Our Response to COVID-19

Update on Assessment During COVID-19

Hello LCH parents and students, it’s Ms. Dieleman here. Over the past weeks, we’ve received lots of questions from you about grades, how marks will be determined for the rest of the semester and whether or not we’ll have finals. Our learning situation has changed so dramatically since March Break and we recognize that the way we assess student learning in Remote Learning must also change to best support our students. Ontario’s Ministry of Education has provided some helpful guidance for us, as have other Christian High School leaders across Ontario.   We are aware that the educational landscape has changed significantly several times since March Break. New information about school building closure and other government directives may require us to make changes to the planning we are doing, but this is what we are hoping for with the information we have today.

Here are some general guidelines about what students can expect from Assessment in this remote learning situation:

• • Tests and quizzes as traditionally assigned will be different. It’s hard to maintain integrity in an online forum, so we will use these tools less.
  • We will spend more time asking students to tell us about their learning, and what they think about their thinking (metacognition).
  • The final day of classes is Friday June 5. No new material will be covered after that time.
  • We will not have any 2-hour, final exams.  (Yay, hurrah, woo-hoo…etc)
  • Final evaluations will happen over a period of 5 days from June 8 to June 12.  Students will receive a variety of evaluative activities that will take up to an hour per day, without requiring hours of prep or studying. The activities will involve the availability of class notes, internet, collaboration with classmates, etc.. In other words, final assessments will be reflective of our current learning environment. 
  • It is critical that students plan to attend all classes in the week of June 8 to June 12.  Please protect these days in your calendars to ensure the best possible outcomes for your students!
  • The final day of school for the 2019-2020 school year is June 12, 2020.  We hope that restrictions will be lifted enough by then that you can do something FUN to CELEBRATE. 

Will we just be using the mid-term mark for the final mark like the public high schools are doing? By now, you will have heard something in the news or from a student about a Ministry of Education announcement along the lines that a students’ final grade will not go down from what the midterm grade was reported to be on March 13 in the public system. This statement, at face value, is true, but misses some significant context for our school, and is therefore misleading. Please note the following about how LCH is approaching student final grades:

1. • Policy statements from the Ministry of Education, like the one above, reflect the reality of the publicly funded schools at this time, not necessarily the reality that we are experiencing at LCH. We are not the public system, and the educational experience that we have been able to offer our students since March 12 has been significantly different than that of students in publicly-funded boards. This is not a comment on which is better or worse; it is simply a reality. We were able to launch a robust and meaningful online learning experience very quickly for our students, and our system has ensured that our students’ education continued after March Break, largely uninterrupted.  Additionally, we do not know the questions that we will need to answer whenever we do have an inspection from the Ministry of Education, but the more evidence we have of good, ongoing learning, the better.
   • At LCH, Midterm report grades will be used as a reference point for the semester. In most cases, we anticipate that student grades should stay relatively consistent with that midterm grade, or improve, assuming that students are doing their work, attending classes, engaging positively etc. If, for some reason, a student grade drops from the Midterm report (particularly a drastic drop), we will need to have legitimate and compelling evidence for that drop and ongoing conversation between school and home along the way. In other words, because the learning situation has changed so much, the first half of the semester will necessarily be treated with a higher degree of certainty for assessment. The second half of the semester will still weigh into the discussion, but with a greater emphasis on conversations, self-assessment, ongoing evaluation etc.
   • Even in the public system, the emphasis on the midterm grade is not the same thing as permission for a student to disengage from learning and do no work for the remainder of the semester. Although it remains unclear as to how the Ministry of Education intends to deal with the myriad of different problems that they will face, their explicit statement on this is: The government expects that every student will continue to learn while in-school classes are suspended. 
   • In our school, if a student is disengaged from their learning, and does not participate in online classes, it could certainly affect their grade and their credit could be at risk.  Students need to do assigned work and participate in Term 2 learning as evidence to support keeping the midterm grade where it is. If we don’t have that evidence, we will use professional discretion to determine if the student has learned enough material to be ready for the next course after this, and if he/she should earn the credit.Our staff are playing close attention to determine if students are having difficulty with coursework, handing work in, generally disengaging, and so on. Our intention is to work with parents and students to support student learning. 

We know that you have heard this repeatedly in the past 5 weeks; these are unprecedented times. We are working hard behind the scenes at LCH, with students and with teachers to remain responsive to the changing reality of education in a way that honours God, students, teachers, and the curriculum.  We are actually even excited about the opportunities that we are finding in this global pandemic, to challenge how we think about things that we have always taken for granted (like exams) and get creative about solutions that work in our London Christian High context.  We are so grateful for the prayers and support of you, our people, our community as we navigate this unfamiliar road.  Soli Deo Gloria!

Hello again LCH Community,

What a March Break this has been! We trust that in the midst of this COVID pandemic–and requests to change travel plans, to self-isolate, to practice social distancing– your families have been able to lean into the comfort and promises of our ever faithful Saviour.

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”
John 10:27-30

What a blessing that we can go through these challenging days, secure in the hope and knowledge that God is sovereign, and that He has this world, this pandemic, and each of our personal situations in His care.

The Government’s Directive

The government’s directive to close all schools until at least April 5, 2020 has a significant impact on learning at LCH. You will have heard much in news reports about many schools around the world switching to remote learning formats for the foreseeable future, and LCH intends to do the same, beginning on Wednesday this week. This is no small feat, and one that would have been unimaginable just two weeks ago.  However, as they say, necessity is the mother of invention, and we as a staff team believe that we have a good plan in place to move the school year forward together with you, our supporting community. It is a transition that will require much grace, flexibility, and patience all around. We will be meeting regularly as a staff to discuss what is working and what isn’t, and how our plan needs to shift from time to time to make things work better. We also need to hear feedback from you, our students and parents to help us in this; we know that our planning needs to be fluid and responsive to the experiences of our students.

Ongoing Communication

As we are now a community with limited person to person interaction, communication is more important than ever before. As a school, we value our partnership with you, and want to ensure that communication is happening well.

• For students, we encourage REGULAR checking of Edsby for notes and messages from us.  Each student is a member of a Grade Group (e.g, Grade 12s) and we will be posting important information in those groups on a frequent basis.  Students–please check these groups AT LEAST weekly, so that you do not miss out on important information.
• For parents/guardians and other members of the community, please know that we want to hear from you!  Teachers are always willing to take a phone call or receive an email to talk about your child’s progress or experience with remote learning. Do not hesitate to reach out.  Teacher emails are available on the school website under OUR TEAM. Or, ask your student! :) Also, Tim, Gabriella and Jacky welcome your feedback and questions as well. You can connect with Tim at tbentum@lchonline.ca, Gabriella at ghoogstra@lchonline.ca or Jacky at jdieleman@lchonline.ca. We will reach out regularly with emails, and continue with our Next@LCH document which goes out every second week. If you haven’t heard from us for a while, please check your Spam.

We continue to pray for you, our community, for peace and safety in these troubled times. We love you, and look forward to a time where we can be together again in different circumstances.  In the meantime,

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May He make his face shine toward you and be gracious to you. May He turn his face toward you and give you peace. Amen.

In Christ,

Tim Bentum, Gabriella Hoogstra, Jacky Dieleman
LCH Leadership Team

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Given the recent announcement from the Ministry of Education to close all public school buildings from March 14 – April 5, 2020 and the fact that private school buildings have now also been asked to close, we at London Christian High are planning accordingly for next week and beyond. As these developments are still unfolding and changing daily, we will be closely monitoring updates from the government, public health, and Edvance Christian Schools Association. As this situation changes, we will adapt and change with it and we will keep you, our community, up to date as often as possible.

At this time, it is our understanding that despite the closure of school buildings, the 110 instructional hour requirement for high school credits in Ontario will still apply to private schools. As such, we believe that it will remain imperative that instruction and learning continue after March Break to prevent any impact to our school calendar and our ability to offer high school credits. With that in mind, we are working on a plan that will include alternative online and offline methods of learning for all students, beginning Wednesday, March 25, 2020.  Staff at LCH intend to take Monday and Tuesday of the coming week to prepare for this alternative format, with the plan to start online on Wednesday with our students.

Preliminarily, while we are working on preparations and specific details, we are asking our students and parents to be aware of these plans, and to commit to protecting the school day for students so that this alternative learning format works as well as possible. Students; please do not plan to go away during the school “closure” time, or commit to taking extra shifts at work, or make other arrangements that you would not otherwise do if school were running as “normal”.  Please plan to continue to be a student, following whatever learning arrangements will be in effect in the near future. We recognize that everyone will need to demonstrate considerable creativity, flexibility and patience in this time. Could we please ask you to complete the survey at this link to help us determine technology available in your household? We thank you in advance for working with us as we put our learning plan together.

There are many details that we need to get in place before Wednesday. You will receive further communications from us in the coming days with schedules, instructions and other information. We covet your prayers in the coming days as we navigate this unprecedented situation, and also for the many leaders in various positions who are working on the front lines to contain the impact of this virus. We want you to know that we are also praying for you, our school community. This morning our leadership team met remotely to plan for next week and one of the things that we specifically prayed for was the safety and health of you, our community. May God bless you and your family as you navigate this unprecedented situation.

Should you and your students have any questions or concerns about remote learning, please don’t hesitate to be in touch with us. While we anticipate some bumps along the way, our desire is that this transition from in-class to online learning is done as seamlessly as possible and with much good humour and grace.

We will leave you with the words from Joshua 1:9: “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid, do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”  Indeed. A timely reminder and a wonderful comfort. Blessings and peace to you.

In Christ,

Tim Bentum
Principal

Hello LCH Community,

On behalf of the leadership team, staff and board at London Christian High, we hope and pray that this short message finds you safe and enjoying some down time on March Break. The recent announcements from government officials in our country concerning things like border closings, flight cancellations, economic hardships and health concerns all connected to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic are obviously very difficult to hear and process. We, as Christians need to continue to pray that God will give us the strength to face each new day with grace and wisdom as we each navigate what it means to be a truly global citizen in these difficult times.

In terms of our planning at London Christian High, our leadership team has been meeting remotely to determine next steps for the remainder of our school year. We do not yet have anything substantive to say as the global situation seems to change hourly and we have lots of coordinating to do before finalizing anything. We did just want to send you this short message to say that we are thinking about each one of you, our supporting families in your various contexts. It is our hope to send out a more substantive communication in the coming days, with details as specific as possible given the circumstances about next steps for completing Semester 2 at LCH.

We are praying for you and we would certainly welcome your prayers as we move forward together. We will do the best that we can to keep everyone in our community up to date as time moves along. Blessings, be safe, pray, and help one another in Jesus’ name.

In Christ,

Tim Bentum
Principal

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Given the recent announcement from the Ministry of Education to close all public schools from March 14 – April 5, 2020, we have made the decision to also close our school for those dates. As these developments are still unfolding, we will closely monitor updates from the government, public health, and Edvance Christian Schools Association.

In the next number of days, we will create and share a clear plan for how we can partner with you in learning support for students during the school closure.

We’ll communicate more detail about our plans as soon as we’re able to do so. We know that there are a number of questions you may have and you’re welcome to send those questions to us for consideration in our school plan. Please recognize we may not be able to respond to each of your emails individually in a timely manner.

One specific item that we would like to address, which we know is on the minds of many people is the school play this year, The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. At this point it is our intention to find an alternate set of dates to reschedule the play. Again, more information will be forthcoming as soon as possible.

Thank you for your patience and collaboration as we continue to support your children and their learning. Please continue to pray for this very difficult situation. We know that God is in control, even when things seem out of control.

In Christ,

Tim Bentum
Principal