​​​Support for Students at the CBE

Our students’ success is our top priority and we understand that our students live complex lives and that many factors both in school and outside of school can affect their ability to learn. The CBE offers a variety of services (such as Culture and Linguistic Support, Exceptional and Special Needs, and Psychological Services) to support students, their families and our school, so students can be successful learners.

At Clarence Sansom, we strive to provide each student with opportunities for growth and success.  In addition to their academic and complementary courses, students have access to a variety of programs and services tailored to meet their individual needs. These include:

  • English as an Additional Language
  • Guidance Counselling
  • Resource Support

English as an Additional Language

About one-quarter of all CBE students are identified as English as an Additional Language (EAL). Those who are learning English as an additional language must be able to do more than just talk to friends, buy things at a store, or find their way around the city. Students must understand different ideas and be able to read, write, and talk using specific academic vocabulary.  

Upon arrival from outside of Canada, students are required to register via the Welcome Centre, where they are provided with an initial language assessment. Once placed in a school, students’ who speak a different language at home other than English and require language acquisition support are coded as English Language Learners. Generally speaking, the coding lasts for 5 years as it takes between five to seven years to develop fluency. In that time, teachers provide coded EAL students with extra support in their language acquisition across all curricular areas. 

Programming for EAL students is based on their coding and their language assessment, which results in a benchmark level. as per Alberta Education’s ESL Proficiency Benchmarks.

The General Learner Outcomes state that students will use spoken and written English to:

  •  Gather, interpret and communicate information  
  •  Establish and maintain relationships  
  •  Make decisions, solve problems, and plan and carry out projects  
  •  Explore, respond to and extend ideas and experiences.  

Students who take part in EAL programming will find that it is a welcoming environment with a low teacher/pupil ratio. Students receive extra time and personalized support to learn how to complete assignments.  

The EAL team at Clarence Sansom School has training that includes:

  • Cultural responsiveness   
  • How to teach functions, forms, and vocabulary   
  • How to teach older students to read   
  • How to work with traumatized youth   
  • How to help students and families to access special supports and services   
  • How to access interpreters and diversity support workers   
  • Understanding unique needs of complex, at risk ELLs 

Guidance

We are here to assist you in any of the following areas:

  • Educational Counselling
    Program planning, course registration, timetable conflicts, and High School planning
  • Personal / Social Counselling 
    Personal issues, stress management, mental health and wellness advice, life events and transitions, crisis intervention, relationship issues, health concerns, substance abuse, referrals and consultation with outside agencies, and general advocacy

Resource

Our resource team performs the following roles:

  • Helps those students in our regular program who encountering difficulties to cope with their program.
  • Works with parents, teachers and others to help students achieve success.
  • Assists teachers in each grade to formally document student progress through Individual Program Plans (I.P.P.s).
  • Educational assessments of academic indicators to determine whether more in-depth, formal assessments are required.