2022-2023

Our Story

Originally located three kilometers from where it currently stands, Westview Elementary is a school steeped in tradition and rich in history. The original school, known as Grief Point Elementary, opened in September 1955 with ninety-five students. As the City of Powell River grew, and roads connected main streets to one another, so too did the population of the school. Young families with school-aged children built homes in the area as the school population began to grow. Grief Point Elementary has always had a strong academic focus, while being well-rounded in fine arts and sports. Of specific interest to note is that Robert Thirsk, Canadian astronaut, is an alumnus from Grief Point Elementary. Over the years, it became apparent that upgrades and expansions were necessary and in 2008, the decision was made to rebuild the school. Westview Elementary, which opened in 2010, was built to accommodate 380 students (300 + 80 K) and staff. The school design and master plan were developed to seamlessly incorporate a future capacity to 505 students plus staff. Located a few kilometers from the original site, Westview Elementary is a stunning building that hums with the energy of a student population of approximately 350 students, in 14 divisions/classrooms. Westview is the largest elementary school and engages a diverse student population from all over the Westview area as well as from the City of Powell River. Westview has a vibrant StrongStart program, as well as a highly engaged parent and volunteer community as well as a B4 Preschool program supporting up to 60 early learners in our community. Today, as you look up from the shores of the Salish Sea, above the town, on the brow of the hill, a traditional Coast Salish pole welcomes all to the state of the art building. The building is modeled after and designed with personalized learning in mind. The building features a variety of learning spaces that provide multiple instructional opportunities designed to go hand in hand with the new British Columbia curriculum. Upon entering the large glass doors, students, families and visitors are welcomed to the Learning Commons. This is a bright, flexible space for students to explore their interests in many different ways. A mobile computer lab allows students to research, fostering curiosity wherever they may be in the building. Down the hallway and to the left is a multi-purpose room with a state of the art kiln; attached to this is a fully operational kitchen. Teachers and students can take full advantage of this space to enhance learning with multiple cooking projects, elaborate artwork and multi-class presentations. The high school sized gymnasium houses intramural and extracurricular sports activities as well as allowing ample room for all classes to participate in daily physical education programs. Even further down the hallways is a music room that houses violins, trumpets, ukuleles, drums; enough for each student in every class. Just outside the huge glass exit doors, an outdoor learning classroom is covered by a solid pagoda, flanked by trees that are placed just right to provide shade on the sunny days. Beyond the pagoda, nestled in the grassy knoll at the back of the building, students easily access the classroom gardens, from which many harvests are picked. Westview Elementary has a very dedicated staff who work hard to meet student needs. Academics are of utmost importance, and Westview is also known for a commitment to music (choir, modules, jazz) programs and athletic programs. There is great support of the school by community members, many of whom were Grief Point/Westview students as well. Westview Elementary has a very active PAC who organize numerous fundraisers and volunteer throughout the school to support teachers, field trips, school wide events, and the purchasing of sports equipment for our students. Even though the school is just over ten years old, there continues to be excitement within the school and our wider school community about the “new” school and its ability to provide excellent, innovative, and creative learning opportunities for everyone.

Our Learners

Strengths:

Students are keen to engage and happy to be at school
Students look to adults for support, guidance, and direction
Students have a strong interest in reading both fiction and non-fiction, as evidenced by the circulation numbers from the well-resourced Library
Student love working with adults and are encouraged to take care of one another and to belong to our school family
Our students are highly engaged in school and community activities such as hockey, soccer, dance, karate, music, et cetera
Our students take advantage of opportunities to volunteer at school, join school clubs and participate in intramural and other school activities
Our students are diverse in ethnicity, interests and socio-economically
Our student thrive under high expectations and rise to meet these challenges

Stretches:

Our students are diverse in ethnicity, interests and socio-economically, however have room to grow when it comes to being inclusive of the diverse student population
Many students are at or below grade level in numeracy and literacy as per the reading data available from reading results
Our students would benefit from greater involvement through home support specifically in literacy and numeracy
Our students look to adults for all aspects of both home and school life, with relatively low levels of independence in doing so
Our students are at the early stages of learning how to take initiative and be responsible for their own learning

Goal 1 - Educational Excellence (Literacy) Goal: to improve literacy and numeracy rates across all levels at Westview We will focus on improving student achievement in reading and numeracy.

Action

Evidence or Data supports our focus

Our Reading intervention team has completed our Dibels for this 2021-2022 school year. As expected, our reading results to show growth with continued room for improvement. Last year, our assessment results showed that all students were reading at or above reading level based on the previous grade assessment. Our highly engaged Reading Intervention team is focused and continually improving their teaching of reading across the school. The data we collect is used to inform our practice, focus are most needy target areas of our reading instruction and intervene where our students are most challenged Areas of writing also need more structured support, and we will be able to do this by using direct instruction. Our students have many creative ideas and use a variety of expressive language; however they struggle with conventions of writing, cohesiveness as well as comprehension. Weakness in literacy prevents success in numeracy. We have also recently completed our numeracy assessments and will be collating that data which will also inform our practice. At first glance, it is clear students do not have basics with number sense and the foundations of mathematics. Our goal is to ensure our children can communicate effectively. Our students must be able to access all written materials as they venture forward. Students need to write clearly in a variety of formats from creative writing to job applications. In addition, we want to instill in our children the value and pleasure of reading and writing for themselves. We are at the early stages of building our numeracy support team. Currently we are beginning with our primary team. We are building collaboration time into our schedule so staff can use time to work together, plan for the classes focused with the intention of improving numeracy across grades. We have made a strategic approach to the purchases of numeracy related resources such as manipulatives and other resources needed throughout. Our intention is to align our practices throughout.

Evidence

We will continue to assess Reading in September, January, and June. We use Dibles as well as PM Benchmarks and Performance Standards for these formative assessments. Writing folders are evaluated using BC performance standards. Teachers work collaboratively on assessment practices to ensure uniform expectations across grade levels. Grade group meetings and class review meetings are held late September to ensure we have clear insight into the needs and dynamics of each classroom. We will continue to assess Numeracy in September and June. We are using the assessment from the Island.net series to inform our practice. Teachers work collaboratively on assessment practices to ensure uniform expectations across grade levels. Grade group meetings and class review meetings are held late September and early February to ensure we have clear insight into the needs and dynamics of each classroom.

Goal 2 - Educational Excellence (Engagement and Connections) Goal: to improve our level of engagement and connections amongst parents, students, staff and community at Westview. We will focus on improving engagement and connections across all levels and amongst all stakeholders, parents, students, staff, and community at Westview.

Action

Calm and quiet school environment with designated areas for cohort groups
Clubs that support our goals of Equity Diversity and Inclusion
Engage parents in the classrooms
School wide projects and fairs
Maker space, STEM workshops and inquiry/science fairs
PAC and staff socials together to get to know one another
Build community through assemblies that include student recognition
Welcoming atmosphere in the foyer for students and parents
Grandparent/caregiver reading opportunities
Parent info nights to share about teaching math and reading
Welcoming and engaging Open House at the beginning of the year
Parents would like consistent communication from staff in the forms of regularly sent messages from all classroom teachers
School dinner nights
Increased involvement in student leadership
Create a monthly PAC newsletter

Evidence

Our goal is to ensure we have increased engagement from our parent community. This can be realized and captured in the attendance of parents at our various events.

Our Story is Beyond

It is our intention to communicate to all stakeholders our school goals. · We will articulate our goals in all school newsletters, regular meetings, school websites etc. · We will refer to the goals in parent teacher interviews · We will keep the goals at the top of the principal’s report at our PAC meeting · We will review our goals at every staff meeting and make changes according to dynamic updates The Westview staff are key to defining the vision for a dynamic Westview Elementary School. The experienced and skilled group of teachers, with many different strengths are committed to making the learning environment for students and teachers more challenging and rewarding.