THE QUILCHENA STORY

Quilchena Elementary is a close knit community school on the west side of Richmond.  We are made up of 171 students from Kindergarten to Grade Seven.  Our First Nations name means “flat land near water”.  Our symbol is the Cyclone:  Quilchena Cyclones respect themselves, others and the community.  This close-knit community is made up of families from all around the world.  The school has a warm, friendly environment where students are encouraged to explore, ask questions and take risks as they progress in their learning.  Our school motto is “Learning, Caring and Growing Together” and this motto is lived every day through our students’ dedication to learning and their care for themselves and others. Our school strengths include: collaboration, belonging, encouraging students to be caring, responsible citizens.  We have a vibrant PAC group that supports our school community. Our school has a large play area with a well established garden. Each day is started with a morning walk where students and staff connect and are able to regulate to get their bodies and minds ready for learning. Students are well connected with each other through our family teams and collaborative learning opportunities provided by our staff.

2024-2025

Our school community acronym is Quilchena CARES. This helps staff and students to focus to develop their ability to both co-regulate, build connections and be peaceful problem solvers. For the past several year we have been focussing on finding ways to create a sense of belonging for all staff and students (the Personal and Social Competency, especially in the area of Personal Awareness and Responsibility). We are working together to ensure that all members of the community feel connected at school, whether you are a new member to our community or a returning one. Our work with connection, kindness and belonging is never done and it continues to be an important part of the fabric of Quilchena. We were ready to shift and to zoom in on how we can support students in feeling connected to their learning through a Numeracy lens and support those who don't. Allowing entry points for all students to share their understanding while focussing on their connection to the curriculum and its impact on students' social emotional well-being.

For this school year, we will continue to focus on improving student learning with a focus on Math and Numeracy. Through our scanning, our staff has noticed our students demonstrate their math computation skills as a strength but have stretches when asked to communicate their thinking on a deeper level and show their learning in more than one way. Taking risks and being playful with numbers are also areas we find our students requiring encouragement, more modelling and support.

Below is a description of Actions and Evidence that demonstrate student learning related to our focus. The Action posts are examples of ways students are enhancing their learning related to our focus. The Evidence posts share the difference we are making in student learning related to our focus.