The jump from Science 10 to Chemistry & Physics 11 has been a BIG one. I've asked some of the teachers about what availability they have to help and I was really impressed with what Ms Mak, Ms Han, and Ms Yaghmour were offering. I've posted it here and also put it outside my office door. Encourage the kids to go! This is great practice for building relationships with teachers when they get to post-secondary too.

The time has come for the annual Parent-Teacher Interviews. I've just this afternoon got the memo about how to sign up and I've attached it here in both photo and downloadable form. Key info:
1. Sessions will happen like last year with one afternoon session and one evening session.
2. Families can sign up for a maximum of 4 teachers at first, and then more will become available as spots permit closer to the date.
3. The event date is Thursday, November 7th and will happen in the cafeteria and auditorium, as per usual.

Every year many of the post-secondary institutions invite counsellors to come learn about their updated admission requirements, new programs, and tell us what's new and great. This year SFU (who presented last week) shared their slides that has a bunch of information about admission. I think it's really valuable, so I'm sharing it out here. It speaks to the importance of grade 11 marks, more so than ever starting next year. This is also in line with what UBC was saying when they presented the week before.

Not sure if they want this info out to everyone, but I always want to share good info with my students and families! Scroll through below or download the whole thing at the bottom of this post. Cheers.

In the 3+ years that I've been at Van Tech Secondary, I think this presentation has been the one that has grabbed the students the most. And just like two years ago, we're bringing back Darren Lore, more commonly known as "The White Hatter".

Whether you've seen him before or never before, come see him present! It's quite captivating and he'll be doing a special show we've set up just for parents. It's in the Van Tech auditorium! See the poster for details. And bring your phone!

Today before beginning our Orange Shirt Day (Residential Schools) assembly - an assembly the students were incredibly respectful and thoughtful with - I shared information on the wave of Post-Secondary opportunities we're bringing to Van Tech this year. Check out the info I shared on the slides below. We've got local post-secondaries coming to us, we're going to them, and opportunities galore.

In November we'll have local Non-University, Post-Secondary opportunities coming too.
In January, we'll start looking at VSB approved Trades programs with incredible incentives! Contact me for more info.

Students can challenge any of the following language exams (see list below) if they have a considerable knowledge in the area. Students who complete this process will receive the 4 credit version of the course and will be assigned a mark based on the one day assessment they complete. Please let me know if you have questions. We must submit all applications by November 1st.

Below the document is the application file should you be interested.

It gets said a lot these days, but there has never been a better time to be in trades. The money is great, there are lots of jobs, lots of benefits if you work with certain unions or companies, and the training between high school and post-secondary is excellent, pretty seamless, and free while a school student. I'll be sharing lots of information on these things as we move towards grade 12, but check this out too!

Hello Grade 11s! Welcome back to Tech for our fourth year. It's going to be awesome with opportunities for learning about post-secondary, being a part of clubs and sports, and getting ready for "the real world".

See everyone on Tuesday at 11am for our grade assembly.

Please also check out our VSB parent resource info below for students with Cantonese and Mandarin backgrounds.

​Cheers, Van.