GUIDANCE AND CAREER EDUCATION

HDCH Perspective: Students refine their use of French to convey their thoughts and ideas with increasing clarity and sophistication in discussions, presentations, and written work. Students reflect on the nature and limitations of language itself and how it is linked to our understanding of ourselves and our world.

CAREERS

GLC2O - Careers (1/2 credit)

Ministry Course Description: This course gives students the opportunity to develop the skills, knowledge, and habits that will support them in their education and career/life planning. Students will learn about global work trends, and seek opportunities within the school and community to expand and strengthen their transferable skills and their ability to adapt to the changing world of work. On the basis of exploration, reflective practice, and decision-making processes, students will make connections between their skills, interests, and values and their postsecondary options, whether in apprenticeship training, college, community living, university, or the workplace. They will set goals and create a plan for their first postsecondary year. As part of their preparation for the future, they will learn about personal financial management – including the variety of saving and borrowing tools available to them and how to use them to their advantage – and develop a budget for their first year after secondary school.

HDCH Perspective: This half-credit course is designed to get students thinking about their educational pathways and vocational futures. Ideally, we will articulate a sense of vocation by exploring the place where “who we are” intersects with “what we do” and “why it matters.” Students start by investigating who God made them to be and how they fit into the larger communities in which they are placed. Students will examine career goals and plans and identify the skills and experiences that support the achievement of those goals, and they will document these processes in a developing career portfolio. Students will, furthermore, investigate economic and demographic trends related to career development and vocational opportunities. Finally, students will develop workplace readiness tools, including team building skills, job search strategies, resume building, workplace health and safety preparation, and the development of post-secondary financial plans.

LEARNING STRATEGIES

Learning Strategies Courses are selected in consultation with Student Services. Other Learning Strategies courses may also be available depending on student need.

GLS1O - Learning Strategies

Ministry Course Description: This course focuses on learning strategies to help students become better, more independent learners. Students will learn how to develop and apply literacy and numeracy skills, personal management skills, and interpersonal and teamwork skills to improve their learning and achievement in school, the workplace, and the community. The course helps students build confidence and motivation to pursue opportunities for success in secondary school and beyond.

HDCH Perspective: Students entering high school come in with a variety of learning backgrounds. This course provides a foundational review and practice of some of the learning skills needed to succeed in the classroom and beyond. The Learning Strategies teacher works with the individual student to assess and develop learning skills in literacy, numeracy, organization, group and project work, social skills and study skills so that they are better able to access and and use their skills to succeed in school.

LEADERSHIP AND PEER SUPPORT

GPP3O - Leadership and Peer Support *Prerequisite: GLC2O

interpersonal relations, teamwork, and conflict management; and apply those skills in leadership and/or peer support roles—for example, as a student council member or a peer tutor. Students will examine group dynamics and learn the value of diversity within groups and communities.

HDCH Perspective: This course is designed to allow students an opportunity to serve their peers and their school while exploring a variety of themes related to building an effective community. It provides, in a concrete way, a chance for students to be obedient to Christ’s call for us to love our neighbours as ourselves. The course prepares and motivates students to provide leadership and assistance to others in their school and communities. Students will develop skills in communication, interpersonal relations, coaching, leadership, teamwork, and conflict management, and apply them in various service opportunities throughout the semester.

The course is designed to follow three main strands: theoretical, practical and communal. The theoretical part of the course explores the dynamics of human relationships and endeavours to find a Biblically-based, healthy model of interaction. The course also investigates human development and examines a variety of educational and social obstacles a person may encounter. The practical component of the course allows the student to apply his or her new skills in an experiential setting such as: tutoring, school activities or assisting a teacher/staff member. The student will draw on their experiences from the theoretical and practical components of the course to dialogue with their classmates about their learning. Scheduled meeting times with the teacher and peers will allow for regular check-ins, reflections and next steps to be examined as a group.

COOPERATIVE EDUCATION

(Linked to a related course or courses, such a cooperative education course does not have its own course code. It is recorded on the Provincial Report Card and the Ontario Student Transcript (OST) using the name(s) and course code(s) of the related course(s), with the term “(Co-op)” inserted after the course name. On the OST, and the notation “C” is entered in the “Note” column.)

Ministry Description: This course consists of a learning experience connected to a community and a cooperative education curriculum that incorporates relevant expectations from the student’s related course (or courses). Students will develop skills, knowledge, and habits of mind that will support them in their learning, including their education and career/life planning, at school and beyond, today and in the future. Within the context of their experience connected to a community, students will apply, extend, and refine skills and knowledge acquired in their related course or courses and will apply skills, knowledge, and habits of mind that will protect and promote their health, safety, and well-being. They will create and implement a learning plan that meets their particular interests and needs, reflect on their learning, and make connections between their experience in the community and other aspects of their lives. HDCH Perspective: The Cooperative Education program is designed to help students discover and develop the talents they have been given by God. The program includes both in class sessions for preplacement preparation and integration learning as well half-day or full-day placements in a variety of workplace locations. In the in-class sessions, students will be encouraged to understand the life-long nature of vocation, employability skills, ethical business practices, effective stewardship, and workplace professionalism, and the connections between work and worship. Off campus learning opportunities are available at a wide range of placements. The following are listed as examples only, and every effort will be made to find specific placements suitable to student interest, location and career goals. Students are encouraged to enroll in Co Op well before the semester begins to ensure adequate time for placement and planning. Most placements will involve an application and interview process. Available placements include: ● Skilled trades (e.g. auto/diesel mechanic, HVAC, electrical) Professional (e.g. accounting, legal, education, real estate) Industry (e.g. production, automation, design) ● Services (e.g. day care, esthetician, hair salon) Non-profit (e.g. church, city missions) ● City of Hamilton (e.g. planning, IT, horticulture) ● Health sciences (e.g. Physio, lab technician, nursing home)