INFORMATION FOR STUDENT/PARENT
CWS is one of the most awarded competitive online schools in Canada
CWS operates a reputable Canadian school registered with the Ministry of Education in Ontario, Canada.
All documents obtained from CWS are official documents and can be verified with
the Ministry of Education in Ontario, Canada.
CWS is a participant in the verification and authentication of CWS transcripts, High School diplomas, and other documents, for students to choose to study in Universities and Colleges around the world.
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Board Number (BSID): B87009
School Number: 884519
CWS World Schools can offer programs to students who did not study CWS High School before entering CWS, even if the school was a non-English speaking school. CWS has a process to assess prior earned credits from a previously enrolled school from other Provinces and other countries and to apply for those credits in the CWS system. This Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition (PLAR) process is valuable and can also expedite a student’s path to graduating and obtaining a high school diploma.
CWS Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition (PLAR)
CWS Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition is a formal evaluation and credit-granting process by CWS where students may obtain credits from prior learning in a different English or non-English school and have that credit transferred to their CWS World Schools.
CWS Prior Learning includes the knowledge and skills that students have acquired, in both formal and informal ways, outside secondary school. Where such learning has occurred outside Canadian classrooms. Students enrolled in other schools may have their skills and knowledge evaluated against the expectations outlined in curriculum policy documents to earn credits towards the CWS High School Diploma.
CWS Equivalency
The “equivalency” process applies to new students with prior educational backgrounds. The CWS equivalency process involves;
- individualized assessment for accreditation and evaluation to grant Grades 9 to 11 credits;
- assessment of credentials and other appropriate documentation from jurisdictions within and outside Canada to grant credit for a Grade11 or 12 courses;
- recording of all after-accreditation and equivalency credits granted to the student, in the student’s school transcript and kept in the student’s CWS file in Canada.
The CWS principal monitors the status of students by communicating with the CWS teachers and shall file a report by filing a CWS school form called “PLAR assessment” and stored in the OSR. There is an administrative fee for the preparation and filing of equivalency documents and forms.
New students joining the Ontario school system will be charged a one-time fee of $300 for assessment and evaluation, utilized for the establishment of an OSR (Ontario Student Record).
Community Involvement Activities
All students must complete a minimum of 40 hours of unpaid community involvement activities before graduating from CWS High School. This requirement is additional to the 30 credits needed for a high school diploma.
CWS Students will be able to choose their community involvement activities, within guidelines that will be provided by CWS. CWS Students will be responsible for fulfilling this requirement on their own time. CWS students are required to submit their community involvement record to the Principal for record-keeping purposes. The data will be placed on the OST and kept in the student’s OSR.
Before beginning any community involvement activity, CWS students must complete and submit a “CWS NOTIFICATION OF PLANNED COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT ACTIVITIES” Form. CWS provides forms necessary for community involvement activities upon request.
CWS students under the age of eighteen must complete the form in consultation with his or her parents, and must also have one parent sign the form. More than one such form may be submitted when additional activities are planned that were not included on a previously submitted form.
When the activity is completed, CWS students must fill out the “CWS COMPLETION OF COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT ACTIVITIES” Form. The sponsor of the activity – that is, the person or organization that provided the community involvement activity – will complete the appropriate sections of the form to verify that the activity has been completed, and will sign the form. The form must also be signed by one of the student’s parents if the student is under eighteen years of age. CWS students must submit the form to CWS Principal upon completion of the 40 hours, or at appropriate intervals determined by the principal.
CWS students will provide their parents with a copy of the document given by CWS School. CWS students will also give a copy of this document to the sponsor of the community involvement activity. CWS principal will determine whether the CWS student has met the community involvement requirement, and, if so, will indicate on the Ontario Student Transcript that the student has completed the requirement.
CWS students are to select community activities appropriate to their age, maturity, and ability. Students are not to partake in any activity in which the student’s safety will be compromised. Any activity, NOT on the approved list, must receive written approval from the Principal of Canadian World Schools before beginning the activity.
Activities not approved:
- Any paid activity (i.e. babysitting);
- Cooperative education or other school program activities;
- Playing on sports teams;
- Any involving the operation of a motor vehicle or power tools or scaffolding;
- Any involvement in the administration of medications or medical procedures to another person;
- Any occurring in an unsafe or unsupervised environment;
- Any displacing a paid worker;
- Any in a logging or mining environment if the student is under 16 years old;
- Any in a factory, if the student is under 15 years of age;
- Any taking place in a workplace other than a factory, if the student is under fourteen years of age and is not accompanied by an adult;
- Any involving the handling of substances classed as “designated substances” under the Occupational Health and Safety Act;
- Any requiring the knowledge of a tradesperson whose trade is regulated by the provincial government;
- Any involving banking or the handling of securities, or the handling of jewelry, works of art, antiques, or other valuables;
- Any consisting of duties normally performed in the home (i.e., daily chores) or personal recreational activities;
- Any involving activities for a court-ordered program (e.g., the community-service program for young offenders, probationary program).
Activities approved:
- Fundraising for non-profit organizations
- Coaching or assisting sports at the community level
- Church activities such as helping teach Sunday school, bazaars, etc.
- Assisting seniors with chores
- Involvement in community committees, food banks, fairs, etc.
- Participation in environmental projects such as recycling projects, etc.
CWS has developed a list of approved activities and shall provide it to students and parents/guardians upon request.
Roles and Responsibilities of the Principal
The Canadian World Schools is responsible for the implementation of Community Involvement Activities for students who are the sole responsibility of CWS School. A list of approved community involvement activities has been developed. This list is included in this information package, along with a list of activities that the Ministry of Education has stated are ineligible. CWS school will not approve student participation in any activity that is on the ministry’s list of ineligible activities.
CWS Principal is required to provide information about the community involvement requirement to parents, students, and community sponsors. CWS Principal is also required to provide students with the information and forms they will need to complete the community involvement requirement, including the board’s list of approved activities from which to choose. After a student completes the 40 hours of community involvement and submits all documentation of their completion to CWS School, the principal will decide whether the student has met the community involvement requirement and, if so, will record it as completed on the student’s official transcript.
Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT)
Students in the Canadian World Schools seeking an Ontario Secondary School Diploma will normally take the Secondary School Literacy Test in Grade 10. CWS Students must pass the test to graduate, and their result is recorded on their Ontario School Transcript. Students who do not complete the test successfully will receive remedial help to prepare them for re-testing. The literacy test requirement is additional to the 30 credits needed for a high school diploma.
The literacy test evaluates students’ reading and writing skills based on curriculum expectations in language and communications up to and including Grade 9. English Second Language students will take the test only when they have reached this level in their language studies. Students not working towards a diploma are exempted from writing the literacy test. In the situation when CWS students do not pass the OSSLT, they may wish to complete the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Course to meet the provincial requirements. Students who complete the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Course, Grade 12, Open (OLC4O) successfully will meet the provincial literacy requirement for graduation.
Students who have been eligible to write the OSSLT at least twice and who have been unsuccessful at least once are eligible to take the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Course (OSSLC), Grade 12, for a one-credit course. If students are successful on the OSSLT, they are not eligible to take the OSSLC (except under special circumstances and only at the principal’s discretion). CWS will accommodate students to write the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT) at the same time as students in Ontario, Canada in one of the CWS-approved Satellite locations in your region.
For students taking the standardized Ontario secondary school literacy test through CWS, a fee of $200 will be applied.
Student academic report is communicated formally to students, parents, and guardians by CWS official Report Card for all Grades K-12.
CWS report card, which follows the Ontario Provincial Report Card, provides a record of the student’s achievement of the
Ontario curriculum expectations in the form of a percentage grade. A final grade is recorded for every CWS course, and credit is granted and recorded for every course in which the student’s grade is 50% or higher. The final grade for each CWS course in Grades 9-12 will be determined as follows:
70% of the grade will be based on evaluations throughout the course.
30% of the grade will be based on a final evaluation. This may be a final examination, a final project, or a combination of both an exam and a project.
CWS Reporting on Demonstrated Learning Skills and Work Habits
The CWS report card provides a record of the learning skills demonstrated by CWS students in every course.
The learning skills and work habits are evaluated using a four-point scale:
(E – Excellent, G – Good, S – Satisfactory, N – Needs Improvement).
Learning skills and work habits are as follows:
- Self-regulation,
- Collaboration,
- Independent Work,
- Organization,
- Initiative, and
- Responsibility.
CWS Teachers’ Comment
CWS report cards also include teachers’ comments on the student’s strengths, weaknesses, and areas in which improvement is needed. In each semester CWS provides a mid-term and a final report card for all students.
The Ontario Student Record (OSR) is the record of all of the students who are enrolled or studying in Ontario, Canada.
CWS students no matter what part of the world they are registered to study will have a student file (OSR) which will be retained for 55 years. All of the student report cards, transcripts, and any other requirements will be kept in OSR. If students move from one school to another school within Ontario, this student file will be transferred.
After student graduation, Ontario Student Records (OSR) will be retired at CWS for 55 years.
The Education Act requires that the principal of CWS School collects information “for inclusion in a record in respect of each student enrolled at CWS school and to establish, maintain, retain, transfer and dispose of the record”.
The Act also regulates access to an OSR and states that the OSR is “privileged for the information and use of supervisory officers and the principal and teachers of the school for the improvement of instruction” of the student. Each student and the parent(s) of a student who is not an adult (that is, a student who is under the age of 18) must be made aware of the purpose and content of, and have access to, all of the information contained in the OSR.
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