The Holy Trinity Catholic School Division feels they are still in a pretty good position, even though provincial assessments and testing have been cancelled for the year.

Director of Education Sean Chase explains some of the changes that are coming from the provincial level.

“Several of the large scale assessments, which includes Grades 1, 2 and 3 reading benchmarking, the early years' evaluation we do with Kindergarten students, some of the math and reading assessments that are administered provincially later in the year, there is no way to conduct those tests,” Chase said.

While the cancellation will leave some challenges for the school board, Chase is optimistic.

Holy Trinity recently got back scores for Grades 1, 2 and 3 reading levels for the second-term of assessments and the scores were much higher than anticipated.

Chase also pointed to the strong engagement level of students in the supplementary learning program during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“If we didn’t have that just over 80 per cent engagement rate with students right now it could be a little bit more of a cause for concern,” Chase said.

“But we know that our students and our staff and their families are working collaboratively right now to support those children’s learning.”

The division includes a pair of southwest elementary schools - All Saints Catholic School in Swift Current and Christ the King School in Shaunavon.