Bruce-Grey Catholic District School Board marks significant gains in EQAO results

The Bruce-Grey Catholic District School Board has announced growth in student achievement, following the release of the 2024-25 Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) assessment results.

This year’s results are highlighted by an improvement in primary (Grade 3) literacy. The board achieved a 13.6 percentage-point increase in Grade 3 reading and a 7.8 percentage-point increase in Grade 3 writing compared to the previous year.

Additionally, Grade 6 students demonstrated continued excellence, with 89 per cent meeting provincial standards in reading (a 4.2-per-cent increase) and 85 per cent in writing. Remarkably, this high achievement was widespread: the majority of schools surpassed an 80-per-cent success rate in reading, and three schools celebrated a perfect 100-per-cent score in multiple literacy assessments

“These results tell a powerful story of dedication and focus,” said education director Karyn Bruneel. “Seeing double-digit growth in our primary reading scores is a direct reflection of the work of our educators and students, paired with the effectiveness of our evidence-based literacy strategies. When we focus on building strong foundations in the early years — in body, mind, and spirit — we set our students up for life-long success.”

The board attributes this sharp upward trajectory to a strategic focus on fundamental skills and student well-being. Over the past few years, the board has deepened its commitment to structured literacy approaches, ensuring that the youngest learners have the tools they need to read and write with confidence.

“The significant jump in our primary results validates our shift toward explicit instruction and universal screening,” said Mary Jane Hewitt, instructional consultant for literacy. “By identifying student needs early and providing targeted, systematic support, we are seeing our students not just improve, but reach their full potential”

In mathematics, the board continues to prioritize foundational numeracy. Grade 3 math scores saw a positive increase of nearly two percentage points, signalling that the focus on fact fluency and explicit instruction in the primary grades is beginning to yield positive returns.

“We are encouraged by the growth in our primary math results,” said Carrey Diemert, instructional consultant for mathematics. “We remain committed to supporting our educators with high-impact strategies to ensure this momentum carries through to our junior and intermediate grades. Although we recognize that there is still work to be done, we are seeing an overall upward trend for our math scores over the past three years despite being at the initial stages of our multi-tiered system of support math implementation. The use of this framework in literacy has yielded very positive results and we are committed to its implementation in math with a goal to achieve outcomes similar to what we are seeing in reading.”

The community views these results not as a finish line, but as a benchmark for continued growth.

“We are incredibly proud of our students and staff for these achievements,” said board chairperson Lori Di Castri. “To see such improvement in year-over-year results demonstrates that our Catholic schools are places where student achievement and well-being go hand-in-hand.”

EQAO Assessment Results: www.eqao.com/results.

Data Highlights:
 

• Grade 3 reading: 79% (Up 13.6% from previous year)
• Grade 3 writing: 62% (Up 7.8% from previous year)
• Grade 3 math: 59% (Up 2% from previous year)
• Grade 6 reading: 89% (Up 4.2% from previous year)
• School excellence: Six of 10 schools achieved 100% in at least one literacy category and 90% of schools achieved in the 80-100% range in Grade 6 literacy
• OSSLT (Literacy): 84% success rate for first-time eligible students