Senator Reid Elementary 23-24
OUR CONTEXT
Senator Reid Elementary
Opened in 1961, Senator Reid Elementary is located on the traditional territories of the Kwantlen, Katzie, and Semiahmoo First Nations, as well as other Coast Salish peoples.
Programs
Senator Reid is fortunate to host many programs that enhance student learning. These include:
- BLAST - BLAST programs offer children and youth a safe and engaging environment to learn and develop social and emotional skills, physical literacy, and participate in recreations. Students focus on creating positive peer relationships and building leadership skills, while engaging with their community through daily and weekly activities, planned out-trips, and visits from community leaders.
- Canada Scores - Children in grades 4 and 5 are encouraged to lead healthy, active lives. This program teaches physical literacy through soccer instruction and oral and written communication skills through poetry. Canada Scores partners with elementary schools to provide a high quality, team-based after-school program that integrates soccer, poetry, and service-learning.
- Check and Connect - This program supports children ages 6 to 12 who are absent from school 10% or more days and or has 10 or more lates.
- The Next 100 Years - In partnership with the Surrey RCMP Diversity and Indigenous Peoples Unit, this program focuses on fostering identity through mentorship via weekly presentations and peer-to-peer programming centering on culture, identity, and community. Neighbouring high school students are trained in peer mentorship and come April and May host bi-weekly sessions.
- School Meal Programs - Breakfast Program and Lunch Program
- Scores in Action - A continuation of the Canada Scores program for grade 6 and 7 students. This program provides students the opportunity to mentor the grade 4 and 5 students and develop leadership skills.
- SPARK - This lunchtime program is for boys to create positive relationship skills, mentorship, and learning opportunities to students to gain leadership and self-esteem.
- StrongStart - StrongStart is a free drop-in program for a parent/caregiver and their child(ren) aged birth to five years old. StrongStart supports the development of young children prior to school entry, consistent with the goals of the British Columbia Early Learning Framework. Those attending can expect to participate in organized sessions like story-time and play activities. Parents and caregivers discover new ways to support children's learning at home while making valuable connections with others in the community.
- Yo Bro / Yo Girl - This program, focuses on staying health, fitness, gaining new skills, and positive role models. Students are given tools to achieve their full potential and attach to positive role models, while avoiding negative behaviours. Yo Bro / Yo Girl cultivates resilience in at-risk youth and empowers them with tools to avoid the perils of drugs, gangs, crime, and violence.
These programs have been instrumental with giving certain students confidence, positive adult connections and a "reason" to love being here. - Intermediate Teacher
OUR LEARNERS
Numeracy is integral to every aspect of daily life. It is the ability to understand and work with numbers. Numerate learners are able to interpret a chart, adapt a recipe, or compare costs. Numeracy enables learners to make meaning of the curriculum in subjects like math, language arts, science, and social studies. Evidence of our learners many gifts, attributes, and competencies are highlighted below.
Collaboration
Our learners can combine their efforts with those of others to effectively accomplish learning and tasks.
People who collaborate effectively recognize how combining others' perspectives, strategies, and efforts with their own enhances collective understanding, use, and impact. - BC's Curriculum
Across Senator Reid Elementary, learners combine their efforts with those of others to effectively accomplish learning and tasks. In a survey completed by 89 intermediate (Grades 4 - 7) learners, 67% of learners indicated they like working with a partner in maths class and 63% of students indicated they like playing games about maths. Evidence of partner work and maths games can be found in a Grade 3 class. Prior to the start of formal lessons, the teacher would have their class participate in a soft start. The teacher would introduce a variety of games that allowed varying access points, allowing students to engage their competencies of communication and personal and social responsibility.
Fishing Maths Game in Kindergarten
Questioning and Investigating
Our learners can question and challenge their own thoughts, ideas, and assumptions and challenge those of others.
They develop and refine questions; create and carry out plans; gather, interpret, and synthesize information and evidence; and reflect to draw reasoned conclusions. - BC's Curriculum
Learners at Senator Reid are taught that there are multiple ways to solve problems and show learning. In a survey completed by 89 intermediate (Grades 4 - 7) learners, asking about mathematical habits, 87.4% of learners indicated there are many ways to solve a problem. As well, 74.4% of learners indicated that they can use different strategies and tools. Examples of this can be found in a Grade 5 and 6 class where students use whiteboards in small groups to solve equations and then share their learning. Learners may focus on one part of the process, while others may involve more complex inquiry.
OUR FOCUS
Numeracy is embedded in a variety of curricular areas. Our aim is to build confidence and awareness to know when and how to apply numeracy understandings at school, home, or in the community.
Our learners' goals include:
- Model mathematics in contextualized experiences.
- Develop, demonstrate, and apply mathematical understanding through play, inquiry, and problem solving.
All teachers provide learners with learning opportunities aimed at increasing numeracy success. Below are examples of our learners' experiences as they relate to numeracy.
Numeracy Across Subject Areas
In Applied Design, Skills, and Technologies, learners incorporated numeracy by building and launching model rockets. In Arts Education, learners utilized their knowledge of patterns for weaving. In Science, learners spent time outside measuring the circumference of trees. In Social Studies, learners used mapping and scale to improve the neighbourhood.
Apply Mathematical Understanding Through Play
Teachers incorporated a variety of learning opportunities through play. In Arts Education, learners experimented with beat and timing. Learners used a variety of websites: "PBS Kids", "ABCya!", "Cool Math Games", "Minecraft Edu," and "Knowledgehook". Through online play learners were able to work on foundational skills and demonstrate understanding. During Centres, learners played with a variety of counting collections.
Book Study
With 48% of our learners being English Language Learners and 86% of learners speak a language at home other than English, Literacy is also a focus at Senator Reid. To continue with our focus of numeracy across subject areas, staff have been provided a copy of "Mathematizing Children's Literature: Sparking Connections, Joy, and Wonder Through Read-alouds and Discussion" by Alison Hintz and Antony T. Smith. Many staff integrated picture books into their lessons to explore the story with a Maths lens.
OUR NEXT STEPS
Moving Forward
We plan to build on and extend this work next year in the following ways:
Question of the Week
To make our goal visible, a "Question of the Week" was posted in the hallway and on the Administrators rolling cart. As students were walking in the hallway, they were provided with an opportunity to engage in Maths discussion with a classmate or a staff member.
Number Talks
Learners will participate in short, daily exercises aimed at building computational fluency. Teachers will incorporate questions that are open not only in terms of the process to be used but also in terms of possible solutions.
Collaboration
Learners can work together to share a range of ways in which they may answer questions. Many learners will share how most may answer, while others will show how learners with a basic or an advanced understanding may answer. Learners will engage their competencies of communication, personal and social responsibility, and critical and creative thinking.
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.
