In last week’s blog post, we put out the call for questions you may have about the upcoming de-streaming of Grade 9.
As you may have read in that blog or in the news elsewhere, the Ministry of Education in Ontario has recently announced that all grade nine courses will be de-streamed for the 2022-2023 school year.
These are the questions you submitted, we hope that these answers help you with planning your child’s education!
What is de-streaming?
Up until now, secondary students in Ontario have had to choose between academic and applied streams for most of their Grade 9 and Grade 10 courses. The academic stream typically focused more on the theoretical, higher level aspects of the subject, and prepared students for Grade 11 and 12 university stream courses. The applied stream focused more on real-world-applications, and prepared students for Grade 11 and 12 college stream courses.
Why is the Ministry de-streaming?
The Ministry has stated that their decision to de-stream all of Grade 9 is in an attempt to reduce barriers to education and in order to lift up all students. By removing the streams in Grade 9, students have an additional year to determine whether they are preparing for university, college, or another post secondary opportunity.
What courses are affected?
Grade 9 Mathematics has already been de-streamed. The courses that will be affected for the 2022-2023 school year are Grade 9 Science, Geography, English, and French. Science will be de-streamed, while Geography, English, and French will only be offered at the academic stream. All other Grade 9 courses are offered as open courses, and are not streamed. These will remain the same.
Where can I read more about the new curriculums?
Parents and families can read more about the new curriculums through the Curriculum and Resources website found here.
What courses will no longer be offered?
The applied versions of English, French, and Geography will no longer be offered, only the academic versions will remain. Both applied and academic versions of Science will no longer be offered, instead, a new, de-streamed Science course (SNC1W) will be offered.
What does this mean for my child who is finishing ENG1P (or another applied course) in June?
Applied courses taken this school year (2021-2022) will still be recognized by the Ministry, as long as they are completed before September 1, 2022.
What does this mean for someone registering for one of the courses that will be de-streamed, now?
Courses that will no longer be offered, or that will be de-streamed next fall, will still be recognized by the Ministry as long as they are completed before September 1, 2022.
What support will there be for French?
While the applied version of Grade 9 French will no longer be offered, the Ministry will still recognize the open stream course from inspected schools that offer it.
Is Grade 10 Changing?
Right now, the only course that will be changing for the 2022-2023 school year in Grade 10 is Mathematics. The first de-streamed course, Grade 9 Mathematics (MTH1W), was launched this school year, so both the academic and applied versions of Grade 10 Mathematics will be receiving an addendum in order to support the continuum of learning in mathematics.
We know that these are some big changes, and that can be scary when thinking ahead for your child’s educational journey, but we are here to help! If you have questions that were not listed here that you would like answered, please reach out to principal@christianvirtualschool.com and we will do our best to help guide you.
