- Primary
- Elementary
- Intermediate
- High School
- French Immersion
- English as an Additional Language
- Literacy Enrichment and Academic Readiness for Newcomers (LEARN)
Curriculum in K-12 education in Newfoundland and Labrador is organized by outcomes and is based on The Atlantic Canada Framework for Essential Graduation Learning in Schools (1997).
Essential Graduation Learnings provide a consistent vision for the development of a coherent and relevant curriculum. The Essential Graduation Learnings statements offer students clear goals and a powerful rationale for academic achievement. They help ensure our province’s education mission is met by design and intention. The Essential Graduation Learnings statements are supported by curriculum outcomes. Both are described below.
Essential Graduation Learnings are statements describing the knowledge, skills and attitudes expected of all students who graduate high school. Achievement of the Essential Graduation Learnings will prepare students to continue to learn throughout their lives. These learnings describe expectations not in terms of individual school subjects but in terms of knowledge, skills and attitudes developed throughout the curriculum. They confirm that students need to make connections and develop abilities across curriculum areas if they are to be ready to meet the shifting and ongoing demands of life, work and study today and in the future. Essential Graduation Learnings serve as a framework for the curriculum development process.
Curriculum outcomes statements articulate what students are expected to know and be able to do in particular subject areas. These outcomes statements also describe the expectations at a particular grade level. Through the achievement of curriculum outcomes, students demonstrate the Essential Graduation Learnings.
In Newfoundland and Labrador there are seven Essential Graduation Learnings:
- Aesthetic Expression – Graduates will be able to respond with critical awareness to various forms of the arts and be able to express themselves through the arts.
- Citizenship – Graduates will be able to assess social, cultural, economic and environmental interdependence in a local and global context.
- Communication – Graduates will be able to think, learn and communicate effectively by using listening, viewing, speaking, reading and writing modes of language(s), and mathematical and scientific concepts and symbols.
- Personal Development – Graduates will be able to continue to learn and to pursue an active, healthy lifestyle.
- Problem Solving – Graduates will be able to use the strategies and processes needed to solve a wide variety of problems, including those requiring language, and mathematical and scientific concepts.
- Spiritual and Moral Development – Graduates will demonstrate understanding and appreciation for the place of belief systems in shaping the development of moral values and ethical conduct.
- Technological Competence – Graduates will be able to use a variety of technologies, demonstrate an understanding of technological applications, and apply appropriate technologies for solving problems.
Related Documents
The Atlantic Canada Framework for Essential Graduation Learnings in School
Primary Program Descriptor
In Newfoundland and Labrador the Primary level includes Kindergarten to Grade 3.
The program at the Primary level supports the growth and development of the whole learner – intellectually, socially, emotionally, spiritually, and physically – while developing fundamental knowledge, skills, and values. Student achievement, at the Primary level, results from a combination of discrete and connected learning experiences.
Programming at the primary level is designed to maximize student learning while recognizing students’ learning characteristics in the developmental ages 4-8. These students:
- are developing foundational language skills
- learn by doing but may tire easily
- exhibit greater gross motor skill development than fine motor skills
- tend to interpret stimuli literally rather than figuratively
- exhibit varying degrees of control over emotions
- are beginning to learn independently
The Primary program:
- at the entry level, introduces young children to formal education
- is designed to encourage development of foundational knowledge, skills, and values in a variety of subject areas
- allows for integrated and discrete learning across subject areas
- encourages meaningful and appropriate curriculum connections
- is designed to be delivered in a language-rich environment
- is designed to use a play-based approach to enhance learning
- acknowledges the diverse range of experiences that young students bring to the formal school setting (e.g.,child care settings, and structured socialization activities)
Recommended Time Allotments
| Program | Percentage of Instructional Time |
| English Language Arts | 40 |
| Mathematics and Science | 30 |
| Visual Art, Health, Music, Physical Education, Religious Education, and Social Studies | 30 |
Note: It is difficult to specify time allotments as the program is delivered using an integrated curriculum approach (i.e. a single learning activity may be designed to meet curriculum outcomes in multiple curriculum areas).
Elementary Program Descriptor
In Newfoundland and Labrador the Elementary level includes grades 4 to 6.
During the elementary years, children begin their initiation into the world of adult reasoning, concepts, communication, and symbolism. They start to master tasks requiring purpose and endeavour. Elementary school students have wide interests, are eager for information, and enjoy acquiring skills.
Programming at the elementary level provides a stimulating and challenging environment for students. Classroom processes and procedures make it possible for new interests to appear and new purposes to emerge. Teaching practices that recognize students as thinking, doing, and feeling learners are essential to elementary school education.
The Elementary school program is designed to maximize student learning while recognizing students’ learning characteristics in the developmental ages 9-12. These students:
- develop an increased ability to think abstractly
- tend to place an increased importance on friends and peers relative to parents and caregivers
- become more aware of diversity in competence of their peers.
- tend to enjoy collecting things
- begin to judge their own ability
- become less egocentric
- show a growing awareness of issues outside their sphere of influence (e.g., pollution, poverty, war)
- improve their physical coordination
- choose suitable behaviours to avoid censure
- begin to develop an internal standard of right and wrong
- exhibit an emerging sense of self control and self-regulation
The Elementary curriculum:
- comprises the subject areas taught in the Primary curriculum and includes French
- is designed for students to learn in a variety of settings – individual, small group, whole class
- continues teaching students to read and features an emphasis on using reading to learn
- encourages increased writing skills
Recommended Time Allotments
| Program | Percentage of Instructional Time |
| Visual Art | 6 |
| English Language Arts | 24 |
| French | 10 |
| Health | 6 |
| Mathematics | 16 |
| Music | 6 |
| Physical Education | 6 |
| Religious Education | 8 |
| Science | 8 |
| Social Studies | 10 |
Intermediate Program Descriptor
In Newfoundland and Labrador the Intermediate level includes students from grades 7 to 9.
The Intermediate program is designed to maximize student learning while recognizing students’ learning characteristics in the young adolescent ages 12-15. These students:
- are more likely to engage in risk taking behaviours
- attribute an increased importance in social influences
- desire more autonomy in decision-making
- develop morality based on personal values
- experience rapid physical growth
- strive to identify themselves as independent of family
- tend to hold rigid, simplistic definitions for right and wrong
The Intermediate program:
- builds upon previous learnings in all disciplines
- fosters independent learning through applied skills
- includes further studies in all the core elementary subject areas
- is designed and presented as discrete disciplines
- is organized using subject-area specialists who work with students during regularly scheduled times
Recommended Time Allotments
| Program | Percentage of Instructional Time |
| Core French | 10 |
| English Language Arts | 20 |
| Health | 5 |
| Home Economics | 4 |
| Mathematics | 18 |
| Music and Visual Art | 5 |
| Physical Education | 6 |
| Religious Education | 8 |
| Social Studies | 10 |
| Science | 10 |
| Technology Education | 4 |
High School Program Descriptor
In Newfoundland and Labrador the High School level includes students from level I to III.
The High School program is designed to maximize student learning while recognizing students’ learning characteristics in the adolescent ages, usually 15-19. Further to providing essential skills in core subject areas, the curriculum provides opportunities for students to successfully plan their post-secondary endeavours. These students:
- engage in more sophisticated reflective processes
- experience an increased autonomy, especially with decision making
- develop an awareness of global community
- place great importance on the development of intimate relationships
- seek purpose and relevance in instructional activities
- think about future educational and vocational plans
The High School program:
- integrates knowledge within the disciplines
- offers a wide variety of courses to allow students to develop their natural interests
- prepares students to pursue post-secondary studies
- requires credits in a number of categories to graduate from High School
Note: Detailed information relating to course offerings at High School and graduation requirements is available in OnCourse – A Handbook for Grade 9 Students and Parents – 14th edition
Graduation Requirements
| Program | Number of Required Credits |
| Career Education | 2 |
| English Language Arts | 8 |
| Fine Arts | 2 |
| Mathematics | 4 |
| Physical Education | 2 |
| Social Studies | 4 |
| Science | 4 |
| Other Required Credits Selected from Core French, Enterprise Education, Family Studies, Religious Education, and Technology Education |
4 |
| Any Subject Area | 6 |
| TOTAL | 36 |
Note: Minimum Graduation Requirements are independent of entrance requirements for post-secondary schools. Students wishing to attend a post-secondary school must consult entrance requirements for the particular school.
French Immersion Program Descriptor
French immersion consists of programs and courses designed for English-speaking students in which French is the language of instruction and, as much as possible, the means of communication in the classroom. French immersion serves to achieve the Essential Graduation Learnings.
In Newfoundland and Labrador, two options in French immersion studies are available: Early French Immersion (EFI) and Late French Immersion (LFI).
EFI extends from Kindergarten to Level III with approximately 100 percent of instruction in French from Kindergarten to Grade 2. English Language Arts is introduced at Grade 3. As other subject areas in English are introduced in later grades, the recommended minimum percentage of instruction in French is maintained.
LFI extends from Grade 7 to Level III with approximately 75 percent of instruction in French in Grades 7 and 8. From Grade 9 to Level III the recommended minimum percentage of instruction in French is maintained.
Recommended Time Allotments
Early French immersion
| Recommended minimum percentage of time for French instruction: | |
| Kindergarten | 100 |
| Grade 1 | 100 |
| Grade 2 | 100 |
| Grade 3 | 80 |
| Grade 4 | 80 |
| Grade 5 | 70 |
| Grade 6 | 65 |
| Grade 7 | 30 |
| Grade 8 | 30 |
| Grade 9 | 30 |
| Level I | 30 |
| Level II | 30 |
| Level III | 30 |
Late French Immersion
| Recommended minimum percentage of time for French instruction: | |
| Grade 7 | 75 |
| Grade 8 | 75 |
| Grade 9 | 30 |
| Level I | 30 |
| Level II | 30 |
| Level III | 30 |
English as an Additional Language (EAL) Program Descriptor
The EAL program is intended for students who speak a language other than English at home and require English language instruction in order to successfully complete the prescribed curriculum. EAL instruction is determined according to the English proficiency level and other relevant aspects of the student’s learning profile. EAL instruction may take various forms, including direct language skills instruction and ongoing evaluation, in-class support, student monitoring, classroom/subject teacher consultation and/or initial language evaluation, as required.
The EAL curriculum consists of EAL courses at the junior high and high school levels. These courses are intended to support students’ English language development while they undertake prescribed curriculum courses.
Literacy Enrichment and Academic Readiness for Newcomers (LEARN) Program Descriptor
The LEARN program is intended for students with interrupted formal education, who have had no access to schooling for a period of over two years, due to refugee or migration experiences.
LEARN courses may be offered in intermediate schools and high schools. These courses are designed to support the development of students’ English language skills, academic skills and background/content knowledge in preparation for selected prescribed curriculum courses.
LEARN-1 consists of two courses: Language Arts and Mathematics. There is no time frame for these courses, but it is recommended that a students spend at least one hour per day on each of these subjects. At this rate, a student functioning at a K-1 level on entry into the program should complete LEARN-1 in two academic years.
LEARN-2 consists of four high school academic enabling courses in Language Arts, Mathematics, Social Studies and Science.