by our students. Through targeted instruction, collaborative lesson planning, and responsive teaching practices, we provided students with the support they requested—such as explicit instruction, modelled examples, choice in topics, and extended time for writing development.
Our FSA data, classroom assessments, and student feedback indicate overall growth in literacy and a strengthened foundation in writing. With this work now complete, we are ready to shift our focus for the upcoming school year.
We will continue to use the Spiral of Inquiry to guide our professional learning and student support, with a new area of focus determined through ongoing scanning and student voice. This next phase will allow us to build on the momentum of our writing work and ensure that we continue to meet the evolving needs of our learners.
Growth was demonstrated in our 2023-2024 to 2024-2025 results. For our goals, we saw a decrease in the percentage of students who are Emerging (-2.3%) and a decrease in those who are Developing (-3.2%). Similarly, we saw an increase in the percentage of students who are Proficient (+4.4%) and an increase in those who are Extending (2%).
Moving Forward
Evidence of student learning and staff collaboration demonstrated that our focus on improving writing skills through structured and explicit instruction has been impactful. Teachers tracked student progress toward the following goals:
Organize and structure written work with clarity and purpose
Develop focused ideas and communicate them effectively
Build resilience and perseverance throughout the writing process
Students showed notable growth in their ability to construct well-organized writing, supported by targeted instructional strategies such as graphic organizers and planning templates. These tools helped students stay focused, deepen their thinking, and engage more confidently with writing tasks.
As a school community, we remain committed to fostering equitable and supportive learning environments where all students can thrive. Moving forward, we recognize a continued need to help students fully develop their ideas, make stronger connections in their writing, and use evidence more effectively to support their thinking. These areas will inform our next steps.
We will continue to use the Spiral of Inquiry to guide our planning, evaluate our impact, and adjust our approaches. This reflective cycle will support students in developing strong literacy foundations, critical thinking skills, and confidence as communicators prepared for future success.
.
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.
