Dear Grade 9,10 and 11 students and parents,
Thank you for your patience with us as we continue to operate in a state of uncertainty surrounding the end of the school year. Although we are still hoping that we may be back on campus at some point this semester, we will continue to plan the end of the school year with Virtual Learning guiding our decision making process. This planning has involved deliberating what the end of the school year will look like for our students and important discussions and decisions around assessment in a Virtual Learning environment. We would now like to communicate the decisions below and a rationale as to why we have decided to go down this path.
Decision regarding Semester Exams:
There will be no Final Exams at the end of the Semester this academic year. This decision was made because of the challenges faced in replicating a similar testing environment under which traditional exams can take place, virtually. We also need to recognise that although many of our students have continued to thrive in this new learning environment, virtual school has brought with it some unique challenges. We have decided to continue to focus on student learning, providing regular feedback and ongoing assessment opportunities. By removing a high stakes exam at the end of the year, we feel this is the right course of action for our students which alleviates some anxiety during a time that has already been quite stressful.
Decision regarding our continuing with the 7-1 grading scale for assessment and reporting:
We believe we are in a strong position comparatively to some other schools affected by campus closures, in that we are largely able to continue to deliver rigorous curriculum content and support student learning, despite the unique challenges presented by a transition to Virtual School.
After discussions at the faculty and administrative level, we have decided to continue to assess students virtually, providing assessment opportunities that will enable students to demonstrate their new learning and understanding. This will be done through both formative and summative assessments, as continued Evidence of Learning. We also believe that by reporting on student learning using a 7-1 grading scale, we are able to recognise and affirm the valuable and excellent work our students are able to complete during this time.
Decision to move to Pass, Pass with Distinction and Incomplete for some Semester Arts courses:
Virtual learning creates unique challenges for many of our students enrolled in semester long arts courses. Although we are working hard to provide every student with what they need to learn we cannot guarantee equity in resources and access, as it pertains to some semester arts courses. With this in mind, we felt it was more equitable to move to a Pass with Distinction, Pass and Incomplete for some semester long arts courses for the second Semester.
Descriptors for this temporary measure can be found HERE
Please note there will be an indication on student report cards and transcripts with the date we transitioned to Virtual School. This will help to add context to the transcript which is a measure many schools are in the process of implementing.
Next Steps:
We are currently making plans for what the last few weeks of school will look like. Discussions at this point include wrapping up summatives for all subjects and coordinating an assessment calendar, determining the final day of teaching and learning, extra-time built in for HL IB courses, check out process, final assemblies and other celebrations. We hope to be able to provide more information about these matters, towards the end of next week.
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions about these decisions or other matters.
Enjoy the long weekend!
Regards
Justin Alexander
HS Principal
Justyna McMillan
HS Dean of Academics and IB Coordinator
Andy Vaughan
HS Dean of Students