SK/Grade 1 split classes no cause for worry, board official says

Four schools in Thunder Bay’s Lakehead Public Schools system currently have a Senior Kindergarten/Grade 1 split class — and that has some parents in Thunder Bay concerned.

Education minister Liz Sandals, was a recent guest on the CBC Radio phone-in program, Ontario Today.

One of the callers was Cheryl, a mother from Thunder Bay.

She said her daughter is in the older half of a SK/Grade 1 split.

“Half of her class is trying to work off a play-based curriculum in SK, and the other half is supposed to be in the slightly more formal Grade 1 setting,” she said.

“There's no way that's going to work in the same classroom.”

Curriculum is similar

Donica LeBlanc supervises early years learning for Lakehead Public Schools.

She said the play-based approach in kindergarten encourages children to ask questions, and figure things out — and the Grade 1 curriculum is built on the same principles.

“It may not look as play-based as kindergarten, but certainly the children are involved in inquiry-based learning, and research,” she said.

For example, Donica LeBlanc said, "a child or an educator might take a snapshot picture of a maybe a tower that a student built. The educator team might realize that 'Hey, we can move into patterning in math' based on this tower that the child built.”

Play-based approach encourages teachers to observe what the students are doing, how they're playing and find the teachable moment in that.

"So when we say play-based in kindergarten, it's a bit tricky,” LeBlanc continued. “We look at it as inquiry and research."

Split classes 'can blend well'

LeBlanc added SK/Grade 1 splits are used in other provinces, such as Nova Scotia.

The four schools in Thunder Bay that have the SK/Grade 1 split are Algonquin Avenue Public School, Kakabeka Falls Public School, Gorham and Ware Community School and St. James Public School.  

Ontario regulations require both an early childhood educator and a teacher to be present if 15 or more kindergarten students in a class. But in a split class that has fewer than 15 kindergarten students (and the remainder being Grade 1), an ECE isn’t required.

Primary class sizes are capped at 22 students.

LeBlanc noted teachers in the primary grades are encouraged to view their classroom as a blend of students, rather than a split between grades.

“It's about the children. It's about their thinking. It's about their questioning and reflecting and extending their learning,” she said.

“So no matter … what grade you're teaching, it can blend well.”