By: Robin Grout Odgen, Head of School, Junior/Intermediate Division, Oakville Campus
With a strong and vibrant Intermediate programme for students in Grades 6-8, at Fern Hill, we feel strongly that a school ending in Grade 8 serves children more effectively.
As a school that graduates students at the end of Grade 8, our Intermediate students are our most “senior” students, and they have many opportunities for genuine leadership experiences. This differs from schools with Kindergarten through 12 or Grade 7 through 12 configurations where, this age group are often “in the middle.”
Our students are not leading their academic and social lives in the shadow of high school students, and we find there is substantially less pressure on our students to be, or act, “older.”
Students are provided with opportunities to learn about leadership and to practise their skills in meaningful ways. Fern Hill students develop increased independence, personal responsibility and accountability, as they encounter increasingly higher expectations for academic excellence and social maturity.
Fern Hill is committed to providing our students with an ever-widening array of opportunities to “learn by doing.” Our morning assemblies, community service projects and social events are designed to encourage students to do their part in creating a caring society. Fern Hill’s Grades 7 and 8 students also have opportunities to participate in international service projects, exchanges and community service.
Our students are given responsibilities, not just rules. Our goal is to help Intermediate division students emerge from Grade 8 as compassionate people, as well as confident and engaged learners.
Starting in the Early Years, our students are offered a programme that is customized to their learning ability. This often means that children are working beyond grade level. Upon entering Grade 8, students often advance to secondary school level courses and can graduate with secondary school credits in Mathematics, French and Computers.
All Grade 6-8 classrooms are equipped with interactive whiteboards and transformed into computer-based learning centres. By Grade 8, the use of laptop computers is integrated into all aspects of the curriculum.
Families grow and students change, especially in their early teens: a school that graduates students in Grade 8 allows time to consider secondary school options that fit best. Our students emerge from Fern Hill as confident and capable contributors, ready for the challenges of secondary school and beyond. At Fern Hill, they are supported in an atmosphere that celebrates courage, comfort and acceptance.
Our students graduate as confident and self-assured students ready to face the next step in their academic career.