Hockey Program

Grade 6, 7 and 8 Program Overview

Several years ago, the school collected data that strongly supported the development of a hockey skills program to complement and supplement core classes and physical education programming at Robert Andrews School.  Through a partnership with the Rural Municipality of East St. Paul, the River East Transcona School Division, and Robert Andrews School, the first step in the development of the Robert Andrews Hockey program was initiated in the fall of 2009 with the implementation of a Grade 9 option course called Hockey 11G.  The next stage in the development of the program added hockey skills classes in Grade 7 and Grade 8. In 2014, junior high schools in the division were changed to a true Middle Years configuration, adding Grade 6 students and moving Grade 9 students to the Senior Years schools.  Our program is modeled on the components of other Middle Years programs currently running in the province and is treated as an extension of the Physical Education program and outcomes.  Beginning 2021-2022, we will be encouraging those students who have no or minimal hockey or ringette experience to think about pursuing their interest in learning the game. The structures of our program are outlined below.

Timetable

In the 2021-2022 school year, the hockey class will utilize the time before school along with the first 20 minutes of the school day (our Opening Announcements and RAW time, before period 1) to provide a period of time on ice to teach movement and fitness outcomes, as well as hockey skills.  From October until March, when we have access to the arena, the class will be scheduled as one on-ice class per cycle, beginning at 8:10 am, to maximize the time on the ice and the efficient delivery of learning activities.  This means that students and parents will only have to transport hockey equipment to the school once per cycle.

Curriculum

As the hockey skills class is an extension of the physical education program, the regular physical education outcomes will be delivered with many of the movement and fitness outcomes being delivered on the ice. The hockey outcomes are directly linked and aligned with the five major physical education outcomes.  The development of the hockey fitness and skill outcomes will be a differentiated way of meeting all of the movement, personal safety, and fitness management outcomes of the regular physical education program. There will be sport-specific connections to the health and performance components of fitness.  The movement outcomes will be complemented and supported by the Hockey Canada skill development model.

Middle Years Philosophy

Our Hockey Program has been structured on sound Middle Years philosophy.   For example, the program has been developed based on the following characteristics of developmentally responsive middle schools:

• Students have had a meaningful voice in the development of the program
• The Hockey Program provides a high interest, high engagement environment that supports the diverse learning needs of all students
• The curriculum is challenging, integrative, and exploratory
• The program provides high-quality avenues and access to the development of health, wellness, and fitness

Program Delivery

The program will be planned and delivered by qualified teachers that include members of the school’s Physical Education Department and Grade 6, 7, and 8 Teaching Teams. 

Where appropriate, guest presenters will facilitate highly specialized on-ice outcomes.  Guest presenters may include High-Performance Level coaches.  As the hockey skills classes are an extension of the regular physical education class and timetable, the structure and integrity of grade-level mini-teams are preserved.

The program is open to all students in the school.  A process has been designed to fairly assign students to the hockey skills classes as it is possible that requests for the classes will outnumber the available spots.

For 2021-22, there will be an activity fee of $150 associated with the course.  The fee will be based on the recovery cost of the ice time, some basic equipment needed for the classes, and possibly honorariums for guest presenters/teachers.

Required Equipment

• Mouth Guard (must be worn at all times)
• Shoulder Pads
• Elbow Pads
• Hockey Gloves
• Hockey Pants
• Shin Pads
• Skates
•  Jock/Jill and Garter Belt
• Hockey Socks
• Practice Jersey
• A hockey bag to carry equipment 
• Stick

Each gender will have a separate change room. Due to our stringent time schedule, all students must be able to get fully dressed and undressed in 15 minutes or less. 

DOCUMENTS

Day 6 Parents ltr with schedule
Expectation Letter - Sept 2021 (1)
FAQs RAMS Hockey 2021