English Language Learner (ELL) Programme

The ELL program supports English Language Learners in Grade 8 – 12 in acquiring social and academic language skills.

• Social Language Skills: important for daily communication with teachers, peers and community members.
• Academic Language Skills: important for reading, writing, comprehending, expressing and interacting with content-specific materials.

Newcomers and international students arriving in Canada will settle and integrate into our school community by attending the ELL program and elective courses. Language acquisition is a journey, and our ELL teachers aim to support our students in building a strong language foundation to successfully transition into academic courses.

The English Language Learning (ELL) Standards in BC have five stages with a variety of learning outcomes at each stage for K-12. Student placement in language support blocks is based on an annual district assessment which looks at reading, writing and oral language skills. Students build their language skills through support blocks to acquire language proficiency. Classroom teachers are in regular consultation with ELL teachers to provide scaffolds and language adaptations to support student learning in all content areas.

Ways to Support ELL students:

• Read in English as well as your home language for 30 minutes daily.
• Visit the school or local public library to find books in a variety of different genres.
• Participate in a variety of school and community activities including clubs, teams, field trips and volunteer opportunities.
• Create a picture dictionary with new vocabulary words you are learning.
• Read along with audio or online books.
• Keep a daily journal.