Our Focus

Citizenship and Literacy: Building Strong Communities

Last year our focus was on establishing Community. To build upon the idea of Community, the theme for the 2025-2026 school year is Citizenship with a focal point on Literacy. Being an active and responsible citizen means more than simply living in a community—it means understanding how society works and participating in ways that make it better. Literacy plays a key role in this. When students develop strong reading, writing, and critical-thinking skills, they are better prepared to make informed decisions, understand different viewpoints, and communicate effectively.

Our goal is to assess student' literacy skills throughout the year beginning in Grade 8. We will also observe if the skills students learned and developed last year have transferred into their literacy practice in the current school year. As well, we would like to include parents in the conversation so that the understanding being nurtured at school can be fostered at home, too.

Citizenship involves showing respect for others, following laws, and taking part in community life. This can include volunteering, staying informed about current events, or speaking up respectfully about issues that matter. Literacy empowers students to do these things confidently, helping them analyze information, spot misinformation, and express their ideas clearly.

Together, citizenship and literacy help young people become thoughtful, engaged members of society—ready to help shape a more informed, fair, and connected world.

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2024-2025 Goals and Focus

The theme for the school year is Community. Building community in a high school is essential for creating a supportive, inclusive, and motivating environment where students can thrive academically, socially, and emotionally. A strong sense of community helps students feel connected to their peers and teachers, reducing isolation and improving overall well-being. When students feel they belong, they are more likely to participate in school activities, show respect for others, and engage positively in the learning process. Community building also fosters empathy, collaboration, and school pride—qualities that prepare students for life beyond high school.

Effective community building can take many forms. One powerful approach is creating strong and trusting connections between school staff. Schools can also strengthen community through student-led clubs, events, and leadership opportunities that allow diverse voices to be heard. Encouraging collaborative learning in classrooms, such as group projects or peer mentoring, helps students connect across grade levels and backgrounds. Celebrations, spirit weeks, service projects, and assemblies on Conference Days further bring the school together around shared experiences. Finally, involving families and the broader community—through Meet the Teacher, volunteer programs, and partnerships—reinforces a culture of unity that extends beyond the school walls.

When intentionally nurtured, a strong high school community creates a safe, welcoming, and vibrant place where every student feels valued and supported.

2023-2024 Goals and Focus

Using an inquiry-based approach, staff working committees, professional development and collaboration days, student voice and focus groups, and parent feedback our learning community has determined that our focus will be to develop educated and socially responsible citizens who respect themselves and others, feel connected to the school, and participate as responsible members of the larger community. 

Two Specific Growth Areas identified to improve Student Learning and Engagement in alignment with BC’s Redesigned Curriculum and Richmond’s Strategic Plan for the 2023-2024 school year

Growth Area One

Strategic Priority 1: Inspired Learners; Goal 2: The district fosters resilient and healthy life-long learners. Improving student learning and engagement through improving student well-being is part of our action plan for 2022-2023. Specifically, through specific strategies we are hoping to see improvement in student measures and data related to personal well-being and mental health.

Growth Area Two

Strategic Priority 1: Inspired Learners; Goal 3: Indigenous Peoples’ history, perspectives, and learning approaches are embedded within district planning and practices. Specifically, through specific strategies we are hoping to see improvement in student measures and data related to their experience, knowledge, and understanding of Indigenous activities,  story, and perspective in Canada.

Actions 

What are we doing to enhance our students’ learning?

• Listening to student voice to inform our school inquiry learning process
• Intentionally teaching the Know, Do, Understand framework as we enhance student learning through developing and teaching Curricular Competencies (knowledge and skills) in our classrooms
• Teaching and embedding Core Competency reflection strategies throughout the process of teaching and learning in our classrooms and on our four Conference Days (Mental Health)
• Enhancing and further developing Burnett Learning Time to include personal well-being, physical, and mental health
• Sharing strategies at staff meetings, collaboration days and professional development days on enhancing student learning through Curricular and Core Competency development
• Participating in professional development on mindfulness, resilience, trauma-informed practice, equity, diversity, and inclusion. Ask..."how we can use our learning in our classrooms?"
• Through developing caring relationships, work to support each student and specific groups of students, including indigenous students, children in care, and students with diverse needs.
• Provide multiple school-wide opportunities for Indigenous activities and learning, support individual teachers in implementing Indigenous and First Peoples’ ways of knowing and learning into their course curriculum and continue to focus on Indigenous learning and ways of knowing at staff meetings and professional development opportunities.

Evidence 

What evidence will we gather to demonstrate that our focus is enhancing student learning?

• Participate in gathering and reviewing student voice through the Middle Years Development (MDI) Survey, Provincial Student Learning Survey and Focus Groups
• As departments, review and redesign our course outlines and previews to reflect BC's Redesigned Curriculum including Big Ideas, Learning Outcomes/Maps, Curricular and Core Competencies and refreshed Assessment strategies. Engage students in the process to build understanding, encourage goal-setting and self-reflection.
• Intentionally and explicitly make connections to the Core Competencies through the use of visual and digital supports in classrooms across all subject areas.  Collect evidence of student engagement, understanding and self-reflection using a variety of platforms including classroom and digital portfolios (My Blue Print).
• Report on ways in which our Board-approved Collaboration Time has been used by staff to enhance student learning around our stated focus.
• Through our Professional Development Committee, arrange for facilitators and teacher-leaders to deepen our understanding of mindfulness, resilience, trauma-informed practice, equity, diversity, and inclusion. Specifically work towards enhancing outcomes for all of our students by embedding our learning in our classrooms.
• Develop, document and share events and learning opportunities that ensure that Burnett is an inclusive and welcoming school for everyone. 

Actions and Evidence

2019/2020

• Burnett launched a 4-week pilot of Burnett Learning Time.
• Students, staff, and parents provided feedback on the effectiveness of Burnett Learning Time to be a valuable opportunity for students to learn in various ways, seek extra help, provide for enrichment opportunities and optional class extensions. Burnett Learning Time will provide students the opportunity to organize and manage their time between their work and interests with the support of our teachers and educational assistants.
• Burnett launched a second 8-week pilot of Burnett Learning Time until the end of June 2019.
• Students, staff, and parents were again provided the opportunity to provide feedback on the effectiveness of Burnett Learning Time.
• There was overwhelming consensus for the continuation of Burnett Learning Time for 2019 – 2020.
• Our Collaboration Time Committee also presented their proposal for the implementation of collaboration time to the Board of Education.  The Board unanimously approved the proposal. 

2018/19

• A Flexible Learning Time and Collaboration Time Task Force was established at Burnett
• Staff engaged in powerful discussions about activating student voice and ownership of their learning.
• Staff consulted our PAC on the principles of Flex Time and proposed a 4-week pilot schedule.
• Staff consulted our PAC on the implementation of Collaboration Time at Burnett Secondary for the Fall of 2019.

2018

During our Fall 2018 Professional Developement Days, our staff focused our discussions on the following inquiry question:  How are we employing our District's Vision, Mission, and Value Statements to engage and enhance student voice and learning at Burnett?

• Vision: The Richmond School District is the best place to learn and lead.
• Mission: The Richmond School District's mission is to cultivate a safe, accepting and engaging community that inspires a passion for lifelong learning.
• Values: The values that will guide our work together to achieve our vision and mission are: collaboration, creativity, curiosity, resilience, respect and equity, for all.

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