Homeschooling in Newfoundland and Labrador

What you must file

1. No fixed dateYou file

   Application for home schooling

   Written approval must be obtained from the Superintendent EACH school year, before the program runs. New applications submitted after the Easter Break are considered only in extenuating circumstances.

   Goes to: The regional office (Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Corner Brook, Gander or St. John's), attention the home schooling coordinator

   An Education Plan must accompany the application: the form asks you to list every course you will offer, with the curriculum and the method of instruction and assessment for each. The Superintendent determines whether the proposed educational plan constitutes satisfactory instruction and is in the best interest of the child, and will approve only curricula approved by the Department. To use a curriculum the Department has not approved before, you will need to give the home schooling coordinator enough information for the Department to assess it. The form is dated July 2017 and its printed return addresses name the Newfoundland and Labrador English School District; the Department's home schooling page lists the contact for each region's home schooling consultant.

2. No fixed dateYou file

   Home Schooling Progress Report / work samples - FIRST YEAR

   End of NOVEMBER, end of MARCH, and MID-JUNE.

   How often: three times in the first year

   Goes to: The zoned school administrator, unless the home schooling coordinator directs otherwise

   Must include an overview of all assessment and student work across academic, social and emotional domains, with representative samples of student work and assessments completed IN EACH SUBJECT OR COURSE; progress notes on the goals and outcomes of any individualized program; and any other documentation demonstrating progress.

3. No fixed dateYou file

   Home Schooling Progress Report / work samples - SUBSEQUENT YEARS

   JANUARY and JUNE, where the student successfully completed the previous school year.

   How often: twice yearly

   Goes to: The zoned school administrator, unless the home schooling coordinator directs that it go to the coordinator

   If the student has demonstrated academic success over a two-year period, the Superintendent or designate may decide that only one comprehensive Progress Report with work samples is required, at the end of the third year and in any later years.

4. No fixed dateYou file

   Assessments required by the Superintendent

   Policy Directive 10: 'home schooled students will be required to complete assessments at various times as required by the Superintendent.'

   Goes to: NLSchools

5. No fixed dateYou file

   Register the student at the zoned school

   When home schooling is approved. If you move within the province or into the province, present the student for enrolment within one week of the move.

   How often: when approved, and again after a move

   Goes to: The zoned school for your community or residence

   The Schools Act, 1997 says a student excused from school for home instruction must still be enrolled in a school, and the policy says the parent must register the home school student at the zoned school. The school records the student as home schooled and does not place them in a homeroom or courses unless they attend the school for a particular course.

6. No fixed dateYou file

   High school Home School Progress Report with a mark for each course

   For a high school student using the provincial curriculum, at each reporting period of the zoned school, which the administrator identifies at the first meeting. The final January or June report, with marks and work samples, is due by the Friday of the first week of that month.

   Goes to: The zoned school administrator or school team, at a meeting

   The report must include an overall mark for each course, with substantial evidence of work samples, graded assignments and assessments showing how each mark was set. The school team reviews the report to verify the marks, and the school submits a final mark for each course to the Department. Reporting periods depend on whether the school runs a yearly or a semestered schedule.

7. No fixed dateYou file

   Provincial assessments required for a Newfoundland and Labrador graduation certificate

   If the student uses the provincial curriculum and wants a Newfoundland and Labrador graduation certificate: whenever a provincial assessment or evaluation that is required for graduation, or that counts toward a course mark, is given.

   How often: as required for graduation

   Goes to: NLSchools

   The Department awards credits and graduation certificates only to students using the provincial curriculum. The policy also strongly advises that students on the provincial curriculum in Grade 3 or higher write all provincial assessments and standardized tests given to students in school, unless exempted under the same guidelines that apply to those students.