Pa ge 8 T hu rs da y, O ct ob er 1 5, 2 01 5 - T he IF P - H al to n H ill s - w w w .th ei fp .c a A split among voters who want change will result in Stephen Harper returning to power. In Wellington-Halton Hills, Liberals are best positioned to defeat the Harper/Chong government. Your Best Choice for Change October 19 Make Your Vote Really Count Authorized by the Official Agent for Dr. Don Trant. dontrant.liberal.ca Call 1.877.283.4424 SupportDonTrant WeLearnedA Lot In 30 Years. SoDid Our Children. Trust. Play. Discover. Social Interaction. 30 years ago we helped pioneer the concept of licensed home child care. WeeWatch is a well respected home based child care system. We are trusted for providing quality care consistently year after year. Discover WeeWatch for your child - A home away from home. 905-285-9934 • weewatch.com Quality Licensed Home Child Care NEWS The Education Quality and Ac- countability Office (EQAO) re- leased results showing Halton District School Board students overall continue to exceed the Grade 10 Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT) provincial average. The OSSLT assesses whether students have the literacy (read- ing and writing) skills needed to meet the literacy require- ment for the Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD). However, the OSSLT results for 2014-15 did show the Halton District School Board's success rate for students writing the test for the first time decreased by two percentage points to 88 per cent, while the provincial aver- age was 82 per cent of students. In the Board, 3,862 students participated in the OSSLT. At Acton High School, the percentage of fully participat- ing, first-time eligible students who were successful was 78 per cent-- the lowest of HDSB's 17 high schools-- and at George- town High School, it was 84 per cent-- the sixth lowest. In the Halton District School Board, 97 per cent of all Grade 10 students wrote the literacy test in 2014-15-- exceeding the provincial average of 93 per cent-- and representing a one per cent increase over the previ- ous year. "Although our overall OSSLT percentage dropped slightly, we are very pleased we exceed- ed the provincial average and proud our students continue to excel and be successful on the literacy test," said Stuart Miller, Associate Director of Education for the Halton District School Board. "We will closely examine these results and work to iden- tify ways we can continue to position our students for future success." ****** The Halton Catholic Dis- trict School Board system-wide and school results indicate that Halton Catholic secondary stu- dents continue to surpass the province-wide results in the OSSLT. "As a school district, we are quite pleased with these re- sults" comments Director of Ed- ucation, Paula Dawson. "We are so proud of our students, and commend our teachers, school leaders, support staff, and par- ents for their collective efforts to enhance student learning." The Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT) was conducted in the Spring of 2015 by the Education Qual- ity and Accountability Office (EQAO). Overall, the 2014-15 OSSLT results indicate that 90 per cent of the Board's secondary school students who wrote the test for the first time successfully com- pleted the assessment. The participation rate for first-time, fully participating students was 96%. At Christ the King Secondary School the percentage of those successfully completing the test was 93 per cent-- the second highest result of HCDSB's nine Catholic high schools. The Halton Catholic District School Board employs a vari- ety of data, including the EQAO results, to inform and plan the instructional strategies that are implemented in the classroom. As advised by the EQAO, it is inappropriate and mislead- ing to rank schools or to make individual school comparisons without taking into account a variety of contextual factors. More information may be ac- cessed on the EQAO website at: www.eqao.com. 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 HDSB 88% 89% 89% 90% 88% HCDSB 91% 90% 91% 91% 90% Ontario 83% 82% 82% 83% 83% Success rates for OSSLT First Time Writers Christ the King students beat provincial average in Grade 10 literacy test Georgetown, Acton high school results above and below