St. Barnabas Catholic School Meets The Diverse Needs Of Our Students
The students of St. Barnabas Catholic School have many differences and yet many needs in common. They range from four-year-olds just starting out in Junior Kindergarten to 14-year-olds who are about to graduate from Grade 8. The children reflect a full range of talents and skills. What they have in common is a need to grow in three areas - in their Catholic faith, in their mastery of the curriculum and in social relationships. The staff of St. Barnabas School and Parish work hard to help the children develop in these areas.
Religion lessons are taught on a daily basis and an emphasis is placed on living your faith, not just studying about it. The students are involved in daily prayer in their classrooms and the school prays together at Masses, Para liturgical Celebrations, Monthly Rosary Recitation, and during assemblies. Gospel values are the basis of school discipline and every effort is made to develop the skills necessary for Christian community living.
The programs in each classroom are planned with the understanding that there are many different skill levels within a single class. Activity-based lessons are encouraged as much as possible. Students are actively engaged in the writing process at all levels and are encouraged to read widely. We aim for a Comprehensive Literacy Program which incorporates Reading, Writing and Word Study and a wide exposure to children's literature. In Numeracy both basic operations and problem solving are emphasized. Classes also receive a complete Science and Social Studies program along with lessons in the Arts and in Health and Physical Education. In addition, there are daily French lessons from grade 1 to 8.
A wide range of enrichment activities are part of every term at St. Barnabas. These include, field trips to outdoor education centres, attendance at live performances of children's theatre and a variety of special presentations at school. Enrichment is also provided through our extracurricular program. The school has a chess team and participates in the general knowledge quiz game called W5H at the Junior level.
St. Barnabas has a full athletic program. House league sports are open to all. The school teams are available in soccer, volleyball, basketball, cross-country and track. The many pennants hanging in the gym demonstrate the high level of athletic skill shown by St. Barnabas students. While our sports program encourages the development of high levels of athletic skill, we consider the development of team spirit and cooperation to be equally as important.
There is both a Vocal and Instrumental music program at St. Barnabas. In addition to weekly lessons, students have many performance opportunities. Both the school choir and Grade 8 band have performed in the Toronto Catholic District School Board Festival of the Arts.
At St. Barnabas we believe that a safe and welcoming school environment is essential. We maintain that every member of the community has a responsibility to help to make sure that this environment is maintained. There is a Safe Arrival Program in place to monitor student attendance. A student Behaviour​ Code was developed with input from parents, staff and students and is distributed during the fall term. Students at St. Barnabas are encouraged to take responsibility for their own behaviour and the development of self-discipline is considered a priority. At St. Barnabas we use progressive discipline to deal with misbehaviour in order to teach our students proper behaviour.
