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GLENROSA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL - A GREAT PLACE TO LEARN:

We call ourselves the Grizzlies and we all agree that Glenrosa is a GREat place to be! The people in our school are here for the kids!  This has always been something that has rang true at GRE.  The parents, the teachers and staff are all here for the kids and as a result, our students feel as though they belong at our school!  It is this spirit and passion that we embrace our Vision Statement of "Nurturing Relationships to Foster Success!"

Our over arching goal at GRE is to support the development of resiliency in our students.  We know that resilient students:

• Take risks and are not afraid to fail...celebrate their mistakes
• Are able to emotionally regulate themselves and know that it is okay to feel all of the emotions
• Can solve a problem after having a failure...see failure as a chance to get better
• Show increased independence as they grow and learn

We believe that:

•         Feeling safe is essential before learning can happen

•         Everyone needs to feel connection and belonging first before they can take risks in their learning

•         Learning from each other and alongside each other is powerful

•         Curiosity inspires powerful learning

Over the past two years, we have been working with our students to help them develop a Growth Mindset.  Research has proven that students who believe their talents can be developed (through hard work, good strategies, and input from others) have a growth mindset. These students grow more academically than students with a more fixed mindset (those who believe their talents are innate gifts – either you have it, or you don't). This is because they worry less about looking smart and they put more energy into learning.  This is why you may be hearing your children coming home from school talking about how mistakes help them learn and that their brain is a muscle – the harder it works the stronger it grows!

This year we are combining our focus on Growth Mindset with the idea of Hope.  We are going to use the lenses of Growth Mindset and Hope to help us reach our academic goals.  Research has shown that it is hope that helps us keep going after struggling or failing. Hope is about getting up when you fall and believing that there is a way to succeed, even if you can't see it yet. OUR BRAINS THRIVE ON HOPE!​

Embracing Our Indigenous Learners & Their Culture:

At GRE our Indigenous room is at the centre of our school and is always filled with students.  Our Indigenous Advocate, Susane Paquet, facilitates cultural experiences, academic support and curriculum resources for our staff and students as we work towards Indigenizing our curriculum.  Our Indigenous students are encouraged to share their culture with pride, and often we start our assemblies off with the Okanagan Song performed by our Indigenous students.  Suzane and her students have taken a leadership role in reaching out to other classes to share cultural experiences and expertise in such topics as the Four Food Chiefs story and the message behind Orange Shirt Day:  Every Child Matters.

As a staff we are working towards incorporating the First Nations Principles of Learning into our classroom curriculum, as it works beautifully with our new Redesigned Curriculum and the OECD 7 Principles of Learning.  The First Peoples Principles of Learning states:

• Learning ultimately supports the well-being of the self, the family, the community, the land, the spirits and the ancestors
• Learning is holistic, reflexive, reflective, experiential, and relational (focused on connectedness, on reciprocal relationships, and a sense of place)
• Learning involves recognizing the consequences of ones actions
• Learning involves generational roles and responsibilities
• Learning recognizes the role of indigenous knowledge
• Learning is embedded in memory, history and story
• Learning involves patience and time
• Learning requires exploration of one's identity
• Learning involves recognizing that some knowledge is sacred and only shared with permission and/or in certain situations

One thing that we are very proud of at GRE are our Indigenous singers and drummers - even during COVID our students found a way to share the Okanagan Song with our school community.  As a school we have decided that every Monday we want to start our week with our students singing the song over the PA:

An Essential Team Member: Parent Advisory Council

An important part of our team is our PAC  (Parents' Advisory Council), which meets monthly and is involved in supporting our school, through active fundraising, purchasing equipment for our classrooms and school, and sponsoring guest presenters and field trips for our students.  The PAC is a very dedicated group of parents who all put kids and learning first.  They are responsible for such things as  welcome back events, BBQs, and Family Fun Nights. It is a welcoming sight to see our parents in the hallways, on field trips and in classrooms supporting students and teachers.