Community Literacy Plan June 2015

A Community Without Borders

The Sunshine Coast

Literacy Plan 2015

Revised June 2015

Sunshine Coast Literacy Plan 2015 Page 1

Contents

Introduction ………………………………………………….. Page 2 A Look at the Year Past ……………………....................Page 4

A Look at the Year Ahead ……………………………… Page 10


Introduction The Sunshine Coast District Literacy Plan reflects the collaborative efforts to promote literacy on the Sunshine Coast. The Literacy Plan is directed by the Sunshine Coast Literacy Coalition (formerly Council), composed of representatives of educational and community organizations (see below for a list of Coalition members in 2014/15). Capilano University is the steward of the literacy funds and hires and supervises the Literacy Outreach Coordinator. As of June 2015, we have completed our sixth year of implementation of the Literacy Plan. The current report provides answers to the guiding questions provided and begins with an explanation of how we view literacy.

Our Approach to Literacy Literacy is the ability to accomplish tasks and to participate in the world around us. Literacy is about how we are able to use what we learn and to apply our knowledge.

We think of literacy as the foundation – the “glue” – that makes other learning stick. We look at literacy in context. Our goal is to provide opportunities for people to develop literacy in relation to the issues that are important in their lives – for example, health, food, housing, job preparation, parenting, homework, obtaining a license to operate a car or a boat, and other situations in daily life. Literacy includes reading, writing, numeracy, and more. It also includes other essential skills such as oral communication, document use, problem-solving, working well with others, critical thinking, continuous learning, and using digital technologies. New technologies are changing what it means to be literate. In the information age, the ability to find relevant and useful information quickly is a key skill.

Evaluating the information we find is even more important. Perhaps most importantly, the ability to keep learning new things is a key skill in a digital world.

Our Vision

Residents of the Sunshine Coast have opportunities to develop literacy throughout their lives; to achieve their educational, work and social goals; and to realize their potential.


We recognize that culture and literacy are connected. Culture and language shape how we view literacy and are pathways to literacy. Aboriginal literacy, for example, reflects aboriginal worldviews and philosophical approaches to learning. We celebrate the joys of reading, writing and storytelling and look for opportunities to share that joy with people of all ages.

Sunshine Coast Literacy Coalition

The Sunshine Coast Literacy Coalition Committee oversees the implementation of the Literacy Plan and reviews and sets priorities each year. In 2014/15 the Literacy Committee met six times. The current Chair of the Committee is Jodi Fichtner, Marketing Manager, Sunshine Coast Credit Union. The Literacy Outreach Coordinator is Sandy Middleton of Capilano University. The Literacy Coalition works effectively because of strong and varied partnerships. The Literacy Coalition partners who meet regularly are:

Capilano University

Community Resource Centre

Gibsons & District Public Library

Halfmoon Bay/Chatelech Community School

School District No. 46

Sechelt Public Library

Sunshine Coast Community Services Society

Sunshine Coast Credit Union

Sunshine Coast Early Years Centre

Sunshine Coast Welcoming Communities

Community Context Approximately 30,000 residents live on the Sunshine Coast, the traditional territory of both the shíshálh (Sechelt) and Skwxu7mesh Uxwumixw (Squamish) Nations. Almost half the population lives in either the District of Sechelt or the Town of Gibsons. The majority of the population is rural and lives in the five Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) electoral areas of Egmont/Pender Harbour, Halfmoon Bay, Roberts Creek, Elphinstone, and West Howe Sound. Members of the Sechelt Nation live within the Sechelt Indian Government District (SIGD).


As mentioned every year, a continuing challenge for this community is the ageing of the population. Almost half of the Sunshine Coast’s population is 55 or older, according to 2013 B.C. population statistics. Interestingly, though, the opposite is true within the shíshálh Nation which has a higher percentage of teenagers and a lower percentage of elders. The Sunshine Coast is also experiencing another, positive, demographic shift. Increasing numbers of immigrants are making the Sunshine Coast their home. A large number of Sunshine Coast businesses are being bought by immigrants entering Canada through the Provincial Nominee Program investor class. These immigrants are principally from China. We are also seeing more families coming to the Coast from different countries, for example, families have recently arrived from India, Iran, and Egypt. These newcomers tend to be younger and are making important contributions to the sustainability of the Sunshine Coast. The Sunshine Coast was successful this past year in its application to create an Early Years Centre with funding from the Province of British Columbia. The Early Years Centre partners with early years programs and services throughout the Sunshine Coast and is a Literacy Coalition partner. Its vision is that every family with children from conception through age six will be able to easily access programs, information and services to support their child’s development.

A Look at the Year Past Community Development and Literacy Collaboration: The Sunshine Coast Credit Union as Literacy Partner

The Sunshine Coast Credit Union (SCCU) is a relatively recent literacy partner that is making an important contribution to literacy in this community as a Coalition member, a funder, and, most significantly, a literacy provider through its Money Skills program. The SCCU is a full-service financial institution that is committed to improving the financial well-being of its members and the Sunshine Coast community. “Neighbours helping neighbours”, an important value of the SCCU, is deeply expressed through the SCCU’s extensive involvement in the community, including literacy.

https://www.sunshineccu.com/Personal/


The SCCU has developed – in partnership with the Community Resource Centre, Sunshine Coast Community Services, and Family Services of Greater Vancouver – a financial literacy program that helps community members increase their financial

knowledge and money management skills on topics such as budgeting, banking,

consumerism, debt and credit. More than 300 Coast residents have participated in Money

Skills to date.

The program is delivered in a variety of community settings by SCCU staff who

volunteer their time. The Gibsons & District Public Library, Capilano University, and

School District No. 46, among others, have all hosted Money Skills programs. The SCCU

is currently working with the Welcoming Communities project, a partner in the Literacy

Coalition, to create a Money Skills program for immigrants in which immigrant

community members will be trained to deliver the program to members of their ethnic

community in their first language.

The SCCU is also a partner agency in the Sunshine Coast Literacy Coalition and

participates in regular Literacy Coalition meetings. In 2015, Jodi Fichtner, Marketing

Manager of the SCCU, became Chair of the Literacy Coalition. In November 2014,

Shelley McDade, the CEO of the SCCU, facilitated a strategic planning session for the

Literacy Coalition.

The SCCU provides grants to community organizations and funded, in part, the Literacy

Coalition’s community event in 2014, Community Without Borders. It has recently

awarded a $2,000 grant to Sunshine Coast Welcoming Communities to support a

community kitchen with immigrant women.

The SCCU has become a valued partner as a result of the contributions it makes to

literacy on the Sunshine Coast. In particular, Money Skills has become a significant

community asset. The SCCU exemplifies the spirit of collaboration that exists within the

Literacy Coalition and it provides an important bridge to the business community for

literacy partners.


Priorities, goals and objectives addressed in 2014/15 Strategic Area #1: Sustainability In fall 2014, we held a formal strategic planning process facilitated by Shelley McDade, CEO of the Sunshine Coast Credit Union. All partners attended. The session assisted Literacy Coalition partners to determine and agree on strategic goals, and to define in measurable ways what we are trying to achieve. The strategic goals identified through the planning process are described in the section “Looking Ahead to 2016-17.” Strategic Area #2: Raise-A-Reader Funding Four organizations received Raise-A-Reader (RAR) funding in 2014 and implemented six projects, described below. In some cases, RAR funding contributed to the project and in others, RAR was the sole source of funding.

Langdale-Elphinstone Recreational Reading Program, School District No. 46 (Sunshine Coast): This innovative literacy program took place at the Langdale Elementary School and Elphinstone Secondary School in Gibsons. The project built intergenerational connections through reading by matching schoolchildren from Langdale Elementary with Grade 10 students at Elphinstone Secondary School. For four months, from February to May, the children, aged 5 – 10, took a weekly trip to Elphinstone on the school bus. Each child was matched with a high school student with whom they spent time reading together or talking about books. Snacks were provided by the culinary arts program at Elphinstone. Gregory Walters, the principal of Langdale Elementary, says that the Langdale-Elphinstone Recreational Reading Program was not intended to teach children how to read better. Instead, the after school program highlighted the fun of reading. Walters says: “In school we can become so focused on achievement and grade levels. Kids can get a sense that reading is a way of being tested or put in a category. I want to loosen it up for kids. I don’t want them to feel like there’s a task that always comes with reading. I just want them to enjoy it.”

http://vector.me/files/images/7/6/762707/the_vancouver_sun_raise_a_reader_day.png


Walters also emphasizes the intergenerational social connections made through the program. Babies and young children explore literacy with the adults in their lives through games, rhymes, and stories. Once children learn to read, the social aspect of reading tends to decline and they are often expected to read on their own, in isolation. The social aspect of the reading process is lost and reading can become more like a chore than a chance to interact with an adult or youth. Recreational reading programs like this help children to retain the sense of connection and fun that reading brought them in their early years. “Now they want to read, and they want to go to the library. It’s opened up conversations about books outside of school,” says Walters. “It’s just lit up reading for the kids.”

Langdale-Elphinstone Recreational Reading Program Books for Babies, Sechelt Public Library: All new babies born on the Sunshine Coast, beginning in September 2015, will receive the gift of a Books for Babies kit. The kits will be distributed by public health nurses and public libraries. The kits were revised from previous Books for Babies kits to be more appealing to and inclusive of all cultures, especially the First Nations communities on the Sunshine Coast. Family Literacy Kits, Sechelt Public Library: The family literacy kits are intended to be borrowed by families to enjoy together at home and practice intergenerational literacy.


Youth book clubs, Gibsons & District Public Library. The project was intended to stimulate and inspire reading and thoughtful discussion among young people. Sixteen youth participated, and read and discussed books that they chose themselves.

Youth Book Club Bouncing Babies and Books Parent Support Initiative: A weekly story time was intended to help and inspire parents and other caregivers to learn and play games and songs with their babies that develop connection and pre-literacy skills. More than 80 infants participated. Strategic Area #3: Partnerships, public awareness, and professional development The Sunshine Coast Welcoming Communities project and the Sunshine Coast Early Years Centre joined the Coalition and representatives regularly attend meetings. The Sunshine Coast Association for Community Living and the Open Door Group attended some meetings. In spring 2015 we wrote to the mayors of the Town of Gibsons and the District of Sechelt, asking them to declare September 2015 Literacy Month. Members of the Coalition will appear before each of the councils to speak to the proclamation. We coordinated and planned a number of events and initiatives to take place in September 2015 for Literacy Month including a new partnership with BC Ferries for a Word on the Water event to take place over two sailings of the Horseshoe Bay – Langdale route. We will report in detail on Literacy Month in our 2016 report. In 2014/15 we also created a new PowerPoint presentation for public awareness purposes and to describe the work of our Coalition which we intend to take “on the road” in 2016.


Strategic Area #4: Support the development of early childhood literacy initiatives The Literacy Outreach Coordinator, and other members of the Literacy Coalition, attend Early Childhood Development Council meetings. Some of the RAR projects described above address early literacy. The Sunshine Coast Early Years Centre is a literacy partner and has collaborated with Capilano University to provide extended StrongStart hours to support students in the university’s informal language training group for newcomers in Gibsons. This support means that parents can attend the group with their children and a StrongStart facilitator is present to assist with the children. Strategic Area #5: Support the development of literacy among various groups on the Sunshine Coast, including aboriginal people, young people, adults, seniors, and immigrants.

Many of the projects in 2014/15 focused on support for young people, including the Raise-A-Reader projects described above which supported infants and schoolchildren and intergenerational literacy. In addition, the Literacy Coalition’s Coast Reads project continued into its third year. This project encourages schoolchildren to think of themselves as readers and writers. Coast Reads gives children the opportunity to make a personal connection to authors through author visits to their schools. In 2014/15 Coast Reads featured 11 different picture books and novels. Coast Reads and the RAR projects point to a direction the Literacy Coalition is taking in helping the community – especially families, children, and youth – experience the joy of reading and setting them up for a lifetime of reading pleasure and success.


A Look at the Year Ahead Below is an outline of the strategic areas we will address in 2015/16 and general objectives under each area. Strategic Area #1: Sustainability

Follow up on the strategic planning process in fall 2014 and use the material from that process to guide actions and decisions. Please see Appendix A for a table detailing information from the strategic planning process.

Apply for at least one additional source of funding to support the work of the Literacy Coalition.

Outputs: A revised Literacy Plan; at least one completed funding application. Outcomes: Members increase their capacity to make decisions regarding the future work of the Literacy Coalition and their ability to work together even more effectively. Strategic Area #2: Raise-A-Reader Funding

Monitor the implementation of RAR funding received in 2015.

Receive and allocate RAR funding in 2016.

Outputs: Two RAR projects funded in 2015 are completed and reported on. A plan for the allocation of RAR funds in 2016 is completed. Outcomes: Families, children, and adults benefit from an increase in literacy services and the opportunity to participate in literacy development. Strategic Area #3: Partnerships, public awareness, and professional development

Look for and invite new partnerships.

Celebrate and promote September 2015 as Literacy Month

Continue to raise awareness of an asset-based view of literacy through Literacy Month, family literacy events and activities, and through professional development and awareness events for staff in the private and public sectors.

Outputs: Potential new partner(s); proclamations of Literacy Month; a series of events celebrating Literacy Month in September 2015; at least one family literacy event; at least one professional development event Outcomes: Members of the public, and staff in private and public organizations, experience a shift in their understanding of literacy, how literacy applies to them, and how they can support literacy development in others.


Strategic Area #4: Support the development of early childhood literacy initiatives

Support the Early Childhood Development Council and look for partnership opportunities.

Outputs: Members of the Literacy Coalition attend monthly Early Childhood Development Council meetings. Outcomes: The Literacy Coalition and the Early Childhood Development Council complement each other’s work. Strategic Area #5: Support the development of literacy among various groups on the Sunshine Coast, including aboriginal people, young people, adults, seniors, and immigrants.

Identify gaps in literacy service, asking, “who is not being served”?

Work with partners to fill the gaps in literacy service. In 2015 we will focus on the issue of health literacy. We plan to invite Vancouver Coastal Health representatives to meet with us in November 2015 for a facilitated meeting to discuss how we might work together to raise awareness of and the capacity for health literacy on the Sunshine Coast. Outputs: Examples of gaps in literacy services and examples of collaborations among partners to provide new, or to enhance existing, literacy services. Meeting with Vancouver Coastal Health representatives in November 2015. Outcomes: Community members are more aware of health literacy and can access supports to increase their health literacy. Community members on the Sunshine Coast have more opportunities to develop literacy and achieve their educational, work, and social goals.


APPENDIX A: Strategic Goals for 2015/16

Strategy Initiative Objective Timeline Details/Ideas

Fundraising Apply for RAR funds

Raise $10,000 Fall 2015 Think about how to leverage RAR funding and projects to raise awareness

Identify and apply to sponsors and funders to raise $1500 for awareness building

$1,500 in sponsorship, in-kind, and/or cash

Fall 2015 Look for sponsors of Family Literacy in January 2016

Collaboration and Partnerships

Invite Welcoming Communities, Community Living, Work BC and additional representation from SD46

Broaden diversity of Literacy Coalition.

Invited Spring 2015

Welcoming Communities is now a formal partner. Contact other new/potential partners in September 2015 to discuss their ongoing participation.

Awareness and branding

Identify targets for raising awareness

Consensus on list of key influencers

Identified targets spring 2015 Outreach to targets begins fall 2015

Municipal governments and health providers identified as key targets for awareness and collaboration in 2015/16

Prepare engagement and awareness materials

PowerPoint presentation for various groups

Prepared spring 2015

Engage targets identified

Reach the municipal government and health sectors

Fall 2015/Spring 2016

Target output: four presentations to various groups in 2015/16

Integrate literacy action in

Literacy is a part of the plan

Spring 2015. Achieved


“We Envision” SCRD Strategic Plan

and the Literacy Coalition is involved in the planning

Program funding

Identify target groups

Clarity of programming

RAR target groups and projects in fall 2015. General projects for implementation ongoing.

2015/16 RAR target group is immigrant families.

Establish process for RAR funding allocation

Formalized process that is transparent and reaches all intended groups

Fall 2015 Ensure targeted outreach for RAR funding, including Seniors Planning Table, Early Years Council, Vancouver Coastal Health, and others

Choose programs

RAR programs are selected

Fall 2015 Incorporate health literacy into at least one RAR project

Documents

Community Literacy Plan June 2015