Brookside Elementary 25-26
OUR CONTEXT
We respectfully acknowledge that Brookside Elementary resides on the traditional, unceded, and shared territories of the Coast Salish peoples, whose connection to this land since time immemorial we honour. We recognize that relationships built on respect with Indigenous peoples are central to our shared journey of truth and reconciliation.
Brookside Elementary is a wonderful place to learn, work, and play. Situated alongside Brookside Park in Surrey, our school has grown into a true gathering place — where students, families, and educators come together around a shared belief that every child deserves to feel known, valued, and supported. That belief is woven into everything we do.
Our school is a warm, inclusive, and ever-growing community. Students arrive each day bringing with them a richness of language, culture, and lived experience that makes Brookside a vibrant and dynamic place to learn. This diversity is one of our greatest strengths — it deepens our conversations, broadens our perspectives, and enriches the ways we learn from and alongside one another.
Belonging is not incidental to learning at Brookside — it is the very foundation of it. Students speak about their school with genuine enthusiasm and pride. They talk about friendship, play, teamwork, and the simple joy of being part of something together. Whether through the camaraderie of school sports teams, the excitement of whole-school events, or the quiet pleasure of finding a new book on the Brookside Free Library trolley at the end of the day — these moments accumulate into a school culture where students feel genuinely at home.
Community life at Brookside is shaped by shared experiences that connect students across grades and classrooms. The Reading Train brings primary and intermediate buddies together throughout the year, building relationships alongside literacy. Reading Under the Stars unites the whole school in a celebration of story and imagination. These are not simply events on a calendar — they are expressions of who we are, and they play a meaningful role in shaping our students' identity, confidence, and sense of belonging.
Our students engage in learning that grows from curiosity, relationship, and a genuine love of discovery. Through conversation, collaboration, and rich engagement with stories and ideas, they are developing the skills and confidence to participate fully — in their classrooms, in their community, and in the wider world. Reading and language sit at the heart of this work, not as isolated subjects, but as powerful and living tools through which students make sense of themselves, one another, and the world around them.
At Brookside, we are united by a shared vision — to nurture curious, compassionate learners who feel deeply connected to their community. Every day is an opportunity to grow, to connect, and to belong.
OUR LEARNERS
At Brookside Elementary, our learners are readers — curious, growing, and increasingly confident in their relationship with text and story. This year, our broad learning focus centres on reading as a foundation for understanding self, identity, and community. This focus matters because reading is more than a skill — it is a means through which students come to know themselves, connect with others, and make sense of the world around them. When students engage actively with text, they develop not only comprehension and fluency, but empathy, agency, and voice.
Our approach is grounded in the BC curriculum's core and curricular competencies, with a particular focus on communication and personal and social responsibility. This year, we have also deepened our commitment to engaging families as partners in literacy, recognizing that reading flourishes when it extends beyond the classroom and into the home. Learning to read — and reading to learn — is a shared endeavour, and families are an essential part of that community of readers.
Our learners can engage actively as readers to develop understanding of self, identity, and community.
Across all grades, students are engaging with texts that reflect their lives, their questions, and their world. In primary classrooms, students participate in daily reading experiences that build both fluency and a love of story. Through read-alouds, shared reading, and independent reading time, they are learning to see themselves as readers — capable, curious, and growing. Students talk about books with enthusiasm, make connections to their own experiences, and share their thinking with peers and teachers alike.
In intermediate classrooms, students engage with a wider range of texts and are developing the strategies and stamina to read with increasing depth and independence. Through novel studies and reflective writing, they are learning to think critically about what they read — asking questions, making inferences, and connecting ideas across texts and subject areas.
Our learners can connect reading and language to their sense of self and their relationships with others.
Reading at Brookside is a social and community-building experience. Students come together as reading buddies across grade levels, reinforcing the idea that reading is something we do together. These partnerships foster genuine relationships and a shared enthusiasm for story that ripples outward — from the classroom, into the school, and into the home. Students engage with one another around books with growing confidence, sharing recommendations, reactions, and connections in ways that deepen both their comprehension and their sense of community.
Our learners can explore the world of reading as an active and growing community of readers that extends beyond the school walls.
This year, Brookside welcomed the Surrey Public Library as a meaningful partner in literacy. Librarians visited the school to deliver dedicated assemblies for both primary and intermediate students separately — sparking curiosity and enthusiasm for the broader world of books and stories available to them beyond the classroom. Students engaged with genuine excitement, discovering new authors, genres, and possibilities that reflected their interests and identities as readers. In the evening, the Surrey Public Library hosted a parent information session, bringing families into the conversation and equipping them with meaningful strategies to nurture their children's reading lives at home.
OUR FOCUS
Building on the strengths and enthusiasm of our learners, our focus this year continues to grow in response to the evolving needs, interests, and values that shape our school community. At Brookside Elementary, our learning focus centres on reading as a foundation for understanding self, identity, and community. This focus matters because reading is more than a technical skill — it is a gateway through which students come to know themselves, connect with others, and engage meaningfully with the world around them. When students see themselves as capable, confident readers, they are better equipped to think critically, communicate with purpose, and participate fully in their learning.
Our decision to centre reading in this way is informed by both student experience and broader patterns in student learning. School-wide evidence, including longitudinal trends from the Foundation Skills Assessment (FSA) and insights gathered through the Ministry Student Learning Survey, has helped highlight the importance of continuing to strengthen students’ confidence, engagement, and connection to reading. These data sources, alongside our day-to-day classroom observations, point toward the ongoing need to support students not only in developing proficiency, but also in seeing reading as relevant and meaningful in their lives.
This year, we have intentionally widened our circle of learning to include families as active partners in their children’s reading lives. We believe that reading flourishes when it is nurtured both at school and at home, and that the most powerful progress happens when educators and families are working together toward a shared goal. Engaging families is not an add-on to our work — it is central to it.
Student Learning Goal
- Students will engage actively as readers to develop understanding of self, identity, and community, supported by meaningful connections between school and home.
Across the school, a diverse and representative group of learners have been engaged in intentional reading experiences designed to strengthen comprehension, build confidence, and deepen their relationship with text and story. Students engage with a wide range of literature that reflects their lives and invites them to think, question, and connect — across classrooms, grade levels, and subject areas. Reading is approached not as an isolated subject, but as a living, purposeful practice woven throughout daily learning.
Families are welcomed as genuine participants in this work. Through regular communication from our teacher-librarian, families receive practical strategies and thoughtful encouragement to support reading at home. The Brookside Free Library makes books accessible and inviting beyond the school walls, while partnerships with the Surrey Public Library extend opportunities for engagement into the broader community. These connections reflect our belief that when families feel informed, included, and confident, students benefit deeply.
This focus is supported through a shared commitment among staff to collaborative inquiry and responsive instruction. Together, we are working to create learning environments where every student is supported to grow as a reader, and where literacy becomes a powerful force in shaping identity, connection, and understanding.
OUR NEXT STEPS
As we reflect on our learning journey this year, we are encouraged by the ways our students are growing as confident, engaged, and increasingly passionate readers. Across the school, learners are demonstrating a deepening relationship with text and story — one that is visible in the connections they make, the questions they ask, and the enthusiasm they bring to reading both independently and collaboratively. These shifts are evident across classroom-based evidence and the daily progressions we observe across grade levels, telling the story of a school community that is steadily growing as a community of readers.
Student Learning Goal
- Students will engage actively as readers to develop understanding of self, identity, and community, supported by meaningful connections between school and home.
Direct Evidence of Student Learning
The story of student growth at Brookside is grounded in classroom-based evidence that reflects students’ daily experiences as readers. Through common school-wide assessments and ongoing classroom observations, we are able to see how students are progressing over time and across grade levels.
Evidence 1: Level A – Active Engagement in Reading
Classroom-based assessment data shows how students are engaging with reading experiences both independently and collaboratively.
From September to June, there has been a significant shift in student engagement. The percentage of students in the Emerging range decreased from 30% to 4%, with a corresponding increase in students demonstrating Developing (38% to 50%) and Proficient (33% to 46%) levels of engagement.
This evidence shows that students are increasingly participating in reading experiences with greater independence and confidence. The substantial reduction in Emerging learners highlights the success of creating conditions where students are able to access and engage meaningfully in reading. At the same time, the growth in Developing and Proficient learners reflects a strengthening culture of engagement across the school, where students are building momentum as active and invested readers.
Evidence 2: Making Meaning (Identity, Self, Community)
School-wide data also provides insight into students’ ability to make meaningful connections between text, self, and community.
In this area, the data reflects a more complex pattern of growth. While the proportion of students in the Developing range remained consistent (25%), there was a notable increase in students demonstrating Extending levels of thinking (4% to 21%). At the same time, shifts within the Emerging (29% to 33%) and Proficient (42% to 21%) ranges suggest a redistribution across the continuum.
This pattern indicates that as students become more engaged readers, many are beginning to demonstrate deeper and more sophisticated thinking. The increase in Extending learners highlights growth in students’ ability to infer, reflect, and connect texts to their own identities and experiences. At the same time, the distribution across levels suggests that developing meaning remains an area for continued focus, as students build the skills needed to move from surface-level understanding toward deeper, more complex thinking.
A Student Story
At the beginning of the year, one learner approached reading with developing confidence. While able to engage with familiar texts and respond to straightforward questions, reading was often a more cautious and effortful experience. Understanding tended to remain at the surface level, with the learner relying on literal meaning rather than exploring deeper ideas within the text.
Over time, this began to shift. Through regular opportunities to engage with a variety of texts, talk about thinking, and explore ideas alongside peers, the student became more willing to take risks as a reader. Participation during reading experiences increased, and there was a growing sense of curiosity—evident in the questions the student began to ask and the connections being made between text and personal experience.
As the year progressed, the learner’s relationship with reading became more confident and independent. Rather than focusing only on what was directly stated, the student began to think beyond the text—inferring meaning, considering the author’s intent, and exploring ideas with increasing depth. Reading became less about completing a task and more about engaging with ideas, stories, and perspectives.
By the spring, this growth was clearly visible. The student now approaches reading with a stronger sense of agency and purpose, demonstrating both the skills and the disposition of an engaged reader. More importantly, there is a noticeable shift in how the student sees themselves—not just as someone who can read, but as someone who actively uses reading to understand, reflect, and connect.
Analysis of Student Learning Evidence
The classroom-based evidence gathered across the school presents a clear and compelling picture of student growth in reading. When considered together, the data highlights meaningful progress in both students’ ability to engage with texts and their capacity to make meaning from what they read.
In the area of Active Engagement, the data shows a strong and consistent shift across the school. The significant reduction in students within the Emerging range, alongside the growth in Developing and Proficient learners, indicates that more students are participating in reading with increasing independence and confidence. This suggests that the conditions for engagement — access to text, opportunities for collaboration, and responsive learning experiences — are supporting more students in becoming active readers.
In the area of Making Meaning, the pattern of growth is more complex, but equally important. The substantial increase in students reaching Extending levels of understanding reflects deeper thinking, with more learners demonstrating the ability to infer, reflect, and connect reading to their own identities and experiences. At the same time, the distribution of students across the continuum highlights that developing meaning continues to require intentional support, as students strengthen their ability to move beyond literal comprehension toward more sophisticated understanding.
The student story reflects this broader pattern at an individual level. The progression from cautious participation and literal understanding toward increased confidence, independence, and inferential thinking mirrors what we are seeing across classrooms. This alignment between individual growth and school-wide data reinforces the impact of our collective focus — showing that as students become more engaged readers, they are also beginning to think more deeply about what they read.
Across the school, this connection between engagement and meaning-making is becoming increasingly evident. Students are not only reading more actively, but are also beginning to see reading as a meaningful and relevant part of their lives. This shift — from participation to purpose — represents significant progress.
The consistency of these trends across grade levels highlights the strength of a shared, school-wide approach. From primary through intermediate, students are developing as readers within a coherent learning environment that values connection, identity, and engagement. This growth is further strengthened through partnerships with families, supporting reading as an authentic and valued experience both in and beyond the classroom.
Taken together, the evidence shows that Brookside learners are making meaningful progress — not only in their reading skills, but in how they understand themselves as readers. This evolving sense of identity provides a strong foundation for continued growth.
Moving Forward
Our students have made meaningful progress this year, and our school community is encouraged by the growth we are seeing. As we look ahead, we remain committed to extending this work with intention and care.
- Continue to nurture reading as a tool for identity, connection, and understanding — ensuring that all students see themselves reflected in the texts they engage with
- Go deeper in strengthening partnerships with families, building shared confidence and capacity to support reading both at school and at home
- Explore responsive ways to support students as they move along the proficiency continuum, with a focus on strengthening both engagement and meaning-making across all levels of development
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.
