Iona Catholic Secondary School
Learning Plan
Mission *
The Iona Mission Statement
Iona Catholic Secondary School integrates God, Truth and Life into the entire curriculum and life of the school. We are a Catholic educational
community guided by the life of Jesus Christ, striving for excellence through commitment to life-long learning, dedication to the celebration of
individual differences and being of service to others. We encourage each individual to reach their potential so that they may become responsible and
contributing members of the global community.
Motto
School Motto
Life is a Gift
Faith is a Journey
Learning is our Challenge
Catholic Focus
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Iona Catholic Secondary School
Learning Plan
IONA CATHOLIC SECONDARY SCHOOL'S CATHOLIC FOCUS
Iona Catholic Secondary School is committed to the history and richness of our namesake. The Chaplaincy team at Iona is inspired by the life of St.
Colm Cille (Columba) the founder of the monastery on the Scottish island of Iona, 563 AD.
St. Colm Cille was called to be a missionary as he was inspired to bring the message of Jesus Christ to all of Scotland and Northern England. With
the vision of St. Colm Cille, Iona was established as a place of prayer, a place of learning and as a place to encourage all to spread the message of
Jesus.
At Iona Catholic Secondary School we hope to continue this pattern, as we the Chaplaincy team of staff and students, seek to follow the example of
St. Columba and bring his spirit to life at our school. Our daily prayers and community services continuously help to strengthen us as a Christian
community. When the school gathers as a whole we encounter Jesus alive in all of us; when students are gathered for grade level retreats, their
faith is deepened and when we are gathered in active charity and justice we feel the good we are doing in our world. In all that we do we are living
our journey of faith while walking side by side with St. Columba.
Core Principles
Core Principle School Response
Catholicity
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Gospel values are infused in the daily life of the school.
Daily classroom prayers/reflection are mandated in each of the subject disciplines. We celebrate prayer together every morning as an entire school
community.
We model Gospel values in all our daily interactions with teaching staff, students, support staff, visitors and parents.
We encourage all to treat each other with respect, kindness and dignity. We consistently promote tolerance of our uniqueness and differences.
We at Iona celebrate our differences and infuse Catholic teachings and moral values in our students.
We model Jesus' love for all and his focus on helping the marginalized, the poor, the weak and the vulnerable.
We accept our duty to follow in Jesus’ footsteps and ask ourselves continually “What would Jesus Do?”
Learning Environment
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Grade 9 EQAO Academic Mathematics results: 92%.
Grade 9 EQAO Applied Mathematics result: 62%.
OSSLT results for Fully Participating First-Time Eligible Students (for both Applied and Academic students) is 86%.
The area of focus this coming year will be improving the OSSLT score for students registered in the Applied English Program and improving the EQAO
score for students registered in the Applied Math program.
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Iona Catholic Secondary School
Learning Plan
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We encourage all students to work on discovering their God given natural talents and abilities. We endeavour to help our young people discover and
be prepared for post-secondary options available to them in the future. In partnership with our community stakeholders, we share our experiences as
professionals and model the concept of life-long learning. Our journey must be one of continuous improvement and growth.
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Workshops, guest speakers, motivational speakers, field trips, excursions, COOP and OYAP are just a few of the additional opportunities we provide
for our students to encourage them to stay motivated and work hard towards continued improvement. Positive feedback and encouragement are
a major emphasis in each classroom. Students benefit from feeling a sense of belonging and accomplishment. To this end, they are given positive
feedback and encouragement in order to continue to strive for excellence on a daily basis. We offer professional development for our teachers on an
ongoing basis to enable them to have the necessary skills to offer the best possible instruction/program for our students.
Community Engagement
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All members of the school community are encouraged to take part in their child's education and to support and promote school activities. At Iona we
are blessed to have a very involved parent community. Our parents are exceedingly supportive and offer many positive ideas and suggestions for
improvement. We work together as a team to create the best possible learning environment for our students
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We have established an excellent partnership in the Clarkson Community in the last few years. We are actively involved in the Clarkson Community
Peace Project. Our students have created art work for the city (to beautify the city) as well as participated in outdoor concerts. In addition, volunteer
initiatives have taken place with the Clarkson community. We also have an excellent partnership with Peel health. We support and contribute
generously to many of our own local agencies including Vita Manor, Armagh, Scott Mission, Dr. Simone and others.
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We will continue to work with our school trustee -Sharon Hobin. Sharon is actively supportive of the Iona School Community and her presence at our
school events is always welcome.
Parish-Home-School
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We work in collaboration with our local parishes St. Christopher and St. Francis of Asissi in a variety of ways. We welcome our parish priests into the
school to offer school and individual classroom masses with the aim to share our faith, understand our Catholic beliefs and values. We are working on
a special project at this time with our local parish - a Haiti fundraising initiative to allow a Priest in Haiti the opportunity to re-develop a school for
children who have been left without a facility to be educated as a result of natural disaster.
Physical Environment
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We are committed to establishing Iona as an 'Eco-school“. We earned a Silver standing through our Eco School assessment. This affirms the
importance of taking care of our Earth and respecting our environment. Recycling programs and school wide green initiatives are underway as we
continue to promote environmental intelligence. We reduce, re-use, recycle and refuse whenever possible.
Financial Accountability
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Our school budget has always been balanced. We outline and follow our priorities for spending and we consistently work within the allotted amounts to
ensure fiscal responsibility and transparency . Our priorities are always centred around student achievement, student success and student
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Iona Catholic Secondary School
Learning Plan
improvement. Our resources are directly linked to these areas.
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Iona Catholic Secondary School
Learning Plan
Creating Catholic Conditions for Well-Being, Learning and Leading
Outcomes
By the end on 2016, there will be increase in the proportion of students indicating that they are likely to report bullying incidents at school, as demonstrated by
the CCCC School Climate Survey results.
Action Plans
Continue to foster a whole school approach to engage all members of the school community in developing policies and engaging in practices that will build
and sustain a safe and accepting learning environment. (SEF 2.5)
Building Collaborative Practices Through Inquiry
Outcomes
By the end of 2016 there will be an increase in credit accumulation at the Grade 9 and 10 level.
Action Plans
Collaborative instructional leadership builds capacity to strengthen and enhance teaching and learning.(SEF 2.1)
Enhancing Transitional Practices
Outcomes
By the end of 2016 there will be an increase in the credit accumulation of grade nine and ten students.
Action Plans
Educators and students continue to collaborate to create a positive learning environment in the classroom and school that maximizes engagement,
achievement and well-being.(SEF 3.2)
Knowing the Learner through Assessment
Outcomes
By the end of 2016 there will be an increase in the number of our teachers using learning goals and success criteria in our classrooms.
Action Plans
Administration and teachers design Teaching Assessment and instruction tools collaboratively to ensure a clear understanding of the learning goals and
success criteria.(SEF1.3)
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Iona Catholic Secondary School
Learning Plan
Responding through Effective Instruction
Outcomes
By the end of 2016 there will be an increase in our Literacy (OSSLT) and Numeracy (EQAO) results for students registered in applied level courses.
Action Plans
Continue developing Literacy and Numeracy instruction that is inquiry based, intellectually challenging and developmentally appropriate for all students.
(SEF4.2)
Outcome Timeframe
Action Plan Priority
Long-term
High
Medium-term
Medium
Short-term
Low
Not Assigned
Not Assigned
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