Our Kids Blog

Ashbury College Goes Co-Ed

All-boys education in Ottawa is a thing of the past as Ashbury College’s junior school – Grades 4 to 8 – will begin accepting girls, completing a process to make Ashbury entirely co-ed. The senior school has been co-ed since 1982, but while the junior school had remained boys only an extra several decades, the single-sex education just wasn’t bringing people to Ashbury.

This is an interesting contrast to other flourishing all-boys schools elsewhere, such as Upper Canada College and St. Michael’s College School in Toronto.

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Who puts the “smart” in Smart boards?

As I was droning on in a meeting the other day about what we are doing in technology, one parent stopped me and said: “I don’t want to appear uninformed, but what are these “smart” boards that you keep talking about?”

It was a great question, and the kind of one that educators need to hear more often. We tend to get so immersed in our own world of jargon that we sometimes forget to stop and make sure that our intended audience knows what on earth we are talking about!

SMART Boards (actually a brand name that has become synonymous with the product  – like we used to always say “xerox machine”) are interactive digital  whiteboards that work in concert with the teacher’s computer to run simulations, store written discussions, and provide a myriad of hands-on learning experiences for students. Over the past year, with the support of a local reinsurance company and our PTA, we have installed eleven of these electronic marvels in our P5/6 and MYP classrooms.

But, does the addition of these kinds of resources guarantee a better educational experience?

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The Week on Twitter: 2009-09-28

• Summer Camp Photo Contest. Submit your photos for a chance to win a PENTAX digital camera. http://www.ourkids.net/contests/ #
• Thanks to @Amici_Charity for spreading the word about the photo contest! #
• Comfort Life September newsletter being sent later today. Subscribe now to receive your copy: http://bit.ly/kWuHj #
• Sept Comfort Life Newsletter: How moving to a retirement home changed a NS couples lives. http://bit.ly/T6ABt #

Choosing Private School Over No-Fail Option

In this space back in May I brought up the topic of whether or not students should be allowed to fail, a topic with passionate defenders on all sides. Now comes news of a Nanaimo mom, upset with the public district’s no-fail policy and plan to hold her son back a year, choosing private school for her son’s education.

According to the canada.com article, citing Kip Wood, president of the Nanaimo District Teachers’ Assocation, two factors come into play in this case: “the no-fail policy and the chronic under-funding of the education system that has led to fewer teachers and resources and larger classes, allowing some students to fall through the cracks.”

Thus, in the case of Brandon, the student now in private school, he is succeeding in Grade 5 with a lot more one-on-one instruction. Which, no-fail policy aside, is often why parents choose private school for their children.

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Collingwood School Turns 25

Back in 1984 perhaps you were busy with Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom or Ghostbusters, but in Vancouver the Collingwood School was in its infancy. But 25 years later it’s the largest coed Junior Kindergarten to Grade 12 independent day school in Western Canada, with 1,200 students on two campuses. Naturally, the school celebrated their milestone, although today’s celebrating Collingwood students weren’t even born when the school opened its doors.

Naturally, to mark this particular occasion, silver balloons filled the gymnasium.

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The Week on Twitter: 2009-09-21

• Have you seen our newly relaunched website? http://www.ourkids.net/school #
• Did your kids go to summer camp? Send us your best photos to win a PENTAX Camera: http://www.ourkids.net/contests/photocontest.html #
• Our new advanced private school search includes a clickable map and a comprehensive list of school programs: http://tiny.cc/KQUT3 #
• Independent Schools Association of BC just launched their website. Congratulations! http://www.isabc.ca/ #
• Waldorf students head to Stratford Festival and Elora Gorge for school trip. http://www.ourkids.net/blog/?p=1236 #
• Very interesting blog posts re social media use from Vancouver resident @jonhusband #

School Trips to Elora Gorge

The first few weeks of school was always exciting at Waldorf. Actually, it was always exciting at Waldorf. Especially when you got to the High School. Something is always happening. Being it a class play, camping, dances, fairs, or just special days we were always looking forward to something. The first thing the High Schoolers looked forward to in the school year was the initiation trip. This was a trip to welcome the grade nine’s to upper school life. Since the High School was pretty small, the students ended up hanging out with everyone. Well. At least when I was there. We had pals in every class practically. Therefore,  a trip where all the High School students go on was a lot of fun. The initiation trip was a three day event. The first day we caught a play during the Stratford Festival. Some type of Shakespearean tale in which most of us either slept through or never payed attention to.

I think the teachers did the same, but they didn’t make too obvious.

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Tags: Camping, High School, Waldorf

A New School The Kids Love!

The first day of school has come and gone. It was one of the smoothest years of transition (so far!) I’ve experienced since my youngest son started school. This is the first year for the new alternative school, based in a “Holistic” education. On the first day there was a welcome assembly for parents and children to attend, as well as a before-school open house for parents to take the children to see their classes and say hello to the teachers. When the assembly was over, I went to say one final goodbye to my son, who is usually clingy. This was the first year, he said “I’m good mom, you can just go.”
There was a warmth and energy in the air that was unmistakable. And hearing from friends about their children’s first week, all had positive things to say all around. Whether the loved the yoga, their teacher, talking about the North Star, French, new friends, the lack of yelling – it was all good. So I breathed a huge sigh of relief!

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