OUR SCHOOL
TFS – Canada’s International School is a bilingual, coeducational and non-denominational independent school for students from age 2 to university entrance. From our earliest beginnings, we have provided our students with an outstanding educational experience - one that is unmatched in its rigorous and rich international and bilingual curriculum. No prior knowledge of French is required at TFS for students applying up to and including Grade 7. Our highly successful Introductory French Program gives students heightened instruction in the French language, while following the same curricula as their peers.
EDUCATIONAL APPROACH
TFS is renowned for its academics. The rigour of our curriculum — in which we teach the curricula of France and Ontario through the framework established by the IB programs — is unparalleled. Our graduates leave TFS with an education that is rich in challenge, diversity and opportunity, and they study in universities and pursue the programs of their choice.
While this focus on student achievement has always been central to who we are, our goal as a school is to develop students who are academically ambitious. What is academic ambition? In some ways in can be summed up through our motto: Individuals who reflect, citizens who act. Our motto emphasizes the responsibility of individuals to engage in reflection and lifelong learning so that they can develop the discernment needed in order to become active citizens who can make a positive impact in the world.
More specifically, our understanding of effective learning is based on the concept of academic ambition, which views learning as an ongoing journey of wonder and fascination, and the learner as an ethical and intellectually curious traveller in search of meaning.
LEARNING THROUGH ACADEMIC AMBITION
Learning based on the spirit of academic ambition is characterized by a number of attitudes and practices. For instance, our students pursue knowledge and understanding through deep inquiry. They develop critical thinking in order to better understand the complexity of the world and make wise choices. It is common for our students to question respectfully the status quo as a result of their deep understanding of causes and consequences in the local and global contexts. They communicate effectively in a variety of contexts, collaborating closely with others in the construction of meaning.
Our students embrace academic challenge through a model of trial and error and they tackle challenges with integrity, resilience and self-belief. They reflect constantly on learning so that steps for growth can be established, reviewed and updated. Ultimately, they continually strive for excellence and use their acquired knowledge, skills and dispositions to contribute to the betterment of humankind.
TFS is defined as being “une école exigeante” in the sense that we believe that our attitudes and practices as educators should model, enable and nurture academic ambition.
