BLEWETT ELEMENTARY
School Improvement Plan
“Capable
young people
thriving
in a rapidly changing
world”
- Ministry of
Education, 2015
A school improvement plan is the articulation of the collective
commitment of each school community to meet the changing needs of
its learners, collaboratively aligning its resources, staffing, structures and
facilities to create rich learning environments that improve learning for
all students. The school improvement plan is based on a dynamic inquiry
model, recognizing that deep growth in a system occurs over time and
through continuous reflection.
Collaborative
Inquiry
Cycle
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Academic Success
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Resilience
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Celebrations. . .
Learning Opportunities
As a school community, what are you celebrating in student learning and
leadership and adult learning and leadership? Please share 1-5 ideas for us to
celebrate!
-
Utilizing our computer and Ipad carts more often
More experience with inquiry based learning
Blended learning opportunities (math)
Celebrating our motto of “A Place For Everyone”
‘Outside Classroom’ experiences 30 minutes of activity outside for 30 days
Using our Gazebo as another classroom
Parents organizing “Spring Activities” – Mt. Biking, bouldering, dance etc.
Coaching/Buddy time – students like multiage groups – benefits to both
classes
- MANDT course
- Aboriginal Blanket Exercise
- Collaborative Curriculum time
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Reflect . . .
Summary of Evidence and Rationale
How has your school moved forward with your goals? After your first year of the plan, please share evidence that
might include:
-
Teacher learning
School structural shifts
Strategies worked on
Beginning evidence of impact on students
Findings from 2015/2016
1. Teacher Observation – teachers observed over the year that students continue to need to work on conventions
and style. Even though we experienced growth in writing overall there our goal was to have more meeting or
exceeding. We hope to move more to exceeding. In our second goal – we basically have a baseline now of
behaviors reported to parents from the principal. Next year after we reintroduce our “RULES” to existing and new
students we will track the above as well as students referred to the office.
2. FSA – this year – we noticed that our own evaluation of our students at the Grade 4 level using the performance
standards was very close to the FSA results this year.
3. Technology – this year our Learning Support teacher introduced teachers to a number of apps on the Ipads that
would help students write or help them find a different way to represent their writing.
4. Code of Conduct – we have now updated our Code of Conduct and shared with parents. Everyone had a part in
the creation of our Positive Behavior acronym “RULES” and we are starting to use consistent language and we hope
parents too.
5. We have learned that for our writing goal – we need to tighten up our school wide write and we need to mark
together. We are going to collect exemplars this next year so children have some comparison and we will be
creating portfolios for student work.
6. Teachers did some collaborative work around the new curriculum. In pairs, they looked at the learning
outcomes, assessment tools and the aboriginal connection.
Creativity and Imagination
Academic Success
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Resilience
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Create . . .
School Goals
Moving into Year 2, please restate your goals with any edits/revisions based on your conversation around the
evidence you have collected.
Goal 1 (core literacy):
To improve overall writing performance especially in conventions and style.
“Can teaching students different ways to represent their writing – including innovative and traditional methods –
contribute to more students meeting or exceeding expectations using the Performance Standards for Writing?”
Rationale:
-
Teacher observation – need to work on conventions and style
Want to create portfolios to track student growth over time
Need to do a school wide write – same topic – provide exemplars to help students evaluate their own
work
Consistently use the Performance standards
Use kid friendly rubrics
FSA results – improved but room for more improvement
Ongoing learning about new apps for writing
New curriculum information
Goal 2 (deeper learning, development of rich learning environments):
To develop a new Code of Conduct and understanding of student behaviour expectations in and out of school.
“Will involving students in the creation of a new Code of Conduct result in students becoming more socially and
globally responsible?”
Rationale:
-
we want to continue because we really just finished introducing this to the students
we continue to be involved in the District PBIS initiative
we want to decrease our overall visits to the office
now that we have introduced to parents – we hope to see everyone using the same language
we need to work on student understanding of behaviour expectations
Creativity and Imagination
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Act . . .
Strategies and Actions
Identify the instructional strategies and actions that are specifically tied to desired student results, for the next two
years. Consider the role of students, parents and staff in the creation and ownership of strategies, as well as the role
of professional learning and collaboration.
Goal #1
-
Teach the different forms of writing e.g. persuasive/poetry/storywriting narrative/writing to an audience/real life
application etc.- writing – with a bigger lens on conventions and style
Teach different ways to represent e.g. using technology/orally/drama
Model writing – build stories together
Develop clear criteria together with students
Consistently share learning intentions
Develop self/peer assessments
Give descriptive feedback – orally and written
ProD and tech support for writing apps – staff meetings and other ProD opportunities – get a guest speaker next year
Share ideas and go into each others classrooms – peer mentoring
Resource sharing – e.g. Writing Traits/Adrienne Gear/Daily Five
Look into author visits – like Cyndi Sand-Eveland and others – take advantage of author events (Eric Wilson)
ProD – Bev Kanda/Susan Augustyn
Share goal and strategies with parents – create a bulletin board of writing for each class – for parents to view
Create writing portfolios that travel with the students from year to year
Put samples of writing on the website and in the newsletter
Bring personal writing resources to first staff meeting
Afterschool school wide marking sessions
Continue to share at staff meetings
Put writing ideas in newsletter that kids/parents can do at home
Goal #2
-
Consistent assemblies to promote “Blewett RULES” – introduce each letter and meaning again in the fall
Visuals put up around the school to remind of expectations – signs even outside – pictures of students too
Create a matrix of expectations – send home to parents and share with all staff as below – done but will repeat
Share playground expectations sheet with staff/parents/TTOC’s/EA replacements - ongoing
Use Technology and students to create short videos to show expectations being followed out
Create a “yellow bench” – a friendship bench
Everyone including parents use consistent language e.g. safe or not? Respectful or not? Learning or not?
Capture students using expectations and display on school TV- add the RULES graphic to our newsletter
Do assessments over time to check for understanding of expectations and consistent language
Develop a jingle for RULES
Principal to track more behavior issues
Continue to track social responsibility for students Fall and Spring
Creativity and Imagination
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Celebrations
As a school community, how did your celebrations/communication with parents
go over the year with regards to your goals? How do you ensure your growth plan
process is alive and embedded in your school culture?
GOAL #1
- We didn’t get to creating a baseline but we will in Sept. Then share with
parents and revisit at our staff meetings
- We did use our data to confirm our need to continue with our goals as is –
will do a school wide write and marking and share info with parents
- Information about our goals was shared in our newsletter and at PAC
meetings
- We will create students portfolios to celebrate students writing and other
learning – these will be moved on from class to class
- We checked in at staff meetings to assess growth and need
GOAL #2
- Social responsibility scales were shared with parents at each reporting
period
- A ‘RULES’ bulletin board was in the hallway
- We checked in at staff meetings
- Our assemblies were student led and some parents attended
- We sent home our matrix of students expectations and our new code of
conduct
- We will revisit in the fall
- Principal shared at PAC meetings
Creativity and Imagination
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Measure . .
Measurement Process
How will you collect evidence over the next year? Staff capacity building? Parent
capacity building? Student learning?
Goal #1
-
Develop kid friendly/staff friendly rubrics
Writing samples in portfolios
Develop exemplars for writing
Staff meeting information sharing
Author visits
School wide write and marking
Peer visits
Parents – ideas in the newsletter about how they can help
FSA results
Share overall writing outcomes for the year with parents – where we have
been and where we want to go
Goal #2
- Revisit all information about RULES and our matrix of student behavior
expectations
- Continue with baseline of office visits and information home about individual
student behavior
- Social responsibility rubric completed Fall and Spring and shared with parents
on report cards
- Put up pictures around the school of the ‘right’ thing to do and on our TV.
- Put up a bulletin board of information to share with parents, students and
community
Creativity and Imagination
Academic Success
Citizenship
Resilience
BLEWETT ELEMENTARY
Connect . . .
Networks and Alignment
How are you connecting within your ‘Family of Schools’ to enrich your learning
opportunities and/or to collectively move your plan forward?
- Invite other staffs to events – we invited the Rosemont staff and the senior
leadership to join us in our Aboriginal Blanket exercise
- Research teachers using different writing models and have staff go to visit
- Utilize the KLTF visitation opportunity
- Visit schools using the PBIS model
- Share our Growth Plan with others and look for opportunities for wider
engagement
Consider alignment – How can your school plan support your:
 Aboriginal Education Plan – we will consider having an Aboriginal writer come
to present to students and staff/try to include writing when preparing lessons
on Aboriginal topics/Aboriginal presenters or mentors will be given
information on our School goal so they can plan accordingly.
 Healthy Schools Plan – being able to self-regulate and be resilient creates a
healthier environment for everyone.
 ‘Mobile Shift’ Plan – continuing with our plan to incorporate technology into
learning and different ways to represent learning.
 School Based Planning Days – we will use one of our school based planning
days to work on our school growth plan. The other will be used by staff
members to work on self-directed plans which may include school goal
strategies or new curriculum.
Creativity and Imagination
Academic Success
Citizenship
Resilience
BLEWETT ELEMENTARY
School Plan Contributors. . .
School Plan Contributors and Signatures
School Planning Council:
Staff:
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OECD Principles of Learning . . .
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Creativity and Imagination
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The Curriculum Model . . .
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Place Conscious Learning Ideas . . .
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