800 Juliana Drive, Woodstock, Ontario

Phone: 519-539-1492 Fax: 519 -539-1893

     
WCS Blog
February 26, 2024
As I’ve mentioned earlier, our mission at Woodstock Christian School is
October 30, 2023
  Last Thursday, WCS teachers joined more than 1300 Christian educators,
October 16, 2023
One of the things I like is a good ‘Dad-joke’. This picture came up on one
Take The Tour
Coming Events

WCS and the Ontario Ministry of Education

Under the Private Schools' Act, WCS is designated as an independent school. At WCS, we voluntarily commit to meet or exceed the curriculum expectations the Ministry of Education guidelines prescribe for elementary schools in Ontario. In September 2000 we obtained recognition and assistance through Community Care Access Centers (CCAC) for students requiring health services.

 

Affiliations

 

Christian Schools International (CSI):CSI is a service organization supporting over 400 Christian schools throughout North America. At WCS, we use CSI-developed curriculum and also participate in their Employee Pension and Insurance Plans.

 

Christian Schools Canada (CSC):Christian Schools Canada's mandate and mission is 'to develop and promote a Canadian identity, voice and organization for Christian education based on a biblical world-view' and consists of three districts throughout Canada: Society of Christian Schools in British Columbia (SCSBC), The Prairie Center for Christian Education (PCCE), and the Ontario Alliance of Christian Schools (OACS).

 

Edvance Christian Schools Association: Edvance represents over 70 schools (both elementary and secondary) with 700 teachers and 10 000 students throughout the province. Edvance provides guidance and services for administrators, boards, committees and teachers. At WCS, we are blessed to use the many curriculum resources developed and published by the Edvance Association in our classrooms.

 

Assessment and Evaluation

It is our goal at WCS to have students experience assessment and evaluation as blessings - a process through which to maximize their learning so they become as fully and completely equipped as possible to take their place in the life of service to which God calls them daily.

Assessment, as the gathering of information related to teaching and learning, occurs daily throughout the learning experience. Assessment can be multi-faceted: for learning, as learning, and of learning. Through assessment for learning, the teacher monitors progress towards the learning goals, modifies instruction, and provides feedback either verbally, written, or in mini-conferences with students as needed in order to further learning. Students become involved in self and peer assessment to further their learning (assessment as learning). Students are encouraged to become more self-aware through these assessments and are better able to gauge and adjust their own learning strategies. Assessment of learning is a summary of the learning in a unit at a specific point in time and is done by the teacher or by the teacher and students, and typically occurs at or near the end of the unit of study. Assessment of learning can take many forms, particularly making use of 21 century technology, including unit st tests, projects, performance, oral presentations, or video/digital presentations.

Evaluation is a summary of the assessment information primarily shown through report cards and special academic testing tools. Rubrics are often used, initially to outline the criteria or learning and to clarify expectations for the assignment, and following the assignment, project, or unit as evaluation.

 

 

Academic Testing

The school conducts formal testing of all students from Grades 1 through 8. Recommended by the Edvance Christian Schools, is the Measure of Academic Progress (MAP) developed for schools by the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) from Portland, Oregon. The MAP is an on-line assessment tool and will be administered two to three times per year - in the early fall, in mid-winter and in the spring. Three goals for this testing are: 1) to be able to support our students in their diverse ways of learning; 2) evaluation of the curricular program in order to address gaps in core skills, and; 3) measurement of school quality for incoming parents. MAP provides ongoing reliable data and measurement of growth for each child and aligns well with the Edvance Christian schools curriculum. The school will also have a district norm reference for each student in comparison to other same age/grade Edvance students. Results of these tests are available for parents and are kept in the student's Ontario Student Record (OSR).

Kindergarten screening tools are also in place.