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April 2012
This year at our school we have been focusing on student and parent engagement in learning. We have been working on increasing opportunities for online communication through our blogs, facebook and twitter. It has been fun and we have been learning much about using these tools for two way communication. We have also been offering students some new learning opportunities, particularly with our Project Based Learning Initiative, Learning Partners project and our numeracy initiatives. There has been a great deal of debate and discussion about changes that are needed in public schools to better prepare students for the 21st century and it is important to us to be engaging with our parents to talk and plan our future as a school. A great place to start is with the British Columbia Education plan website. Check it out and talk with your children about some of the ideas.
I would like to encourage all parents to consider these three questions to use with your children when talking about school and learning. The questions are: 1. Where are you going with your learning? 2. How is it going? 3. Where to next? We want our students to be thinking about, and be able to articulate, some of the "big ideas" in their learning in their different subject areas. We want them to be able to reflect on how they are doing, and we want them to think about where they will be going next with their learning. It may take some time, but over the course of this year, we are working towards all students being able to answer these questions with confidence.Yours in Learning, P. Lorette Learning Activities at Brackendale
Family Groups Every two weeks, we gather to learn in our "Family Groups". Family Groups is a fun time to learn with students who are in different classes and who are different ages. Last year, we learned a lot about the importance of fresh clean water and we built a well in India. This year, we are learning more about First Nations culture as our theme. Also we are continuing with the community work we started last year by building another well for people who don't have much water and in our own community we are helping kids who may not have enough food. We feel very good about this important learning and the important work we are doing to help others in our community and communities far away.
The Inquiry Project This year at our school, all students in grades 3-7 will be learning in a special pilot project where each student chooses an "inquiry" on a topic of their choosing. Over the course of the year, students will learn about the inquiry process, prepare a question about their topic, prepare a presentation about their inquiry and then present their learning to their peers. They will learn to use technology to conduct research, communicate, and present their findings. This is an opportunity for students to deepen their learning about an area that is meaningful to them personally.
Language and Culture Back in late August, our staff learned how to build traditional First Nations drums. Our school now has a set of 18 drums and we have big plans! Deanna Lewis works with us every year to provide a language and culture program to all students. She is going to help us learn about how we can use the drums to celebrate our local Squamish Nation Culture. We are predicting that our assemblies are going to become much more musical!
Learning Partners
Mrs. Wick's grad five and six students and two of our kindergarten classes are partnering on a very special project called "learning partners". Each week, Mrs. Wick's students prepare a literacy lesson and the student become coaches of literacy to the Kindergarten students for a fun filled 30 minutes together. We are excited about the positive relationships that are being formed and the special learning that is taking place for both young and old!
The Numeracy Project
Our intermediate department has made some changes to the way we approach numeracy. We have created instructional goupings that will help students focus on key numeracy skills and competencies. The staff are also meeting regularly to share strategies and to discuss which areas require deeper focus in order to better serve the students. Problem solving and number sense continue to be areas of focus at our school.
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Welcome to April. The spring is always a very busy time in our school. Preparations are underway for our Spring Carnival and our PAC is always looking for additional help to make this annual event a success. The theme this year is "Superheros" so be sure to get out your capes and tights! The date of our spring carnival is Thursday, April 19th. Congratulations to our boy's and girl's basketball teams for a successful season and thanks to our coaches, Mr. Fieldhouse, Mrs. Jorgensen, Mrs. Elchuk and Mr. Savjord.