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 BradnerSchoolPlan2022-2023.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

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 wanted to provide students an opportunity to provide more input on their school community. This past year as a school we committed to revisioning our house teams and having an indigenous focus. Students were provided the opportunity to choose the 4 new house teams. In addition, we hosted a Bulldog Brunch for two students in each division. Students were asked to collaborate with their classmates on things they wanted to: keep, get rid of, bring back, or consider. During the course of the pandemic we have seen an increase in computer use by students. To cultivate safe online behaviours, we invited our school liaison worker Constable Marcus Dyck to teach our intermediate students in Grade 4 & 5 ways to be safe online.

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 83, 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. 

At Bradner, we celebrate our student community on the first Friday 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. For most of this year these assemblies have been delivered remotely. In April we resumed in-person assemblies and it was great to celebrate student success together as a learning community. 

Just two weeks into the start of the school year, students participated in learning about and then participating in the Terry Fox Run, and as school community we raised $238.00 that went towards supporting cancer research.

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. Throughout the past school year, our school has had a focus on Truth and Reconciliation. Each week during our morning announcements, students and staff learn about a new Halq'eméylem word of the week. In addition, during this past year one of our Metis students led our learning community in a Land Acknowledgment at the start of each school assembly/event.

On National Indigenous Peoples Day, all students in our school participated in a Halq'eméylem Bingo featuring our Halq'eméylem words of the week. In addition, as a learning community this year our staff and students embarked on a journey to revision our house teams with an indigenous focus. We partnered with our Indigenous Support Worker, Ms. Kitchekeesik, and the Indigenous Education Department to support us with this process. Utilizing the Seven Sacred Teachings, Ms. Kitchekeesik and Ms. Kelly (Indigenous Support Worker Mentor) taught our students about different animals, and their virtues. Following learning about these teachings, our school community selected four new animals to form the face of our house teams. Starting in Fall 2022 our new house teams will be: sp'óq'es/Eagle,Buffalo, spá:th/Bear, and steqó:ya/Wolf. In collaboration with our Indigenous Support Worker and District Indigenous Education Department we created an artwork contest for Indigenous Students across our school district to participate in. Several submissions were received, and after consultation with our Indigenous Support Worker, we selected the new house team logos. A student at Abbotsford Virtual School (AVS), Zeda Ellis was the winner of the contest. We honoured Zeda and raised our new house team banners at our year end awards ceremony on Wednesday, June 28th. 

Bradner students participated actively in preparation of our Rembrance Day Ceremony. This year we had students serve as emcees for the event, and had a small group of students present in our assembly. We streamed this event to our classrooms, as well as remotely where parents and community members could observe.  This year our assembly focused on the contribution of Indigenous Peoples in Canada to bring about peace. 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 2021 Remembrance Day Ceremony

In November a local state of emergency was issued due to flooding in the Sumas Prairie and the highway was shut down for several weeks. Our students and staff organized a campaign to donate items to support families in need, including: food, clothing, and donations. While our learning community is small we raised $384.40. A huge shout out to all of the staff and students who contributed to this initiative.  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.

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.

This year students in Division 1 participated in an Entrepreneur Fair and created a business and marketing plan, created items, and donated a percentage of their earnings to charity.

This past Spring we had a visit from a parent (Mr. Goerzen) who is a firefighter at the local fire hall.

Teamwork is what it's all about! Bradner students love their sports, and we were very fortunate to offer a variety of sports for students to participate in this year including: cross country, soccer, handball, and basketball. We were able to have parents observe may of these spirited games against other West Rural School Teams inlcuding: Matsqui, Ross, Aberdeen, and Mt. Lehman. In early Spring our students had a chance to participate in Inline Skating, and we rounded up our year of sports with a spirited Sports Day.

Students in Kindergarten participated this Spring in a garden club. With the generous donation of a grant from the Bradner Community Association, students weeded, added soil, and planted drought resistant plants to beautify our school grounds. In addition, students in Division 2 learned about Mason bees and even created their own Mason bee house to support with pollination.

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!