2013
M
Strategies
The Strategic Plan articulates the Halton Catholic District School Board commitment to ensuring our faith intentionally permeates all
aspects of the Catholic System so that our students are able to encounter Christ through a multi-tiered approach to religious education.
To achieve our vision, we implement practices that ensure our Catholic world view permeates not only our processes, but also our
content.
A
Y
Outcome Monitoring Report:
Students know the foundation and teachings of the Catholic faith
Desired Outcome
Students know the foundation and teachings of the Catholic Faith
Explanation of the Outcome
In 2012, four Principles of Practice were established to inform and further enhance the implementation of effective instructional practice
from Kindergarten to grade 12. The identified Principles of Practice are aligned to Our Catholic Schools Framework , reflect our beliefs
and the use of evidence based practices which will be used to support and promote a consistent adoption of approaches to instructional
design across disciplines and initiatives. The four Principles of Practice are: Catholic Environment; Catholic School Staff; Catholic
Curriculum; Catholic Community.
HCDSB is committed to being Widely Recognized as Distinctively Catholic, Nurturing the Call to Love and Serve. Distinctive
Catholic characteristics are reflected in the faith formation designed for staff, students and the community which nurtures faith
development and inspires a deeper relationship with Christ. It is also inherent in the whole of the curriculum of Catholic
schools: the content taught, the process of teaching, and the environment at the school.
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The Catholic Social Teachings of our church serve as a focus for each grade from Kindergarten to Grade 12. We believe that if
we intentionally teach using a Catholic world view and the teaching becomes a lived experience, then students should know
the foundations/teachings of the Catholic faith . Students witness the Catholic social teachings in personally meaningful ways as
schools promote equality, democracy and solidarity for a just, peaceful and compassionate society. In 2010 the Board opted to
focus on an examination of student achievement on the Grade 7 year end assessment, the Grade 7 and Grade 10 Report Cards
to serve as an indicator of progress on this desired outcome.
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Catholic Environment—In HCDSB, all classroom, school and system teaching and learning spaces are safe and welcoming
environments where relationships, priorities, curriculum and discipline have potential to speak of God’s loving care for each
individual.
Catholic Curriculum— Program planning is used to address the Ontario Ministry of Education curriculum expectations, HCDSB
Religious and Family Life Education programs and the integrated process of assessment and instruction identified in the Ministry
policy document,
Catholic School Staff—all staff members are an integral part of the Catholic learning community, a shared ministry that promotes
and maintains its ethos which is foundational to the teaching and learning processes and practices of every school and classroom.
Catholic School Community - all staff members work in community, and with our home, school, parish and community partners to
engage in teaching and learning that is motivated by our shared mission and vision, values and goals.
Indicator—Grade 7 Religion Assessment
Programs/Initiatives
Name
Status
Assigned to
Due Date
Continuing
Religion Consultant
Ongoing
Implementation
Continuing
Superintendents Curriculum
Faith Formation
Student Success
Ongoing
Implementation
Religion Consultant
Ongoing
Implementation
Development of Curriculum Resources
A Catholic Curriculum Tool has been developed to enhance effective program
planning in a Catholic context .
Faith in Action
Students participate in peer leadership that allow for faith connections and foster
faith development (e.g. – Retreats, Youth Rallies, Culture of Life Groups, Social
Justice Groups, Walk With Jesus, S.L.A.M., Me to We Take Action program,
Vocations Month, Social Justice Initiatives­­­, Best Buddies)
Story Behind the Baseline
Focus on Faith
The Focus on Faith Framework anchors each grade with a Catholic social
teaching. Intentional and explicit connections are made between the curriculum
and these themes to develop critical thinking skills in our students and cultivate a
theology of social justice.
Continuing
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Parent Engagement
Creation of videos, ‘Living Our Catholic Faith” to show parents how students wit­
ness and come to know the foundations and teachings of the Catholic faith.
In Progress
Religion Consultant
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June 2014
Professional Development
Additional Qualification Program, “Adapting Curriculum for Catholic Schools”
Masters level Theology courses and OECTA AQ in Religious Education are among
the ongoing learning opportunities offered to teachers.
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Continuing
Superintendent of
Curriculum
Ongoing
Implementation
The open response questions on the year-end assessment
require students to think critically to apply the knowledge of the
Year 7 religion program.
There is steady improvement in the percentage of students
achieving Level 3 or Level 4 on the open response questions.
Continued board wide professional learning focus on Catholic
Social Teachings (e.g. – System PD Day September 2011; links to
Developmental Assets on System PD Day September 2012;
selection of strategies embedded in the Board and School
Improvement Plans for Student Achievement.
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Development of Catholic indicators for Ministry’s School
Effectiveness Framework.
Use of Assessment Framework for Grade Seven Religious
Education to support effective assessment practices in religious
education.
Use of Catholic curriculum resources developed by the Catholic
Curriculum Corporation.
Critical thinking has been, and continues to be, a focus in our
Board.
Achieving … Believing… Belonging
Indicators—Grade 7 and Grade 10 Religion Report Card
What works
Thomas Groome, a prominent Catholic theologian and religious education professor
at Boston College reminds us of our Catholic moral imperative to teach with
excellence in honour of each students’ dignity.
“Such a dignified sense of the person calls for a pedagogy that engages people as
agents of their own knowing and becoming in faith. The General Directory for
Catechesis insists that “In the catechetical process” the one being catechized “must
be an active subject, conscious and co-responsible, and not merely a silent and
passive recipient” (n.167) (Thomas Groome, Will There be Faith?, 2011, p. 71).
We need to engage all of people’s gifts of reason, memory, and imagination, their
whole “mind,” to pay attention to the data of their lives and to the data of the
Christian faith, in order to bring them to understanding and then encourage their
own good judgments and decisions about how to live as disciples. Anything less
than this sort of pedagogy will lack full respect for participants, ignoring their dignity
and potential as knowers of truth and doers of the good.” (Thomas Groome, Will
There Be Faith?, 2011 p.71)
Story behind the baseline
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There has been steady improvement in grade 10 Religion
(HRE2O) achievement over the past 3 years.
The pattern of achievement for grade 10 religion is
comparable to other grade 10 course achievement
patterns
Target for 83% of students achieving level 3+ in Grade 10
religion as reported on 2014-15 June Report Card
Grade 10 teachers have worked collaboratively to plan
Professional Learning Cycles and review culminating
performance tasks for in the Grade 10 Religion Course.
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Board wide focus on assessment for/as/of learning across all
disciplines.
Curriculum consultants and itinerant teachers reinforce
Catholicity across the curriculum with intentional system
messaging and teacher professional learning
The development and implementation of a Catholic
Curriculum Tool to support the intentional program planning
across disciplines to ensure that course content receives a
Catholic world view
Board wide focus on cultivating critical thinking across the
curriculum to support deeper understanding of course content.
What will Success Look Like Moving Forward?
Catholic educators are called to nurture the body, mind and spirit. Rooted in this vision, Catholic education does more than just impart
knowledge. We support the full development of each student. This holistic vision is reflected in the Ontario Catholic Graduate expectations
which identifies not only knowledge and skills but also the values, attitudes and actions expected of graduates of catholic schools. Each
Catholic Graduate is challenged to be:
 A discerning believer formed in the Catholic faith community who celebrates the signs and sacred mysteries of God’s
presence through word, sacrament, prayer, forgiveness, reflection and moral living;
 An effective communicator who speaks, writes and listens honestly and sensitively, responding critically in light of gospel values;
 A reflective, creative and holistic thinker who solves problems and makes responsible decisions with an informed moral conscience for
the common good;
 A self-directed, responsible, life-long learner who develops and demonstrates his/her God-given potential;
 A collaborative contributor who finds meaning, dignity and vocation in work which respects the rights of all and contributes to the
common good;
 A caring family member who attends to family, school, parish, and the wider community;
 A responsible citizen who gives witness to Catholic social teaching by promoting peace, justice and the sacredness of human life
“…religious education in particular should enable people to reflect critically on their
own lives in the world, lend ready and well-informed access to the Faith handed
down, and encourage participants to know and understand their faith and then to
make judgments and decisions about its truth and spiritual wisdom for their
lives.” (Thomas Groome, Will There Be Faith?, 2011, p. 97)
http://cestafan.files.wordpress.com
“…good education deliberately attempts to enhance who people are and how they
live by what they learn. As such, education should enable people to realize their
potential as human beings and to live moral lives. Good education prepares people
not only to “make a living” – the present chronic emphasis – but also to “have a
life.” (Thomas Groome, Will There Be Faith?, 2011, p 94).
This work reiterates the Catholic vision of the full development of a child as well as
supporting the board focus on critical thinking, as well as the focus on providing
opportunities for students to experience real world, personally relevant tasks,
metacognition and reflection.
Katz and Dack (2013) propose that there is a strong relationship between student
learning and achievement and changes in teacher thinking and practice . To support
changes in teacher thinking and practice, professional learning should include
collaborative inquiry that challenges current thinking and practice, supported by
formal and informal instructional leadership (Katz and Dack, 2013).
Our Catholic Learning Community meetings are one structure which provides staff
with the opportunity to engage in focused conversations to intentionally reflect on
their practice.
“...religious education in
particular should enable
people to reflect critically on
their own lives in the world,
lend ready and well-informed
access to the Faith handed
down,….“
Professional learning needs to be just-in-time, job-embedded, and needs-based
(Katz and Dack, 2013). The Catholic Curriculum Tool was developed to support
effective Catholic program planning across the curriculum and is intended to be
used by consultants and itinerants when working with teachers to model effective
Catholic connections in ways relevant to individual teacher practice and needs. This
resource supports individual job-embedded teacher leaning needs.
Thomas Groome, 2011