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Times Advocate, 1999-12-08, Page 27Wednesday,December 8, 19It Exeter T 27 Community Scheduling timetable for secon Dear Editor: There has been discussion recently regarding the scheduling timetable for our secondary schools, specifically that secondary school principals are planning to return their Grade 9 and 10 'classes next September to a traditional year-long schedule. The new provincial elementary curriculum is now in place and the new secondary school curriculum has begun to be phased in with this year's Grade 9s, who will graduate at the end of Grade 12. The new rigorous curriculum affects all grades -- thirteen years of schooling are now condensed to twelve years. .Many topics formerly taught at higher grades are now being taught at lower grades. The new provincial curriculum policy expects more of students sooner in terms of academic achievement and growth. Teachers will have to change not only what they teach but how it is taught and how stu- dents achievement is assessed and evaluated. Students and teachers will require time .to reflect, to process and to evaluate the teaching and learning process. Time may. be the one resource we can return to teachers and students as they face these challenges. This time comes not in the total amount of instructional time (110 hours is still the require- ment fon' a credit course) but in length of classes and the time between classes, in other words, in the structure of the timetable schedule for the school year. Under the new secondary curriculum, there is less opportunity for student choice because more of the program has been made mandatory. Students are expected to graduate after four years of secondary school. The days of fast -tracking (graduating early by taking an extra course each year or in the sum- mer) appear to be over. In addition, students will be required to pass a provincial Reading and Writing Test which most students will write in Grade 10. All of these factors strongly suggest that we need to review how the secondary school program is being delivered. What may have served our students well in recent years may now required improvement or change. For example, under a traditional (year-long) timetable, students in Grade 10 may write the mandatory Reading and Writing Test in the spring of Grade 10, rather than in the fall, giving our students additional time to prepare. A traditional year-long timetable allows students more time to absorb content and to master "skills.' It allows teachers more time to recognize areas of weak student performance and to help them. It will improve learning for students taking sequential Hosts with the most courses, courses that build on each other, by elimi- nating the large time gaps in time between courses which are possible under semestering. For example, in a traditional timetable, a student will study Grade 9 mathematics for a year, and then take mathemat- ics in the fall of one year, and not be able to take Grade 10 mathematics until the spring of the follow- ing year, a delay of 12 months. These delays, even if experienced by only a few students in a class, has resulted in more time being spent on review. This eats up some of the time available for teaching new content and practising new skills. The traditional year long schedule typically allows the student to cover more content, and achievement in some academic subjects has been found to be higher. Semestering created a situation where less content is often taught and fewer in-depth assign- ments have often been given because of the five month time period allocated for the duration of the course. Under a traditional schedule, a class in the same subject in each of the two streams can more easily be timetabled at the same time of day, so that, if a stu- dent wishes to change from one class to the other, it is easily arranged and does not affect the other courses which the student is taking. Also, under the traditional timetable, the course work load for students is spread out equitably over the academic year, whereas under semestering some students experience a very heavy course load one semester and a very light one the next. Under a tra- ditional year long time table, students take the same courses all year and adjust to their teaches and their teaching styles only once each year. Under the semestered model, students start all over again in February with new teachers and new courses and make that same adjustment mid -way through the year. Co-operative Education,, working for half a year at a school -supervised job placement away from the school for school credit, is usually taken by senior students. We recognize the value to our students of Co-operative Educaiol and a traditional timetable schedule, if applied to senior grades, would provide sufficient flexibility so as to ensure student pa1'ticipa- tion. Distance education, correspondence courses and alternative programming are potential options for rounding out a student's course load while they are taking Co-op. Other options for these students would include scheduling Co-operative Education time at the beginning or end of the school day or scheduling Co-operative Education on a semestered The Zurich peewee rep team won their own recent tournament with a 5-4 overtime victory over Stephen Township in the final. On ice, from IeftAndrew Degroot, Justin Laporte, Jeff Debus; front left: Nick Ducharme, Sam Datars, Ricky Geoffrey, Chad Snell, David Gingerich, Corey Regier, Brent Durand; back left:Zurich Lions Club member Carl Finkbeiner, trainers Erich Freiter and Peter Datars, Deryk Rader, Dan Masse, Byron Freker, coach Kevin Geoffrey, assistant coach Corey Wildfong and Zurich Lions Club member John Becker.The Zurich Lions Club sponsored the team's sweaters. (photo/Craig Bradford) school basis along with a selection of other courses which fit that format equally well. This arrangement would also permit those few students to graduate mid -year who have only a small number of courses left to take. I am confident that students' needs can continue to be met through creative responses. Because the introduction of semestering was accompanied by an increased period length, the two are often associated with each other. Class length often went from about 40 minutes to about 75 min- utes when semestering began. A traditional timetable can also accommodate periods of a number of lengths through such scheduling devices as block timetabling, multi -day cycles and so on. Some cours- es and subjects do benefit from a longer. -class period time, for example art and science. With longer peri- ods, but fewer of them, the total amount of time devoted to setting up and taking down equipment is reduced, since setting up and taking down need only occur once a period. Under a traditional timetable model this can continue. Our priority is providing a quality education for our students. If text books costs were to increase in doing so, that would be a legitimate expenditure and we would have to make economies elsewhere. New text books will be required in all courses as the new cur- riculum is phased in. We will be fully using the Ministry of Education grants related to text book costs for implementation of the reformed secondary curriculum. If schools adopt a traditional year long time table schedule, it will be because that provides the best learning environment for our students. This may very well attract students to our schools from other jurisdictions, students whose parents support a focus on excellence and quality education. Principals are empowered to exercise sufficient flexibility to meet individual students' needs, and, if a school were on a traditional timetable for all grades, could include a selection of semestered courses in each semester, transition courses, alternative education and dis- tance education. As always, our teachers will work hard to ensure identified students' needs are met. Secondary principals have determined that a tradi- tional timetable schedule is in the besteducational interests of their students in the first years of the new, challenging secondary curriculum and are designing a traditional year-long timetable for their Grade 9 and 10 students for next year. No timetable schedule is perfect. You may recall strong arguments from some quarters against semestering schools when it was first contemplated and many are now defending it. But on careful analy- sis of the new curriculum, a more demanding, a more rigorous and a more structured curriculum, the secondary principals are convinced that returning to a traditional year-long timetable schedule for next year's Grade 9 and 10 students provides them with a better learning environment and a better chance for success. School staffs and school councils are involved in the discussion now underway in the schools. A report on secondary school timetable scheduling will be on the agenda of the December 14, 1999 Board meeting. Sincerely, DR. LARNE RACHLIS Director of Education Ringette Dec. 5 - Tillsonburg 5 at Exeter (1I) 1 Goal: Laura Parsons Assist: Tamar d�am Goaltender: Holly-Hern Nov. 27 - Huron -Perth 'AA' 9 at Hamilton Junior 'AA' Goals: Jessica Boersma (5), Jennifer Bradley, Ashley Andrews, Brittany Brown(2) Assists: Jessica Helmuth. Boersma (2), Bradley, Andrews, Angie Keller,. Denise Ritchie, Melissa Leith (2). Pam Gibson, Juice Pelton. -Brown Nov. 27 - Huron -Perth 'AA' 3 at Mississauga 'AA' 2 " Goals: Boersma (2). Gibson Assists: Bradley, Ritchie, Gibson Dec. 4, 5 and 6 - Sudbury tournament Game 1 - Huron -Perth 'AA' 7 vs. Gloucester 'AA' 2 Goals: Helmuth, Boersma (4), Andrews, Pelton Assists: Helmuth,Bradley (3), Andrews, Gibson Game 2 - Huron-erth 'AA' 4 vs. Sudbury 'AA' 3 Goals: Boersma (3), Ritchie Assists: Hebmuthp. Gibson Game 3 - Huron -Perth 'AA' 15 vs. Hamilton 'AA' 1 Goals: Helmuth, Boersma (9), Bradley, Andrews, Ritchie, Gibson, Pelton Assists: Boersma. Andrews. Ritchie Leith (2), Gibson, Pelton, Brown (2) Game 4.Ottawa 'AA' ti Vs. Huron -Perth 'AA' 5 Goals: Boersma (2). Ritchie. Leith. Gibson • Assists: Boerma, Keller. Gibson Game 5 - Huron -Perth 'AA' 1 w. Mississauga 'AA' 2 Goal: Ritchie ' AMMO: Halm*. Kendra Mudge