At SelfDesign Learning Community, we assess our learners based on competencies.

Because our kindergarten to Grade 12 program is based on competency, we assess learning not through reporting, but through a process we call Observing for Learning. Our B.C. certified educators participate in an ongoing weekly conversation with you and your child. This type of communication and dialogue is led by your educator.

In the Observing for Learning process, you observe and reflect on your child’s learning during that week which includes describing learning activities as well as the learner’s engagement or emotional response. Your educator responds, reflects and shares in observing, and also matches your child’s learning with B.C. Ministry of Education and Child Care requirements, from kindergarten to Grade 12.

Your educator will coach you and your child in how to observe daily activities, assisting you in noticing learning as it unfolds in everyday moments.

As your child becomes a youth, they collaborate directly with the educator in the Observing for Learning process, with parent/guardian-support as needed. This fosters and allows your child to form a deepened awareness of their own integrated learning, goals, interests and skills related to learning to learn such as time management, flexible thinking, and organizational skills.

Youth in grade 10-12 also engage in theme-based learning that is assessed in personalized, supportive and relationship-based ways that meet Ministry of Education guidelines for high school courses.