Ecole Quarterway SD#68 Nanaimo-Ladysmith

I. General Information

School Name: Ecole Quarterway

School District: SD#68 Nanaimo-Ladysmith

Inquiry Team Members: Sigal Smith: ssmith02@sd68.bc.ca; Dominique Sullivan: dominique.sullivan@sd68.bc.ca, Zoe Dusting: zoe.dusting@sd68.bc.ca; Arlette Begoum-Kake: arlette.begoumkake@sd68.bc.ca

Inquiry Team Contact Email: ssmith02@sd68.bc.ca

II. Inquiry Project Information

Type of Inquiry: NOIIE Case Study

Grade Levels Addressed Through Inquiry: Primary (K-3), Intermediate (4-7)

Curricular Areas Addressed: Applied Design, skills & Technology, Arts Education, Language Arts – Literacy, Language Arts – Oral Language, Physical & Health Education, Science

Focus Addressed: Indigenous understandings (for example, Traditional Knowledge, oral history, reconciliation), Community-based learning, Core competencies (for example, critical thinking, communication, problem solving), Experiential learning, Land, Nature or Place-based learning, Social and emotional learning

In one sentence, what was your focus for the year? Connecting to the land.

III. Spirals of Inquiry Details

Scanning: This was a continuation of our prior year’s inquiry where we saw that students were disconnecting from each other, from the land and were dysregulated. We were inspired by the following First Peoples’ Principles of Learning: That learning ultimately supports the well-being of the self, the family, the community, the land, the spirits, and the ancestors and that learning is holistic, reflexive, reflective, experiential, and relational (focused on connectedness, on reciprocal relationships, and a sense of place).

Focus: We were hoping to see more self-regulation with our students and more pride/responsibility taken to look after our lands. We also hoped to see students using problem-solving skills and developing stronger interpersonal connections while connecting more with the land.

Hunch: Covid led to much more technological learning and students were disconnected from each other and not able to function socially. They were disconnected from the land and nature, as well. In previous years, we saw that classes that took time to do alternate/outdoor learning were more frequently calmer. This year, we wanted to allow more students to connect with peers and the land.

New Professional Learning:
– We continued our connections with Invasive Species BC
– Multiple staff members completed the 4 Seasons of Reconciliation: Learning from the Land (Season 2)
– We worked as a staff to develop deeper and more meaningful land reconciliation statements for our weekly announcements and assemblies
– For our spring Pro-D, each staff member made a traditional drum (as led by our Indigenous Education Support Worker)

Taking Action:
– We expanded our outdoor learning by sponsoring an Eco-Club
– More classrooms participated in frequent Alternate Learning Environment activities
– We purchased gardening supplies and tools
– We purchased a shed
– We expanded our seed library
– We started a worm farm

Checking: Students, especially those in the Eco-Club, definitely feel more connected to the land and are taking more responsibility with learning about invasive species (pulling them out and replacing them with native species). Kids are excited to get to Koram Park on Eco-Club days and we frequently have more students than we can take. We have done a lot this year, but not enough, of course. We will continue to work with our parents, our Indigenous leaders and our community to continue to clean up Koram Park, and have more learning opportunities that are easy for our staff and enriching for our learners. We are still developing our land acknowledgement as it is constantly evolving.

Reflections/Advice: We are on our way with the Eco-Club and our seed library is well developed, but we will continue to expand it. We are always interested in working with other schools and with Indigenous leaders to develop a richer program. We would like to advance our learning by creating a lending library so students have access to books, boots, muddy buddies, etc., to be able to be outdoors more often. We would also like to visit NALT and purchase native seeds/plants to create a garden at Koram Park.