Senior School
“We’re in an age of unprecedented exponential change in the world and we provide our students with the capacities and skills that are transferable to all careers — those that exist today as well as those yet to be created.”
FUTURE-READY
Ensuring that our students are future-ready means ensuring that they’re equipped with the skills and abilities essential to thrive in an increasingly complex and rapidly changing world.
Our future-ready competencies are the anchor that permeates our Senior School academics and are flanked by the opportunities we provide for our students to try and test concepts in the real world through hands-on, experiential learning.
These competencies prepare our students for the challenges and opportunities they will encounter in their personal and professional lives.
Critical Thinkers and Informed Decision-makers
We equip students with the ability to evaluate information against explicit criteria to make thoughtful, reasoned judgments. Students learn to differentiate facts from inferences and reliable information from "fake news," while diligently seeking diverse perspectives before making informed decisions.
Systems Thinkers and Designers
We guide students to see the world as interconnected parts and wholes. Students learn to analyze systems, look for patterns and trends, and understand that a change in one part may affect the whole. They develop the capacity to design solutions and consider the impact of choices for both the short and long term.
Clear and Confident Communicators
We focus on developing strong skills in all forms of communication—verbal, non-verbal, written, and visual. Students learn to convey meaning with clarity and purpose, utilizing active listening, selecting appropriate media, and considering their audience to effectively share and receive information.
Self-aware and Self-directed Learners and Unlearners
We support students in becoming intrinsically motivated, life-long learners who understand the power of self-awareness. Students develop habits like recognizing emotional cues, embracing responsibility for their growth, and setting SMART goals to effectively manage their learning journey.
Global Citizens: Kind and Empathetic Community Members
We cultivate caring global citizens who practice kindness, compassion, and empathy. Students learn to respect the rights of all living beings, appreciate the natural world, and practice walking in others' shoes to foster understanding and connection within diverse communities.
Collaborative, Effective Team Members and Leaders
We develop skills essential for productive teamwork, recognizing that collaboration requires flexible thinking, compromise, and contribution. Students practice sharing work equitably, acknowledging each other's strengths, and productively resolving conflict while remaining open to diverse perspectives.
Creative Thinkers and Innovators
We foster the courage and persistence for students to develop and share unique ideas. Students practice skills like experimenting and questioning, while developing the habit of embracing mistakes as learning opportunities, recognizing that innovation is an iterative and messy process.
Our Curriculum
Our comprehensive academics program offers more than 94 courses. These include our wrap-around courses, which offer students extra credits outside the standard curriculum with experiential, real-world learning as the focus.
Courses like Grade 9 Civics and Citizenship incorporate trips to municipal, provincial and federal governments and guest speakers from non-governmental organizations and our Grade 11-12 Recreation and Healthy Active Living Leadership, where students have opportunities to refine their leadership skills and put those abilities into practice.
Full S.T.E.A.M. Ahead
At Trafalgar Castle School, we’re building confidence alongside skills and knowledge to give our students every opportunity to succeed in STEAM-related careers and in their personal lives.
Our science, technology, art, and math programs focus heavily on building competencies that support STEAM and on developing skills, habits of mind, and knowledge that students can transfer from the classroom to real life.
Robotics, computational thinking, systems thinking, design thinking, and engineering design processes are integrated into our science and technology programs, providing our students with challenges and experiential, hands-on learning.
Whether designing, engineering and testing wooden birdhouses and cardboard boats, working with robots and microprocessors like Vex VR5 and Arduinos, exploring AI in visual arts, testing new concepts with 3D printers and more, there’s nothing a Trafalgar girl can’t handle.
In fact, several of Trafalgar Castle School alumnae are successful in STEAM-related fields including Mechanical, Chemical and Geotechnical Engineering with high profile companies like OPG, Apple, RoMar Engineering Inc. Golder Associates and more.
AP COURSES
Our Advanced Placement (AP) courses offer students in Grades 11 and 12 the opportunity to undertake university-level work, enabling them to explore subjects in greater depth and prepare them for post-secondary study.
AP courses are nationally and internationally recognized and accepted by the majority of universities as first-year university credits based on AP exam results.
