We conducted a follow-up PBA with our grade 8 students to determine if there had been any growth with respect to literacy. 

We also conducted two sessions where our senior students taught grade 8 classes on two of the key areas that were highlighted as areas for need:  organization and note-taking/study skills.  

1. Our fall PBA revealed that more than 50% of our students were Developing or Emerging in areas such as identifying main ideas of text, making connection, decoding unfamiliar words, finding evidence in text and inferencing. 

The results of our second PBA were extremely positive.  Our students with diverse learning needs showed improvement overall: 

2. Our two sessions where senior students taught grade 8 classes were developed to target information, we gleaned from our grade 8 survey with respect to grade 8s having trouble keeping track of their work and keeping up with classes and assignment. 

Feedback from grade 8 students after these lessons was also extremely positive. Below is a wordle from student responses to these sessions: 

• Given the success of our senior-run sessions, we will be initiating a mentoring program for 2026-2027 called the Link Crew.   These will be grade 11 & 12 students who will be supporting our grade 8s throughout the year with executive functioning skills, core competencies and community building. 
• We will build on our Grade 8 Team of teachers who will work collaboratively to support student literacy. 
• We are also revising our PBAs for next year to make improvements.