Sharing Our School’s Story:
Who Are We: Spul’u’kwuks is named from the Musqueam language meaning, “place of bubbling water,” where the land and water meet. It is located in the northwest corner of Richmond, near a former permanent Musqueam fishing settlement going back thousands of years. Spul'u'kwuks Elementary School was built in 2000 and opened in October that year. Currently, we have grown to about 400 students. Half of our students are English Language Learners (ELL). We are the only school in Richmond that has a balanced calendar with three months in session followed by a one-month break. Our breaks are in December, April and August. Our mascot is the eagle.
Our Mission Statement: At Spul’u’kwuks we are a community of learners committed to developing a nurturing environment that encourages caring, respect, trust and personal growth. We value diversity, believe in the importance of building relationships and honour the uniqueness of each individual. We strive to create meaningful experiences that encourage a joy for learning. We have inspirational words on the wall in our foyer: Create, Transform, Imagine, Explore, Discover and Wonder.
Our School Goals: School Goals provide staff with a focus to develop collective efficacy. They build on each other and a new one does not eliminate an old one.
2024-2025
As we neared the end of last school year, staff reviewed our work toward developing Indigenous and First Nations understanding in our staff and students and supporting student belonging. We could see that student Indigenous and First Nations understanding was growing. As we talked about our new outdoor learning area, we began to discuss play and other social interactions of our students. Each grade group discussed strengths and needs at their grade level, and we wondered if our students were feeling the sense of belonging we hoped they were developing. We saw a need to collect more data from our students this term to learn if our students were feeling connected and then develop ways to support our learners deepen their sense of belonging and their connections with each other.
We are committed to continuously improving the learning experiences for our students by focusing on their well-being and sense of belonging. By working together as a school community, we aim to create an environment where every student can thrive and be appreciated for who they are and the roles they play in our community.
2023-2024
Using the data collected from students at the end of last school year in addition to data gathered from the Student Learning Survey, we are continuing our focus on belonging and developing a greater understanding of Indigenous Peoples’ history and connectedness to the land upon which our school sits. This year, we are focusing on acts of Reconciliation that can be taken both individually and school-wide to help develop a greater sense of community and belonging.
There is a group of teachers working on an Innovation Grant with a focus on outdoor learning and the following question: With an outdoor learning and land-based pedagogy, how might we reimagine our outdoor learning space to support our learners to develop a strong sense of belonging to each other as a community and to the place where they live, learn, and play? The First Peoples Principles of Learning will be used to reimagine the general outdoor learning space including gardening areas, gathering spaces, indigenous art, and more, along with student and staff input.
