SCHOOL STORY

Britannia Community Elementary School is located in a vibrant and diverse neighbourhood off of Commercial Drive in East Vancouver. Britannia Elementary has 270 students whose families come from diverse cultural, linguistic, and economic backgrounds. It is a proud school designated as an Enhanced Services site, on the north-east side of the city. Approximately 14% of our students meet the requirements for specialized supports for their learning needs. We have a variety of programming to support all our students in the regular classroom setting.

Britannia has a full-time Youth and Family Worker, Neighbourhood Assistant, and Literacy Teacher. We also have a full-time onsite food services coordinator. We offer a breakfast and a lunch program and provide a variety of healthy snacks to all our learners. Our hot breakfast program regularly serves over 15% of our school population and the hot lunch program caters to approximately 60% of our students. Additionally, KidSafe provides out-of-school programming for a limited number of referred students during prolonged breaks.

The school shares the site with the Britannia Community Centre and works closely with community centre staff to plan after-school programs and day camps during prolonged breaks and on professional development days. The community centre also has before and after-school care, as well as a preschool program. We work collaboratively with the Community Schools Team and have many close partnerships with community groups and agencies such as the Saint James Music Academy, Red Fox Healthy Living Society and Blue Eagles Community Cadets.

Our learners come from diverse and rich cultural, spiritual, linguistic, and socio-economic backgrounds. Britannia has a significant Indigenous population with a proud connection to place and culture. We work with our Indigenous Enhancement Teacher, our Indigenous Enhancement Worker, and outside Indigenous supports to increase our knowledge, awareness, appreciation of, and respect for Indigenous histories, traditions, cultures, and contributions through a variety of cultural and historical teachings. Britannia has a strong commitment to reconciliation and works within the lens of the First Peoples Principles of Learning to guide our work.

Demographics

There are currently 270 students including 110 Indigenous; 10 English Language Learners, and 42 students with a Ministry designation for a diverse learning need.

What are our assets?

· The students, staff and parent community

· We celebrate ALL students daily - with the vision of: All children CAN learn, and ALL children WILL be successful

What is unique, and positive?

· Britannia Elementary School was originally designed and built in the 1970’s as an Open Area School with interior spaces being utilized as resource centers

· Enhanced Services School which supports the complex needs of some of our students and families- Supported with enhancement-based teachers for Literacy and Indigenous Education focus

· Breakfast and Lunch Programs- breakfast by family donation, Lunch by envelope submission payment

· Family Room- encourages parent/caregiver-school relationships and parent/caregiver involvement

· Fairmont Hotel integrated curricular programming: cooking classes and garden growing

· Extra-curricular sports provided by staff throughout year from basketball to cross country - multiple sport activities for students - including morning gym time prior to school hours to support attendance and engagement

· Physical Education specialist providing diverse athletic skills and knowledge

· Connection to Community Center that provides after school programming: cooking, piano, music etc.

· Student leadership clubs/monitors: Recycling, hot lunch, library, grade 7 camp fundraisers, assembly

· Community outreach through food and clothing supports

New Initiatives for 2023-2024:

· Interior non-enrolling rooms redesigned to maximize student/teacher learning space to align with Curriculum

· Addition of onsite Library/Learning Commons to enhance literacy programming, project-based learning, and community relationship building

· Indigenous Focus Room – a space for cultural enrichment

· Applied Skills, Technology and Design collaborative curriculum opportunities with Secondary School staff

A redesigned Code of Conduct based on community feedback and Positive Behaviour Intervention Strategies

Modernized and culturally relevant school logo inspired from student input

· Grade 7 Learn to ski program

WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE COMMUNITY OF LEARNERS?

Strengths:

· All of our students are wonderful - smart, talented, beautiful and full of rich potential

· Respectful, caring, giving, compassionate, diverse in talents, giftedness and special needs

Needs:

· Some families struggling to provide food and clothing

· Support in attendance and arriving on time for instruction

· Some students: being in Ministry Care or adjusting to foster homes

What is going on for them:

· Majority of students showing up each day, majority of families making this happen

· Building trust with some families to work with school staff

Continued Focus:

All learners

· Pursuit and training of the most current Literacy teaching practices, specifically reading

· Regular assessment intervals throughout the year to monitor progress