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, each school develops an annual plan and sets individual goals to improve student achievement. 

Bradner Elementary School Goals

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PDF icon Mission Statement.pdf

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PDF icon BradnerSchoolPlan2021-22.pdf

Teachers have all committed time and energy to learning how to implement CAFE and Daily 5 strategies as a means of providing higher quality differentiated instruction to all students. I-charts are one sign that students are learning to use work and practice times to move their learning forwards.

Our primary teachers are in their second year as a part of Changing Results for Young Readers. As a part of participating in this district initiative, teachers are looking at student achievement, and what they can do differently to help more students be successful in reading. This includes a commitment to meeting and sharing student reading data, learning more about reading instruction and best practice, and collaborating around ideas to implement in the classroom that will support all developing readers.

At Bradner we try to face every task with a Growth Mindset. Students are encouraged to always remember the power of "yet". I don't understand..yet. I can't do it...yet. I haven't finished...yet. By adopting a growth mindset, and understanding the power that comes with that, students and staff alike set themselves up for learning in all areas. We can all do it, we just need to understand that we are all starting from different places. Sometimes our goals look different then the next person's and that is okay!

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

At Bradner, we hold to a high standard for reading achievement.  By grade 5  we have 90% of our students reading at a proficient, or higher level!  Teachers are committed to supporting all students to achieve in reading, and we are working to improve our ability to reach all learners through differentiated instruction.

Teachers are supporting students in numeracy so that they understand what they are doing  and can apply their knowledge to solve real world problems. It's not just about arithmetic anymore! A focus on mental math and explaining their thinking helps students achieve comprehension and skill in numeracy.

Our FSA scores this year aligned very closely to the assessments we did in class and for report cards. It is reassuring to see that we are accurate in our day to day assessment of student achievement! We know our students well at Bradner!

With the challenges of teaching and being in groups this year, reading and numeracy instruction have remained our top priorities.  As teachers work to improve their instructional practices, we are building shared language and practices across all grades and classrooms. Our LSS teacher supports students in class as a part of our Daily 5 routines. Additionally Reading Buddies, small group instruction, flexible seating, literacy games, independent, and one on one support continue to be among the many ways students experience reading opportunities at Bradner. The PAC supports us by providing a year end prize of a bicycle and gift card for participation in home reading, and we work continually to update and round out our library, guided reading library and levelled classroom libraries. We are also working towards setting up levelled readers for students to use as a part of their home reading program. Our grade 4 and 5s are always excited to participate in the Public library's Reading Link Challenge, and we have nearly 100% participation each year in this high level reading event!

Kindergarten Guided Reading
Kindergarten Guided Reading

Numeracy gets off to a great start in Kindergarten, with a wide range of opportunities to work with numbers. From coding our Bee Bots, to comparing the quantities of sugar in our favorite foods, building patterns, and daily "number talks" about how we work with numbers, Bradner students are getting real world experiences in which to practice their math skills. As students move up through the grades, in addition to arithmetic skills, we are working to ensure all students understand what they are doing and why. Good mental math skills are the foundation for problem solving and math manipulatives and games, number talks where students share their thinking, and real world math problems are replacing many of the daily work sheets, and helping build numeracy in our students.

Students practice and apply reading, writing and numeracy skills in a variety of ways that incorporate both technology and more traditional mediums. Our classrooms challenge students to use their skills to ask questions, collaborate and test possible solutions.  Classroom teachers are working collaboratively with the Library learning Commons teacher to build inquiry oppportunities for students that connect curriculum and core competencies. Real world inquiries give meaning to the skills we are developing!

In response to our MDI results, we are focusing some school wide learning on Healthy habits. Our grade 5 class started us off with some healthy recipes and exercise videos. You can see a couple of those below. Our K class explored the sugar content in some of their favorite snacks and compared the amounts to our daily requirement.  Their findings are in the photo above. Stay tuned for more information on salt in our foods, healthy sleep habits, and effects of screen time, coming soon!

Making a Healthy Snack
Exercise Video by Eli

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

Bradner Elementary is very much a community. With a population of just over 100, students regularly and easily mix between grades when on the playground, and families are closely connected. Staff are used to, and comfortable with working together with parents, and planning school wide activities that build school spirit and a strong sense of community. Our PAC supports us in providing many experiences for students that extend learning beyond the classroom.

This year, students have had a slightly different school experience, with an increased focus on personal responsibility for others. Through our measures taken to minimize the transmission of viruses, students have given more attention to personal hygiene and thoughtfulness towards others as we remember to maintain some distance, wash our hands, and think about our health. Playing in two separate pods at recess has seemed limiting at times, but has also served to underscore the importance of minimized physical contact with others.

At Bradner, we celebrate our student community on the first of every month. At this time, students are recognized for showing themselves to be SMART Bradner Bulldogs (Safety, Manners, Attitude, Responsibility, Thoughtfulness) in a variety of ways. Students of the Month are recognized for their positive student attributes, and Bulldog awards are given to students who have been caught demonstrating virtues. We also recognize students who have participated consistently in our Home Reading Program. We then enjoy a Monthly Highlight video compiled from photos of the past months events. This year these assemblies have been delivered remotely, and students have been learning a slightly different way of celebrating their achievements and the achievements of others. But the old adage still rings true: When you are a SMART Bradner Bulldog, anything is possible.

Just two weeks into the start of the school year, students participated in learning about and then participating in the Terry Fox Run.  It was a quieter event for the school, but we made  a significantly larger contribution to the memory of Terry Fox and the fight against cancer, raising over $700 through online donations! 

Students demonstrated their support on Orange Shirt Day. The story of how this day came about was revisited and all students participated in activities in which they expressed the ways in which all children matter, and the importance of reconciliation for our indigenous community. Great empathy was felt for the children who suffered in residential schools across Canada.

Bradner students participated actively in preparation of a video presentation for our Rembrance Day Ceremony. Students prepared presentations of poetry, music and art, at a classroom level, and were then joined our assembly remotely from their classrooms. The beauty of the music, and the thoughtfulness of the poems and artwork demonstrate a willingness and interest in connecting with the history that is so much a part of us all, and the occasion was a memorable one. Student learning in the classrooms springboarded off of this assembly experience and deep conversations were heard in all classrooms about the role we can play in working towards world peace. You can watch our virtual assembly is below.

Our 2020 Remembrance Day Ceremony

In December, Bradner students and their families worked together to collect donations to the Abbotsford Food Bank. We filled our tree with Christmas balls, one for each donation made! Students were thrilled to see the donations add up, and our hearts were full when the Food Bank truck pulled up to receive the gift.

This year we were excited to receive the completed art work from a two year long project with Indigenous artist Jay Havens. Students learned about the Woodland style of painting, and then replicated this to produce art on the ipad! Mr. Havens taught us art technique as well as the importance of salmon to the local Indigenous people. Traditional and contemporary fishing methods were examined and compared and students came away with a new appreciation for art, history and the world we live in, as well as a growing understanding of the many ways we can impact our environment.

February is Read What You Love month at Bradner! The focus is daily reading and making that connection that truly makes reading joyful. We had many guest readers, including Superintendent Kevin Godden, Assistant Superintendent Carla Danielsson, our Liason Officer Constable Dyck and Parent Mr. Goerzen who is also a local firefighter. Factoring in Bradner's own staff, students were treated to a different guest reader who shared a favorite book for 3 weeks! Students also shared their favorite books, along with photos of themselves reading outside of school.  At Bradner, we love reading!

Kindergarten Students recognizing their own growth and learning

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

Bradner students are regularly contributing to their community through a variety of fundraising efforts and this year is no different. Although we can not connect with our community in the same ways as past years, we have raised money for the Terry Fox foundation, and contributed this Christmas to the food bank. 

In classrooms, students learn to be global citizens who care for our planet. Through recycling, playground clean ups, and by looking out for each other, students demonstrate a gowing awareness of there place in both our Bradner and our global communities.

Teamwork is what it's all about! Bradner students love their sports, and this year, although we could not enjoy our usual interschool activities, Bradner students ran cross country, and cheered each other on, as well as participating in noon hour soccer games while the weather was nice. We had a special event at Christmas, with small groups engaging in rollerblade hockey. 

Students participated this fall in a garden club. With the help of our EA, Ms. K, students cleaned out the garden boxes, added soil, and planted fall flowers to help beautify our grounds.

Division 1 demonstrated comapssion for others by spearheading a bottle drive to raise money for Children's Hospital. Thank you to the entire Bradner School community for your support!