Mamquam Elementary School has a clear mission and some strong core values. As a staff we see ourselves as a family. We focus on the success of all students, and hold ourselves accountable for high excellence across the curriculum—in academics, athletics, fine arts and career programs. We put our students first, and you can feel this when you walk into our building. We are keenly aware that students learn best in a safe, secure and respectful environment supported by strong connections between school and community.
Perseverance, Purpose and Authenticity
We believe that we can only cultivate perseverance and determinations by building an environment/school culture where all students feel safe, respected, encouraged to take risks and try new things, and are intrinsically invested in their learning. Further, we believe that students are intrinsically invested in authentic learning environments, where they see the purpose and reasoning for each learning intention, and are willing to enter into a framework for success. It is our belief that working in this area will enable more students to move from meeting expectations to exceeding expectations in reading, writing and numeracy and all areas of their competency development.
Our Enduring Understandings as a staff:
* If we focus on common coherent curriculum and effective instructional strategies, then students will become creative and critical thinkers.
* If we work together to create common coherent curriculum that identifies and describes what developmentally appropriate creative and critical thinking learning outcomes are, then we will have a tool to help guide the planning of instruction and assessment of CCT outcomes
* If we continually develop the instructional expertise of our teachers, then teaching will be strengthened and all students will learn in deeper and more meaningful ways
* If we live a structure of reflective practice, then our instruction will improve over time
* If we live a structure of co-plan, observe, share feedback, reflect, co-plan and repeat then our instruction will improve over time
*If we embed Social Emotional Learning instructional strategies, students will become better critical and creative thinkers through social situations. Growth Mindset, Positive Behaviour Support, Self Reg Strategies, Zones of Regulation, Mindfulness...
*If we develop a school wide authentic literacy and numeracy plan, students will improve reading, writing and oral language skills that provide an essential foundation to Creative and Critical Thinking skills
*If we use arts infusion as a strategy, students will be able to develop their creative and critical thinking skills through the arts.
*If we measure creative and critical thinking outcomes, this will bring attention to those outcomes and help us understand how we are doing and what is next
