OSSLT

Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT) - Wednesday March 27, 2019

The Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT) will take place at St. Mary Catholic Secondary School during the morning of Wednesday March 27, 2019.  All Grade 10 students will write the OSSLT.  Successful completion of the test is one of the requirements to earn an Ontario Secondary School diploma. 

All students take the test in Grade 10 to measure their competency in reading and writing. Students who were previously eligible but have not yet written the test or who were unsuccessful on their first attempt will also write the test on this day. Please note that this date is the only opportunity for students to write the 2019 OSSLT. Students who are absent must wait until the Spring of 2020 to write the test. After writing the test at least once, if a student is still unable to pass the test, he/she can take the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Course (OSSLC), which is the OSSLT equivalent. The OSSLT is a high school graduation requirement.

The test will focus on key skills in reading, including five reading selections with multiple choice and open response questions and writing, including two short-writing tasks, two long writing tasks and multiple choice questions. All of the questions are based directly on the expectations set out in the Ontario Curriculum. The test is given in two 75-minute blocks.

In order to prepare students to write the test, there have been a number of activities at the school including: identifying the expectations for all subject areas that pertain to the knowledge and skill required on the test and creating rich learning activities to address them, after-school preparatory sessions, partial mock literacy tests, conferencing with students about aspects of the test with which most students struggle and providing them with specific strategies which will enable them to be successful on the test.

There will be no scheduled classes on this day for student NOT writing the test in Grades 9, 11 and 12. 

The schedule for March 27, 2019 is as follows for students writing the OSSLT:

Important information for students writing the OSSLT:

• Buses will run as normally scheduled for students writing the test
• Breakfast will be served in the cafeteria at 8:15am
• Students should be in their assigned classrooms by 8:45am
• Rooms in which students are writing will be posted outside the Main Office and the Learning Commons
• Students are to bring a lunch from home as the cafeteria servery will be closed for the day
• Students cannot bring bags, jackets, electronics, or pencil cases into test rooms. Students are permitted to place all pens, pencils, highlighters, erasers etc in a clear plastic bag. 

Preparation for the OSSLT (2019)

Literacy skills are an important part of classroom instruction at St. Mary.  In addition, we are offering free classes at the school to prepare students for the test. The classes, which will begin on Tuesday February 12, will run from 3:00 to 4:00 on the dates listed below.  Bus tickets will be provided as needed to students who attend the classes. Please return the signed permission form to Ms. Frysztacki in the library by February 8. 

• Tuesday, February 12
• Thursday, February 14
• Tuesday, February 19 
• Thursday, February 21
• Tuesday, February 26
• Thursday, February 28
• Tuesday, March 5
• Tuesday, March 19