North Surrey Secondary
OUR CONTEXT
Home of the Spartans!
OUR LEARNERS
What does it mean to be a Spartan?
North Surrey Secondary is a vibrant school community placing students and their growth at the centre of our learning agenda. Together we are working towards strengthening disciplinary literacy, problem solving through the design process, and nurturing creative expression and participation. As we work together we are guided through evidence and the belief that:
- Our learners can explore, analyze and synthesize ideas and concepts using a variety of reading strategies.
- Our learners understand the design process requires self reflection and self assessment in order to problem solve and improve upon process.
- Our learners can express ideas and put ideas into action and movement using creativity and collaboration.
- Our learners are caring, open to change, risk takers, and confident to take on problems.
In our school, students are engaged and developing competencies across curricula and learning areas and developing communication, thinking, and personal and social competencies.
OUR FOCUS
Competency Driven Approach to Learning
As a school community, we have three learning goals:
1. Making meaning out of text,
2. Problem solving throughout the design process, and
3. Nurturing creative expression and participation
Each Learning Area has created an inquiry goal that will lead into one of the 3 school learning goals.
Below, we have outlined each Learning Area and their learning goals for this school year:
Learning Area | Learning Goal |
| Making Meaning Out Of Text | |
| ADST - Business Ed/Information Technology | How can the inquiry process be used to deepen comprehension and understanding of Business and IT skills and concepts? How can the creation of student-friendly proficiency sequences/learning maps assist students in understanding of where they are at and aid in comprehension and growth? |
| Math | How does open-ended problem solving deepen a student’s ability to explore, analyze, and apply mathematical ideas and strengthen their use of mathematical vocabulary to contribute to mathematical discussions? |
| Science | How will drawing linear or curved graphs impact students' ability to communicate their results using a conclusion statement? How will analyzing data from experiments or labs impact students' ability to communicate their results using a conclusion statement? |
| English Language Arts | How will scaffolding the reading process improve the student's ability to read a variety of texts in order make meaning and to make inferences? How will the use of the PEA (point, example, analysis) format improve both the students' organizational and inferencing skills? |
| Humanities | How will the use of scaffolding and strategies, such as graphic organizers, increase comprehension and communication of student learning? How can we create authentic opportunities for reflection of learning? |
| Social Studies | How can we help our students develop stronger reading skills, such as, improved comprehension, and acquisition of relevant and accurate evidence from the curriculum? How can we use graphic organizers to help students access evidence, build knowledge and effectively communicate and demonstrate their understanding? How can we use more "worldview" within our curriculum, such as BIPOC voices and current events to help deepen and broaden students' understanding of the world? |
| Languages | How will making connections independently improve student learning? |
| Library | How will building trans-literacy skills and identifying personal attributes increase student’s capacity for inquiry and innovation? |
| Learner Support Team (LST) | How will teaching, modelling, and coaching executive functioning skills help students improve their comprehension and ability to make meaning out of what they learn? |
| Problem Solving Through the Design Process | |
| ADST - Home Economics | How will repeated practice and scaffolding of the design model (ask, imagine, plan, create and improve) increase problem solving skills? |
| ADST - Technology Education | How can scaffolding the design process (testing and trialling) increase problem solving skills and build resilience in student learning? |
| BASES | How can our students develop their understanding of process? |
| Nurturing Creative Expression and Participation | |
| PHE | How can movement concepts and strategies increase students ability to participate in physical activities? |
| Career Education | How will scaffolding verbal communication skills improve students' confidence when communicating with peers, supervisors, and community members? |
| Life Skills | How will participation in field studies increase student's ability to creatively represent themselves? |
| Performance & Visual Arts | How can we create learning environments where students feel safe to actively participate and take greater creative risks to express their feelings, ideas, and experiences through the arts? |
OUR NEXT STEPS
Making Meaning
Student are engaged in a variety of different strategies to making meaning of their reading. Students will be learning a variety of strategies for comprehension, analysis and synthesis and students will create evidence and artifacts of learning across learning areas. Some examples of evidence of making meaning of text and data are:
- PEA (Point - Example - Analysis)
- Graphic organizers
- Concept mapping
- Graphs and tables to understand trends and ideas through lab reporting
Thinking and Doing
Students are purposefully thinking and creating artifacts of learning designed and created with their content knowledge and disciplinary skills, such as:
- Portfolio of student work
- Presentation of products and process
- Hands on projects
- Case studies
- Reflections
- Self-Assessment
Creating and Communicating
Students are engaged in the creative process in order to express their ideas and to put their ideas into action. Students will use movement as a form of physical activity, expression, and communication by way of:
- Connecting to real world examples
- Student demonstrations, performances, metaphor maps
- Demo's and video feedback
- Spatial awareness and movement in different forms and places
Our staff will continue to plan, collaborate, and collect evidence of learning in each area of "Our Focus" for the 2022-2023 school year. We look forward to sharing this learning throughout our process.
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.
