ELL levels reflect language acquisition journey, which often continues after students transition out of the ELL Program.

Language skills can be further enhanced through:

• extracurricular activities

  • at school (sports or clubs of various interests)

  • in the community (various community & settlement service organizations)

• additional homework support

  • at school (SUCCESS Homework Club)

  • in the community (various community & settlement service organizations)

Upon arrival to Burnaby School District, ELL students are assessed at the Welcome Centre of their core language skills:

• Oral

• Reading

• Writing

At our school, ELL teachers continue to assess and observe students' progress and support each ELL student to move along the Program Pathway.

ELL Level 1 & 2 students are assessed according to rubrics on the 3 core language skills. ELL teachers provide students with ongoing feedback when assessing in-class works, projects, quizzes and participation.

• Level movements are recommended by classroom teachers and reviewed by a team of ELL teachers

• Students may re-take ELL courses, if students' language skills are not ready for movement

• Same ELL courses of the same subject area will cover different topics to help students strengthen language foundation

Students in Level 3 & 4 are enrolled in credit courses and are assessed on a proficiency scale that results in a pass or fail.

In mainstream courses, teachers assess students' skills & knowledge of the content areas based on the proficiency scale: emerging, developing, proficient and extending.

In all the courses offered at Byrne Creek, teachers are incorporating students' learning and practicing of core competency skills, which would benefit both students' academic and personal journeys.

ELL Students are encouraged to develop their core competency skills and content knowledge through their multilingual skills. Many teachers value ELL students' background knowledge in first languages, as well as their diverse cultural perspectives.