W.E. Kinvig Elementary 24-25
OUR CONTEXT
W.E. Kinvig is located on the shared, unceded, traditional territories of the Katzie, Semiahmoo, Kwantlen and other Coast Salish peoples. Our student population of nearly 435 boasts a culturally and linguistically diverse group of learners. We celebrate diversity throughout the school year during annual occurrences like Black History Month, Sikh History Month, Asian Heritage Month and National Indigenous History Month, to name a few.
At W. E. Kinvig Elementary, we promote honesty, caring and leadership. We pride ourselves on providing a welcoming school environment that embraces community involvement. Building leadership skills is a goal which is built into all our academic and social responsibility experiences. We continually work towards creating a culture that embraces the diversity of our students and an understanding of each student’s individual story
We work in partnership with Community Schools providing opportunities for our students to participate in several different programs. Students are provided opportunities to participate in dance, soccer, volleyball, basketball, badminton, and track & field. Band is offered to our Grade 7 students who are interested in learning to play an instrument. Several of our classes at W. E. Kinvig participate in our Leaders for Change program in which students are encouraged to find ways to give back to their community. They have fundraised and given generously to such places as Surrey Memorial Hospital. In addition, many of our students participate in Games Club and Friendship Friday. Our hope is for our students to engage in a wide range of activities that capture their strengths and interests and nurture their leadership skills.
Our school community finds ways to come together and celebrate the learning happening. Recently, parents, staff and students enjoyed an evening of participating in literacy stations designed to encourage students and parents to read together. In our early primary classes, our learners and their parents spend their Monday mornings reading to each other. Every learner at W.E. Kinvig has been taking part in our monthly DEAR (Drop Everything and Read) sessions. Kinvig students have a passion for literacy and love to read.
Literacy Focus video
Our students are inclusive, welcoming, eager to learn, happy at school, inquisitive, imaginative, and energetic. In addition, our students display resiliency and perseverance, and are respectful and supportive of one another.
We take pride in our students’ strengths and their ability to support each other in achieving their personal and academic successes.
OUR LEARNERS
Reading is not only a fundamental academic skill but also a gateway to intellectual, emotional, and social growth for our learners. Encouraging and fostering a love for reading from a young age can have a profound and lasting impact on their overall development and future success. Reading and writing help us to make sense of the world around us and to express our thoughts, ideas, and expressions to others. The BC Curriculum highlights and emphasizes that stories and other texts help our learners learn about themselves, their families and their communities. As such, teaching effective literacy skills is central to supporting our learners as they learn about themselves and the world around them.
Our learners can read fluently at grade level.
Students use reading skills in all subject areas. They can use a variety of strategies to make meaning of letters and words.
Our learners can explore texts and story to understand ourselves and make connections to the outside world.
Students use their reading skills to connect with story and other text.
OUR FOCUS
Literacy, specifically reading, has been identified as an area to spotlight for student growth. Reading underlies all learning and the skills needed for reading: phonemic awareness, decoding, fluency, and comprehension, are fundamental for students’ language development. In our first year of this goal, we included three primary cohorts. Students in these cohorts received targeted literacy support in smaller groups.
We set out to work on the following reading goals:
Read fluently at grade level.
Explore texts and story to understand ourselves and make connections to the outside world.
Teachers gathered formal and informal information regarding their students' reading levels. Ultimately, our learners will engage actively as listeners, viewers, and readers, as appropriate, to develop understanding of self, identity, and community. We hope our students will be inspired and develop a life-long love for reading.
OUR NEXT STEPS
Goal #1 Read fluently at grade level.
Cohort #1
In the first term, Student A was able to identify 4 consonant sounds and recognize 5 alphabet letters, although it was inconsistent.
Classroom teacher implemented lessons with the whole class and utilized strategies such as
- intentional seating
-using white boards during the auditory drill section
- supplement Student A's learning of the sounds using the mnemonic letters once in the morning, and again after lunch in a small group setting with 2 other students.
- reinforcing learning at home by using the mnemonic letter instructional video
-writing words by segmenting the sounds for him; e.g. cat > /c/ /a/ /t/.
Student A is now able to write CVC words when provided with a picture in most instances.
Cohort #2
A group of students in grade 3 received Learning Support to improve their reading levels. They were assessed in September for their reading levels and sight words. After receiving targeted intervention for the year, they were reassessed in the Spring.
Name Grade 3 | Reading Assessment DRA (Sep 2024) | Sight words (Dolch) Sep, 2024 | Reading Assessment (DRA) May, 2025 | Sight words (Dolch) May, 2025 |
Student 1 | Level 4 | Gr. 1 words Score 24/ 42 | Level 28 with 97% accuracy | Gr. 3 words Score 40 / 41 |
Student 2 | Level 4 | Gr. 1- words Score 39/42 | Level 30 at 94% accuracy | Gr. 3 words Score 41/41 |
Student 3 | Level 8 | Gr. 2 sight words 100% | Level 24 at 97% accuracy | Gr. 3 - 40/41 |
Student 4 | Level 14 | Gr. 2 43/46 | Level 30 with 95% accuracy | Recognize Gr. 3 words at 100% accuracy |
Student 5 | Lower than Level 8 | Difficulty recognizing pre-primer sight words | Lower than level 12 | Gr. 1 Score 24/ 42 |
With the targeted interventions, students made huge gains in their reading levels and recognition of sight words. All 4 students improved their reading levels.
Cohort #3
Students in grade 4 and 5 were asked to share how reading helped them understand themselves and connect to stories and the outside world.
Student A made connections to their culture and life experiences.
Moving Forward
As students' reading levels increased and their confidence grew, they began to explore practicing reading stories at home and coming to school requesting to have time to read a portion or the whole book to the class. The opportunities created spaces for our learners to enjoy reading and exploring texts more deeply.
Based on evidence of our learning goals, our next steps will include:
Reading comprehension is a focus that will be on-going, and students continue to require support in this skillset. It will remain a priority area for our learners. The identification of where students are at is an important marker for our classroom teachers, and it will help guide their next steps for reading instruction.
We will continue to provide more texts in which our students can see themselves, their families, and their cultures. We will continue to develop the goals of explaining the role of language in personal, social and cultural identity and using personal experience and knowledge to connect to text and develop understanding of self, community and world.
We want to continue to provide opportunities for reading in the classroom, at school and at home to foster the joy of reading.
Our goal will continue to be for our learners to develop the skills they require to be skilled and confident readers so that they may use these abilities beyond their time at W. E. Kinvig Elementary and become lifelong readers.
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.
