Handy guide to focal services - Salt Spring Island Archives

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Page Twenty-Six GUL-F- ISLANDS BRIFTWOOD ' Wednesday, -AprH 4, 1979 Students lacking in English Oxygen unit for Queen Writing skills dismay ministry after tests of storm Provincial assessment of writing skills in British Columbia schools has brought about some changes. In Saanich School District the school board has required that all teachers assess written assignments in the quality of their English composition as well as the subject on which they are writing. Provincial ministry of education has assessed about 9,000 students across the province. The analysis of accomplishment in English is not impressive, says the report. Ability in "written expression" at the end of secondary grades was extremely disturbing the ministry reported. Ability to write was analyzed and divided into a variety of skills including spelling, punctuation, syntax, fluency in ideas and association, proper selection of words, focus, tone, the ability to elaborate and other abilities. Grade 12 students, according to the government tests across the province, were satisfactory in three skills of the 31 assessed. ABOUT 50% Lower down the scale. Grade Eight gave cause for concern, in the ministry's own words. In the testing program, Grade Eight students showed satisfactory corn- VILLAGE SPECIALTY Milkshakes Open 7 days from 11 am 'Open 1 Monday to Saturday All levels showed proficiency in three skills, spelling, handwriting instructions and complete printed forms. Before teacher went south They learned to love English No English, no nothing, said the new teacher and disobeyed every rule in the book. In weeks the school was well away in English. In months they were back on curriculum. They could now understand English. The pattern had a second character to it. Every time their crazy principal noted that they had a spare period and invited them to name a subject, the classes would plump for English. He had taught them English and he had taught them to enjoy English as he did. The school board was warm in its praise. He was the best they had had, he was told. They'd had some prizes there! And away he went, back to the warm climes of the sub-tropics. The students? Who knows? Some of them may still be able to read! mand of English in 14 of the 31 skills. The deterioration of standards in English occurs after the primary grades. Tests had shown that students at the end of the primary grades showed adequate command of 18 of the 27 skills tested at that age group. Figures are province-wide. "Hours' 10 am to 11 pm Friday & Saturday - April 6 & 7 SUPPER SPECIAL Rock Cornish Game Hen 7.50 Stuffed with our special cheese dressing Patrons must be 19 or over Fulford Inn "The codfish lays ten thousand eggs, The homely hen lays one. The codfish never cackles To tell you what she's done. And so we scorn the codfish, While the humble hen we prize, Which only goes to show you That it pays to advertise." (ftulf 3islanbs Dnfttooob He was new to the wilds of Vancouver Island when he went to teach in a logging camp. In fact, he was new to teaching in British Columbia. He had previously taught in boarding schools in South America. The new school intrigued him. The students had no faintest idea how to express themselves. As from his first day in class, he instituted a new curriculum. Until the students were up to the level of their grades in English, no other subjects would be taught. The dismay among students was almost measurable. For day after day after miserable day they studied English almost exclusively. It's no good learning any other subject, said their crazy teacher, until you can express yourself. The inspector came to the school and expressed utter horror. He recognized first degree blasphemy and tore his garments. To no avail! and the choice between similarlysounding words, or homonyms. The bottom skills were grammatical usage, such as agreement between the subject and the verb and the summary of the main ideas of a passage. Sentence structure and recognition of common abbreviations were in the problem area. ALL PROVINCE The results of the tests, Assessment of Written Expression, 1978, were not broken down into school districts or areas. The analysis is of all students in the 9,000 assessed. The report shows that other areas in which tested students showed poor results were the organization of written work, appropriate vocabulary, formats of letters and envelopes, descriptive skills (such as the ability to convey personality traits or to describe human features) and narrative writing. Writing simple instructions, organizing details and ideas had also proved to be areas of weakness. Expository writing, completing forms or adjusting writing tones to a specific audience were not good. BRIGHT SIDE Grade Four was cited as the bright side of the coin. Students in that grade had shown themselves to be competent in originality, capitalization and punctuation. They could organize details and ideas and support opinions or judgments. They could also give simple Pleads guilty to breaking and entry, theft Casey R. Carpentier, 18, of Saturna Island has been put on one year's probation after pleading guilty to a charge of breaking and entry and theft. Carpentier was charged after he was found in the home of a neighbour on March 10. He appeared in provincial court at Ganges on Wednesday. l^orRent 537-2211/2613 Box 250, Ganges Lancer Building 537-5453 or 653-4437—jri^ In the Grade Eight group, students were well able to focus on a single topic. The Grades Four, Eight and Twelve were subjected to the test- The Queen of Storm, whose home base is Otter Bay Marina at Fender Island, has just received new equipment from the Emergency Health Services of the provincial government. The boat now has a portable oxygen unit containing enough oxygen to last for two hours and a modern portable stretcher. These items will be of inestimable value in assisting distressed vessels. Driftwood was told. The crew of three: Horst, Joyce and daughter Sandra Klein, who live aboard their vessel, have assisted many boaters in trouble, especially during the summer months. Joyce and Horsl Klein are also busy writing articles for Pacific }'achiin/t maga/ine. Their most recent one. in the February issue, is on VHF radios. ing procedure and the ministry has established province-wide results from an analysis of certain schools and students. It was offered as a poll. The summary of the tests revealed that in all three levels most of the papers contained at least one serious error in sentence structure, the most common being the run-on sentence. Also common to all three was the error involving the use of pronouns and verbs. Film Processing & Enlarging is Our Business Salt Spring Photo & Print Shop McPhillip's Ave., across from Rec. Centre 537-5141 Mpn. - Sat. 10 to 5 pm ,tn HAROLD P. SANDSTROM, R.P.F. — Consulting Forester — 403 Government Street Victoria, B.C. V8V 2L4 382-0935 I Driftwood Classified Form I Use this handy coupon and mail your classified advertisement with cheque or money order. All classifieds are payable in advance NAME ADDRESS PHONE NO ::::::::::::: I NO. OF INSERTIONS AMOUNT ENCLOSED. $ 6 cents a word. Minimum $1.50 Semi-display $2.50 col. inch MAIL TO: DRIFTWOOD, BOX 250, GANGES, B.C. VOS 1EO •
Wednesday, AprU 4,. 1979 GULF ISLANDS DRIFTWOOD Page Twenty-Seven Hey, Hydro. \busayinstdaticmcanpaYforitseIfintime. But how ill can I pay for it now? First step in conservation insulation: Is insulation all that important? Look at it this way. Home heating is the largest single household consumer of valuable energy resources. It accounts for about 65£ out of every dollar you spend on yt your total home energy expense. So adequate home insulation can prevent major money leaks. And that's important. What about the expense? It isn't an expense. It's an investment—and a very good one. And, with the likely prospect of rising world energy costs ahead, it will become an even better investment in the near future. How insulation pays for itself The many ways insulation pays: In homes with substandard insulation (or none) a proper installation job can pay for itself in as little as five heating seasons. And that's only the savings in fuel. There are other pluses. Like a home that's more comfortable year-round: warmer in winter; cooler in summer. More_ uniform temperatures with fewer drafts and no cold spots. Insulation even makes a home quieter. And nowadays, when everyone's concerned about the need for energy efficiency, insulation can also add to your home's resale potential. Aerial thermpgraphic surveys pinpoint the need: , Once again this past winter, Hydro took infra-red aerial pictures of thousands of British Columbia rooftops. Our objective: to help nomeowners fight high heating costs. Individual roof temperatures are recorded on magnetic tapes to produce black-and-white "thermograms". These images pinpoint roofs that are losing heat by showing them as whitish or light-grey areas—indicating the need for better insulation. As we did last year, we'll be displaying the thermograms .... ...» .... ,'.-.• .-.-, in shopping malls in the areas we've surveyed. Hydro technicians will be on hand to help homeowners find out how their insulation measures up. Research verifies insulation value: readings of the aerial thermography program are doublechecked by comparing a sampling of the aerial thermograms of volunteer Hydro employees' homes with their actual insulation values. The aerial readings have proven remarkably accurate. And more research: Hydro is also studying energy and dollar savings in twelve test-homes located around the province. These homes have been fitted with newly recommended insulation levels in roofs, walls and windows—t and their heat savings monitored on a continuing basis. Preliminary results indicate savings in excess of 20%, over levels usuall encountered. How to find out if you need insulatio: Your nearby B.C. Hydro office can provide all the free literature and information you'll need on the subject of home insulation. These easy-to-follow booklets show you the simple way to check your insulation and decide on the improvements you require. They ai^o contain the simple language for technical specifications, and many how-to-do-it tips. And how togetftnow \~~~ ~ \ How to get started: \ First, decide if you • want to do the work yourself or have it done. If you decide to do it yourself, \ you'll find it's a pretty straightforward job as long as you follow the recommendations in the literature we \ provide. If you prefer to have the work done, get competitive quotes on the job by qualified contractors. HOW do you know who is qualified? Don't hesitate to ask the contractor for the names of references— other homeowners for whom he has done insulating work. As a final check on the results of the job, some contractors now provide ground thermography verification of wall insulation effectiveness. Ask your contractor about this. Howtopay for insulation Now! Homeowners throughout British Columbia have taken advantage of B.C. Hydro's Insulation Finance Plan to upgrade insulation or install multipleglazed windows. To date, Hydro has financed over $1,000,000 to homeowners on this plan. We'll provide up to $500.00 at just 10% interest, repayable over 24 months with your regular utility bills. To get the insulation you need, right now, you need only qualify with the following: —have a residential utility account with B.C. Hydro. —apply before March 31, 1980. —have a satisfactory credit rating. —own (or be purchasing by mortgage) a home already built. Projects by qualified contractors under the B.C. Hydro Insulation Finance Plan are subject to spot checks by Hydro technicians to ensure the quality and standards of workmanship. All insulation and multiple glazing materials must be to CMHC standards and applied in accordance with recognized practice. And all "do-it-yourselfers" must purchase enough insulation to achieve the required performance. For details, contact your participating insulation retailer or contractor, or ask at your local Hydro office. B.C.HYDRO WED UKE TO HELP YOU SAVE ENERGY. AND MONEY.
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