Students will benefit from many innovative new resources when they return to school and early learning programs next week, says Education and Early Childhood Development Minister Gerard Greenan.
“We offer over 400 courses in our schools and we are making major investments this year to ensure that course content is current and relevant,” said Minister Greenan. “We are also investing in classroom resources, technologies and teaching practices that make learning meaningful and engaging.”
New language arts resources will be available in all Grade 3 classrooms this year. They include multi-level materials and differentiated teaching strategies that provide students with a strong foundation in reading and writing in the primary grades. This $450,000 resource is now available to all Grades 1, 2 and 3 students as part of the provincial Reading by Grade 3 initiative.
New math textbooks have been purchased at a cost of $625,000 to support a newly restructured math curriculum which is being introduced this year in Grades 1, 2, 4, 7 and 8, and later in other grades. The new math curriculum emphasizes the fundamentals of math, reasoning and problem solving, critical number skills and a deeper understanding of math concepts. It recognizes that students understand math better when they see how mathematical ideas are inter-related and connected to what they are learning in other subjects and to situations in the world around them.
Students in the Western School Board and French Language School Board will take part in a primary math assessment for the first time in October 2009. The assessment will provide a measure of how students understand and apply math at the end of Grade 3.
Substantial investments are being made in new equipment for high school trades training such as tire changers, welding machines and metal cutting band saws. Some science labs are being equipped with new laptops, robotic systems and textbooks. Intermediate and high school visual arts curriculum is being enhanced by multimedia technology, digital cameras, texts and materials.
Parents of the 1,540 students entering kindergarten this year are being supported through the new Welcome to Kindergarten program. As part of this new initiative, students and parents attended an orientation session and received literacy, numeracy and learning resources to help them prepare for success in kindergarten.
A new high school scheduling model will be piloted this year in the French Language School Board. Students will have five 60-minute periods each day, rather than the previous four 75-minute periods per day. This will allow schools to offer a broader course selection and more time for learning math and language arts.
The Intensive French program will be introduced at Ellerslie Elementary and Bloomfield Elementary. Intensive French offers Grade 6 students intensive and uninterrupted periods of French over a five-month period. They receive 225 more hours of French instruction than students in Core French programs.
Beginning this fall, all Grade 10 students in French first language programs will take a new Career Education course which will encourage them to think critically about career choices, explore post-secondary options and develop financial skills related to their education and career goals.
The safety and security of students in the Eastern School District will be enhanced by several new security measures which include the addition of video cameras in public areas of intermediate and high schools. Teachers and school staff will be required to wear picture identification cards. Visitors will be asked to wear identification tags when they are in the school.
The International Baccalaureate (IB) program will be introduced at Charlottetown Rural High School and Colonel Gray High School. IB preparatory courses were introduced last year for Grade 10 students entering the two-year diploma program this year.
High school students in the Western School Board will have access to challenging Advanced Placement courses which allow them to earn a university credit or advanced standing at many universities and colleges.
Investments continue to be made in technologies that support learning. This year all students will have access to the new Microsoft Office Suite. Teachers and students will have access to 120 new LCD projectors for lesson preparation and presentations.
Schools and early childhood centres will be following Public Health Agency of Canada guidelines to prevent and manage influenza-like illness. Activities will include educating children and youth on good hand washing practice and cough etiquette, cleaning common high touch surfaces in schools, and reporting daily absenteeism rates. The Department of Education and Early Childhood Development is providing information kits to all licensed early childhood and kindergarten programs which build on the children’s book, William Won’t You Wash Your Hands?
The 2009-2010 Education and Early Childhood Development operating budget is approximately $207 million. Average spending per student is approximately $9,500 on students in Grades 1 to 12.
Over $28 million will be invested in capital projects this year at Montague Regional High School, École St-Augustin, Glen Stewart Elementary School, and Westwood Primary School, as well as for 40 new school buses, capital upgrades and repairs.