In 2006, the Ministry of Education announced that school district mandates would be expanded to include ‘Lifespan Literacy’. At the same time, Districts throughout the province were given the task of developing “District Literacy Plans” and initiating conversations with the broader community invested in literacy.

Over the last three years, the District has completed an environmetnal scan of all in-house literacy programming (District Transitional Literacy Plan, 2007), worked with Literacy Now New Westminster to bring the Community and District Literacy Plans together (Community District Literacy Plan, 2008/2009), and continued to work with Literacy Now New Westminster, and others such as the New Westminster Early and Middle Childhood Development Committees and the New Westminster Community Food Action Committee, to develop one Community Literacy Plan (NW Community Literacy Plan, 2009/2010) with specific goals that will be reviewed and assessed over a three year period. Our Literacy work can be reviewed in the 2010 - 2011 Community Literacy Plan and the 2011 - 2012 Community Literacy Plan.

We are very proud of the collaborative process that has led to the development of one Community Literacy Plan, and feel that we are now better able, as a community, to coordinate literacy actions to meet emerging needs, reduce overlap and fill gaps in service.

More information about Life Span Literacy please contact Betina Ali, Community Program Development Officer at bali@sd40.bc.ca or  604-517-6168.