Surrey Schools is committed to helping students achieve to their fullest potential, including in their transitions from grade-to-grade, school-to-school, to graduation and beyond. The Ministry of Education collects data on these transitions, and school districts use this data in their district and school planning. Surrey uses this data to plan its current and future efforts to improve student outcomes, including developing appropriate instructional strategies and adequate supports for social and emotional learning.
Through our strategic planning process, Surrey has identified the following steps we are currently taking to improve transitions for our students.
Redesign of educational programming and services at Learning Centres.
Learning Centres are small, grade 10-12 schools that feature flexible, small group instruction and allow students to work according to their own pace. We are redesigning educational programing and services for students at Learning Centres to improve student success. Some steps we are taking include integrating courses, combining competencies into thematic units, and adding blended learning options for students. Our goals with these and other changes are to increase course completion as well as increasing the number of students graduating with a Dogwood diploma. By integrating coursework across similar areas of the curriculum, students increase their learning through a holistic and real-world approach. This fosters critical thinking across disciplinary boundaries and provides students the opportunity for greater investment in their success.
Improving grade to grade transitions at secondary schools.
The district is focused on keeping students attending their local secondary school and ensuring their successful transitions between grades. In 2019/20, we hired teachers and outreach workers to focus directly on assisting students to successfully transition between grades. For example, one teacher worked with fourteen at-risk students in Grade 8, and helped them successfully transition to the next grade level. The district is also taking steps to improve its data collection and expand methods for understanding the full picture of secondary and post-secondary transitions.
Fostering school-community connections for students at Safe Schools.
The district also focuses directly on students to help ensure their safety and well-being. One way of doing this is helping students who may be experiencing some kind of challenge to their well-being to learn in a safe, community-centred environment. The Safe Schools program works with students as they encountered challenging situations, assisting them and their families and providing access to necessary outside supports. In one example, a family received support from the Safe Schools to stay connected with social workers who initially assisted the family in order to facilitate long-term connection and avoid inconsistent access to support. By providing critical, structural support to students and families, Safe Schools helps students work to stay on the right track. These stories play out in different ways for each student, but the focus is always helping them to learn according to their own needs, gifts and abilities, protecting them from harm, and helping them to grow as members of their local community.
For more information on Transitions, see Page 4/7 of the data on Evidence of Learning