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The Citizen, 2003-02-05, Page 18PAGE 18. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2003. Classified Advertisements Tenders Tenders Tenders Municipality of Huron East Tender HE-01-03 Area students make gains in EQAO reading, writing Electrical Retrofits for Huron East Municipal Buildings as follows: 1. Seaforth & District Community Centres 2. Seaforth Municipal Office 3. Public Works Building - Tuckersmith 4. Sewage Treatment Plant - Seaforth 5. Welsh Street Water Well - Seaforth 6. Sewage Treatment Plant - Vanastra 7. Vanastra Recreation Centre 8. Public Works Building - McKillop 9. Brussels Fire Hall 10. Sewage Treatment Plant - Brussels 11. Public Works Building - Brussels 12. Brussels, Morris & Grey Community Centre 13. Public Works Building - Grey Sealed Tenders clearly marked as to contents will be received at the Huron East Municipal Office for the above tender, or parts thereof, until 12:00 Noon on Monday, February 24. 2003. Tender documents are available at the Municipal Office. For further information please call 519-527-1710. John Forrest, Huron East Public Works Coordinator 72 Main Street South, Box 610, Seaforth, Ontario N0K 1W0 Phone (519) 527-1710 OR 1-888-868-7513 Toll Free from Brussels and Grey Only Fax:(519)527-2561 Lowest or any quotation not necessarily accepted. Presentations Following the carnival on Sunday afternoon, Brussels Figure Skating Club presented its awards to, from left: Ben Gowing, most outstanding senior power skater; Anthony Lichti, most outstanding junior power skater; Herbie Rundstedler, Canskate stage 4-7; Chelsey Terpstra, Canskate stage 1-3; Bridget Blake and Ashley Sholdice, tied for most outstanding intermediate Senior skaters. (Vicky Bremner photo) For the third consecutive year Avon Maitland students in Grade 3 and 6 made gains in reading and writing. Grade 3 math results were down slightly from the year before, but were above the level of the two years previous. Using EQAO’s Method 1, (which counts all students including those exempt or absent during test administration) 49 per cent of the Grade 3 students in Avon Maitland schools last year reached Level 3 (the provincial standard) or better in reading, one-percentage point off the provincial average of 50 per cent. This represents a five-percentage point jump for Avon Maitland students from the 2000 - 2001 school year, while the provincial average remained constant at 50 per cent for the second year in a row. The Grade 3 reading scores for local schools saw Blyth Public School have 48 per cent at level three or above; Brussels, 41 per cent; East Wawanosh. 65 per cent; Grey Central, 25 per cent; Hullett Central, 84 per cent and Seaforth, 28 per cent. In writing, the Grade 3s continued the upward trend, rising two percentage points to 48 per cent of students at Level 3 or higher. Provincially 55 per cent met standard. The marks received in writing test for the Grade 3 students were: Blyth had 61 per cent at level three or above; Brussels, 47 per cent; East Wawanosh, 45 per cent; Grey Central, 38 per cent, Hullett Central. 60 per cent and Seaforth, 34 per cent. In mathematics, the board’s Grade 3 students dropped slightly from the previous year, as 53 per cent achieved provincial standard, five- percentage points below the Ontario average. However since testing began, this year’s results are second best in the board’s history. In the Grade 3 mathematics category, 61 per cent of Blyth students attained level three or higher; 35 per cent for Brussels; 70 per cent in East Wawanosh; 29 per cent for Grey Central; 88 per cent at Hullett and 13 per cent in Seaforth. Grade 6 students in 2001-2002 made an eight-percentage point jump in reading from the previous year with 54 per cent at Level 3 or higher. Provincially there was only a one per cent improvement in this category with 55 per cent making the mark. The board’s Grade 6 students moved up from eight-percentage points below provincial average in 2000 - 2001 to within one- percentage point in the latest results. For Grade 6 students: Blyth had 24 per cent at level three or above; Brussels, 54 per cent; East Wawanosh, 83 per cent; Grey Central, 70 per cent, Hullett Central, 58 per cent and Seaforth 59 per cent. The board witnessed a four- percentage point jump in the Grade 6 writing results, moving from 47 per cent to 51 per cent at provincial standard or higher. At the same time, the provincial average increased by just one per cent from 52 per cent to 53 per cent. For the writing skills of Grade 6 students: Blyth reached 36 per cent at level three or above; Brussels, 58 per cent; East Wawanosh, 61 per cent; Grey Central, 74 per cent, Hullett Central, 50 per cent and Seaforth, 41 per cent. Grade 6 math results were identical to the previous year, with 48 per cent meeting or exceeding the standard while the provincial average also remained unchanged at 54 per cent, The Grade 6 math pupils achieving the provincial standard or higher in Blyth was 12 per cent; Brussels, 54 per cent; East Wawanosh, 72 per cent; Grey Central, 43 per cent; Hullett Central, 62 per cent and Seaforth, 50 per cent. SDHS Gr. 9 tests scores among best By Stew Slater Special to The Citizen Though he said he “hesitate(d)” to do so, east/central Huron trustee Charles Smith used the school-by- school results from last spring’s provincially-standardized Grade 9 math tests to question the wisdom of closing Seaforth District High School (SDHS). Most students from that school were relocated to Central Huron Secondary School (CHSS) prior to the beginning of the current school year in September, 2002. Last spring’s tests, administered by the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO), were conducted across the Avon Maitland District School Board prior to the closure, between May 27 and June 14. The EQAO recently released the results, providing analysis on a board-by-board, school-by-school, and student-by- student basis. As was the case a year ago, Avon Maitland’s board-wide Grade 9 results stack up quite favourably in relation to the provincial averages. Both this year and last year, education lobbyists expressed concern because the average number of applied stream Grade 9s achieving at or above the provincial standard across Ontario was very low — this year, it was 21 per cent. The level of achievement in the Avon Maitland board was 30 per cent. In the academic stream, 68 per cent of Avon Maitland Grade 9s met or surpassed the provincial standard, as opposed to 58 per cent Ontario­ wide. Smith, however, drew attention to the school-by-school EQAO analysis, following a presentation about the results at a regular meeting Tuesday, Jan. 28, from Education Superintendent Marjatta Longston. As the Seaforth-area represent­ ative pointed out, 76 per cent of SDHS’s 21 academic stream Grade 9 students met or surpassed the provincial standard during last spring’s test. That compares to 49 per cent of the 59 academic stream students who were at CHSS at the time, putting the school below the provincial average. In the applied stream, SDHS had an achievement level of 35 per cent at or above the provincial standard, as opposed to 22 per cent for CHSS. “What are we doing to address the schools that have not been achieving even the provincial average, let alone the board average?” Smith asked. He then turned specifically to the closure of SDHS, something he fought vehemently both as a trustee and prior to his 2000 acclamation to the board. “I hesitate to do this, but we’ve closed this school where 76 per cent achieved (at or above the provincial standard), and sent them down the road to a school where 49 per cent achieved the same level.” Both Longston and Director of Education Lome Rachlis agreed the board should be concerned about students and schools which aren’t achieving as well as the provincial average. But Rachlis suggested the small number of SDHS students taking last spring’s test doesn’t necessarily provide an adequate indication of success. “If you have two or three very bright students in that group (of 21), it can skew the results significantly,” Rachlis argued. He added that a failure to achieve at the Grade 9 level may actually have nothing to do with the secondary school, and more to do with the previous experience of the students in Grades 7 and 8. And he stressed that the board doesn’t want to concentrate on schools which weren’t successful; instead, it should ask about the ones which were. “We owe it to the kids in every one of the schools to help them achieve at higher levels. And that’s certainly our goal,” Rachlis said. “The higher results indicate that it can be done, and our job is to figure out how.” Among Avon Maitland secondary schools, South Huron District High School scored the lowest level of achievement in the applied stream, with 15 of its 80 students at or above the provincial standard. The Exeter­ based school fared better in the academic stream, with the average for its 96 students just one point below the provincial average, at 57 per cent at or above the standard. CHSS scored the poorest among Avon Maitland’s academic stream students during last spring’s tests. Stratford Northwestern scored the highest among academic stream students, with 80 per cent at or above the provincial standard. St. Marys DCVI and Goderich DCI equalled the SDHS level of achievement, at 76 per cent, while Stratford Central was at 74 per cent. Goderich topped the results in the applied stream, with 42 per cent at or above the provincial standard, followed by F.E. Madill in Wingham at 40 per cent and Northwestern at 37 per cent. Local schools’ test results meet, exceed provincial standards In the Grade 9 assessment of mathematics at local schools, 49 per cent of the students in academic studies at Central Huron Secondary School reached level three or higher while 22 per cent of the applied pupils met the standard. At F. E. Madill Secondary School, the academics were at 72 per cent, applied at 40 per cent; Goderich District Collegiate Institute. T1 per cent and 42 per cent; Listowel District Secondary School, 62 per cent and 23 per cent and at the now- closed Seaforth District High School, 76 per cent and 35 per cent.