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TABLE OF CONTENTS Summary ........................................................................................................................................ 3

Reflections on 2011-12 .................................................................................................................. 5

Task Group Activities ................................................................................................................. 5

New Westminster Reads .......................................................................................................... 5

Aboriginal Literacy Feast ........................................................................................................ 6

Family Bookshare Expansion .................................................................................................. 6

More Book Sharing ................................................................................................................. 7

“Literacy Helps” Social Media Campaign .............................................................................. 7

Writing for all, Reading by all: A Plain Language Writing Guide .......................................... 7

Multigenerational Programming .............................................................................................. 8

Important Collaborations ............................................................................................................. 8

Changes in the Community ....................................................................................................... 10

Funding Changes and Announcements ................................................................................. 10

Service Caps .......................................................................................................................... 10

New Sites, Locations and Program Changes ......................................................................... 10

School District Initiatives ...................................................................................................... 11

Task Group Changes ............................................................................................................. 11

Looking ahead ............................................................................................................................. 12

Community Consultations ......................................................................................................... 12

Areas of Focus for 2012-2013 ................................................................................................... 12

Collaboration, Literacy Promotion and Visibility ................................................................. 12

Skills Development................................................................................................................ 13

Cultural Connections: ............................................................................................................ 13

Books in Homes..................................................................................................................... 14

Access to Information and Services ...................................................................................... 14

Proposed Workplan for the Coming Year ................................................................................. 15

Attachments ................................................................................................................................. 17

Literacy New Westminster Task Group ................................................................................... 18 

New Westminster Community Profile ..................................................................................... 19

Appendix #1: Promising Practices in SD No. 40 (New Westminster) .................................... 21

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SUMMARY New Westminster is a community that strongly values the spirit of collaboration. The members of the Literacy New Westminster Task Group remain committed to working together collaboratively to address the literacy challenges faced by residents of our city. The 2012-13 Community Literacy Plan considers the Guiding Questions outlined in the Community Literacy Planning Guide and presents our priorities for the coming year.

The past year has been a busy one for the Literacy New Westminster Task Group. We have developed and are actively involved in a number of ongoing initiatives:

• New Westminster Reads – family literacy week events • Literacy Helps – Social Media Poster Campaign • Writing for All, Reading by All – A Plain Language Writing Guide • ESL Facilitator and Volunteer Training Workshops (deferred to the fall) • Family Bookshare

We also support the literacy activities of other organizations, specifically:

• The Aboriginal Literacy Feast • Intergenerational family literacy programming • Books in Homes – Cameray Child and Family Services – Family Literacy Circle and the

multilingual school book collection at Lord Kelvin Elementary.

These initiatives are largely in place at this time and 2011-12 marked the final year in a three year “rolling plan” for our task group. There have been a number of changes in the past year that impact our task group as well as literacy services for our community in general. We have taken this opportunity to reassess our priorities and streamline the way we present our Community Literacy Plan.

In addition to renewing our commitment to existing activities, we have identified several new areas of focus to guide our work for the coming year. These areas are:

• Building new community connections, communication and visibility • Skills development (for residents and service providers) • Cultural connections (between literacy programs for Aboriginal participants, newcomers

and general participants) • Books in Homes • Access to information and program accessibility 

 

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MULTIGENERATIONAL PROGRAMMING One of the emerging trends identified in last year’s plan was:

“Seniors from non-English speaking countries with NO English language skills come to New Westminster to care for their young grandchildren”

Although the workplan did not list any specific activities that would address this trend, the task group was able to support a number of initiatives during the year:

New Westminster Family Place and Lower Mainland Purpose Society are both running programs which include immigrant grandparents and their preschool aged grandchildren. Literacy New Westminster was able to support both programs. (Family Services of Greater Vancouver also has many immigrant grandparents attending their ESL Parenting program). Additionally, as previously mentioned, funding was provided to Lord Kelvin Elementary to purchase multicultural (dual language) books that will be used in multigenerational programming. (Book purchase will occur in the fall.)

  IMPORTANT COLLABORATIONS Literacy New Westminster continued to value a collaborative approach in all our endeavours. Examples of specific collaborations that are taking place in New Westminster include:

• The Hospitality Project – many community organizations participate in the success of this initiative (that provides services to foodbank clients) including School District No. 40 (New Westminster) Community-based Adult Education, New Westminster Family Place, Shiloh-Sixth Avenue United Church.

Intergenerational programming benefits preschooler and his grandmother A grandmother and her young grandson started coming to a family program at Purpose Society. The grandson was very anxious and needed to be with his 

grandmother at all times. She was worried about what would happen when he started school. The grandmother’s English skills were not good, and she was also very isolated 

because she could not leave her grandson with anyone else.  

By attending the program regularly, the little boy gradually became more confident and after a few weeks was able to attend the children’s program alone. His 

grandmother was able to attend the adult program and work on her own English skills.  

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• School District No. 40 (New Westminster) Community Based Adult Education staff collaborate with the Elizabeth Fry Society, Pioneer Community Living and others to provide adult upgrading.

• The Community School Partnership (School District No. 40 (New Westminster)/Ministry

of Child and Family Development/New Westminster Parks Culture and Recreation) developed several life skill/leadership programs (eg Rec Ed Leadership Program – trains high school students to volunteer in various school based and community recreation programs).

• Both Immigrant Services Society of BC and Lower Mainland Purpose Society work with New Westminster Parks, Culture and Recreation, local community schools and other facilities to provide “field trips” for newcomers to create increased awareness of community services.

• Family Services of Greater Vancouver provides financial literacy programming in partnership with many community agencies including: ACCESS: Essential Skills for Aboriginal Futures; Aware Job Options BC-New West Training Centre; Fraserside Community Services Society; Immigrant Services Society of BC; Last Door Youth Treatment Centre; Lower Mainland Purpose Society: Newcomer Youth Program; New Westminster School District – POWER Program; The Hospitality Project; and Westminster House Recovery Centre.

• New Westminster Public Library does outreach during Family Literacy Day and

throughout the year at many locations around the city: Family Place, Strong Start (3 locations), Fraser Health Babytalk, Lower Mainland Purpose Society and Family Services of Greater Vancouver.

• Family Bookshare sites: The Hospitality Project (Shiloh-Sixth Avenue United Church);

Centennial Community Centre; Olivet Church, Fraserside Community Services Society and Elizabeth Fry Society work with the Literacy New Westminster Task Group and staff from the New Westminster Library to provide this service

• Family Services of Greater Vancouver and Pacific Immigrant Resources Society work

together to provide ESL instruction for women and a separate children’s program.

• Family Services of Greater Vancouver and Fraserside Community Services Society have partnered to deliver the ESL Parenting Program. (1/3 of participants are at literacy level.)

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• The Literacy New Westminster Task Group really embraced the spirit of collaboration in coming together to identify the best use of the allocated Raise-a-Reader funds and to engage with groups beyond the task group membership.

CHANGES IN THE COMMUNITY The task group identified many changes in our community over the past year that have affected literacy programming and access to services in general and the work of our group specifically.

FUNDING CHANGES AND ANNOUNCEMENTS Several programs have come to the end of multi-year funding cycles (eg Success by Six and the Urban Aboriginal Strategy) and as a result it is unclear whether some of the literacy related programs and initiatives in New Westminster will continue (eg. the Aboriginal Literacy Feast). There have been changes in the way Raise-a-Reader funding is distributed which may have an impact on agencies that rely on the funding to support literacy activities. On the other hand, several new and renewed funding announcements have been made:

• Immigrant Services Society of BC and New Westminster English Language Centre received renewed funding from ELSA (English Language Services for Adults)

• The library received funding from Westminster Savings for the Books for Babies program. • A visual book (New Westminster, Our City) on the history of New West developed by the

school district Artist in Residence program has received funding for reprints • Two additional years of CAPC (Public Health Agency of Canada, Community Action Plan

for Children) funding has been announced

SERVICE CAPS Several programs now have caps and limitations to service that will have the biggest impact on the most vulnerable clients and those with the greatest needs. For example employment related services and ELSA (English Language Services for Adults) limit the amount of service that an individual can receive. These caps are based on hours not competency.

Ministry of Child and Family Development reorganization has also resulted in limits and caps to service and many services are now “gated”.

NEW SITES, LOCATIONS AND PROGRAM CHANGES • We are anticipating the opening of the new Queensborough Community “Hub” and

associated new library satellite location.

• Our Family Bookshare program expanded to five sites.

• New Westminster Family Place has added two new satellite locations. • There has been a huge increase in the number of people in New Westminster accessing

Family Services of Greater Vancouver’s financial literacy program. Existing program

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partnerships have continued and new agencies have been added. The youth program has been offered in the schools.

SCHOOL DISTRICT INITIATIVES A detailed description of New Westminster School District initiatives is provided in Appendix #1. 

• The New Westminster School District has two very popular programs: Universal Design for Learning program (using a variety of learning techniques) and Fast ForWord (computer software used to improve student’s literacy skills) that are used in schools. Possibilities for expanding both programs into adult learning centres are being investigated.

• There have been a number of School District No. 40 (New Westminster) Community Schools initiatives and partnerships (afterschool and summer) with a literacy focus that support vulnerable children, youth and families in a variety of ways (life skills, leadership skills, mentorship, physical literacy, health literacy, etc)

• We celebrated the 4th year of New Westminster School District’s very popular Aboriginal Literacy Feast and were pleased to have Spirit of the Children Society attend and distribute pre-school kits.

• There are currently three Strong Start sites (McBride Elementary, Connaught Heights

Elementary and Queen Elizabeth Elementary) that provide services to a diverse intergenerational and multicultural cross-section of families.

• Full day kindergarten has had an impact on the number of registrations for preschool aged

programming. It should be noted that none of our elementary schools have received negative feedback from parents about the changes.

TASK GROUP CHANGES • We have a new Literacy Outreach Coordinator. There was a gap between the time the

previous coordinator left and the current one started which had an impact on the momentum of the task group.

• There has been increased collaboration between agencies as a result of their participation on the task group.

• There have been some minor changes to the people who are regularly participating in task

group activities.

• Our Community Literacy Plan has a new look. It is primarily about the work of the task group – important work that likely would not take place if the task group did not exist. The plan no longer contains a compilation of literacy related initiatives beyond the work of the task group. It also does not address “K-12” New Westminster School District activities – see Appendix 1 for a description of “Promising Practices in SD No. 40 (New Westminster)”.

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LOOKING AHEAD COMMUNITY CONSULTATIONS As part of Literacy New Westminster’s planning process this year, the Literacy Outreach Coordinator went out into the community and met with representatives from agencies that work with clients who have various literacy needs. The meetings were intended to determine:

• What literacy related services they already provide • What literacy needs they see in the community that are not currently being met • What barriers there are and what might be done to address the needs • Whether the organizations have any knowledge, skills or resources they could potentially

share with others in the community.

As a result of these consultations, a number of areas of focus were developed by the task group to guide our activities for the coming year. The task group further prioritized these areas and will develop specific initiatives over the year as time and resources allow.

AREAS OF FOCUS FOR 2012­2013 

COLLABORATION, LITERACY PROMOTION AND VISIBILITY The Literacy New Westminster Task Group provides members with the opportunity to connect with each other to share resources and develop new partnerships. We would like to involve more organizations that provide services to adults (both in the context of family literacy and workplace literacy). We also wish to raise the profile of the work the task group does in our community and of literacy issues in general.

Possible activities:

• Continue holding regular task group meetings • Hold an “open house” at one of our meetings in the fall – inviting a broad range of

service providers and agencies to attend and find out about the work we are doing • Enhance task group visibility by using existing resources (Literacy Helps posters, Family

Bookshare containers, Family Literacy Day bookmarks etc) • Consider strategic partnership opportunities with other groups like the Chamber of

Commerce, New Westminster private schools and preschools to expand our literacy network and support our Family Bookshare program

• Participate in relevant community events and promotional opportunities • Organize and promote Family Literacy Week events and activities • Look for opportunities to support community initiatives like intergenerational family

literacy programming and to do presentations for community groups on the value of literacy.

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SKILLS DEVELOPMENT For residents: Improving literacy skills for the residents of New Westminster is a priority for the task group and for many of the agencies that we consulted. Health literacy, financial literacy as well as computer and social media “literacy” are all priorities. Opportunities for youth to develop skills (eg. public speaking and workshop facilitation) and for younger children to be able to practice reading more (especially if their primary caregivers have difficulty helping them for any reason)

Possible activities

• Explore the possibility for developing “Social Media Literacy” workshops that are lead by youth and delivered to a variety of audiences (seniors, newcomers, parents etc.)

• Identify additional potential workshop topics related to literacy and develop partnerships to address them (eg. financial literacy or health literacy)

• Develop accessible and affordable one-on-one tutoring (or reading buddy) program for elementary school students.

For service providers: There are many agencies in New Westminster that provide literacy services and information for their clients (either directly or indirectly) – they may serve an ESL population and/or have clients who, for other reasons struggle to read and write in English. Staff and volunteers at these agencies are knowledgeable in their primary responsibilities (early childhood education, youth or seniors programming etc), but are not always literacy experts. Several of our member agencies have access to specialized ESL and literacy expertise and resources that could be shared with other service providers.

Possible activities

• Promote and distribute our Plain Language writing guide. • Look for new opportunities to enhance skills of service providers (plain language, ESL,

community resources etc) through hosting workshops, developing written guides etc. • Consider opportunities for organizations to share professional development opportunities

with other service providers.

CULTURAL CONNECTIONS: There is a strong tradition of oral storytelling amongst Aboriginal people. This value is evident in programming like the Aboriginal Literacy Feast and the Spirit of the Children activities. It would be very beneficial to share this learning style in other family literacy program settings.

There seems to be a separation between programs for Aboriginal families and general family programs – which often have few if any Aboriginal participants – despite a desire to increase Aboriginal participation. Many of the general family programs in our community have a high number of immigrant and ESL participants who may have very little knowledge or exposure to local Aboriginal culture. Stronger connections between these groups would benefit everyone.

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Possible activities

• Continue to support and participate in the Aboriginal Literacy Feast • Identify and develop new opportunities to build connections between Aboriginal,

Newcomer and general family programming

BOOKS IN HOMES Our Family Bookshare program has proven to be very popular. We have distributed books to families through a number of mechanisms and sites over the years. Some sites have become self sustaining. This is a program that the task group wants to continue and expand. There are a few local agencies that have expressed interest in becoming a Family Bookshare site.

Possible activities

• Look at the logistics required to expand our bookshare program (new sites, additional sources of donated books, distribution procedures and site maintenance etc) and as resources allow expand the program – keeping in mind the needs of each specific group

• Enhance the visibility of existing (and new) Family Bookshare locations – create appealing and consistent signage and appearance.

• Support other agencies to provide books for families (as funding allows)

ACCESS TO INFORMATION AND SERVICES The task group has previously discussed the development of Plain Language reading materials, with a local flavor, to be distributed on a regular basis to New Westminster residents. Many local agencies are already developing this type of material for their own internal purposes.

Possible activity

• Investigate the potential for developing Plain Language materials that would appeal to a wide range of residents – seniors, people with visual impairments, people with low literacy levels, ESL newcomers, children etc. and could be delivered though a local newspaper or other means on a regular basis.

A story of inspiration In her book “What it is”, well known cartoonist Lynda Barry (Ernie Pook’s Comeek) talks about how four “free” books appeared in her troubled childhood home (where reading was certainly not encouraged). Reading these books, which included classics like Heidi and the Arabian Nights made her reality bearable. The children who benefit most from our Family Bookshare program might be living in similar circumstances, and who knows, our books might inspire some of them to grow up to become authors as well.

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PROPOSED WORKPLAN FOR THE COMING YEAR The following workplan was developed based on the priorities identified by task group members. We recognize that our resources are limited and will focus on activities that are achievable within those constraints. Where possible we will share resources to minimize costs and/or seek local sponsorship for our planned initiatives.

When? What?  Resources required? Who?

Ongoing Collaboration, Literacy Promotion and Visibility: Hold regular meetings (monthly except July and August) 

None – Member agencies provide location on rotating basis

Literacy Outreach Coordinator (LOC) and task group

Ongoing Books in Homes: Secure books (donations or purchased) for Family Bookshare and replenish bins as required 

Book donations or funds to purchase books

LOC and task group

Ongoing Collaboration, Literacy Promotion and Visibility: Attend community events to promote Literacy New Westminster initiatives and literacy in general 

LOC time and cost for promotional materials (obtain or develop)

LOC

Ongoing Collaboration, Literacy Promotion and Visibility:  Do presentations on the importance of literacy (or related topics) for community groups 

LOC time to develop and do presentations

LOC

Ongoing Skills Development (service providers): Identify opportunities to share professional development resources

None – agencies to share on a voluntary basis

Task group

Sept-Oct Collaboration, Literacy Promotion and Visibility: Plan and hold an open house at a regularly scheduled task group meeting 

Funds for the purchase of snacks etc

LOC and task group

Oct Skills Development (service providers): Hold ESL Teacher Training Workshop 

None – funded by Raise-a-reader

Immigrant Services Society staff

Sept – Dec

Collaboration, Literacy Promotion and Visibility:  Evaluate existing task group assets (posters, bookshare bins, bookmarks etc) and determine how to use in order to maximize visibility 

LOC time and printing costs

LOC and task group

Sept – Jan

Skills Development (residents): Plan and launch a health literacy initiative (source funding as part of the planning process– or use existing community resources) 

Significant time commitment and collaboration between agencies to develop, plus also possibly cost to deliver

LOC, task group and subject experts

   

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Oct – Jan Collaboration, Literacy Promotion and Visibility and Skills Development (residents): Plan and hold Family Literacy Week activities and events (possibly with a “cultural sharing” theme this year)  

Cost of printing promotional materials (posters, bookmarks etc)

LOC and task group

Jan – Apr Cultural Connections: Plan and deliver Aboriginal Cultural activity with community organizations (source funding as part of the planning process – or use existing community resources) 

Significant time commitment and also possibly cost to deliver

LOC, task group and community groups

Jan – Apr Cultural Connections: Planning for Aboriginal Literacy Feast (subject to continued funding) 

LOC time, possibly some funding

School district staff and LOC

Mar – Jun

Skills Development (residents): Plan and deliver social media literacy workshops (source funding as part of the planning process – or use existing community resources) 

Significant time commitment and also possibly cost to deliver

LOC, youth, community groups

Mar – June

Access to Information and Services: Assess the feasibility of providing New Westminster residents with plain language information (local content) on a regular basis 

LOC time – implementation would come the following year

LOC

As time and resources allow

Identify additional opportunities that support the task group’s areas of focus – financial literacy, reading buddies etc.

As required. LOC, task group and community agencies

 

    

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ATTACHMENTS 1. LITERACY NEW WESTMINSTER TASK GROUP – MEMBERSHIP LIST 2. NEW WESTMINSTER COMMUNITY PROFILE 3. APPENDIX #1: PROMISING PRACTICES IN SD NO. 40 (NEW WESTMINSTER) 

 

   

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LITERACY NEW WESTMINSTER TASK GROUP 

Our task group is made up of a broad cross section of agencies working with diverse client groups in the New Westminster area. Membership is open to any interested individuals or agency representatives with an interest in literacy in New Westminster. We meet monthly (except July and August) to address task group activities and to network with each other. Subcommittees are formed as necessary to work on specific initiatives.

Currently active task group members include:

Betina Ali School District No. 40 (New Westminster) – Community Program Development Officer

Tulia Castellanos Family Services of Greater Vancouver – Manager, Community Education and Development Services

Karen Corcione Ministry of Children and Family Development – Community Development Coordinator

Janet Grant School District No. 40 (New Westminster) – Director of Instruction, Student Services and Community Literacy

Nan Gray Lower Mainland Purpose Society – Coordinator of Family Programs

Ellen Heaney (chair) New Westminster Public Library – Head, Children’s Services

Bertha Lansdowne School District No 40 (New Westminster) – Aboriginal Education Coordinator

Dawn Livera Literacy New Westminster – Literacy Outreach Coordinator

Ramona Manzer City of New Westminster – Recreation Programmer

Sandra Pace School District No. 40 (New Westminster) – Director of Instruction, Learning Services

Andrea Solnes Immigrant Services Society of BC – Manager, ELSA Program

Pat Steiner Family Services of Greater Vancouver – Coordinator, Community Education and Development Services

Odessa Tapia Elizabeth Fry Society of Greater Vancouver – Progressive Quality Improvement Coordinator

 

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