Student Success
Student Success is about meeting the individual learning needs of each and every student. Schools are providing students with more opportunities to customize their high school experience and build on their strengths and interests through a variety of new and enhanced learning options. One of those options is the Specialist High Skills Major.

Our schools offer specialist high skills major programs in the Health and Wellness Sector. Our focus is on personal and well-being with an emphasis on fitness and prevention.

Our SHSM includes the following five components.

1. A bundle of 8–10 Grade 11 and Grade 12 credits that includes:
i. 4 major credits that provide sector-specific knowledge and skills
ii. 2–4 other required credits from the Ontario curriculum, in which some expectations are met through learning activities contextualized to the sector
iii. 2 cooperative education credits that provide authentic learning experiences in a workplace setting, enabling students to refine, extend, and practise sector-specific knowledge and skills

2. Sector-recognized certifications and/or training courses such as CPR, WHMIS, Infection Control

3. Experiential learning and career exploration activities within the sector

4. “Reach ahead” experiences connected with the student’s chosen post-secondary pathway

5. Development of Essential Skills and work habits required in the sector, and the use of the Ontario Skills Passport (OSP) for purposes of documentation.

How does a SHSM benefit students?

• An SHSM allows students to experience a range of customized learning opportunities in an area that interests them, and helps to engage them in their school program.
• An SHSM program gives students the opportunity to explore, identify, and refine career goals and make informed decisions related to post-secondary education or training and next steps towards a career.
• An SHSM helps students gain confidence in their ability to succeed, and see the connections between their studies, the world beyond high school, and their future careers.
• The experiential learning opportunities provided in an SHSM enable students to develop Essential Skills and work habits that are required in the sector, and have their performance of those skills and work habits assessed and documented, using tools connected with the Ontario Skills Passport.
• Through an SHSM, students begin to establish relationships and networks in their chosen field.
• Students who have earned an SHSM can provide evidence of their achievement of the required components (e.g., sector-recognized certifications and training programs) to prospective employers and post-secondary educational or training institutions.

The program allows you to specialize in this field. It also allows you to find out if this is the right path for you. If it is not, you can opt out and continue with a regular program. If you are thinking about a career in the Health and Wellness Sector - our SHSM may be for you. For more information contact Sacred Heart High School Walkerton or St. Mary's High School Owen Sound.