Background

In alignment with the District Strategic Plan 2020–2025 (attached), McRoberts Secondary has shifted its focus to improving literacy among students. This decision follows a period of emphasis on socio-emotional learning, mental health, school connectedness, and Truth and Reconciliation. The BC Ministry of Education defines literacy “as the ability to make meaning from text and express oneself in a variety of modes, including comprehending, making connections, critically analyzing, and communicating for various purposes”.

Actions Taken

In the 2024–25 school year, the Grade 8 team, in collaboration with the school-based Literacy Leader (Librarian Julie-Anne Mainville), administered the Performance Based Assessment (PBA) to identify literacy strengths and stretches. The assessment revealed weaknesses in vocabulary, understanding main ideas, and insufficient background knowledge. In response, Ms. Mainville developed and shared Bitesized (attached) teaching strategies across all subject areas. These strategies were also communicated to staff and parents through PowerPoint presentations (attached).

For the 2025–26 school year, the PBA was administered to the new Grade 8 cohort. Based on the results, the focus shifted to improving students' abilities to summarize and identify main ideas. The Grade 8 team (led by Julie Anne Mainville) is currently developing new Bitesized strategies tailored to these needs.

Future Plans

McRoberts Secondary will continue to monitor the progress of both the Grade 8 and Grade 9 cohorts. The school will maintain its use of targeted Bitesized teaching strategies, adapting them to address current literacy challenges. The goal is to build literacy capacity across all grade levels over the next three years, with a continued emphasis on cross-curricular collaboration and data-informed instruction.