Please be advised that the StudentTranscripts Service (STS) will be offline from Saturday, May 6 at 4:00 pm PST through Sunday, May 7 to support the go-live of the new Graduation Records and Achievement Data (GRAD) system. STS will be back online by or before Monday, May 8.
Friday May 5, 2023
Deputy Minister of Education and Child Care
Hi, everyone. To begin today, I’d like to acknowledge that this is the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and Two-Spirit People, also known as Red Dress Day. To honour this occasion, Kelli Paddon, the Parliamentary Secretary for Gender Equity, has issued a statement on Red Dress Day and provided links to additional supports and services for survivors and their families.
We have a number of other updates and information for you this week, including parent materials for the 2023/24 school year Reporting Policy to assist with explaining the changes coming in the next school year; information on how to join a webinar on the Indigenous Focused Graduation requirement; a reminder that June 2023 graduation assessment registrations are due June 1st; and information on a Farm to School conference that will bring food champions together to promote nutritious, local, and sustainable school food initiatives.
Finally, as we finish the first week of May, we’ve entered the time of year where climate-related weather events and emergencies can impact schools and communities across the province. We know these require significant preparation and response efforts, and we’d like to commend SD 74 – Gold Trail who are again supporting their communities, including Cache Creek, as they respond to significant flooding. We expect additional districts will need to respond to flooding-related warnings and evacuations in the days and weeks ahead, and would like to encourage the use of the Emergency Management Planning Guide for Schools, Districts and Authorities. We’re also working to develop additional tools that build on our learnings from the past few years, and expect to have these available to you soon.
Have a great weekend!
Christina
For Action
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Indigenous-Focused Graduation Requirement Information Session
Together with the BCPVPA, the Ministry and FNESC will be hosting a webinar about the new graduation requirement on Tuesday, May 30 at 3:45 pm PST via Zoom. This information session is open to principals, vice-principals, school counsellors and other district or school staff involved with student programming. Please register to receive a Zoom link for this session.
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June 2023 Graduation Assessment Registrations: Due June 1
Schools should submit registrations for the Grade 10 and Grade 12 June Graduation Assessments through a TRAX data transfer and confirm them on the Online Graduation Assessment Register that is open May 8 – June 1, 2023.
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2023/24 K-12 Student Reporting Policy Support Materials
Information for parents and caregivers regarding the changes to K-12 Student Reporting Policy are now available in 8 languages. The documents aim to help parents and caregivers understand the upcoming changes to the K-12 Student Reporting Policy, which will be implemented this fall for the 2023/24 school year. The complete information package can be found on the K-12 Student Reporting Policy Information for Families web page.
K-12 Student Reporting Policy implementation support materials for schools and districts have been updated to include a presentation that walks through the policy changes. This presentation can support local policy implementation conversations and professional learning for educators. The new material can be found on the K-12 Student Reporting Policy Information for Educators web page.
A public announcement on the K-12 Student Reporting Policy changes for the upcoming 2023/24 school year will be sent out by the Ministry next week on May 12, 2023. The announcement will highlight the existing policy implementation supports available for schools, educators, and families on the Ministry website as well as the upcoming webinars for teachers that will be released this school year.
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Contact Information Request Regarding the 2023/24 Nominal Roll Joint Verification Process: Due June 16
The Nominal Roll Joint Verification Process is a review conducted by First Nations and their local school districts, providing both parties an opportunity to meet and confirm that the information on the Nominal Roll is consistent with the district’s information (1701 – MyEdBC). All districts, not just those with Local Education Agreements or Nominal Roll students, must submit two contact names with titles, phone numbers and email addresses for the 2023/24 Nominal Roll Joint Verification Process. Please submit this information to the Ministry via SDFR@gov.bc.ca by June 16, 2023.
For Information
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WorkBC Career Trek Videos
WorkBC.ca has added nine new Career Trek videos to its collection. These videos feature diverse British Columbians describing their job duties, education, key skills and more. Visit WorkBC’s Career Trek web page to see these and more than 170 other career videos.
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Farm to School Provincial Conference: May 18-19
Farm to School BC will be hosting a Planting the Seed Conference at the University of British Columbia on May 18-19. This event will bring together food champions from across B.C. to promote nutritious, local, sustainable school food initiatives and will feature local field trips, keynote speakers, workshops and networking opportunities. Visit Farm to School BC Conference to learn more.
