April 25, 2025

Dear St’a7mes Families,

We are loving the warmer weather and all the opportunities it brings to spend more time out on the land! As we move further into spring, you can expect your children to be learning outdoors more often. Please ensure they come to school each day prepared for outdoor activities—layers, hats, and water bottles are always helpful.

We are especially excited to be heading out harvesting over the next few weeks. Ms. Kathleen’s class recently gathered an impressive amount of stinging nettle, which they’ll be turning into pesto! This hands-on learning is part of our deepening connection to the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Seasonal Calendar. This calendar is an anchor for our school and a guide for our learning throughout the year, and we are thrilled to be leaning into it more than ever.

Upcoming experiences connected to the calendar include field work at Porteau Cove and our annual pit cook, planned for late June. On this special day, students will help prepare a feast and then we’ll welcome families to the Alice Lake Longhouse for an evening of sharing and celebration. More details and a confirmed date will be shared soon.

As mentioned in previous messages, we are continuing our efforts to support strong attendance at St’a7mes. Regular attendance is so important for student success, and we are committed to doing everything we can to help. Classes will be encouraging one another, and we’ll be offering a few gentle incentives—including a friendly competition between classes to see who can boost their attendance the most!

In this communication we will find a link for parents to complete the student learning survey. These surveys help provide us with valuable feedback regarding your experience with our school. Please consider filling it out. 

I am pleased to announce we have a few new team members joining us. Welcome to Hardeep and Indra who have joined us as Education Assistants (EAs). Our EAs play a critical role in our school and their work is deeply valued. 

On April 30th, in collaboration with the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Nation Education Department, we will be engaged in a cleansing and blessing ceremony at our school led by a Sḵwx̱wú7mesh community elder. This is an opportunity for us to witness and participate in a Sḵwx̱wú7mesh spiritual ceremony. The purpose is to start off the spring season in a good way. We are grateful to be able to witness and participate in this important work. 

Finally, we want to lift up and honour the following students who lived by our values this week. 

Tímit - Milana

Wanáxws - Junior

Chén̓chenstway - Emma 

Thank you for your continued support. We’re excited for all that spring has to offer!

Take care, 

Cory Hartling

Student Learning Survey 2024/2025

The Provincial Student Learning Survey is unique in its scope, size and usefulness to schools. It gathers information from parents/guardians/caregivers, teachers, and students on topics related to school environment, safety, and achievement. The information is used for planning in individual schools and provides a district and provincial perspective.

Early in 2025 the Student Learning Survey will be administered to students in grades 4, 7, 10 and 11 their parents/guardians/caregivers, and all school staff. We encourage parents/guardians/caregivers to participate in this survey, as the results are important in identifying and celebrating current strengths, as well as determining where the school needs to focus improvement. The surveys contain standard questions for the Province – in addition, questions from the school and/or district that focus on local conditions or issues may be included.

The survey can be completed electronically and can be accessed on the Internet at https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/education-training/k-12/support/student-learning-survey. Any computer or mobile device with an Internet connection can be used, and access to the e-survey is simple and secure. The survey can be accessed through the link and by clicking on Take the Survey. On the login page, click on the Parents icon, and then select the school district and school name where your child attends school. Provincial, District and School Reports for previous years can be viewed at the same site under the Results section.

 The e-survey site will be open until May 2, 2025.

 If you have any questions, please contact the school.