In September 2010, Trafalgar Castle School will introduce a Grade 5 class to our program. This addition to our program will provide an opportunity to share the benefits of the Trafalgar Castle experience to more students from the Durham Region and surrounding areas.

The addition of Grade 5 will expand our Middle School population and will increase our ability to offer curricular and co-curricular activities for this age group. It will meet a demand for enriched educational experiences at this grade level, evident in the rapidly growing Durham Region.

Students entering Grade 5 at our school will share in the many facilities, programs and experiences currently available to our students: Daily Chapel, Muskoka Woods Camping Retreat, House system, lunch with the School community, daily tutorial period and much more.

In Grade 5, students will be introduced to laptop technology, using netbook computers in the classroom. These netbook computers will be supplied by the School for classroom use. Students will begin to develop their Information Communication Technology (ICT) skills in preparation to enter the full Connected Classroom Program in Grade 6. Students will begin to use their new skills in authentic applications in their academic curriculum.

The Grade 5 academic program will include Language Arts, French as a Second Language, Mathematics, Science and Technology, Social Studies, the Arts and Physical and Health Education. As students develop their ICT skills, they will use them in curricular applications which utilize ICT to deliver content and develop critical thinking skills.

The Grade 5 program will feature an experiential component with curricular connections. This will culminate with the Grade 5’s joining the Grade 6’s on their last camping trip to Camp Kawartha in April. This joint experience will help prepare the Grade 5’s for the following year in Grade 6 and will also provide the Grade 6’s a leadership opportunity.

Admissions into the Grade 5 programs will be based on:

• An admissions test
• A day visit
• An admissions interview

• Tuition – academic program
• Lunch for all students
• Students Activities: All compulsory travel and compulsory activities, I.D. cards, yearbook, films/videos, some entertainment, educational, sports and cultural activities, including transportation and the Parents’ Guild Annual Membership Fee.

Grade 5 is the year that students will be introduced to the concept of Trafalgar Castle School’s Connected Classroom program. This program is based on a gradual integrated learning approach to the delivery of the curriculum. The gradual inclusion of Information Technology in the Grade 5 year allows for the development of early technological skills leading toward the full Connected Classroom experience in Grade 6. This stepwise approach enables "transparency" of the evolving skills and allows students to begin accessing information and communicating using appropriate tools.

You may download the complete Grade 5 Academic Program outline by clicking here. (PDF)