WE INTERNATIONAL ACADEMY
WEIA STUDENT ATTENDANCE POLICY for ONLINE COURSES
Developed by: A. Phillips, February 2019
Revised by: A. Phillips, April 2019
Regular and consistent attendance is important to ensure success. Studies have shown that students who attend class regularly and punctually achieve higher marks. Further, each Ontario course with a credit value of 1 is designed to have 110 hours of in-class instructional time.
Responsibilities
At WEIA, everyone has a responsibility to help students attend class on time every day.
Students have a responsibility to
- log on on time and participate in all weekly instructional hours that take place in real time (synchronous classes), unless excused due to illness or for another serious with the permission of the Principal in consultation with the teacher
- log on and participate in all weekly instructional hours that take place independently on the student’s own time (asynchronous time), unless excused due to illness or for another serious reason with the permission of the Principal in consultation with the teacher
- give their best effort to participate fully in each learning activity, as this is directly correlated with student achievement and preparedness for post-secondary studies
Teachers have a responsibility to
- keep an accurate record of lates and absences for each real-time online session, including notation of the reason
- carefully monitor and track each student’s weekly log-on independent learning activity time
- talk with students about the importance of regular daily attendance
- counsel students with attendance issues about the repercussions of attendance issues and solutions to improve attendance
- refer students with ongoing attendance problems to the Principal
The Principal has a responsibility to
- support teachers to ensure that students understand the consequences of unexcused lates and absences
- offer information and strategies to help students attend regularly
- advise the student that his/her credit is in jeopardy due to lack of regular attendance
- counsel the student to withdraw from a course due to chronic attendance issues
- communicate with parents when there are concerns for the student’s health and well-being
Types of support available to students
- information on health and nutrition from the Guidance Office
- discussion of issues with the teacher, guidance counsellor and Principal
- communication with parents and guardians
Recording of Absences and Lates
ONLINE instructional hours take place in REAL TIME (synchronous) and also INDEPENDENTLY (asynchronous).
Absences
- Real-time class absences are recorded by the teacher.
- Independent instructional hours are monitored by the teacher. Students will record their learning time in two ways: 1) a Learning Activity Tracking form for the entire course – completed weekly and submitted every Monday – that shows the name of each learning activity; the date, time and number of hours spent on completing the learning activity; and date submitted, and 2) a Learning Activity Reflection Log completed four times during the course that serves as a reflection on their learning at key points in the course.
- Each unexcused absence from 1 hour of instructional hour is recorded as 1 class absence.
- Note: A student is marked absent if he/she logs on to the real time class after 14 minutes of the first hour of the scheduled start time before the 5-minute break, and again after 14 minutes of the second hour of the scheduled start time following the 5-minute break.
Lates
- Real time class lates are recorded by the teacher.
- A student is marked late when he/she logs on between 1 and 14 minutes of the scheduled group online meeting time.
- There are no lates recorded for independent learning activity time, as this is the student’s choice about when to log on.
- See note above re: when a late becomes a recorded absence.
Action for students with UNEXCUSED absences, i.e. absences without a valid reason
- Students with1 real-time class absence/2 hourswill be invited to discuss their absenteeism and suggestions for improvement with their subject teacher. [Teacher to arrange meeting and document.]
- Students who have2 real-time class absences/4 hourswill be invited to discuss the reasons for their absenteeism and strategies for improvement with the Principal. The class absences will be reviewed and the student will be advised that the course credit is in danger due to lack of regular attendance. [Principal to arrange meeting, document and notify the Guidance Counsellor. The Principal will contact the student’s parents and will report back to the teacher and the home school principal on the nature of the discussion at the student meeting.]
- At3 real-time class absences/6 hours, the student will be warned in writing that he/she will be withdrawn from the course on the next unexcused absence.
- At4 real-time class absences/8 hours, the student will be withdrawn from the course and will lose the opportunity to earn the credit.
Action for students with EXCUSED absences, i.e. due to illness, medical, bereavement or other documented reasons
- Students with individual valid reasons for an absence will provide documentation to the teacher and Principal.
- The Principal will contact and involve the student’s parent(s) as necessary.
There are many people at WEIA to assist you in meeting the school’s and Ontario’s expectations for students. We care about you and want you to do well so that you can be prepared for post-secondary studies and life. Please let us know how we can help!
ACADEMIC HONESTY POLICY
WEIA takes very seriously academic integrity. Students’ understanding of expectations in this regard prepares them well for higher learning and life. WEIA expects students to work diligently and to give an honest effort to all assignments and assessment activities. The definitions below and consequences for plagiarism and cheating are explained carefully to all students by each teacher in every course. Further, each teacher takes time to thoroughly explain and provide examples of academic dishonesty that are particular to each course and curriculum area.
Plagiarism consists of, but is not limited to
- misrepresenting another person’s or text’s work as your own,
- having someone else complete the work for you,
- using a text found on a Website or other source and cutting and pasting it in whole or in part into your assignment,
- paraphrasing or summarizing information from a source without citation,
- quoting sources without proper use of quotation marks,
- translating works from other sources into English and submitting them as your own; and
- using the intellectual property of another without acknowledging the source.
Course of Action for Incidents of Plagiarism
- first offence: student/teacher discussion; a mark of zero will be recorded for the assignment
- second offence: student/teacher discussion; a mark of zero will be recorded for the assignment; the principal will meet with the student; parents and the principal of the home school will be informed
- third offence: the principal, in consultation with the teacher, may withdraw the student from the course, the principal of the home school and parent(s) will be informed
Cheating consists of, but is not limited to
- making use of unauthorized notes, electronic or other aids during a test or exam;
- copying from, or sharing information with another student during a test or exam;
- giving unauthorized aid to another student such as allowing a peer to copy or use your test, exam, homework or paper; and
- receiving extensive assistance with written assignments and presentations from a tutor, student, parent or other adult.
Course of Action for Incidents of Cheating
- first offence on a test or assignment: student/teacher; a mark of zero will be recorded for the assessment piece
- second offence on a test or assignment: student/teacher discussion; a mark of zero will be awarded; the principal will meet with the student; parents and the principal of the home school will be informed
- third offence: the principal, in consultation with the teacher, may withdraw the student from the course; the principal of the home school and parent(s) will be informed
LATE ASSIGNMENT/MISSED ASSESSMENT POLICY
WEIA supports students in developing transferable skills that will serve them well in their high school and post-secondary school studies, and in the workplace. These include time management, project planning, the importance of meeting scheduled assignment timelines, and attendance at all scheduled assessment and evaluation activities. Teachers support students in this endeavour by clearly communicating expectations, publishing assessment dates and assignment due dates, and by providing check-in points along the way for major assignments and projects.
Late assignments: The teacher will first conference with the student to ascertain reasons for the past due assignment and with prior notice of the late assignment will negotiate with the student a new due date to take place within two days of the original due date. The teacher may, at his/her discretion, penalize the student 5% per day up to a maximum of 20% for the late assignment and/or prepare an alternate assignment for the student. After five days, the teacher may, at his/her discretion, refuse to accept the late assignment and record a mark of zero.
Missed tests and presentations: Students who miss a test or presentation with a valid reason will take the test or deliver the presentation during the first scheduled opportunity at their return to class. The teachers may, at his/her discretion prepare an alternate test. Students who are absent from a scheduled test or presentation without prior notice and/or without a valid reason will receive a mark of zero on the assessment piece.
Missed final evaluation: Students will miss a final oral or written evaluation will receive a mark of zero unless there is documentation on extenuating, valid medical or other circumstances that prevented the student from being in attendance at the scheduled time.
TESTIMONIALS
What Our Students Say
Hello, I’m Subeen Jeong, who has been taking an OSSD program at Westfield Education for the last 6 months. When I first decided to take online courses, I was worried that the quality of all the courses would be bad because it is non-face-to-face, but now I’m very satisfied.
First of all, Westfield is suitable for students overseas. There are many places where you can take online classes but they offer courses in real time, and due to the time difference, it is very difficult to follow courses successfully. But Westfield uploads and updates lecture videos on the subject portal, so I can take classes and do assignments comfortably regardless of the time difference. Second, I realize that the students’ questions and answers are well managed. If you ask for help or leave questions through school portal messages or emails, you will get an answer quickly. Finally, I personally suffered from a difficult situation in the middle of the semester, but the school responded to it quickly, so I felt that the school was very considerate of the students. As I work and study at the same time, these things have become very positive.
Hello my name is Juhyeong and I am studying at Westfield. Westfield has an organized system which helps students effectively. We can choose the most suitable courses for us, so we can just focus on studying important subjects and improving our knowledge. Since I have never lived abroad, the lack of opportunities to use English was the biggest obstacle. Fortunately, Westfield offers a variety of English lessons where I could read English novels and make presentations that I had never tried in Korea. Great teachers and counselors also kindly help me whenever I need some help. I would proudly say it was the best choice studying at Westfield and I’m sure that I will achieve my goal here. Thank you!
Hi! I’m Minyoung Park from South Korea and it’s already been a half year since I started studying at Westfield International Academy. I enjoyed every part of studying with my teachers here so far. They’ve been supporting me every time I need help so that I may not fall behind. It has touched my heart that even though it’s online, all the teachers try their best to answer my questions and help me understand every step in the classes. I find time has passed so fast and I hope I can have more great memories with Westfield Academy for the rest of my semesters!
When I first came to Canada, I came to study at a language school for six months. Six months later, I thought I wanted to enter a university to study more in Canada. I had a friend who graduated from high school in Canada and recommended me to go to high school in Canada. I live in Vancouver, but there are more private secondary schools in Toronto than in Vancouver. Furthermore, I wanted to enter a university in Ontario, so I thought a private secondary school in Toronto would be advantageous. After consulting with an employee of Westfield Secondary School, I liked the school and entered the 12th grade. I chose WEIA online classes because it is cheaper than offline classes and has the same quality as offline classes. Teachers are kind and if you do not know anything, you can ask them at any time. When taking online classes, it is important to manage your time and complete all assignments. I am lucky to have Westfield in my life
Hi everyone, I’m Rita Wang. I’m a new online student at Westfield and I’m excited to be here to talk about this school. First of all, I’ve had a good experience in the online classes even though I was a little bit skeptical about the quality of online education. The lessons on the website are clear and easy to understand, the documents are accurately categorized, and most importantly, the teachers are patient in responding and answering my questions when I encounter difficulties or doubts. With everyone’s help, I have been able to achieve relatively good results in the first semester – at least better than I expected.
If you guys want to get an OSSD, an online OSSD course might not be the best option, but it will be the best choice if you can’t set foot in Canada and attend lectures face to face or want to use one’s own time flexibly. There are many pros about WEIA courses. Basically, you can save a lot of money, thereby lessening the financial burden. Compared to other secondary schools, the tuition fee is about 40% cheaper than other schools. Furthermore, there is a special session in WEIA, which is called “virtual study hall” where the teachers hold synchronous sessions once a week and students can participate and question about their difficulties, which has been a great experience. I recommend this course to the students who can’t afford to pay for expensive tuition and who can follow the class at their own pace.
