School Goal Two
To identify barriers within our school preventing success for our Indigenous Learners.
If we can identify barriers preventing learners from achieving success, will we be able to strategize to address these barriers and therefore, begin to see an increase in our Literacy and Numeracy Assessment scores, students choosing the Foundations/Precalculus pathways, graduation/completion rates, and enrolment in post-secondary?
Stelly’s population is 13.6% Indigenous students which is 30% of the district’s Indigenous population at the high school level. The 2022/2023 Aboriginal Students: How Are We Doing? shows that our Indigenous students in Saanich School District disproportionally under perform in Numeracy and Literacy compared to their non-Indigenous counterparts within the district (see Appendix). At Stelly’s we have seen an improvement on the Literacy 10 Graduation Assessment as well English 10-12 course marks over the last 3 years, and we have yet to see these improvements in the Numeracy/Math realm. Additionally, we consistently see most Indigenous students choosing the Workplace Math pathway rather the Foundations/Precalculus pathway. This limits their first step into post-secondary as many programs require Foundations 11 or Precalculus 11. Stelly’s data tells us that our 2020-2021 school goal that focused on literacy has provided growth for Indigenous learners in literacy but the achievement gap in numeracy experienced by our Indigenous Learners needs to be a focus.
Additionally, the district’s 6-year and 5-year completion rates are much lower for Indigenous students and our district’s is on the lower end of the provincial range.
Data collected from our student focus groups and individual empathy interviews, Stelly’s students, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, feel that while the curriculum is relevant, the lesson structure (ie stand and deliver) is not meeting the needs of today’s learner nor is it preparing them for future education and/or employment (ie discussion, collaboration, etc).
At Stelly's, our core belief is that, given appropriate support and opportunities, all learners can attain success. The key to learner success lies in fostering a culturally safe, compassionate, and inclusive learning community that actively cultivates strong relationships among every member of our school community, including students, staff, and families.
This goal and focused inquiry question aligns directly to our district strategic priority in Indigenous Learner Success. Additionally, our intended approaches are deeply connected to First Peoples Principles of Learning.
First Peoples Principles of Learning
The Indigenous Learner Success Goal needs to ensure that:
- Learning requires exploration of one’s identity.
- Learning is holistic, reflexive, reflective, experiential, and relational (focused on connectedness, on reciprocal relationships, and a sense of place).
- Learning recognizes the role of Indigenous knowledge.
- Learning is embedded in memory, history and story.
- Learning involves patience and time.
Using the AIM Tier 1 as the lens to analyze the foundational supports we are currently providing to Indigenous students and their families.
Welcome – Social & Physical Environments. At Stelly’s:
- We are completing renovations to move the Cultural Room to the front of the school to mark its presence and importance in our school. This space will also be easily accessible to families, community and elders that want to visit our school.
- We have begun having our room signs written in SENĆOŦEN, French and English.
Include – Student Engagement & Belonging. At Stelly’s:
- We began to make individual phones calls to families at the beginning of the year inviting them to our Welcome Back BBQ.
- We have an Elder in Residence that is present in our Cultural Room and our school a number of times throughout each week.
- We, with the help of the Indigenous Education, have access to a small bus to transport Indigenous students to and from sporting events and SENĆOŦEN.
Understand – Mental Health Literacy & Knowing your Students. At Stelly’s:
- We employ Indigenous Support Staff (1.25 FTE), one full-time Indigenous Support Liaison, and a part-time support person in the role of a Life Coach.
Promote – Curriculum, Teaching & Learning. At Stelly’s:
- We offer Indigenous Leadership as well as SENĆOŦEN (both outside of the timetable).
- We are currently offering 6 courses that are considered an Indigenous Focussed course and our staff weave FPPL throughout their courses.
Partner – Home, School, Community Partnerships. At Stelly’s:
- We are actively looking for ways to connect with Indigenous families. For example, this year we held a Welcome Back BBQ for our Meet-the-Teacher evening, and we will be hosting a Course Selection/Grad Planning Evening in community to provide the information families may need to help their students choose their courses.
- We often connect with our Indigenous Family Advocate and external support agencies (ie ICYMH) to ensure families and students have the support they need.
Over the 2023-24 year, we will track progress on our initiatives identified in this year's plan. More specifically:
- Measured by attendance rates, selection of high-level Math courses, 5-year completion rates, Numeracy scores increase, Indigenous enrolment growth over time.
Summary learning, based on evidence gathered over the year, will provide us with key learnings to guide next steps for the 2024-25 school year and beyond.
