Academic Support - St. Andrew's College

Centre for Learning & Teaching

Centre for Learning & Teaching: A Comprehensive Academic Support System

The Centre for Learning & Teaching (CLT) at St. Andrew’s College provides a variety of programs and resources designed to promote student learning and to improve instruction.

Guided Learning Centre

The Guided Learning Centre (GLC) is unique to St. Andrew’s. We require students who have not finished major assignments on schedule to attend the GLC after school where they are given the guidance and time to complete their work. The GLC also provides teachers with support for students who may miss assessment and evaluation opportunities because of other school commitments.

Procedure

Students can be mandated to attend the GLC for incomplete assignments that have been posted to the subject teacher’s daybook at least seven days in advance of the due date. A student may also be assigned to the GLC if a subject teacher feels that the student is neglecting to complete his homework on a regular basis.
Failure to submit an assignment on the due date results in the subject teacher emailing the student’s name to the Guided Learning Centre. The student, parent(s)/guardian(s), Advisor, current term coach, and Head of House are then informed of the GLC referral by email.
The assignment must be submitted electronically to the teacher who made the GLC referral and the Coordinator of Academic Support by 5:30 p.m. on the seventh day following the referral. Fifteen percent (15%) is deducted from the assignment as a consequence of the GLC referral. Assignments that must be physically submitted (e.g. artwork) should be given directly to the assigning teacher and the student must email the Coordinator of Academic Support to report the submission.
Starting on the day following a GLC referral, the student is withdrawn from his co-curricular commitments and must attend the GLC on the upper level of Towers Library. Students are ineligible to participate in any co-curricular activity if academic work is outstanding. Students must clear their name from the GLC list prior to the start time of the co-curricular commitment.

“Good Standing” Students

Many students are able to manage both their academic and co-curricular commitments effectively. A student who is deemed to be in “good standing” in a given course (maintaining a grade of 80% or greater) is not required to physically attend a GLC session for any GLC referral he receives for that course; however, he is still subject to the same 15% deduction for missing the original due date and he must still submit the overdue assignment within seven days of the GLC referral. If the student does not submit the assignment by the end of the seven-day period, he will lose his good standing privilege in that course for the remainder of the term.

Extensions and Assignment Conflicts

Occasionally, students will require assignment extensions for extenuating circumstances. Students must contact their subject teacher for extensions on assignments at least 48 hours before the due date Occasionally, students may find that they have multiple evaluations on a single day. Students in the Upper School can be expected to complete up to two major evaluations (e.g. unit tests, examinations, assignments) per day, as well as smaller quizzes and homework assignments. Any student who has three or more major evaluations scheduled on a single day may contact his Grade Coordinator who will contact the student’s teachers to arrange for an extension on one of the evaluations. Students who discover an evaluation conflict must notify their Grade Coordinator at least 48 hours prior to the conflict to allow for time for the Grade Coordinator to discuss options with the subject teachers. Evaluation extensions are granted based on the type of evaluations in the conflict, not the student’s preference; whenever possible, the Grade Coordinator will ask for an extension on an assignment, rather than on a test.

Consequences for Not Attending the GLC

The GLC is an extension of the classroom. Students who choose not to attend may be subject to a Tier 1 gating.

GLC Plus

Similar to the GLC, the GLC Plus program supports students who neglect their assignments or other schoolwork on a regular basis. GLC Plus differs from GLC in that instead of pulling students from co-curricular activities permanently, which can be detrimental to the St. Andrew’s experience, students must attend a weekly 90 minute GLC session. At these weekly sessions, the Coordinator of Academic Support works with these students, helping them to manage their academic portfolio better.

Students are assigned to GLC Plus on a term-by-term basis and must attend on their assigned day; failure to do so may result in a Tier 1 gating. The Coordinator of Academic Support will work with the identified student to improve his academic standing by formulating a written remedial plan for him to complete and recommend additional supports (e.g. Math Centre or Writing Centre) as necessary.

Referral Process and Protocol

The Assistant Head of School – Academics, in conjunction with the Coordinator of Academic Support, Grade Coordinators, advisors, and parent(s), will assign at-risk students to the GLC Plus following the Term One and Term Two report cards. Automatic referral to GLC Plus will be applied to “at-risk” students, defined as those boys who have an academic average of less than 60% or three or more course grades below 60%. The Assistant Head of School – Academics retains the right to use his discretion in recommending other students to the GLC Plus program.

The Writing Centre

The Writing Centre is a division of the Centre for Learning & Teaching within the Towers Library. The Writing Centre coordinator is available every day – except Thursday – after school for students to access help with writing and research. Students are able to make appointments and drop in for one-on-one guidance with essay writing, information literacy skills, and university applications.

Math Centre

Mathematics is important in many university disciplines; therefore, it is essential that we provide students with a strong mathematical foundation. The Math Centre helps, through individual and small-group tutorial sessions, those students who struggle with mathematics. The program is facilitated by one of the school’s Associate Faculty (e.g. a math co-operative education student from a local university) who is supervised by the staff of the GLC.

Missed Test Policy

Students who miss a test of other in-class assessment for a legitimate reason may complete the assessment in the GLC upon their return. Whenever possible, a student should contact his subject teacher in advance to let the teacher know that the student will miss the test and to make arrangements for its completion. If a student is unable to provide advance notice, the student should contact the teacher on the day that he returns to classes to make arrangements to write the test. In either case, a student will typically be expected to complete the missed test within 48 hours of his return to classes.

Academic Support Services

The Coordinator of Academic Support maintains the records of students with learning exceptionalities, certifies eligibility for support services, determines reasonable accommodations, and develops plans for the provision of accommodations for students. For more information regarding the accommodations currently offered to students with learning exceptionalities, please contact the School’s Coordinator of Academic Support.

Open Classroom

Each Wednesday, faculty are available to meet with students to provide remedial help for their classes. Students should notify their teacher in advance that they are attending Open Classroom.

Tutoring

Students who require additional assistance in an academic subject, or who would benefit from an “academic coach,” may request a tutor who may be a senior student or tutors engaged from outside the school community. There are additional fees for subject-specific tutoring and academic coaching and all requests for tutoring should be made through the School’s Coordinator of Academic Support. Please note that only tutors that are arranged through the Coordinator of Academic Support are permitted to tutor SAC students on campus; any tutors arranged through outside agencies not pre-approved by the School must meet with students off-campus.

Standing Committee for Excellence in Teaching & Learning

In addition to a comprehensive academic support program, the CLT is the locus of a faculty professional development committee called SCETL (Standing Committee for Excellence in Teaching & Learning). The committee ensures that our policies, procedures, and programs are in line with our Academic Vision Statement.

Centre for Learning & Teaching

St. Andrew's College

15800 Yonge Street, Aurora, ON L4G 3H7 Canada

Tel: 905-727-3178