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The Specialist High Skills Major (SHSM) is a ministry-approved specialized program that allows students to focus their learning on a specific economic sector while meeting the requirements for the Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD). This career-focused program is also designed to help prepare students to make the transition from secondary school to apprenticeship training, college, university, or the workplace. A SHSM enables students to gain sector-specific skills and knowledge in the context of engaging, career-related learning environments and helps them focus on graduation and on pursuing their chosen postsecondary goals. The SHSMs that students at St. Joan of Arc Secondary will undertake include Information and Communication Technology (Media Arts and Communication Technology), Hospitality and Tourism , and Arts and Culture (Visual and Performing Arts) (pending ministry approval). |
Key Benefits of a SHSM
Pursuing an SHSM enables students to:
· Customize their secondary school education to suit their interests and talents
· Develop specialized knowledge and skills
· Earn credits that postsecondary educational institutions and the sector recognize
· Gain sector-recognized certification and career-relevant training
· Develop Essential Skills and work habits documented through the Ontario Skills Passport
· Identify, explore and refine career goals and make informed decisions about their future
· Remain flexible, with the option to shift between pathways, should their goals and plans change
How Is A SHSM Recognized
Students who successfully complete an SHSM receive:
· an Ontario Secondary School Diploma with an embossed red seal
· an SHSM Record documenting his/her achievement
· formal recognition on his/her Ontario Student Transcript
Pursuing the Specialist High Skills Major–Information and Communications Technology enables students to:
• customize their secondary school education to suit their interests and talents while
• meeting the requirements for the OSSD;
• select a bundle of 9 required credits focused on sector-specific knowledge and skills
• that are:
• valued by the information and communications technology sector and postsecondary
• educational institutions;
• designed to help prepare students for a postsecondary opportunity of their choice
• in this economic sector;
• designed with the flexibility to allow students to shift between pathways (e.g.,
• switch from a pathway leading to college to an apprenticeship pathway) or to
• discontinue the SHSM program should their career plans change in Grade 11 or 12;
• provide evidence of achievement of the required components of the SHSM (e.g., sector recognized
• certifications) for prospective employers and postsecondary educational
• institutions;
• explore, identify, and refine career goals to make informed decisions about their
• postsecondary options;
• take part in “reach ahead” experiences that will help them gain confidence in their
• ability to be successful, refine skills and work habits, and make an informed choice
• about future careers and next steps;
• identify and develop Essential Skills and work habits that are required in the sector,
• using tools connected with the Ontario Skills Passport;
• access resources, equipment, and expertise that may not be available in their secondary school