John Fisher Junior Public School
Our School Improvement Plan
Literacy
Literacy is the foundational skill of every subject area in our school. We are committed to ensuring that our students acquire the knowledge and skills to communicate effectively in French until Grade 3 and in French and English from Grade 4 to Grade 6. We meet regularly as a staff and with Board personnel to plan, moderate and assess the effectiveness of our teaching resources and strategies. This year, our focus is the planning model known as the FEEDBACK LOOP of Learning Goal, Anchor Chart, Success Criteria, Assessment of the task with Descriptive Feedback, and back to new/revised Learning Goal. The focus on high-yield rich learning tasks lead to students acquiring strong literacy and critical-thinking skills.
Numeracy
Strong Numeracy skills are reflective of strong Literacy skills. The focus in Mathematics at Ecole publique John Fisher is a strong foundation in computational skills leading to effective problem-solving skills. The focus this year is on strategies that will improve students' ability to improve and communicate their mathematical thinking. The 3-part Math lesson of: i) Minds-on Math accessing prior knowledge (setting the stage); ii) students working through a problem in groups; iii) students sharing their strategies with their peers and teacher, has been proven to be a highly effective strategy in helping students to consolidate their understanding of new Mathematics concepts.
Pathways
The goal of our Pathways pillar is to ensure that our students are supported in their learning: i) as they enter in JK; ii) throughout their school career at Ecole publique John Fisher; and iii) as they graduate and make choices about Grade 7. We offer information evenings to prospective parents coming into the program to ensure that they have all of the information needed to make informed decisions about French Immersions leanring. We liaise with Guidance staff at the middle schools to ensure that appropriate supports are in place for identified students. Students who opt out of French Immersion for other programs, e.g., gifted, also receive support as they transition out of French.
Community, Culture & Caring
We are committed to strong partnerships with our parent and community partners. We have enlisted the support and participation of parents in our school initiatives (Eco-schools, fundraising, volunteering in the classroom). As well, we network with Faculties of Education at the University of Toronto and the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) to host teacher-candidates. Our neighbourhood secondary schools also send us their students in co-operative education to do their practica at Ecole public John Fisher. Many former graduates of our school come to us each year to volunteer or do their practice teaching and co-op placements with us.