General School Policies

Updated - Jan. 24, 2020 ~HM

CHeS Assessment Policy Elementary: CHeS follows the Interim Student Reporting Guidelines as outlined in schedule A. Our policy supports 5 assessment appointments; 3 informal and two formal assessments. The informal assessments are direct teacher family interviews (Sept. Nov. Apr.)  while the 2 formal assessments are report templates available online in January and June. June’s report is summative and will be emailed to the family as a PDF. Go here to view the policy in full.

CHeS Assessment Policy High School: This policy follows the Grad Policy Guide. Grade 10 - 12 assessment is similar to Elementary only instead of 2 formal assessments, 3 are required for High School; period, 1, 2, and final. Assessments will be percentages with corresponding letter grades and comments as appropriate.  

CHeS Cash Payment Limit:  We will not collect cash deposits from families in excess of $1000.  

Core Competency Self-Assessments are now required by the Ministry.  All Elementary students must complete this assessment as part of April's informal assessment. High School students with 3 or more courses will complete this assessment at their school of record (SOR). If CHeS is your SOR, High School students will complete thier core-competency self-assessment with us as part of April's informal assessment.  CHeS encourages the growth of core competencies throughout the learning journey and the student will be encouraged to self reflect often regarding their communication, thinking, personal & social competency. 

Aboriginal Education Policy

Integrating Aboriginal perspectives into our school community is an initiate we started in 2018 by analyzing Aboriginal Perspectives of Learning.  We discovered Aboriginal values are very similar to Biblical values and therefore our school can easily implement appreciation and caring related to the First Peoples of Canada.  We strive to implement the following perspectives in our practice daily: 

• Learning ultimately supports the well-being of ourselves and others. We should learn to be “caring” and good stewards. 
• Learning is holistic, reflexive, reflective, experiential, and relational with a focus on connectedness and a sense of place 
• Learning involves recognizing the consequence of one’s actions 
• Learning involves generational roles and responsibilities and the role of history
• Learning involves patience and time 
• Learning requires exploration of one’s identity 
• Learning recognizes that some knowledge is sacred and only shared with permission and/or in certain situations 

To aid in the implementation of Aboriginal perspectives our staff training will periodically host First Nations speakers who can continue teaching us about their perspective and experiences.  We will gain keys to succeeding in developing relationship and fostering mutual respect between cultures.

CHeS Administration & Teachers will work on becoming more informed and aware of Aboriginal resources that mutually support our Biblical values.  Our desire is to be a blessing to the Aboriginal community and all those who seek a place of safety and belonging. 

Foundation Skills Assessment (F.S.A.)
The B.C. Ministry of Education expects all BC DL students in grades 4 and 7 to write the F.S.A. Each year, students will be notified of test dates and participation procedures.

DL Communications Policy
Students on the DL program are required to have an email address for correspondence with both their teachers and CHeS. The Ministry of Education requires weekly contact.

CHeS Student Discipline Policy

CHeS acknowledges that parents or guardians are the primary disciplinarians for their children learning at home. However, when students meet with a teacher or other students online, they must respect these guidelines. 

• All speech will be respectful and uplifting
• Chatting must be limited to a focus on course material
• No private chatting during sessions
• All presentations must be approved by the teacher and appropriate for group presentation
• Students will not exchange contact information unless their parents/guardians approve
• Students who violate these boundaries will not be allowed to attend future sessions

CHeS Resource Policy
The Ministry of Education no longer conducts evaluation processes to recommend learning resources, leaving the responsibility to the school authority.  This policy sets out the procedures that determine how learning resources are chosen, as well as how concerns or challenges will be addressed by CHeS.

The intent of this policy is to ensure that any resources utilized by CheS families have been previously evaluated and approved by CHeS.

Learning Resource Policy

All learning resources used in the home learning environment must be approved for meeting the Ministry of Education learning standards, BAA standards, or IEP goals set up for Special Education students. Families in K-9 may meet Ministry standards across the grades while High School students will typically focus more specifically on course competencies and content. Students with an IEP may have modifications that indicate learning or behavioral goals outside of Ministry expectations.  All resources will also be evaluated and approved with consideration given to their fit with CHeS religious values (statement of faith), pedagogy, social considerations, age and developmental appropriateness, as well as the school authority’s philosophical perspectives (vision, goals, and values). Resources with a social media element are not approvable by CHeS as we cannot be responsible for this type of communication.  

Level 1 learning resources are CHeS system-wide instructional materials and optional textbooks used as resources by CHeS families to fully or partially meet core expectations for learning defined by provincial and local curricula.  Level 1 resources will be approved by a teacher and the Principal and placed in the CHeS online catalogue, prepared course templates or resource lists available in course templates.

Level 2 learning resources are locally approved resources designed to fully or partially meet Ministry learning objectives, BAA standards, or IEP goals. Level 2 learning resources are often base resources or supplementary, complementary resources used by individual families. These may include books, individual topic units, videos, software resources, equipment rentals, field trips, lessons in the community, etc... Level 2 resources are approved by the DL teacher during the learning plan creation and in consultation with the school administrator, Principal as necessary.

Level 3 resources are occasional additions to the learning plan throughout the year and thus considered supplementary or complementary to the educational program. Level 3 resources are to be evaluated using the evaluation criteria in the learning resource approval process by the DL teacher and in consultation with the school administrator, Principal as necessary.

Learning Resources Approval Process

CHeS will encourage teachers to utilize education media that have been evaluated by this process. The recommended scope of professional learning resources for review include Elementary (Gr K-9) and Secondary (Gr 10-12). 

A.         Evaluation Criteria

The evaluation criteria used in determining appropriate learning resources for the school will include, but are not limited to:

-        Compatibility with CHeS’ Statement of Faith, Vision, Goals, and Values

-        Supporting the learning standards of the BC curriculum or BAA standards

-        Supporting IEP goals for SE students

-        Assisting students in making connections between what they learn in the home and its practical application in their lives

-        Addressing developmental and age appropriateness

-        Having effective instructional and technical design

-        Meeting the requirements set by copyright and privacy (PIPA) legislation

-        Suitability based on the pedagogical, social, philosophical, and religious values of CHeS

B.         Approval/Withdrawal of Recommended Learning Resources

Level 1 learning resource approval is confirmed or withdrawn by the Principal annually

Level 2 learning resources approval will be confirmed by each individual DL teacher during the learning plan development process. Resources may be withdrawn at any time if deemed unsuitable by the DL teacher or Principal.

Level 3 learning resources should be included in the learning plan at the time of need and confirmed by each individual DL teacher – Principal consultation as necessary. Level 3 resources are rarely withdrawn as they are included only as legitimate needs arise.

C.         Challenge to the Use of Recommended Learning Resources

Challenges to the use of authority-recommended learning resources must be made in writing to the principal and copied to the school administrator, identifying the learning resource and stating the reason why the resource(s) may not be suitable.  Challenges will only be accepted from individuals in the school community whose children are directly engaged with the learning resource(s), or educators who use the resource(s).

Within 14 days of written receipt of a learning resource challenge, the principal will convene a meeting of a committee, consisting of themselves and the practicing teacher (school administrator optional). 

Based on the committee’s recommendation, the authority may dismiss the challenge, raise the awareness of the implications of using the resource with the teaching staff, communicate with the publisher and/or withdraw the recommended resource from further use in the school.

The individual issuing the challenge will be notified of the committee’s decision in writing within 14 days of the decision. If this decision is unsatisfactory for the individual they may appeal using our DL Parent Appeals Procedure (see below). 

D.         Sources of Learning Resources

CHeS will maintain lists of level 1 resources and will continually update level 2 and 3 resources as those resources are shared with individual families. 

BC Provincial Graduation Assessments

Go here to see the transition in process

Graduation assessments are changing to align with the new curriculum. As part of the updated graduation requirements, students in the B.C. Graduation Program will have to complete three provincial assessments. They will focus on the demonstration and application of numeracy and literacy.

• Graduation Numeracy Assessment – Grade 10 (graduation requirement)
• Graduation Literacy Assessment – Grade 10 (graduation requirement starting in 2019/20)
• Graduation Literacy Assessment – Grade 12 (graduation requirement starting in 2021/22)

*Note: students graduating in the 20-21 school year who are taking English Studies 12 (required Gr. 12 LA) will not need to write a Literacy Assessment.   They are exempt from the GLA 10 and 12 but they must complete the GNA before graduation. 

Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA)
PIPA is legislation that controls the way personal information of an individual is collected, used, disclosed, and stored. This Act impacts independent school authorities throughout BC. Records at CHeS are handled in accordance with the Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA).  See more details in Student Record Procedures and Guidelines. 

Safety Policies:

Covid-19 Safety Plan:  see here. 

Reporting Child Abuse

Under section 13(1)(a) to (d) of the Child, Family and Community Service Act, everyone who has reason to believe a child has been or is likely to be physically harmed, sexually abused, or sexually exploited by any person(s) is legally bound to promptly report their concerns to a child protection social worker. Confidentiality of information - Information regarding an allegation of child abuse and/or neglect will be first disclosed to the principal, then promptly to a child protection social worker. For further information, please refer to “A Guide for Independent School Personnel Responding to Child Abuse”.

Electronic Communication Supervision: Messenger, our preferred communication application stores all communications between students and staff. Parents should oversee all communications and CHeS administration monitors communications to insure accountability.  If students use other forms of communication parent should be aware and supervise content sharing.  

Safety on the Internet:

Parents need to: (1) supervise while their children are surfing, ensuring they are visiting appropriate sites and using chat rooms safely; (2) install appropriate computer system defenses; (3) discuss immediately any messages or bulletin board items which are suggestive, obscene, belligerent or threatening.  

Christian Home e-School will not tolerate any form of bullying: physical, electronic, or otherwise.  Expect Respect and a Safe Education (erase) is a wonderful place to access support. Go here to find a reporting tool and more wonderful helpful safety information.  CHeS is trained in the Erase strategies for dealing with harm, and we will do all we can to "ERASE VIOLENCE / EMBRACE COMPASSION! 

“Every child deserves an education free from discrimination, bullying, harassment, intimidation and violence.” (Ministry) Parents are responsible for creating a safe environment in the home and online for their children but CHeS also supports online safety through their commitment to communicate openly with the parents and the principal should they suspect any kind of abuse, bullying, or safety concern. CHeS has a trained Safe School Coordinator (the Principal) or alternate (SE Coordinators) readily available to address any bullying or harassement concerns. Please report immidately to 877-777-1547 ext. 12 or ext. 21   Note: internet safety resources are linked into our planner system and we encourage all families visit this information. Internet safety is paramount in our form of delivery therefore we encourage these practices taken from the Child Safety Network:

• Do not allow your child to have a computer with Internet access in their bedroom or any area that is private. Move it into the family room or someplace where you can easily see the activity.
• Set time restraints. Do not allow your child to spend hour after hour online.
• Check history and consider installing tracking software as well as parental controls (see resources below) . If your child is “wiping” the history every time, then you should find out why.
• Spend time with your child online. This does so many things including giving you quality time with your child. Explore together!
• Teach your children that when they come across any material that makes them feel uncomfortable, scared, or confused to immediately tell you or another trusted adult.
• Teach your children to never open emails from people they do not know in person.
• Teach children to never reveal any personal information and to immediately tell you or a trusted adult if someone ever makes them feel uncomfortable or starts communicating in a sexually explicit manner.
• On social networks like Facebook, make sure the privacy settings are on to limit contact to only those on your child’s “friends” list and those should be people the child actually knows in person.
• Make sure your child understands that anything that gets posted online will always be out there and can NEVER be completely deleted.  All pictures should be cleared by you before posting.
• Make sure your child understands that he or she should, under no circumstances, ever meet in person someone they met online without you being present.

Safety while attending third-party locations or while workers help families at locations: CHeS advises parents remain with their children during third-party sessions. If however a child or a staff member feels threatened in any way, the incident should be reported immediately to the principal. Staff visiting homes have the right to refuse unsafe or abusive situations and must report any threats immediately.   Students and adults alike must feel safe and protected in all environments.  

Other Resources:

 When Should You Get Your Child a Cell Phone? - Focus on the Family

Covenant Eyes – Internet Accountability and Filtering

Net Nanny- Blocks Apps and Filters Web Content on any device on any network

Wizimage - hides images in a way that minimizes the impact on the user's browsing experience.

Safe, Caring and Orderly Schools: A Guide - Ministry of Education

Family Values Respected: While CHeS teachers strive to interpret all standards according to Biblical principles, standards in the PHE learning area may be sensitive topics that families want to keep private and deliver in their own way. Alternate delivery (AD) & personal discretion is encouraged for all such topics. Parents have the legal right to guide their children morally & Biblically and CHeS will respect every family's personal choices and boundaries. 

Standardized Performance Assessment for DL Students

It is a policy of Christian Homelearners e-Streams to have a standardized level of acceptable student performance for each course offered at each grade level. For each course these standards are listed in the New BC Curriculum website as well as inbedded throughout our planner system (course templates). Learning standards are divided up 3 ways. Go here for more details: 

Big Ideas - Overall Understanding - general course objectives

Course Competencies - What the student will be able do

Course Content - what the student will know

Learning standards can be met across the grades for Elementary learners (K-9). Bench mark checks are in place for Grades 3, 6, & 9. This is a ministry strategy to help prevent learning gaps. High School courses are competency driven and may be stand alone learning experiences or integrated learning across the subjects. 

Provincial DL Standards
The DL program at Christian Homelearners eStreams operates within the Standards for Delivery of K-12 Independent School Distributed Learning in British Columbia.

There may be a good reason for lateness but students need to validate this to be allowed more time and the request for more time must be clearly made before late submission permission is granted. Note that designated assignments handed in late will be down graded by 10%. A pattern of late submissions or submissions handed in all at once at the end of a course (with therefore very little weekly contact) is unacceptable and the teacher may refuse marking the work. At teacher discretion, assignments may be submitted twice for grading purposes.  The best score will be counted.  

Course Completion Policy - One Year Boundary

High School students are expected to complete their courses within one year of start date.  After one year the course will be closed but more time (up to 6 months) may be granted if brought to the Principal for permission to continue.  We are tightening up on course completion boundaries as allowing 2 years for course completion has not helped motive our students towards responsible studies. Students who fail to complete their courses on time will be faced with final assessment or they may withdraw from their courses and restart from the beginning.

Academic Honesty Policy

We value academic honesty at CHeS and hold our students accountable because God has called us to live a life of honesty and integrity; He calls us to honour one another and we can do so by honestly accomplishing assignments and giving credit to other’s work when appropriate.

Because we operate in a unique and flexible online environment, it is especially important that we take great care to educate our students and children on “giving credit where credit is due”. We desire for each of our students to model the highest standard of academic honesty in their educational pursuits. CHeS will therefore not tolerate academic dishonesty of any sort, including plagiarism, sharing false learning information, or cheating on tests/exams/assessments.

The Mirriam-Webster’s Dictionary defines plagiarism in the following manner: “to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's own: use (another's production) without crediting the source.” Plagiarism includes (adapted from Wallaceburg Christian School): 

• Direct copying of the work of another submitted as the student’s own (for example: from that of another student or other person, from an Internet source, from a print source) 
• Lack of parenthetical in-text or in-project documentation 
• Documentation that does not check out or does not match Works Cited/Works Consulted page 
• Quoting, paraphrasing, or summarizing another person’s words, sentences, paragraphs, or entire work without acknowledgment of the source
• Utilizing another person’s ideas, opinions, or theory without acknowledgment of the source 
• Copying another student’s written test answers 
• Copying or allowing another student to copy a computer file that contains another student’s assignment, and submitting it, in part or in its entirety, as one’s own

Our Teacher Mentors are trained to watch for instances of plagiarism and can easily spot when an assignment does not match the students’ ability or regular manner of writing. Sometimes, unintentional plagiarism can occur because of a lack of understanding of the protocol when using someone else’s words (Dickerson). In these cases, it is the responsibility of the parent and Teacher Mentor to help correct the issue.

When a student is found to be in violation of our academic honesty policy, the Teacher Mentor will be in direct communication with the parents and consequences may vary, depending on the circumstance. Possible consequences may include any of the following:

• Parents will be informed of the incident by a telephone call and/or email. 
• Teachers will use tools such Quetext to verify authorship:
  • Login for Quetext: accounts@estreams.ca  & school123
• The assignment in question will need to be re-submitted with proper citation.
• He or she is likely to receive a mark of zero for the assignment or test in question when verified that intentional plagiarism has taken place.
• Administration will be notified if subsequent offenses occur.
• If repeated instances of cheating/plagiarism occur, the student may receive a failing grade for the course.

If you would like more information on plagiarism and how to cite properly, please visit the resources listed below:

Dickerson, Lee Ann. "Writing With Integrity: Serious Talk About Plagiarism." Crosswalk: The Intersection of Faith and Life. N.p., 30 Jan 2013. Web. 31 Mar 2013.

Citing Sources - Writing a Bibliography:MLA Format

Author Unknown. "Academic Honesty Policy." Wallaceburg Christian School Society - Board Policy Manual. Wallaceburg Christian School, June 2010. Web. 30 Mar 2013.

Lastly, one of our teachers recently designed an Academic Integrity Module that would be helpful for High School students: link here. 

School Vaccinations

Christian Homelearners does not endorse any proposed or particular healthcare plans that may or may not conflict with any families personal healthcare choices,  philosophy or preferences for personal health care initiatives that may or may not be in the best interests of the family. Therefore, all parents/families will independently decide if, to what extent and how they choose to participate in any proposed, recommended or Government sponsored student health programs. Christian Homelearners endorses a biblical worldview; to encourage each family to independently interpret their personal position on a plethora of personal healthcare issues that could affect their families health in the light of God's Word.

Anaphylaxis Policy- For families at CHeS with life threatening allergies. Please see Policy here & Emergency Response Plan here

DL Parent Appeals Procedure

Step-by-step appeal process
Parents should use this step-by-step process when working to solve problems at CHeS:

If a concern involves a teacher:
• The first step for parents is to talk to the teacher about your concerns. Because school life is filled with human interactions, differences between teachers and some students will occur and it is important that parents hear both sides. Experience has shown that the majority of problems can be solved at this step.
• If consultation with the teacher does not bring about a solution, then discuss your concerns with your school principal.
• The next step, if you are still dissatisfied after discussions with the school principal, is to contact the Christian Homelearners eStreams office at 1-877-777-1547 and ask for our administrator.  If you remain dissatisfied you may take your complaint to the FISA Ombundsman.  Advocate for Independent Schools. 

If a concern involves the principal:
• Please take your concern directly to our school administrator and he will help problem solve to the best of his ability. This may involve inviting the principal to a discussion. 

*Note: if the problem cannot be solved between direct parties, the person the issue involves will be removed from the appeal decision-making process.

Course Material Restrictions
Students may not reproduce electronically-delivered course material except for personal use.

Challenge and Equivalency Policy – There are a variety of options for earning credits towards Graduation.  The BC Ministry of Education outlines how students can earn high school credits through challenge and equivalency.  Go here. CHeS will seek to honor all options.  

1. Equivalency (Documented Prior Learning) - Awarding credit to students who have successfully completed an equivalent Grade 10, 11 or 12 course from an educational jurisdiction or institution outside the BC school system.
2. Challenge (Undocumented Demonstrated Prior Learning) - Awarding credit to students who can demonstrate prior learning.
3. External Credentials - students earn credit towards graduation through certain external credentials (Documents or credentials earned by a student on successful completion of an external course) approved by the Ministry. Ex. Bronze Cross, Royal Conservatory of Music, etc...
4. Credit from Post-Secondary Courses (Dual Credit) - Students earn credit towards graduation by earning credit for courses at specific Post Secondary Institutions. Students are entitled to earn "dual credit" if they earn credit that leads to a post-secondary credential from a post-secondary institution which is a member of the British Columbia Transfer System or offered in French through Educacentre.
5. Independent Directed Studies (IDS) - enables students to initiate their own area of learning and to receive credit towards graduation. Elective credit only. See further details in our IDS Policy. Note: All IDS courses must be approved by the Principal before activation.