Hidden Valley School is a dual track school (French Immersion and regular English classes). We offer these programs for the Kindergarten to Grade 4 students. The entry points for French Immersion are Kindergarten and Grade 1 only.

What is combined grade education?

Combined grade education is a practice that has been an option for schools since the introduction of graded education in Canada. Combined grades classes are not a split of grades; they are a combination of grades.

Why do we have combined grades classes at Hidden Valley School?

Organizing our students is determined by a variety of factors including our physical space, our student population in each grade, and, most importantly, the learning needs of our community. In many cases, we have too many children for one class and not enough children for two classes.  Deciding to multi-age grades as given students the opportunity to work with a variety of classmates and has given teachers the opportunity to work in teams, intentionally designing learning opportunities that are student centred and personalized. Combined grades at Hidden Valley School serves our learning community well. 

How does this approach benefit my child?

Research has highlighted the benefits for both students and teachers in combined grade classrooms.  They include more comprehensive, child-responsive curriculum practices that consider the understandings, capabilities and dispositions that children need to be successful learners and successful adults. Research also reports that students in combined grade classrooms show increased self-esteem, more cooperative behaviour, better attitudes toward school in general, increased pro-social behavior, and enriched personal responsibility.

Research found that when using standardized tests, students in these classrooms did as well or better than those in single-grade classes in math, language, science, and social studies. It also found that students performed better in the areas of independence, responsibility and study habits, and had more positive attitudes toward school.

How will the curriculum be addressed?

A common question families have often focuses on how curriculum is addressed in combined grade settings. An important aspect of Alberta’s Programs of Study (and many other jurisdictions) is the spiral framework of learning. Within this framework, programs of studies at different grade levels have similar outcomes. As an example, in the mathematics program of study, the outcome of addition in present throughout the grades, with specific expectations that differ (grade one is adding to 20, grade two is adding to 100, grade three is adding to 1000,… grade six is adding 0.001 to 1 000 000 including order of operations).  While the specific learner expectation increases at each grade level, the outcome of addition is the same.  Another example is in science. Our science program of study comprises engineering, life, physical, and earth sciences. In a grades 2/3 class, the work of engineering science would be taken up in building structures that can float and are waterproof with extensions of comparing the effectiveness of the building materials. All our programs of studies have common themes and outcomes that lend themselves well to the multi-aged classroom.  

Combined Grade Example from Mathematics

Grade 1- length is described as the space between two endpoints using nonstandard units of measurement

Grade 2 - length is measured using that have an equal measurement ie. centimeter ruler

Students in both grades participate in measuring activities using unifix cubes and centimeter rulers. Both can compare their answers for accuracy based on the measuring tools they are using. An example is when students are asked to decide if a box could fit through the classroom door without having to be taken apart. Students partnered up between grades and used tools to measure the door. They compared their measurements (unifix cubes, centimeter ruler) and the dimension of the box to answer the question. By comparing the unifix cubes to the centimeter ruler and then the box measurements, they determined the box would be too big to fit through the classroom door.

They can further use these measurement skills to help record the progress of the decomposition of a pumpkin. Grade 2 students used a ruler to measure the height from month to month, while the Grade 1 students used the unfix cubes to record the same process. Both grades were able to determine that the pumpkin was decomposing over time. They determined the rate of decomposition had increased once the was placed in the window.