As we count down to summer and the celebrations that come with the end of the school year, I want to share our students’ progress in literacy and social-emotional learning (SEL).

SEL is a set of self-awareness and relationship skills that help us manage our emotions and reflect on our thoughts. SEL skills are a foundation for learning because they build resilience. 

We don’t always like to talk about how our lives have changed post-COVID, but a lot of children and families experienced trauma. Even mild trauma alters our thinking and how we respond to our environment.

SEL skills help us consciously process our challenges and manage our stress, which makes us more receptive to new information and experiences.

 

Celebrating progress

At Fraser Academy, SEL is part of our curriculum. It helps every student build self-awareness and resilience so they can reach their full potential and succeed academically.

​When we compare our own goals with provincial and independent school data, we see how well our approach works. Even more importantly, we see the strong character of our students.

​Our Grade 10 literacy averages have been above the provincial average for the past several years.

Results for Grade 10 and Grade 12 provincial assessments remain strong and competitive with provincial averages.

​Keeping high levels of literacy and numeracy is more than just an academic goal: it shows our students’ resilience and their ability to master complex learning strategies with the right support.

 

 

Our students are active learners

In our classrooms, they reflect on their own thinking, which helps them plan, monitor, and evaluate their progress.

This self-awareness is more than just emotional maturity. It helps students realize their potential and drives academic success.

 

Whole-child well-being

Beyond academics, a student’s sense of belonging is the foundation for success.

We use the Middle Years Development Instrument (MDI), created by UBC’s Human Early Learning Partnership, to track student well-being trends from 2021 to 2025.

The MDI lets us compare Fraser Academy students’ experiences with those at other Independent School Association of BC (ISABC) schools.

​I am proud to share that our students say they feel supported by staff at levels that meet or exceed these benchmarks.

This shows the strong social-emotional maturity in our student body.

FA students are skilled at building and keeping meaningful connections with adults and with each other. 

They show openness to mentorship and a relational intelligence that will help them throughout their lives.

​What sets a Fraser Academy student apart is the mix of self-awareness and perseverance.

They handle a challenging academic environment while also building the social-emotional skills needed to thrive within and beyond our community.

 

 

What comes next?

We are developing new programs and assessments to help our students succeed.

This includes a new data evaluation process to track older students’ progress and give us a “well-being baseline” for Senior School students.

This way, we can make sure they have the resilience and academic skills they need for postsecondary life.

​We are proud of our students’ strengths in literacy and numeracy, but we are not standing still.

We will keep reviewing our standards and practices to make sure our students stay competitive as provincial standards change.

For example, we are introducing new numeracy workbooks and updating English department assessments to match provincial standards and better prepare students for exams.

​We will keep sharing updates with parents and caregivers through both individual meetings and community presentations. 

We want to make sure that everyone can follow Fraser Academy’s progress in literacy and SEL.

 

​Final thoughts

Over the next six weeks, we will have a number of upcoming events and opportunities to connect.

I am excited to join you as we celebrate our students at the Athletics Banquet and Recognition Day, and toast Fraser Academy’s Class of 2026 at the graduation ceremony and dinner.

We have so much to celebrate as a community, and I am excited to share these moments with each of you.

 

Looking forward,

 

Dennis Innes
Head of School