Lakeland Catholic School District (LCSD) is celebrating their students and their accomplishments following the results of last year’s provincial tests.
“Our Grade 12 results this past year were remarkable, and we have improved or maintained our results in 17 of the courses that were taken,” explained assistant superintendent Pamela Guilbault to the trustees during their Nov. 27 board meeting. “Grade 9 students met or exceeded their 2018/19 scores in 10 out of the 16 categories, and the Grade 6 results saw seven out of 16 categories show improvement.”
Provincial Achievement Test (PAT) results for the 2018/19 school year for Grade 6 French immersion was a highlight. Students exceeded the provincial averages for acceptable standards in some of the categories, including 95.1 per cent in language arts, 92.7 per cent in math, science was at 90.2 per cent, and social studies sat at 87.5.
Board chair Diane Bauer said that was one of the areas the board was particularly proud of.
“We’ve had French immersion programs for a long period of time, and we’ve had teachers who’ve been with us over that time. It shows up in the results, because our students are doing exceptionally well and, in some cases, above the provincial average,” she expressed.
For Grade 6 English language arts PATs, LCSD students were just short of the provincial average with 88.7 per cent. Social studies also missed the mark at 80.7 per cent.
The Grade 9 acceptable results for English language arts and science were below the provincial average at 81.1 per cent and 73.8 per cent respectively. Math saw a slight decrease to 41.3 per cent, and social studies had 56.1 per cent of students reaching the acceptable average.
While Grade 9 French immersion results only saw social studies surpassing the provincial average with 84.4 per cent, Guilbault noted LCSD celebrates the numbers because they continue to see strong results.
“The programming in numeracy and literacy in Grade 6 continues into Grade 9, and we see those results at both the acceptable and the standards of excellence,” she explained.
Grade 9 students reaching the acceptable standard in French immersion language arts were 84.4 per cent, math was 58.3 per cent, and science was 83.3 per cent.
Guilbault emphasized that the Grade 12 Provincial Diploma Exam (PDE) results were a major highlight for the division.
“We have outstanding results in both streams, and we’ve improved our scores in 17 out of the 23 categories,” she exclaimed.
In seven Grade 12 PDE subjects, 100 per cent of students reached acceptable levels, including social studies, science, and English.
“We’ve always historically done really well on the PDE results,” noted Bauer. “They’re really high, and that’s where we want our kids to be when they’re graduating from our schools.”
Grade 12 chemistry, physics, and biology PDE results were on par with the provincial acceptable standards, which were 94.6 per cent, 91.1 per cent, and 93.55 per cent respectively.
LCSD is proud of their participation for the provincial tests. Grade 6 exceeded the provincial average in seven out of the eight categories, and Grade 9 bested the provincial average in all eight categories. The Grade 12 results were a little less, but still saw seven out of the 11 categories higher than the provincial averages.
With the 2018/19 school year behind them, LCSD is now turning their focus to areas where they can assist their students in improving.
“Our targets are always to meet or exceed the provincial standards in all subjects and categories, and we have a laser-like focus on literacy and numeracy. Due to this intentionality, we’ve closed the gap significantly with the province and we will continue significantly with this focus as a priority in the upcoming years,” detailed Guilbault.
