Action Plan for Learning
/ School Name: Pleasantside Elementary
School Goal: Literacy
School Year: 2015 - 2016
Goal / Inquiry
Student learning /
  1. To promote literacy as an integral component of learning in all subject areas and all grade levels in order to improve student achievement in reading and writing.

  1. To foster pro-social behaviour: empathy, cooperation and kindness to promote and develop a caring school community.

Rationale
1-3 reasons for choosing goal /
  1. Literacy is a foundational competency that is of primary importance to all learning.
  2. Literacy is the foundation for life-long learning.

References and sources to support actions /
  • Randy Cranston & Penny Ketola, Teaming for School Success. Improving Learning for All through a philosophy of Inclusion.
  • Richard Allington & Rachael Gabriel “Every Child, Every Day” in. Educational Leadership
  • Faye Brownlie powerpoint. CR4YR: Spending Time Where It Counts.
  • Stuart Shanker, “Calm, Alert and Learning”

Backup Documentation /
  • See attached:
  • School Wide Write Results
  • Report Card Results
  • Foundation Skills Assessment Results
  • Classroom Assessment Based on Teacher Judgment
  • Information from Class Reviews

Planned Actions
Continuing practices working well (1-3)
  • What will we do differently? (1-3)
  • How will we provide for staff development and collaboration?
  • How will we involve parents?
  • How will we involve students?
  • How will we monitor progress and adjust actions?
/ Continued Practices that are working well
  • Professional Development - The entire teaching staff attended the Quality Teaching Series, Randy Cranston & Penny Ketola, Teaming for School Success, Improving Learning for All through a philosophy of Inclusion.
  • Guided Reading Program –for students in grades 2 and 3.
  • Reading Link Competition –A little more than half of the students in grades 4 & 5 participated in the Reading Link competition from November 2014 to May 2015. One team went to the Grand Challenge held a Kwantlen Polytechnic University in Langley and won a silver medal.
  • Talking Tables – The kindergarten students participated in the oral language development program, Talking Tables.
  • Effectively Managing Resources - During the school year, some teachers from the Teaching & Evaluation program came to the school to help level books and gave us advice on how to set up an organized system of reading material. This will ensure that we start the school year with resources in place.
  • Class Reviews – We will continue with class reviews as a way of knowing our students so we can make good decisions about resource allocation.
What we will do differently:
  • We will take greater care to identify, assess and monitor students who are not meeting expectations in reading and writing.
  • We will spend time reflecting on our assessment and reporting practices.
  • Early intervention – We will try to find ways to support students in grade 1 who need assistance in developing their reading and writing skills.
We will provide for staff development and collaboration by:
  • discussing the school goals at every staff meeting.
  • participating in district professional development opportunities and seeking out professional development opportunities that will help us to improve our practice in reading and writing instruction.
  • ensuring that there are always books and other resources readily available to the teaching staff that support our school goals.
We will involve parents by:
  • invitingthem to participate in some of our learning activities such as the Noisy Reading Program, Talking Tables and reading with our struggling learners.
  • encouraging them to engage their children in reading the environmental print that surrounds them at home and in their community.
We will involve students by:
  • encouraging them to participate in all of the reading activities and programs in both the school and at the Port Moody Public Library.
  • encouraging them to develop a life-long love of reading.
  • ensuring that we have books that are engaging and at their reading level.
We will monitor progress and adjust actions by:
  • monitoring student progress using report cards, informal and formal classroom observations, school wide reads, school wide writes in the fall and spring, and Foundation Skill Assessment Results. We will communicate with parents on a regular and ongoing basis to ensure that there is a strong connection between home and school.

Backup Documentation
Documentation of learning
Key evidence of change
  • How did your actions make a difference?
  • Choose 1-3 pieces of evidence to demonstrate the impact your actions have had on student learning to meet your goal.
  • Documentation could include video, survey results, performance standard data, anecdotal evidence, work samples, etc.
/ Impact of our actions on student learning
This year, 12/18 students participated in the Reading Link Challenge. The program sponsored by the Fraser Valley Regional Library Association, is designed to foster a love of reading and to promote reading comprehension. Pleasantside had 3 teams with 6 members each competing in the school and library challenges and one team advanced to the grand challenge. The students made a 6 month commitment to reading, re-reading, and analyzing six novels.
The students competed against 538 teams (3226 students) from 127 schools in participating communities. The level of commitment and determination on the part of the students illustrated that we had succeeded in engaging students in the study of literature and cultivating a love of reading.
Backup Documentation /
  1. Report card results
  2. Foundation Skills Assessment
  3. Spring 2015 School Wide Write
  4. Classroom Assessments Based on Teacher Judgment
  5. Information from Class Reviews

Reflection Highlights
  • Where are we now?
  • What are some patterns emerging?
  • What surprised you?
  • What conclusions/inferences might you draw?
  • How does this inform potential next steps?
/ Last year we had one returning teacher on staff. Next year, there will be four returning teachers, however two of them will be on maternity leave. The pattern that appears to be emerging is that with no continuity in the teaching staff and the Student Services teacher, it is difficult to make significant progress in achieving our school goals.
It would appear that finding strategies and activities that promote student engagement in reading and writing have worked well at our school. Last year, the school worked with an Artist in Residence to produce a book of student writing, art and photographs entitled, “Pleasantside Writes for Rights”. The students were willing to persevere through the writing cycle making several revisions until they produced a final product that they were satisfied with. Like the Reading Link, this writing project captured the imagination of the students and resulted in work that exceeded expectations.
Backup Documentation

Signatures

School Name: Pleasantside Elementary / School Goal: Literacy / School Year: 2015 - 2016
Submitted by School Planning Council:
Title / Name / Signature
Principal / Heather Birnie
Parent / Sarah Green
Parent / Julie Davies
Parent / Liz Abreu
Recommended by Assistant Superintendent:
Assistant Superintendent / Reno Ciolfi
Board and Superintendent Approval:
Board Chair / Judy Shirra
Superintendent / Patricia Gartland
Print this page, have it signed by School Planning Council, scan it and attach it here

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