Sutherland Secondary School Course Planning Guide
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
SUTHERLAND SECONDARY SCHOOL COURSE PLANNING GUIDE TABLE OF CONTENTS Principal’s Introduction Page 2 Course Selections Page 3 Career Programs and Planning Page 11 Art Page 14 Business Education Page 17 Drama Page 20 English Page 23 Home Economics Page 26 Information Technology Page 29 Mathematics Page 32 Modern Languages Page 36 Music Page 40 Physical Education Page 43 Science Page 46 Social Studies Page 50 Technology Education Page 54 Learning Services Page 58 Student Services Page 60 1 PRINCIPAL’S INTRODUCTION The course booklet is designed to provide students and their parents with the information required to make informed decisions with respect to academic programming for the upcoming year. My hope is that it will facilitate meaningful conversation to occur that will allow a student to determine a program of study that is intellectually engaging and allows for entrance into a post-secondary institution, but gives the student a balanced and realistic course load. At Sutherland, students are expected to be in full-time attendance with a complete schedule. Grade 12 students may request a study block if it will assist them in achieving their academic or extracurricular commitments. In my experience, students do best when they are actively engaged. Even many of our senior students struggle when only in a part-time program. At the junior grades, the selection process is dictated by core, mandatory courses with a few elective choices. Students have the opportunity to be exposed to a few of the options that will be available to them at the senior grades. In many cases, attendance becomes an issue for students enrolled in a part-time program. Starting in grade 10, students need to start to consider a number of potential pathways through to graduation. Most notably, a decision will need to be made with respect to the appropriate mathematics pathway to follow. In Grade 11 and 12, the majority of courses become elective options with a specific set of courses mandated by the Ministry in order to receive a Dogwood Diploma. Students need to think carefully about their goals after graduation and plan accordingly. Seeking the advice of a Counsellor would be extremely helpful. Moreover, opportunities to graduate with a Dogwood Diploma also exist through the school’s careers and apprenticeship programs. Students following this pathway may earn a first year of credit at a post-secondary institution such as BCIT or VCC. Choice and flexibility are part of the Graduation Program. Increasingly, parents and students need to consider the option of taking a course through distributed learning (DL). For a number of our students DL may be a viable option. I believe however, that there is still no better way to learn and be intellectually engaged than by taking a course in the classroom with a teacher. A student taking a course by DL must be prepared to work independently, be self-motivated, and have strong time management skills. Support for DL is through the DL teacher who may or may not be a teacher at Sutherland. Our timetable is developed based on student course requests. This means that we staff the school and create course sections based on the information we receive from students. This process allows us to create a schedule that suits the needs of the vast majority of our students, but it does not allow for any significant changes once the timetable is set. Please do not expect to be able to make a change to a schedule after the timetable is built in June. We are unable to guarantee that each course described in the booklet will be offered. Offering a course is dependent on enrollment and a student may need to take an alternate course to meet their program requirements. In closing, I hope each of our students has an excellent year and takes the opportunity to take advantage of the many outstanding courses and programs offered at Sutherland! Ray Bodnaruk, Principal 2 COURSE SELECTIONS ACADEMIC INFORMATION AND PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS GRADE EIGHT COURSES The Grade Eight program consists of nine (9) courses including Health and Career Education 8 FOUNDATION STUDIES SELECTED STUDIES (CHOOSE 2) 1. English 8 8. Elective 2. Social Studies 8 9. Elective 3. Mathematics 8 4. Science 8 5. Physical Education 8 6. French 8 7. HCE 8 (Integrated) GRADE NINE COURSES The Grade Nine program consists of nine (9) courses including Health and Career Education 9: FOUNDATION STUDIES SELECTED STUDIES (CHOOSE 3) 1. English 9 7. Elective (2nd language) 2. Social Studies 9 8. Elective 3. One Mathematics 9 course 9. Elective 4. Science 9 5. Physical Education 9 6. HCE 9 (Integrated) GRADE TEN COURSES The Grade Ten program consists of eight (8) courses including Planning 10: FOUNDATION STUDIES SELECTED STUDIES (CHOOSE 2) 1. English 10 (4 credits) 7. Elective (2nd language) (4 credits) 2. Social Studies 10 (4 credits) 8. Elective (4 credits) 3. One Mathematics 10 course (4 credits) 4. Science 10 (4 credits) 5. Physical Education 10 (4 credits) 6. Planning 10 (4 credits) 3 GRADE ELEVEN COURSES The Grade Eleven program consists of eight (8) courses: FOUNDATION STUDIES SELECTED STUDIES 1. English 11 or Communications 11 (4 credits) 5. Elective 11/12 (4 credits) 2. Social Studies 11 (4 credits) 6. Elective 11/12 (4 credits) 3. One Mathematics 11 course (4 credits) 7. Elective 11/12 (4 credits) 4. One Science 11 course (4 credits) 8. Elective 11/12 (4 credits) GRADE TWELVE COURSES The Grade Twelve program consists of seven (7) courses plus Graduation Transitions: FOUNDATION STUDIES SELECTED STUDIES 1. English 12 or Communications 12 (4 credits) 5. Elective 11/12 (4 credits) 2. Elective 12 (4 credits) 6. Elective 11/12 (4 credits) 3. Elective 12 (4 credits) 7. Elective 11/12 (4 credits) 4. Elective 12 (4 credits) 8. Graduation Transition Plan (4 credits) REQUIREMENTS FOR GRADUATION 80 credits over Grades 10, 11, 12 48 required credits: Language Arts 10 (4 credits) Science 11 or 12 (4 credits)* Language Arts 11 (4 credits)* Mathematics 10 (4 credits)* Language Arts 12 (4 credits)* Mathematics 11 or 12 (4 credits)* Social Studies 10 (4 credits) Physical Education 10 (4 credits) Social Studies 11, Canadian Civics 11 Fine Arts and/or Applied Skills 10, 11 Or BC First Nations Studies 12 (4 credits) or 12 (4 credits)* Science 10 (4 credits) Planning 10 (4 credits) Students must also: Earn 4 Graduation credits by providing documentation that they have met the following standards: - 80 hours of physical activity (in addition to PE 10 requirements) - A graduation transition plan that will help students set goals for post-secondary education or career pursuits - 30 hours of work experience or community service Complete a minimum of 28 elective credits. An unlimited number of credits from board or independent school authority-authorized or post-secondary electives may count toward graduation. A minimum of 16 credits from either ministry or board/authority-authorized or post-secondary courses are required at the Grade 12 level. Five Graduation Program Exams in Grades 10-12 are required for graduation, including a Grade 12 Language Arts exam. 4 PROVINCIAL EXAMINATIONS – GRADES 10, 11, 12 Students may access recent Provincial Government Examinations Exam results and information on the World Wide Web at http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/exams/ The Ministry of Education offers exam sessions in October, November, January, April, May, June, and August. At Sutherland exams sessions are January and June. Students enrolled in the following courses are required to write provincial examinations at the end of their course work: English 10, Apprenticeship and Workplace Math 10, Foundations of Math and Pre-Calculus 10, Science 10, Social Studies 11, Communications 12 & English 12. Students enrolled in provincially examinable courses at Sutherland are registered for the provincial exam that takes place at the end of the semester. If you are taking an On-line course you must inform your counsellor. For grades 10 and 11 provincial exams, the school mark is worth 80%, the exam mark 20%. For grade 12 provincial exams, the school mark is worth 60%, the exam mark 40%. Students are advised to pay close attention to the printed regulations on the above Ministry website, and the school with respect to examinations, schedules and locations. Provincial Exam dates cannot be changed to satisfy individual situations. Students wishing to try for higher marks may elect to rewrite provincial examinations at a subsequent sitting within one year of writing the first examination. If a student wishes to rewrite an examination more than once, he or she must repeat the course. It is the student’s responsibility to inform school administration of their intention to rewrite a provincial examination. LEARNING OUTSIDE OF SUTHERLAND SECONDARY SCHOOL The Ministry of Education recognizes that not all learning takes place within a BC secondary school. Processes are in place to evaluate outside learning in order to receive credit toward graduation. After examining documentation the school will decide whether a student will receive credit and whether to report a school percent and letter grade or a Transfer Standing (TS). TS has no negative or positive impact on a student’s Grade Point Average; and universities may require additional documentation. COURSE EQUIVALENCY Situations may involve students who have moved from another province or country, or who have credentials from an out-of-school program. When documentation can demonstrate that a student has successfully completed a course that matches approximately 80% of the prescribed learning outcomes of a Ministry Authorized senior secondary course, credit may be granted. 5 EXTERNAL GRADUATION COURSES The Ministry of Education will now be giving credit for a variety of External Courses.