Mountainview Montessori 22-23
OUR CONTEXT
OUR CONTEXT
In our Montessori school we learn together peacefully and responsibly by caring for each other and the world
At Mountainview Montessori, we value Maria Montessori’s view of education as a process of involving the whole child, and one that respects each child's uniqueness. The aim of the Montessori philosophy is to provide a learning environment that enhances the development of intellectually reflective individuals who are caring and ethical members of the community. Additionally, we teach the importance of leadership, freedom and independence that is bound by respect for others and responsibility towards the environment. Solving problems in peaceful ways is encouraged daily at our school, in the classroom, on the playground, and in all aspects of our lives. Grace and courtesy are key components of the Montessori approach, and children have many opportunities to demonstrate this both in their classrooms and out in the school community.
The role that parents play is key in our Montessori community. The relationship and partnership between home and school is vital to the success of every child.
Maria Montessori: A Pedagogical Anthropology
Maria Montessori’s philosophy of education, with all its vitality and vision, is the foundation of our Surrey program, founded in 1981. Maria Montessori viewed education as a process involving the whole child, respecting their uniqueness and ability to shape their own future.
It is the task of the teacher to create an environment which is most favourable to the enhancement of concentration, and to provide the child with the means with which to educate themselves. Any unneeded help can be considered a hindrance to the student’s learning. This requires that the teacher get to know each child and assist them at their own rate of progress. For this reason, children usually spend three years with the same teacher although both class size numbers and grade groupings can look different as we work within the public school system.
The Montessori materials in the classroom enable the child to take advantage of sensitive periods for the acquisition of skills and knowledge. Classroom materials stimulate the child’s reasoning and imagination, prompting them to connect the concrete, sensory world to the realm of the abstract. Once the child has mastered a particular task, they are guided to a new area of learning to explore in further depth through independent study. This new learning follows the interests of the child and activities are based through their wonders.
The curriculum has an integrated approach, with the child learning first about the unity of the universe and then focusing on its constituent parts. Teachers follow Maria Montessori’s guidance to, “follow the child” in curriculum design and implementation. We are a hybrid of Montessori and public education and ensure the requirements of B.C. curriculum are reached.
Although freedom and independence are cultivated, the child learns that their liberty is bounded by respect for others and responsibility towards their environment. The child’s integration in a multi-age group fosters an interdependent disposition which leads to the goal of becoming peaceful people.
The Montessori program places an emphasis on respecting and caring for the environment. A global viewpoint is encouraged, and Montessori teachings support an appreciation of diversity and interdependence of people and the natural world.
OUR LEARNERS
OUR LEARNERS
At Mountainview Montessori our learners feel safe and supported. We build connections, trusting relationships, and safe learning environments in order to engage in deep, reflective learning. We care and respect our environment, and each other with an appreciation of diversity and the interdependence between people and the natural world.
Through journals, class meetings and teaching and practicing of SEL practices, our students reflect often and set goals to be supportive of themselves and one another. Below, two students complete a strengths assessment of evidence of their growth in these areas.
At Mountainview, we are mindful of our environment and take action to make a difference in our community. Over the past year, we have met our goals through the following initiatives:
Garden Creation: We built phase one of our school garden. Here, students planned, and planted local, indigenous plants. Students have learned to care for the plants and upkeep of their classroom planter and have learned about the significance of many of their plant choices to the Coast Salish Peoples.
Caring for our neighbourhood and local environments as, "global citizens": Our Students complete regular litter pickups in local parks and on our school grounds, mark drains, plant trees in local parks, and release salmon.
Garbage Pickup in Local Parks
Drain Marking
Planting Trees with Surrey Parks Department
Salmon Release
2022/23 Stewardship Stories Contest Winners:
Mr. Henderson's Grade 1,2,3 class was one of winners of the Stewarding our Urban Forest contest through the City of Surrey Parks and Recreation because of their walks and story submission.
Enjoy their submission below.
Every Friday, no matter the weather, we walk down to Briarwood Park. We sometimes pick up litter along the way, and other times we discuss things we notice, like moss and its reproductive cycle. When we get to Briarwood Park, we explore and then find a place to spend two minutes of silence just observing and communing with the space and the park–noticing, listening, observing.
In Science, our students demonstrate curiosity about their natural world by experiencing and interpreting the local environment. Here the same student demonstrates their development of both their observational and descriptive skills in their journal writing over time. The first entry is from November, the second from March.
OUR FOCUS
At Mountainview, we have focused on two key areas within the Personal and Social Core Competency, specifically in the following area of Social Awareness and Responsibility.
Social Awareness and Responsibility involves the awareness, understanding, and appreciation of connections among people, including between people and the natural environment. Social Awareness and Responsibility focuses on interacting with others and the natural world in respectful and caring ways. People who are socially aware and responsible contribute to the well-being of their social and physical environments. They support the development of welcoming and inclusive communities, where people feel safe and have a sense of belonging.
The focus at Mountainview Montessori has been to intentionally 1. build connections, trusting relationships, and safe learning environments in order to engage in deep, reflective learning and to 2. contribute and care for self, others, and the environment both at school and in our community.
1. Building connections, trusting relationships, and safe learning environments in order to engage in deep, reflective learning
In English Language Arts, teachers focus on both oral and written language. Through morning meetings, journal writing and self-reflections our students will:
- exchange ideas and perspectives to build shared understanding
- create stories and other texts to deepen awareness of self, family, and community (primary)
- recognize how language constructs personal, social, and cultural identity (intermediate)
- construct meaningful personal connections between self, text, and world (intermediate)
At Mountainview Montessori our learners feel safe and supported. We build connections, trusting relationships, and safe learning environments in order to engage in deep, reflective learning.
2. Contribute and care for self, others, and the environment both at school and in our community
Our students demonstrate their care of the environment and our community through the following curricular competencies in science. Students will:
- demonstrate curiosity about their natural world by experiencing and interpreting the local environment
- recognize our shared responsibility for the local environment
- care for self, others and neighbourhood through personal or collective approaches
Our cohort: As we are a fairly small school, our cohort has included all our students.
OUR NEXT STEPS
Moving Forward
1. Building Connections, Trusting Relationships and Safe Learning Environments
Throughout the 2022/2023 school year, we continued to strategically build connections, safe learning environments, as well as facilitate student transition strategies to further our goals. We continued to support all students in finding safe spaces, building friendships and adult connections. We put in place the following initiatives to support building connections and trusting relationships:
- Purposeful bridging activities between primary and intermediate classrooms: specifically buddy classes, buddy planting, and performance invites.
- We shared welcoming/inclusion activities from Casel's 3 Signature Practices at Pro-D to incorporate into our classes.
- Continued the practice of Appreciation Circles and Morning Meetings in most classrooms.
- In September of 2023, we had school wide participation to create individual art projects to be installation in our Peace Garden.
- Continued use of the Montessori Peace Table as a space for personal reflections and/or calming down and as a place for peers to talk through a conflict.
- A teacher hosted a Lunch and Learn for new staff to learn about the Montessori peace table in the Spring of 2023.
- Development of school wide SEL language based on Grandfather's 7 Sacred Teachings- this continues to be developed by our SEL committee working with our SEL lead teacher. We recently met in November over lunch to further develop this language as a team.
- Posters to be developed once the language is finalized to be displayed throughout the school (Spring 2024).
- We have scheduled and implemented a series of assemblies throughout the year to introduce the 7 Sacred Teachings. Two divisions have paired up to present each assembly.
- Implementation of Second Step Program from K-6- we have a plan to continue to purchase kits for all grades.
- Support staff 1/2 day pro-d session on positive, proactive behaviour and inclusion strategies - all of our IESW staff were released in 2023 to participate in pro-d with Sharon Power.
- Teacher 5 session lunch and learn sessions on positive, proactive behaviour and inclusion strategies (Spring 2024).
2. Contribute and Care for Self, Others, and the Environment Both at School and in Our Community
Throughout the 2023 we have continued to value one another, ourselves, and our environment. We value one another and each others' unique attributes. We are mindful of our environment and take action to make a difference in our community. We have met many of our goals through the following initiatives:
- Installation of our school Peace Garden with Indigenous plant focus - the garden was developed over the Spring of 2023. We have applied for phase II of our garden to add a vegetable garden to our space.
- Continued focus on outdoor education- walks through community, raising and releasing salmon, nature studies, butterfly raising and releasing, gardening
- Working with our grounds department to have 15 trees planted on our property (planted in November 2023).
- We held our Global Fair in 2023. An opportunity for each staff to dive deep in study and share with each other and our parent community.
- Connecting with others in our community- letters to seniors, online Family Feud with retirement community members, visits to retirement communities.
- Caring for our environment and community- litter pickup walks, salmon drain marking, recycling, composting, juice box collection, tree planting with the City of Surrey.
A new, curricular focus:
While we will continue to focus on Social Emotional Learning as a school throughout the 2023-24 school year, we have identified the need to focus on our students literacy skills, specifically in the area of writing.
Throughout the Spring of 2023 and the fall of 2023, our enrolling and non-enrolling teachers have engaged in an inquiry process to investigate the specific areas of support and learning our students need. Writing has been identified as an area of growth for our students and will be the focus of our student learning plan moving forward.
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.
