TOWARDS 20/20
STRATEGIC PLAN UPDATE APRIL 2019
CONTENTS Eight Directions................................................................................................... 4 Connected Community......................................................................................... 5 College Wide....................................................................................................... 6 2018 PBL Conference...................................................................................... 6 Dremel Digilab Laser Cutter............................................................................. 7 Montessori.......................................................................................................... 8 Montessori Ahead by a Century Video.............................................................. 8 The Glass Classroom....................................................................................... 9 Junior School..................................................................................................... 10 Ballistic for Bears.......................................................................................... 10 Summer Camp/March Break Camp .............................................................. 11 Middle School.................................................................................................... 12 Middle School Movement.............................................................................. 12 MSEF — Shifting the Focus of Assessment and Reporting................................ 13 Senior School..................................................................................................... 14 Incubator Space ........................................................................................... 14 Panwerx........................................................................................................ 15 Directions in Action............................................................................................ 16
EIGHT DIRECTIONS 2
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Global and Local Connectedness
Entrepreneurial Spirit
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4 Joyful and Engaged Students
Personalized Authentic Learning
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6 Strong HSC Community Connections and Engagement
Resilience and Wellness
All supported by... 7 Strategic Partnerships and Collaboration
Collaborative and Innovative Faculty and Staff
STRATEGIES
ANNUAL OVER SIX YEARS
ACTIVITIES ONGOING
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8 Financial Sustainability and Accessibility
CONNECTED COMMUNITY With the last few weeks of the academic year ahead of us, it’s time to take a moment to reflect on the activities that have been brought to life over the past year. Each of these initiatives has helped to build our community, create opportunities, and foster the sense of joy that we see in each of our students as they travel through their years at HSC. This update offers a glimpse of the many exciting projects that have taken place on campus since the start of the school year and celebrates the strategies and objectives of our Towards 20/20 strategic plan.
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COLLEGE WIDE 2018 PBL CONFERENCE In developing joyful and engaged students, HSC has fully committed to incorporating project-based learning (PBL) ideologies into our curriculum. By shifting from a teacher-directed, content-oriented environment to one that is strongly influenced by student inquiry, creativity and innovation, we are able to help our students learn through opportunity. Students are presented with scenarios to research or are given the opportunity to dive into their own interests, and while the learning goals are the same for each student, the process of exploration is uniquely tailored to the learner. In August 2018 we hosted the second annual PBL Canada Conference in partnership with the Buck Institute for Education. Our faculty and staff were joined by educational professionals from across the country to learn about the implementation of project-based learning in their classrooms. For the third year in a row, we will be hosting the PBL Canada Conference in August 2019. Click here to see what we have in store.
JOYFUL AND ENGAGED STUDENTS
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DREMEL DIGILAB LASER CUTTER The primary function of a Dremel Digilab laser cutting system is to give students a means to fabricate and manufacture components of their designs and projects spanning all grade levels, programs and subject matter. The implementation of this equipment at HSC directly relates to innovative learning and creative problem solving through the use of new technology.
JOYFUL AND ENGAGED STUDENTS
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MONTESSORI MONTESSORI AHEAD BY A CENTURY VIDEO Recently the Montessori School created a video to shed light on the Montessori program, showcasing how Montessori still serves the educational needs of students world-wide, while preparing them for life in an ever-changing world. The video gives a thorough breakdown of Montessori programming, highlighting the differences between conventional schools and Montessori schools.
JOYFUL AND ENGAGED STUDENTS
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THE GLASS CLASSROOM This re-creation of the famous Montessori Glass Classroom that was part of the Pan-Pacific Exhibition at the World’s Fair in San Francisco in 1915 gave the HSC community a glimpse into Montessori programming. HSC Montessori students engaged in personalized and self-directed learning while interacting with Montessori materials in the Kemper Family Lounge. Their learning held their focus despite the hustle and bustle of the College’s daily life.
JOYFUL AND ENGAGED STUDENTS
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JUNIOR SCHOOL BALLISTIC FOR BEARS PBL continues to thrive in the Junior School. The Grade 2s had their mice last year and this year the Grade 3 students went ballistic for bears! Students learned all about Ontario as they researched and planned province-wide trips for their four-legged friends. This project fostered cross-College connections, created new external partnerships, cultivated opportunities for mentoring and PBL professional development for faculty. One bear even found Mr. Ayotte in Ancaster!
JOYFUL AND ENGAGED STUDENTS
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SUMMER CAMP/MARCH BREAK CAMP SHIFT FOR TWO- AND THREE- YEAR-OLDS The camp program has been shifted to better meet the needs of our campers. Previously the camp was run as one, but in 2019 a change was implemented to separate campers under the age of four into their own camp program. This shift allows for unique growth and learning opportunities that are age and stage appropriate and occurs in a classroom environment in which children are already comfortable.
JOYFUL AND ENGAGED STUDENTS
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MIDDLE SCHOOL MIDDLE SCHOOL MOVEMENT Specifically in the Middle School, students learn physical literacy through authentic learning experiences in the Physical Education curriculum, explore movement through active recess, reinforce movement concepts and strategies through intramural House Games, and compete for excellence through Athletics. Previously, these were all considered separate learning environments, however, with the new Physical Literacy Framework, students are exposed to a continuum of physical, social and emotional development that supports their movement competence and resilience to lead more active and healthier lives.
JOYFUL AND ENGAGED STUDENTS
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MSEF — SHIFTING THE FOCUS OF ASSESSMENT AND REPORTING: Why and how the landscape of assessment at HSC is changing to better serve our learners Middle School teacher Brie Dundas recently published a white paper on HSC’s movement away from traditional grading to a more detailed, effective, anecdotal form of assessment and reporting that puts the student and their involvement in their own journey at the centre of their learning.
w the
ing: Why and Ho ssment and Report se As of s cu Fo e Our Learners th Shifting g to Better Serve ssment at HSC is Landscape of Asse 19 Mrs. Brie Dundas
| March 25, 20
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JOYFUL AND ENGAGED STUDENTS
Changin
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SENIOR SCHOOL INCUBATOR SPACE We would like to celebrate the remodeling of the seminar rooms into an incubator space. We relocated the GIS Lab and redesigned it into a co-working space to better meet our current and anticipated needs. This means that this room is intended to be for everyone and all subjects, not just geography. We want this to be a dynamic space that students and teachers come to for the acceleration of their ideas during and in between classes. Some of its best moments so far are when students knock on the door during breaks to work on passion projects, such as a start-up business selling farm fresh eggs. Our vision is that this space becomes the base for interdisciplinary and inter-school inquiry and PBL. Welcome to HSC’s Incubator.
JOYFUL AND ENGAGED STUDENTS
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GROWTH TO INCLUDE GRADE 12 AND A MENTORING OPTION FOR PANWERX The Panwerx program has grown to include a Grade 12 class that expands upon the skills taught in the Grade 11 course. The opportunity has also been created to allow a Grade 12 culinary arts student who has a keen interest in this field to work with either the Grade 11 culinary arts class or with Panwerx as a Junior Teaching Assistant (JTA). The JTA program has a separate application process, including an interview.
JOYFUL AND ENGAGED STUDENTS
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DIRECTIONS IN ACTION
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Page Gym Renovation
Young Alumni Mixer (Christmas)
Community Hockey Tournament
College-wide Giving over the Holidays
Hot Jazz on a Cold Night
Monster Mash
Junior School Spotlight Series
Biodiversity Fair 17
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Lawson Hall Renovation
Montessori Harvest Family Festival
Book delivery to Oliver M. Smith Kawenni:io Elementary School
Makerspace
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Hillfield Strathallan College | 299 Fennell Avenue West, Hamilton, ON L9C 1G3 | P. 905-389-1367 | F. 905-389-6366 | www.hsc.on.ca