Working Together Positively for the Success of the Child

Our teachers are dedicated to teaching the "whole" child and we have a number of programs that support us in this. 

Helping Students Prepare to Learn

• Morning Workouts – research indicates that physical activity to start the school day improves student focus and learning.
• ZONES of Regulation – teaches students about their emotional and mental state and how to self-regulate. Research indicates that students who are able to self-regulate are more successful in school over time than even their less regulated gifted peers.
• Mindfulness and Trauma Sensitivity – improve how we teach our students as well as their intra and inter relationship skills.

Helping Students Build Basic Skills

• Literacy Focus –  through a balanced literacy program, grouping students for improved learning and targeting students for individual support, we work hard to have all students reading by the end of grade three, or we have a good understanding of why this has not happened. To provide additional literacy support, we have a home reading program for our younger grades and participate in Books for Kids and the Calgary Flames, Reading, Give It a Shot.
• Numeracy Focus –  students need to have a solid grasp of basic skills to access higher-level math. Nevertheless, this isn't enough, because they also need to be able to think mathematically. Through task design and a special math focus through games for building basic skills, we address both needs with students.
• Disciplinary Literacy – this is teaching students to “think like”… architects, chemists, botanists, authors and so on.  It helps them understand that to understand a subject, it’s important to approach it in a certain way. It’s also a great way to help them learn!

Providing Meaningful Learning

• Teaching and Learning is based on research that follows the ideals of the Galileo Network, Teaching Effectiveness Framework. Inquiry and real life connections to school curriculum are the starting points for task design. Teachers use formative assessment to give them a clear understanding of students' learning and what the next best steps are. 

• Makerspace – the new makerspace and the philosophy behind it provide both incredible learning opportunities and soft skills such as perseverance, the iterative nature of learning and experimenting and how failure is a step in that process to name just a few.

All of the above is of course woven into the elementary Programs of Studies. Even our physical education and music specialists are part of the team that works to help children learn and to have their learning "stick" over time.