Grade Promotion and Benchmarks Policy

This is a statement of best practices employed by Heritage Christian Online School (HCOS) regarding grade promotion in relation to checkpoints and benchmarks in grades three, six and nine. This policy is to provide guidance as to how HCOS can effectively address the requirements for addressing Ministry of Education prescribed curricular competencies for grades kindergarten through nine.

Grade Promotion/Retention

Promotion through the grades is determined through teacher summative and formative assessment together with consultation of parents, or guardians, regarding the child’s readiness. If retention is being considered, then Administration is included in the process. For more details please view the Acceleration and Retention Policy.

 Addressing Ministry Curricular Competencies - Benchmarks

The Ministry of Education has established benchmark years to help students stay on track. Benchmark years of grades three, six and nine have been established. Kindergarten through grade three competencies are to be completed by the end of grade three. Grades four through six competencies are to be completed by the end of grade six. Grades seven through nine competencies are to be completed by the end of grade nine. Failure to complete the curricular competencies by the end of these grades are taken into account and may affect student promotion.

Our Process

Teachers are responsible to track the curricular competencies that are covered by each student over the course of each school year. Encom provides a means to track competencies that have been covered.

At the start of the new school year the teacher is responsible to review their completion status to date using the Curricular Competencies Overview function on Encom. The teacher uses this information when completing the Student Learning Plan (SLP) for each student, ensuring that any missing competencies will be addressed in that school year. Parents also have access to this information at any time throughout the school year.

Particular attention is paid to students entering grades three, six, and nine. During the first and second reporting periods, the teacher is responsible to monitor the progress in moving towards completion of the curricular competencies. The teacher will make adjustments to the student’s studies as needed to target completion of the competencies by year end.