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PRIMARY PROGRAMS

 

Bloorview School Authority offers a unique setting for students in Junior Kindergarten to Grade One.  The full day program is based on The Ontario Curriculum for Kindergarten and Grade One.  Our approach is holistic and child-centred and based on the students’ individual strengths and needs.  Our small classes allow for an academic focus on the acquisition of early literacy and numeracy skills to create the foundation for early learning.  Library, music, visual arts, adapted physical education and aquatics enrich the weekly school timetable.

There are two primary programs:
•  Integrated Education and Therapy
•  Integrated Kindergarten

 

Integrated Education and Therapy

The Integrated Education and Therapy Program (IET) is an interdisciplinary early intervention program for children with a range of physical and/or communication disabilities.

Physical, occupational and speech therapies are integrated into the child’s day as part of the educational programming.

The therapy is provided by professional therapists working in a team setting with special education teachers and educational assistants.
The teachers, therapists and support staff collaborate to establish individual learning and therapy goals and share the responsibility of programming for the goals of each student. 

The classrooms are set up in a Universal Design for Learning model creating an inclusive environment. Appropriately designed space, furniture and equipment, augmentative and alternative communication systems, adapted technology and computer systems allow the child to gain the greatest benefit from the teaching and learning process. 

This early learning environment maximizes a child’s potential in communication, intellectual, physical, and social skills development.  Each child is encouraged to develop a sense of independence and personal responsibility. 

An Individual Education Plan is developed by the interdisciplinary team in consultation with the family to outline the strengths and needs of the students and to describe specific modifications, accommodations and strategies necessary to build success.
A school team supported by a Community Resource Teacher (CRT) collaborates with the community school Boards to ensure a successful transition when the student leaves Bloorview.

Admission Criteria

Integrated Education and Therapy Program

 

The potential student:

  • is a client of Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital
  • is referred by Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital
  • is of legal school age (four years by December 31)
  • has a physical disability or a communication disorder
  • is able to benefit from the integrated services of education and therapy  (physiotherapy, occupational and speech therapy)
  • demonstrates early indicators of the cognitive ability to participate actively in the Ontario Ministry of Education’s Kindergarten Program
  • needs minimal support to manage difficult behaviour
  • must provide authorization for the release of confidential information between Bloorview School Authority and Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital

 

Integrated Kindergarten Program

 

The Integrated Kindergarten Program (IKP) is an innovative program offered in partnership with the Dr. Eric Jackman Institute of Child Study at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto. 

This unique learning opportunity is created by partnering a class of typically developing Junior and Senior Kindergarten students enrolled in the Dr. Eric Jackman Institute of Child Study with a class of Junior and Senior Kindergarten students with disabilities from the Integrated Education and Therapy Program.

The goals of this program are to promote confidence, self-esteem and self-advocacy in children with disabilities, to address stereotyping and discriminatory behaviour in others and to prepare students with physical disabilities for successful integration.

This program is designed to encourage inclusion for special needs children by promoting their understanding of equity, fair play and diversity.  In this program, children learn to be leaders, helpers, problem solvers, mediators and responsible citizens.

 

Admission Criteria

Integrated Kindergarten Program

The potential student:

  • is registered in the Dr. Eric Jackman Institute of Child Study Program

Note:    The Dr. Eric Jackman Institute of Child Study operates as a laboratory school at the University of Toronto and the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education in partnership with Bloorview School Authority.  For further information, please visit www.oise.utoronto.ca/ICS/icsmain.html

 

 

 

 

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