Selwyn Elementary School
Our School Improvement Plan
Literacy
All students are supported to improve their ability to demonstrate the curriculum expectations of the Ministry of Education in Literacy with an emphasis on thinking critically. At Selwyn, we are focussing on supporting students achieving at Level 2 in reading to help them move towards the provincial standard of Level 3 or above. Our strategies for doing so include scheduling large, uninterrupted blocks for Literacy; focussed interventions for students who are having difficulty; and the ongoing collaboration by teachers in Professional Learning Teams. Further we are challenging our students achieving Level 3 standard to move up to Level 4 in both reading and writing assessments.
Numeracy
All students are supported to continuously improve their ability to demonstrate the curriculum expectations of the Ministry of Education in Mathematics with an emphasis on thinking critically by developing mathematical understanding, learning important facts, skills, models, strategies and procedures, developing the ability to apply the processes of mathematics, and justifying and communicating their ideas clearly. At Selwyn, we are particuarly focussed on supporting students who are achieving at Level 2 and below. We have dedicated uninterrupted blocks for numeracy instruction and staff are also participating in professional learning and inquiry where they are making focussed interventions into the problem solving process.
Pathways
We recognize the importance of providing successful transitions for students at all stages from first entering school in JK through leaving Selwyn at the end of Grade 5. We have developed a partnership with East York Family Resource Centre. We continue to revise our Welcome to JK event to provide more specific information for parents. We assist our junior students when they prepare for middle school in the spring. In addition, we have put in place strategies to support students entering our Gifted program in Grade 4 or 5. We also analyze data from former Selwyn students who moved onto GA Brown MS so we can see performance on the Grade 6 EQAO test to improve our practices in the junior grades.
Community, Culture & Caring
All members of the learning community contribute to building inclusive cultures that are safe, respectful, orderly and purposeful learning environments in which everyone is engaged and demonstrates personal and social responsibility. At Selwyn, our goal is to focus on developing a positive school culture and increasing student engagement. Actions to support this goal include: implementing social justice activities such as Me to We, continuing to support and enhance student leadership opportunities, and implementing bullying prevention and intervention strategies.