Martha Jane Norris Elementary 24-25
OUR CONTEXT
At Martha Jane Norris, we acknowledge that our school stands on the shared, unceded territory of the Kwantlen, Katzie, Semiahmoo, and other Coast Salish peoples. We are committed to reconciliation and actively seek Indigenous knowledge and embrace the First Peoples Principles of Learning, recognizing that learning ultimately supports the well-being of the self, the family, the community, the land, the spirits, and the ancestors. This deep-rooted respect guides our approach to education, ensuring that learning is holistic, connected, and grounded in the wisdom passed down through generations.
Martha Jane Norris Elementary is a place where kindness and respect is the foundation of everything we do. Students actively learn to treat one another with care and dignity, understanding that their words and actions have an impact on those around them. Through daily interactions, they develop a deep sense of responsibility, taking ownership of their choices and contributing to a positive and supportive school culture. Together, we build a positive school culture where each person contributes, whether through leadership, collaboration, or simply offering support to a classmate.
Diversity is celebrated, enriching our community with different perspectives, traditions, and ideas. More than just a place of learning, our school serves as the heart of the community, bringing people together through events, outreach, and shared experiences that strengthen our bond.
Our students and staff work together to build bridges of understanding, creating a village that uplifts and supports all learners academically, socially, emotionally, and physically. Through collaboration and shared experiences, we foster an inclusive environment where every individual is empowered to thrive, ensuring that education is not only about knowledge but also about connection, growth, and mutual support.
OUR LEARNERS
Our school is full of enthusiastic English language learners who love to talk, share, and connect with others. They enjoy working together and are always eager to learn new things.
One of our main goals is to help them feel like they truly belong in our school community, and their natural love for communication really helps build those strong relationships. We're also focusing on helping them learn the words they need to describe what they know and how they learn—whether they're speaking or writing—so they can express themselves with confidence.
Our learners are naturally enthusiastic storytellers. Students engage in story by drawing pictures using a variety of materials. They explore expressive language and bring their stories to life with visual elements, emphasizing pacing, intonation and rhythm. Each tale is distinct, and students take turns both sharing and listening. Storytelling becomes a joyful way for them to connect with one another, sparking imagination and sharing countless adventures.
In the photo below, learners use nature’s most beautiful and inspiring materials to create meaningful works. As they design and build, they reflect on the choices they make and share the story behind their creations—what it represents and why they made certain decisions along the way.
In the photo below, a student proudly connects their learning about the Medicine Wheel—its elements, seasons, and stages of life—with a unit on fractions. By sharing their understanding aloud with classmates and creating an art project that links fractions to the Medicine Wheel, students deepened their appreciation of Indigenous knowledge and its meaningful connections to the world around them.
OUR FOCUS
At MJ Norris, we believe that strong communication —both in writing and speaking—is key to helping students express their ideas, show what they’ve learned and participate in their world. As a Core Competency, communicating is how children share their thoughts, feelings, and ideas with others. It helps them learn about the world, connect with people, and express who they are. As they grow, they also learn how to use different ways of communicating—like speaking, writing, or using technology—to better understand and be understood. Communication is an important part of learning and building relationships.
The learning strands we are focussing on are:
- Exchanging ideas and perspectives to build shared understanding
- Creating stories and other texts to deepen awareness of self, family, and community
- Planning and creating a variety of communication forms for different purposes and audiences
In our diverse community, where many students are learning English as an additional language, these skills are especially important. They help students build shared understanding, connect with others, and express their unique perspectives.
We encourage students to ask questions, explain their thinking, and share their opinions. These are essential parts of learning and growing as confident communicators.
Our school places a strong focus on the Science of Reading and Writing. This means we use proven methods to help students become skilled readers, to develop writers who can create sentences that show their learning. They are on the path to create stories, share information, and communicate clearly with others.
Our students have spent a lot of time building strong reading and decoding skills, and they’ve explored many different types of texts. They have great ideas and are eager to share them—both in class discussions and in their writing. We’ve noticed that they benefit from more direct teaching and clear examples to help them express their thoughts more effectively. Expanding their vocabulary has been especially helpful in improving both their speaking and writing skills
Developing structure and building vocabulary is a process, as is shared below.
For the ELL learners in the school, expanding vocabulary is a means to building confidence in communicating orally and in written text. The two go hand in hand. 
Our learners can engage in conversations and communicate their ideas confidently about topics they know and understand. Some strategies include story workshop, sharing thinking through creations, using morphology to build vocabulary and hands-on learning, or building our reading powers to help us transform student thinking and practice. Other strategies include scaffolding the creative writing experience in ways that make sense for the learner.
OUR NEXT STEPS
As a staff, we’ve come together to reflect on student progress in both oral and written communication across all grade levels. We will review a range of information, including teacher observations, student assessment results, Foundation Skills Assessment (FSA) scores, and literacy progress indicators. These insights are helping us better understand trends in student achievement and identify areas where we can provide more targeted support.
Our next steps include...
~ Teachers in primary classes using UFLI to focus lessons on building decoding skills through phonemic awareness. While this continues to grow competency in reading, is it also the stepping stone for developing and making gains in writing.
~ Teachers continue to develop the writing process for students with intentional explicit teaching of vocabulary development, sentence structure and the generation of ideas in written and oral form.
- School-wide monthly writes
- Using the BC Performance standards for Writing, as well as the Foundational English Language Learning Progressions as the guideline for assessment
- Creating a school wide Writing Continuum with clear criteria based on the BC Performance Standards.
By utilizing current and up-to-date learning resources aligned with evidence-based instructional strategies, teachers will be able to provide targeted and differentiated instruction tailored to the specific needs of each student. These resources prove invaluable in supporting teachers' efforts to foster literacy growth and ensure that all students were equipped with the skills and confidence to succeed.
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.
