Our School Story

 Our Story 

In 1953, James Thompson Elementary School began as a two-room annex to Grauer Elementary School, in a rural area, situated on part of the original Thompson farm.  

The current building, including an addition in 1991, is in a residential area, serving families residing in homes to #1 road in the south, the Dyke to the north, Railway Ave. to the East and Granville to the South. We are thankful for this place on the traditional territory of the First Peoples of the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ language group, close to the water and rich in nature, that provides us with so many learning opportunities to nurture our bodies, minds and hearts.

We have approximately 210 students from Kindergarten to Grade Seven and the building also hosts the Discovery Montesorri School and the Strong Start program for young children.  Thompson Tigers pride themselves in being active participants in many school and district - based activities such as track and field, basketball and volleyball, choir, band, chess club, craft club and school service. Educators and students are curious learners, eager to develop their knowledge and skills, especially through the Core Competencies of thinking, communicating and personal and social awareness

We believe that effective communication is crucial to building and maintaining a positive working relationship between home and school. The parents and caregivers at Thompson Elementary are supportive and active partners in learning.

Thompson prides itself on being a welcoming school with a strong sense of community.  Our motto “Thinking, Learning and Caring” is a strong part of school culture.   Social relationships are nurtured and a strong sense of social responsibility is supported through a school wide STRIPE matrix.

 

Please see Our Focus and Our Learning tabs for detailed updates of our school’s current learning story.

 

OUR FOCUS

For the last few years staff and students have been focussing on deepening their learning of and through, the Core Competencies.  This year we are narrowing our focus to :

 When and how can we use Core Competency based learning and language to communicate with and about our students? 

In what ways can technology be used to improve, increase and enhance our students’ ability to communicate their learning?

 

OUR LEARNING

Learning : In the Spring of 2022 Thompson staff shared some observations during a scan of their students’ communication skills, and created a list of needs and wants for their students:

  • Encourage students to talk/ discuss with one another 
  • Start conversations among peers who might not typically talk together 
  • Build oral language skills for English language learners 
  • Build collaboration/ communication skills among grade groups
  • Teach students to meaningfully participate in group project activities
  • Transfer strong verbal communication skills to written expression 
  • Learn how to utilize our newly purchased technology (Apple Pencils, New ipads, Podcasting Kit) 

These observations, along with ongoing scanning and reflection, became the rationale for our current school focus. Please see the action and evidence posts for examples of our learning.