News

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Grand Erie returning to the semester model

FRIDAY, DEC. 10, 2021

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eginning February 4, 2022, all Grand Erie secondary schools will be returning to the semester model from the current quadmester model.

What this will mean for high school students is a move to four classes a day from February to June, instead of the current two, 150-minute classes running through the quadmester.

The Ministry of Education recently gave school boards permission to make this move, pending consultation with local public health units. Grand Erie consulted with the Brant County Health Unit and the Haldimand Norfolk Health Unit and received the green light for this change. We believe this return to a more balanced semester model supports wellness and consolidation of learning for students and staff.

This represents a sequenced progression of change and improvement to learning environments over past months, from online only, to the quadmester model for in-person learning, and now an opportunity to move back to what educators and researchers believe is a better model, and what parents and students have been broadly asking for across the province.

The quadmester model was intended to be a short-term solution with a goal to limit contact between students. With low levels of COVID-19 cases at secondary schools and a high vaccination rate among secondary students, the transition back to a semester model marks the achievement of another milestone on the path to creating a more normal secondary experience for students. As we move into 2022, the board will be engaging secondary students to provide input on ways this transition could be made as positively as possible. We are consulting with our Student Trustees on the best process to receive this input.

While many students and families are eagerly anticipating this change back to the semester model, we know for others there is apprehension. Safety remains our top priority. We continue to work with our public health partners to ensure health and safety measures and school protocols are responsive to keep students and staff safe.

Thank you for your ongoing patience and understanding as we continue to navigate this global pandemic and support student engagement and learning.

We are an Eco-School

Did you know our school is an eco-school? Well we are, and that means that our school is making efforts every day to stay green. Some of the things our energy efficiency group is doing include implementing eco-friendly browsers, starting lights out lunches every Monday and Friday, creating signs for lights and monitors, and adding important information to our school website about being eco-friendly. We're also having a fun sweater day where we’re lowering the temperature of the school by two degrees and we will all wear sweaters. We’re also adding Ecosia to all our browsers. Ecosia is a company that plants a tree for every forty-five searches on the internet. Students are also making fifteen signs and posting them around the school, to remind people to turn off lights and monitors. Sweater day will be held on the 29th of November, and the 16th and 17th of December. Remember to check the school website for more cool information about how we are going eco-friendly, and the steps to become a platinum school, and to watch a video about implementing eco-friendly habits. Always remember to stay green!

From,

The Energy Efficiency Team of École Confédération