Seminar #1

Planning Ahead for a Successful Academic Year

This seminar series is custom designed for Ontario private school teachers, principals and administrators. Get on top of the latest regulatory requirements, issues and opportunities by attending up to four interactive seminars offered by leading experts in private school administration, child psychological services, private school marketing / branding and Ministry curriculum changes (e.g. mathematics for 07/08).

Seminar #1: Evaluation and Assessment of Students
Date and Time: Friday, September 14, 2007, 9:30am – 2:30pm
Facilitator: Jim Sebastian
President, Access Education Inc., and former Coordinator of Private Schools, Ministry of Education (ON)
The Ministry of Education places heavy emphasis on appropriate assessment and evaluation during its inspection of private schools. Without an effective management plan in place to support teachers’ assessment and evaluation practices, schools place themselves at risk when an inspection occurs. The key to good management is to understand the essence of Ministry policy, to provide simple tools for teachers to use to keep track of their assessment and evaluation results, to monitor classroom practice, and to act strategically by using the assessment and evaluation material to build capacity in the school. 

The second part of the seminar will assist teachers and principals in preparing for their Ministry of Education inspection. Amongst the issues covered will be: key elements of a successful inspection; and means by which a school can substantiate its work, with respect to credit course delivery. This is a MUST seminar for all small school principals, which will be delivered by a former Coordinator of Private Schools, who played a key role in the development of the current inspection procedure.

This session is aimed at private schools that do not have in-house expertise to support teachers with assessment and evaluation. If your school has limited or no dedicated funds for professional development and little or no time to allocate to professional development activities, this session is for you.

 

Seminar #2: Psych. Ed. Assessments, IEP’s and Student Accommodations
Date and Time: Wednesday, November 14, 2007, 9:30am – 2:30pm, or,
Friday, November 16, 2007, 9:30am – 2:30pm
Facilitators: (morning speaker)
Dr. Pam Struiksma
Registered Psychologist, Hamilton Wentworth District School Board
(afternoon speaker)
Helen Rees
Itinerant Resource Teacher, Halton District School Board
This seminar will focus on the assessment of students’ learning styles, and identify the strengths and weaknesses of each style. Participants will leave with an understanding of the components of a Psych. Ed. Assessment, and how to read and apply the findings of an assessment report. Special attention will be given to the development of appropriate and acceptable accommodations for students with special needs. Of importance to educators is how an assessment can lead to the development of an Individual Education Plan (IEP) for a student. Participants will be led through an overview of Ministry standards for an IEP and shown how to implement an already developed IEP and, how to develop a new IEP. 

This hands-on seminar will allow participants to put theory into practice. If your school supports students who have or should have an IEP, don’t miss this one.

 

Seminar #3: High School Mathematics: Changes to the Secondary Mathematics Curriculum & Their Implementation
When: Wednesday, February 13, 2008, 9:30am – 2:30pm 

Where: Comfort Hotel Downtown, 15 Charles St. E., Toronto, M4Y 1S1

 
The presenter:
Ms. Flanny Alamparambil, M.A. teaches High School in the York Catholic District School Board. She has completed her M.A. at the University of Toronto – OISE, in Curriculum. Ms. Alamparambil is currently involved in implementing the new Gr. 12 Mathematics curriculum at her school, while also mentoring new teachers who are teaching the revised curriculum for the first time. Ms. Alamparambil has been a reviewer for a mathematics textbook for the recently revised Gr. 9 Ontario curriculum, and a scorer for the Gr. 9 EQAO Mathematics Assessment. She has also been involved in several initiatives for examining school data and EQAO results, leading to instructional changes to improve student success.
The workshop:
The Secondary Mathematics Curriculum seminar will begin with an overview of the pathways that students can negotiate from Gr. 9 through to Gr.12 Mathematics courses. This will be followed by a discussion of the overall changes in the courses, and the implications for students and teachers. 

During the workshop we will be examining the common strands and overall expectations of the courses. We will then discuss the implications of assessing the new Mathematics expectations using the four achievement categories of Knowledge & Understanding, TIPS, Communication, and Application. Emphasis on the course expectations and how to assess these through varied types of assessments, as well as unit tests and the final exams, will be an important objective of this workshop.

Major emphasis will be placed on the revised grade 12 curriculum, especially the new Advanced Functions MHF4U, and Calculus & Vectors MCV4U courses. The differences between the revised curriculum and the previous courses (Advanced Functions and Introductory Calculus MBC4U, and Geometry and Discrete Mathematic MGA4U) will be a major topic for discussion and consideration during the workshop.

Another topic will be the use of technology in the Mathematics courses; graphing calculators, computer software, etc.

Target audience: Mathematics teachers, department heads, Guidance teachers, and school principals/administrators.

 

Seminar #4: Management of private schools
Date and Time: Wednesday, April 9, 2008, 9:30am – 2:30pm
Facilitator: (morning speaker)
Jim Sebastian
President, Access Education Inc., and former Coordinator of Private Schools, Ministry of Education (ON)
(afternoon speaker)
Ginny Jones, APR
President, Acuity Options
The first part of this two-part seminar will focus on the administrative challenges of private schools in meeting the expectations of the Ministry of Education and in operating in the private sector. It will focus on issues such as: 

  • Maintaining a good relationship with local public schools;
  • Policies and procedures for effective school management, and;
  • School inspections, administration of courses, legal matters, record keeping, teacher performance reviews, and more.

The second part of the seminar will focus on promoting and marketing your school. A marketing and corporate communications expert will discuss the challenges and opportunities of marketing your brand and provide some easy to implement suggestions that will make your next marketing steps clearer and more effective.

Are you the administrator/owner of a small private school? Do you have questions pertaining to the administration of your school? Learn how you can administrate effectively while fulfilling Ministry of Education requirements. Then, find out how you can communicate more effectively with your key stakeholders and fulfill your “brand promise.”