Blog Posts

Over the last three years, our district has moved from a literacy intervention model that required identified elementary students to be bussed to another school for an entire school term to a model that provided literacy intervention at their own school. But how do we ensure students receive the necessary tools to be successful in literacy without the specialist teachers? The secret is in the classroom teacher! 

As the end of the year inches closer, a group of leaders and teachers are in the process of building something amazing for our students. It started back in March as group of leaders formed an inquiry around two simple questions:

I had the pleasure of visiting W.J. Mouat Secondary school to spend time with students in Connect 12. Connect 12 is an integrated Indigenous course that blends Indigenous ways of knowing with social justice. In a talking circle, I shared my experience growing up in Abbotsford as an Indigenous person and my experience as an Indigenous person working in the Abbotsford School District. I then asked the students what we as educators could do to make schools better.

We are grateful to have a provincial curriculum that prioritizes the intellectual, human, and social development of each of our children. In addition to ensuring our students master the critical literacy and numeracy skills necessary for success, we have time, space, and tools to develop each student’s understanding of themselves, others, and the world around them. In a world of increasing complexity and polarization, building these core competencies has never been more important.