I. General Information
School Name: Heath Elementary
School District: SD#37 Delta
Inquiry Team Members: Ericka Brugge: ebrugge@deltaschools.ca, Kelly Reeve: kreeve@deltaschools.ca, Lyndsay Smith: lssmith@deltaschools.ca
Inquiry Team Contact Email: ebrugge@deltaschools.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: Language Arts – Literacy
Focus Addressed: Literacy
In one sentence, what was your focus for the year? Teachers worked on finding ways to best support the literacy needs of their students while continuing to support them in making positive behavioural choices.
III. Spirals of Inquiry Details
Scanning: Heath has a very diverse range of learners in our school, with 111 of the 233 students falling within their first 5 years of ELL support. In addition, 27.4 % of the school’s students earned an emerging or developing in the reading strand of literacy on the second term report card, with 13.7% of those with a ministry designation and of Indigenous ancestry. In addition to this knowledge, teachers assessed each student in the school using the Dibels assessment to develop a more comprehensive understanding of student strengths and areas for growth in literacy.
Staff and admin also noticed that, although they had set a clear expectation of behaviours in various locations/situations through the PBIS behaviour matrix presented to students through monthly assemblies the previous year, there were still a significant number of students who participated in unfavourable behaviours, especially during less structured times such as during recess and lunch. Some students also seemed inattentive during lessons which affected their understanding of the curricular content.
Focus: In the 2024-25 school year, our school goal focused on helping students improve their math understanding. The challenge teachers discovered was that a significant number of students struggled to access that learning as they lacked the language skills to follow along with lessons and/or arrived in Canada with little or no schooling, missing basic skills learned in primary grades. As such, the staff shifted their focus to literacy. Staff hoped that by working on improving literacy skills, students would be able to develop a better understanding of the curriculum and participate more confidently in all subject areas.
Regarding the second strand of our inquiry, staff looked into the activities that students participated in when they experienced the most difficulty. This included during eating time at lunch and on the soccer field during recess and lunch breaks.
Hunch: Staff believed that the lack of literacy skills affected student focus and understanding and hoped that by focusing on improving literacy skills, they would be able to develop a better understanding and participate more confidently in all academic areas.
New Professional Learning: During the August 2025 Professional Development Day, an LST from a neighbouring school introduced the CORE phonics to teachers as a way of gaining a clear understanding of students’ areas of strengths and challenges. After using the program to assess students, teachers created a continuum of learning applicable to the learners at Heath. They also worked together to create bins of resources to teach each skill so that everyone felt supported as they worked with their group of students.
Our school Teacher-Librarian educated herself with the mind-up and second-step programs, and created lessons around problem solving, calming strategies, and belonging, among other topics.
Taking Action: Teachers grouped students with similar literacy learning needs and organized material to target the skills necessary for reading and writing. Similar grade teachers, as well as Learning Support Teachers, offered grouped sessions 4 days per week. Staff met regularly with the COI coordinator to talk about the progress the students were making, and, as students made improvements with various skills, they were moved between support groups accordingly. In addition to literacy groups, teachers also covered other aspects of reading, writing and oral learning as a class so students experienced homogeneous and heterogeneous lessons with peers. During each Tuesday afternoon, while teachers met with the COI coordinator, the Teacher-Librarian, supported by the Music Teacher and Principal, taught the mind-up and second-step lessons to classes. As such, 10 of the 11 classes received these lessons. She also provided each classroom teacher with a set of posters and common language to use to help support students to make positive behavioural choices.
Checking: At each reporting period, teachers reassessed students using Dibels and the CORE phonics and piloted the District phonics assessments that are required to be implemented and input into Myed next year. Most students have made gains with their literacy skills. In addition, students reported enjoying Literacy Groups as they worked with students at a similar level. Teachers noted that students who rarely, if ever, participated in class discussions became active participants in the small group setting. One grade 7 student remarked that the fewer number of peers and knowledge that they were with other students “who learned slower like them” made them feel less self-conscious and more comfortable. Another grade 6 student in a higher-level group pointed out that they felt like they were challenged more as the learning was targeted to a more capable group instead of lessons being directed to an “average” student.
The school Principal kept track of the number of ‘behaviour forms’ that students need to fill in as they reflected on their choices and what they should have done differently. This year, the number of Behaviour Reflection Forms increased due to consistent implementation, with all students required to complete them. Rather than being used solely by the principal to monitor behaviour, all staff began using the forms whenever negative behaviour occurred. Additionally, this year the forms were regularly sent home to support ongoing communication with parents.
Reflections/Advice: Teachers and LST liked this approach to literacy support. LST was able to meet with at- risk students 4 days per week for targeted skills support, far more than they were able to accommodate in previous years though single class supports. Teachers also appreciated being able to work with a group with a narrower range of abilities.
For next year, a more targeted intervention is underway and planned for students who have not demonstrated sufficient progress. These students are few and have a multitude of factors that add to their learning challenges. Next year, the focus will be for all students to understand where they are at in their literacy ability and to set their own learning goals with the support of their teacher. This teaching model worked great at our school as we have a high population of ELL learners at all grade levels, including some students who had not attended school before coming to Canada. Students were able to receive intensive support and help them to make strides before moving on to the next grade. This works well as students are receiving homogeneous group support as well as heterogeneous class lessons and activities around literacy.
We will be continuing to use the behaviour matrix and reflection forms. As the Teacher-Librarian and principal are both moving to new schools in the fall, the staff will be working with the incoming principal on ways to keep the lessons fresh, current, and regularly revisited.