École Boundary Elementary
North Vancouver School District
News Item

New Curriculum Adaptations for District Programs at Cheakamus Centre

May 13, 2016
Overview

The district is committed to the continued support and facilitation of curriculum-based educational programs at Cheakamus Centre.  As we continue to focus and align our programs around the new curriculum, it is clear that some programmatic revisions are required in order to maintain relevant environmental and indigenous learning experiences for students in Gr. 3, 4 and 6.

Gr. 3 Skw'une-was Program
The Skw'une-was program and Bighouse have been developed to provide students with a powerful overnight experience based on the pre-contact life of coastal indigenous peoples. As the new curriculum has shifted core elements of the Social Studies 4 First Nations concepts to Gr. 3, the Skw'une-was program experience will now be offered to Gr. 3 students starting in the Spring of 2017. This allows for the continued integration of the program experience into the relevant classroom units of study around pre-contact life.

The intent is to maintain the current Skw'une-was program format for Gr. 3's with some adaptations to account for the younger age of the students. On consultation with many district staff familiar with the Skw'une-was program, it is believed that the 1 night, 2 day Bighouse experience supported by parent volunteers is developmentally appropriate while supporting students to be successful on longer duration programs in later years. 

Gr. 4 Transitio​n Program
To ensure that students entering Gr. 4 next year do not miss out on the Bighouse experience, a 2-day Transition Program focusing on pre and post-contact themes from Social Studies 3 and 4 will be offered in the Fall/Winter of 2016-17.  Overnight accommodations for this program will be in Spak'wus House, formerly known as the Conference Centre, located adjacent to the Bighouse entrance. The design of this program will be supported by members of the district's Aboriginal Education team and will reflect core elements of the 1st Peoples' Principles of Learning. Following this transitional year, it's anticipated that the Gr. 4's will take part in the 3-day/2 night Outdoor School Program in the Spring of 2017-18.  

Gr. 4 Transition Pr​ogram Details
This new 2 day/1 night program would be structured similarly to the current Skw'une-was program with students sleeping in Spak'wus House adjacent to the Bighouse. The intent would be to provide students with a pre-contact experience at the Bighouse on Day 1 followed by a post-contact indigenous learning experience on Day 2 supported by students' classroom teacher.

Group Size/Format
  • ​It is expected that group sizes would be between 25-34 students with 1 teacher and 3-4 adult volunteers
  • Schools may need to be combined depending on class sizes
  • 3 programs will be offered per week over a 12-13 week period between Nov-Feb.Location/Meals

Location/Meals
Day 1 will be held at the Bighouse (similar to the Skw'une-was program) with the overnight at Spak'wus House. Day 1 meals would be served in the Bighouse and Day 2 meals in the ELC classroom or in the Spak'wus House dining room.

 
Staffing
Staffing on Day 1 would consist of 3-4 Cheakamus Centre cultural staff and a program facilitator. Staffing for Day 2 would be a combination of Cheakamus Centre staff and visiting teacher(s) similar to the ODS program model. Attending teacher(s) and volunteers would be expected to supervise and support the students during the day and overnight.


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Further information for parents and teachers regarding the Transition Program will be provided towards the end of this school year. Your continued support of these unique and powerful educational experiences is greatly appreciated.  Please direct any questions regarding the above information to me at cmcmullan@sd44.ca.

Respectfully,

Conor McMullan