Chinook School Division Learning Improvement Plan 2012-2013 School: Vanguard Community School

School Mission, Vision and Values Our Mission is to ensure the development of healthy citizens who value and love learning and who have quality life skills and opportunities to succeed in life through the fulfillment of their individual potential. What Does This Mean? At Vanguard Community School, we believe that success in life for our students lies in the discovery and fulfillment of individual potential. All students can therefore succeed based on their own potential. Our Vision Vanguard Community School must become a place that develops individuals who are:

V Victorious (Self-Confident) A Active L- Loyal (to Families, Friends, School, Communities) K Kind Y Youthful (Enthusiastic) R Resilient and Respectful S Successful (Discovering and Using Individual Potential)

Several years ago, our students were given the opportunity to describe what they wanted a Vanguard student to look like. They came up with an acrostic using our team name VALKYRS. Our school community has since adopted this as our vision. Our Values We commit to act in the following ways:

Always be prepared for class. Expect success from everyone. Commit to student discipline according to the VALKYR expectations ALL of the time. Hold students accountable for their behaviour in common areas.

Admit to mistakes. Respect, diversity and interests. Commit to supervision and help each other. Keep promises.

What We Expect Students to Know: (Knowledge)

People throughout history are the same as they are. Basic Canadian Geography. Understand and value our political system. Know where Canada came from. Basic Math Facts. Have a sense of the history of the world/west (political and cultural) Have basic visual arts and music literacy. Knowledge of basic world geography (Countries and Continents) Know the MP, MLA, PM, Premier Use their, there, theyre, your, youre properly. Know the basic steps to solve a problem. Use literature to investigate interests. Know what they want, how to get it, where to get help. Have a general understanding and appreciation for their own and other cultures. Handle money and calculate budgets. Parts of speech in an SVO/SVA sentence. Respond to narrative and expository prompts in a basic three paragraph essay. Express pride in where they come from respect localism its a bunny hug not a hoodie!

What We Expect Students to Know: (Skills) Be able to make intelligent decisions in voting. Be able to write complete sentences and recognize fragments and runons. Be able to write a coherent paragraph with a topic sentence and

supporting details. Be able to write a business letter. Be able to implement a variety of metacognitive study/organizational strategies. Be able to play on a team and accept roles. Be able to speak well in a public context when needed. Problem-solving skills. Hand in neat and well-oraginized products. Effective time-management skills. Balance work and play and value both. Use good manners. Graph properly. Play one musical instrument. Form a valid and convincing argument. Organize time and commitments. Construct investigations using scientific principles. What We Expect Students to Know: (Dispositions)

Work harmoniously with others. Understand team dynamics. Be able to lead. Be positive. Good work ethic. Kind and considerate. Celebrate accomplishments of self and others. Speak up when something is wrong. Read for enjoyment. Know they are creative Respectful to adults. Honour Remembrance Day. Not let failure stop them can do not quitters. Respectful of space Pick up shoes offer to help. Enjoy Learning/Challenges. Patience and understanding for others. Question authority appropriately. Value others. Be happy when someone else succeeds.

School SMART GOALS Literacy Goal By June, all of the students at the Vanguard Community School will achieve the blue zone or better as measured by the Fountas and Pinell and RAD Reading Assessments; alternatively, all students will achieve the fourth stanine or better as measured by the GRADE assessment, or improve by one grade level as measured by Success Maker. Math Goals By June, all students at VCS will score in the Blue Zone or higher in the combined category as measured by the Vancouver Island Math Assessment. Alternatively, each student will improve by one grade level as measured by Success Maker.

Fitness Goal By June, all students in Vanguard School will be in the healthy fitness zone in at least one strength, endurance, or flexibility area as measured by the schools Fitnessgram software.

Areas of Focus for 2012-2013 1. Student-Led Conferences 2. Visual Discrimination and word attack skills (K-6) 3. Vocabulary/Sentence Comprehension (7-12) 4. Basic Computation in Math 5. Assessment Plan Implementation

Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Results Orientated, Time Specific

What do we need to improve? 1. Basic Computation Skills in Math 2. Visual discrimination and word attack skills 3. Parent Teacher Interviews need to be restructured as Student Led Interviews.

What data are we using to target improvement? For our literacy goals we use data derived from the FnP and the RAD. We also use the GRADE test in October and May of each year in addition to ongoing data collected from our Success Maker program. In Math, we will use the Vancouver Island Diagnostic tests in addition to data collected from our Succe Maker Program. For our fitness goals, we plan to continue using the data gathered with our fitnessgram database. Data from our Success Maker program is also used to triangulate our data. Are we inclusive of all students? Yes. Part of building teacher capacity in Mathematics is to complete a group study of the book Teaching Mathematics to Children With Special Needs. A detailed description of our intervention plan can be viewed here. How will we know we have reached our goal? Benchmarks will met as outlined in our SMART goals.

The Action Plan(Teams and Timelines) What teams will help us work towards our goal? Staff PLC Teams (K-6), (7-9), (10-12) SCC Timeline: 1. August - Meet with SCC to determine areas of focus and SCC supports for the year. 2. August - Guide for student led conferences shared with staff. - PLC Meeting - Foundations For Learning 3. September 13 - Open house to explain areas of focus and school goals to parents. 4. September 15 - PLC Meetings - Student Led Conferences. 5. September 28 - Complete VIN testing and enter data. 6. October 15 - Complete GRADE testing and enter data. 7. October 15 - Staff is reminded of intervention procedures. TIPS completed - PLC Meeting - Unit Planning 8. October 21 - VCS Math Guide completed and ready to handout to parents. 9. October 28 - FnP and RAD testing completed. 10. October PLC Meeting - Assessment Plan Implementation

11. November PLC Meeting - Fall Testing Review /Intervention 12. December PLC Meeting - Metacognition/Learning Strategies Instruction. 13. January PLC Meeting - Basic Math Coputation 14. February PLC Meeting - Visual discrimination 15. March PLC Meeting - Fitness Goal 16. May Spring Testing - FnP, RAD, GRADE, VIN 17. June PLC Meeting - Spring Testing Review - Forward Planning

What are the teams plans for success? 1. Fall Data Entry - Staff Breakfast 2. PLC Presenter - 25$ Co-op gift certificate 3. Spring Data entry - Staff Breakfast 4. Classroom Observations - Staff Movie Night 5. Meeting Our School Goals - World Vision - Furnishing a classroom for every goal met.

Communication Plan How will the plan and progress be communicated to the school community to build engagement and support?

Newsletters We have contracted our newsletter to the Vanguard Village voice. All staff and parents have the opportunity to publish monthly via our school website. Parent nights We held an Open House on September 13th to discuss new initiatives at the school. Interviews Student Conferences are scheduled for November 20,21 , March 13,14 School Webpage http://www.vanguardschool.ca

Learning For ALL Are the school goals and plans inclusive of all students? Yes Have you begun a process for identifying students who require additional supports? Yes. That is in place every year. One PLC meeting per month is allocated to student services. The meeting is led by a student services teacher, and staff have an opportunity to make referrals and obtain additional resources. Are you using an inclusive team approach in addressing student interventions?

Yes, all staff are involved in each intervention meeting. As of now, there are no pull-out programs in the school.

Curriculum Renewal How will you implement new curricula into your school? Review of Course outlines to be done by October 1. All staff are currently using new curriculum. Differentiated Instruction Staff have either taken our workshop on Managing Differentiated Instruction, or will be updated at PD days this year. Our workshop can be viewed here. In addition, our staff are trained in using specific learning strategies (metacognitive strategies) in all subject areas. Our workshop can be viewed here. Also, we follow a writing protocol based on the Blended Style and Structure Writing program. It includes a K-12 scope and sequence. Our Writing Protocol can be viewed here. Pyramid of Intervention A detailed description of Intervention Plan can viewed here. What plans do you have in place for implementing your school assessment plan? Our School Assessment Plan

The Role of the School Community Council

What is the structure of your SCC? We have six members, a chairperson, a student and staff rep. How have you shared your mission/vision/values with your SCC? The SCC was involved in making our Mission/Vision/Values. It has since been shared at meetings and on our website.. How have you shared your school goal with your SCC? Goals were shared at the first meeting of the year. What is your SCCs goal for supporting Math for 2012-2013? Our SCC will help in planning a math fair this year. The emphasis will be on practical applications of mathematics. How will you ensure your SCC stays on track? Our math fair will be on the agenda at each SCC meeting. How might your SCC support the communication to the larger community around assessment practices and curriculum renewal? There is not much of need here. I regularly email each parent with information on school issues including assessment and curriculum. In addition, I have put much work into our website so that programs and policies can be explained. See here for a detailed list of our programs and policies.

Additional Areas for Consideration: School Based PD Plan Each staff member has submitted a professional growth plan that includes growth targets. By the end of September teachers meet with the principal to review the PGP plan and decide what professional growth opportunities might fit into PGP plans. Technology Plan Please click here.