Our School Plan Progress 2021-2022

Improving Student Learning

The Abbotsford School District’s Strategic Plan reflects our public commitment to BC’s new curriculum by working together to continuously improve learning for each student.

School Goals

Under the Framework for Enhancing Student Learning, all Abbotsford School District schools are required to develop a long term plan to improve student achievement, one that maintains a balance on the intellectual, social and career development of students. Each year, every school will also set individual school goals to assist them in achieving progress.

Sandy Hill Elementary School Goals

Literacy

Sandy Hill is a kindergarten to grade 5 dual-track school with a rich history of parent involvement.  Parents work with teachers, support staff and administration to improve student learning.  This year, the students are continuing to build their skills in literacy (reading and writing).  Our school plan reflects the strategies staff are using to support the literacy achievment of our students. 

Staff continue to work on self-regulation and social emotional learning as the foundation of all learning that goes on in the classroom, as well as on the playground.  Students continue to learn strategies to be calm, alert and ready to learn.  Teachers are working with students to foster a “growth mindset”-the idea that our abilities in all areas can be grown through dedication and hard work.

PDF Downloads: 

PDF icon Sandy Hill School Plan Literacy 2022-23.pdf

Intellectual

Our students will learn key academic skills - like reading, writing and math - to encompass the knowledge and processes associated with intellectual development. As learners and meaning-makers, students take subject-specific concepts and content and transform them into a new understanding. 

Our celebrations of learning

Reading and Writing Achievement

Reading and Writing Achievement.

Students’ literacy skills are developed in the classroom and throughout the school in a variety of ways.  Moving forward, all our teachers are committed to using a Daily 5/Daily 3 and CAFE structure to provide students with opportunities to work in small groups and focus on their individual needs.  Primary teachers utilize many of Janet Mort’s “Joyful Literacy” initiatives into their literacy programs, with a focus on finding playful, meaningful and engaging ways to help students learn to read and write.  In addition, intermediate teachers are working on a variety of reading comprehension strategies, such as the Comprehension Toolkit, Adrienne Gear’s Reading Power, Writing Power and Powerful Understanding, to help students access and understand a variety of texts, including fiction, non-fiction works.

Human & Social

Our students will study personal and human social skills and as they relate to students' identity in the world - both as individuals and as members of their community. We are learning that personal and human social skills encompass the abilities students needs to thrive as individuals, to understand and care about themselves and others, and to find and achieve their purposes in the world. 

Our celebrations of learning

Community

Sandy Hill staff and students participate in a variety of events throughout the year to foster a sense of community.  We acknowledge our ever-increasing cultural diversity.  This spring students worked with Mrs. Wildeman to produce a power point presentation to teach all the school students about Vaisakhi.  Students and staff are encouraged to wear traditional clothing and students demonstrated dancing outside at lunch, along with a parade around the school.  Teachers continue to celebrate all the cultures represented in our school community.

Sandy Hill finds ways to give back.  From Terry Fox Runs, a successful food drive for the food bank at Thanksgiving, food, socks, pajamas and toys for the Christmas Bureau and the Grade 5 Legacy Project with Archway, giving comes naturally to our school community. 

This school year, the Grade 5s worked with their teachers on a legacy project collecting hygiene items to create welcome packs for new refuge families.  Over 500 welcome packs were created and donated to Archway Community Services.

Mrs.  Jessi Old Coyote, Indigenous Support Worker, worked throughout the year with our Indigenous students, supporting them with literacy, cultural knowledge and pride.  Mrs. Old Coyote decided to work with the students to make ribbon skirts or ribbon vests to celebrate their culture.  Grade 5s participated in a drumming workshop at the Indigenous Centre.  Mrs. Old Coyote worked with all our teachers and students to share Indigenous teachings and knowledge, further imbedding the First Peoples’ Principles of Learning in the curriculum.  Field trips to a Pow-Wow at the Sumas Longhouse, and trips to Xa:ytem were also part of the learning for many of our students and staff.

Careers

Our students will succeed in a much different future from the one we envisioned 10 or 15 years ago. It is our responsibility to prepare all children for success in whatever life path they choose, connecting learning opportunities with future career possibilities. We know that real-life experiences - like community involvement, gaining business knowledge, and hands-on-learning - build better students and life-long citizens. 

Our celebrations of learning

Inquiry Based Learning

Teachers continue to explore inquiry-based learning opportunities for students to explore new ideas, ask questions, and learn about a variety of topics.  British Columbia’s redesigned curriculum gives students an opportunity to focus on Core Competencies that will positively impact their futures. 

In the Library Learning Commons Explozone and in classrooms, students are given chances to be creative, think critically and work cooperatively on different tasks.  Students use technology, design thinking, and inquiry to foster skills that will ensure that they are ready to take on any challenge in an ever-changing world. 

Students apply critical, metacognitive, and reflective thinking in given situations, and relate this thinking to other experiences, using this process to identify ways to improve or adapt their approach to learning. They reflect on and assess their experiences, thinking, learning processes, work, and progress in relation to their purposes. Students give, receive, and act on feedback and set goals individually and collaboratively. They determine the extent to which they have met their goals and can set new ones. 

Students are asked to reflect on their learning and to share these thoughts with their families on Seesaw. Questions to stimulate this reflection could be "what are you most proud of in this work and why? what are some ideas that you learned throughout this project and why are they important? what is something that made you smile while working on this project? what would you do differently if you were to do this project again?" This type of critical thinking is a skill that these students will use throughout their life, particularly as they enter into professions. The better people are able to reflect on their work, the better decisions and goals they can make going forward!