We encourage all students to R.I.S.E. to success through their Relationship and Belonging, Intellect, Spirit, and Emotional Wellbeing.

At Gordon Elementary, our Circle of Care is designed to foster a safe, inclusive, equitable, welcoming, nurturing, and healthy school environment. This applies to all members of the Gordon community—students, educators, parents and caregivers—at school, traveling to and from school, at school-related activities at any location, or any circumstance or activity that will have an impact on the school environment (including online behaviour). The staff explicitly teach and model what it means to R.I.S.E. in all locations of the school and the community. 

The Medicine Wheel is a symbol of healing, growth, life, learning and balance in many Indigenous communities. Through this lens, Gordon’s Circle of Care emphasizes a child’s social and emotional growth. Research shows that children who are both socially and emotionally healthy are the best learners and the most successful in school. Our Circle of Care seeks to support our understanding of our students’ needs and how we can best teach them the skills they need to thrive both socially and academically.

RELATIONSHIP & BELONGING

I can include others

I can be kind, safe, patient, and fair

I can be helpful

I can be respectful of others, their belongings, 

 and their personal space

I can take care of my school

I can be generous and share with others

INTELLECT

I can be a flexible and creative thinker

I can demonstrate a growth mind-set

I can persist on challenging tasks

I can demonstrate active listening, manage my

 time, and focus on my work

I can set goals and work towards achieving them

SPIRIT

I can encourage others and persevere when 

 things are hard for me

I can accept people for who they are

I can stand up and advocate for myself

I can demonstrate pride in my heritage

I can identify and describe my strengths and feel proud of my accomplishments

EMOTIONAL WELLBEING

I can solve some problems on my own, but I 

 know when to get help from an adult

I can use calming strategies

I can demonstrate compassion and recognize 

 how I impact others

I can take responsibility for my actions, words, 

 and behaviour

I can demonstrate a positive attitude

I can be generous and share with others

HUMAN RIGHTS

At Gordon Elementary, students shall not discriminate against others on the basis of race, religion, colour, ancestry, identity/expression, or physical or mental disability, or for any other reason set out in the Human Rights Code of British Columbia. Additionally, students shall not publish or display anything that would indicate an intention to discriminate against another, or expose them to contempt or ridicule, on the bases of any such grounds. Racism and discrimination will not be tolerated in our school.

 All reasonable steps will be taken to prevent retaliation against a student who has reported a breach of the expected behaviours outlined in our Circle of Care.