I hope that for all of you hoping to finish for the June deadline that you made it on time. I know it's been incredibly busy around here lately, so no doubt you've all been working hard. I wanted to email to pass along a timeline for those of you who have recently finished courses this month.

Situation 1 - VLN is your home school
You'll receive a final report card from the office soon. You can also always request one by emailing reports@vlns.ca This will signal that the mark is also in our database and that we're ready to send it to the Ministry of Education. The Ministry just emailed all BC schools yesterday to say that they cannot take marks at the current time because of upload challenges. We expect that at the start of July they will have worked out the bugs and we'll be able to upload all of our marks. This will be in the year-end batch that all schools do around the province. The ministry has said "Unofficial transcripts will not be updated gain until the release of June 2016 provincial exam results and final year-end transcripts on or before July 29th." If you're having any trouble giving evidence of your course completions as a result of this timeline please let me know. Anyone who graduated 

Situation 2 - Your home school is an independent school
Take your report card to your school and have them add the mark to your record. Only the home school can submit marks to the Ministry of Education on your behalf.

Situation 3 - Your home school is another public school
Once your course has been marked final the course will be added to the MyEd database. Your home school should be able to see the mark directly on their computers. You can ask your home school office staff or counsellor to verify this. When your home-school does a mark upload to the Ministry of Education (see notes on that in situation 1) they will be added.
​
​Remember: You can always check out your transcript online at https://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/exams/tsw/tsw/student/ and order transcripts here: http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/education-training/k-12/support/transcripts-and-certificates

I don't think anyone will be surprised to hear that year-end is coming up soon. I wanted to put out some reminders. I can't stress enough the importance of these 6 things, so please do read.
#1 - June 6th remains the day to have work in and exams done for courses in order to guarantee your marks make the school year-end report card at the end of the month. For those who are looking to graduate for the July window, this will be the cutoff date.
#2 - Students who have taken their classes for less than 12 months, have made significant and consistent progress, and would like more time there is the option to connect with their teacher by email and arrange for an extension. Please be mindful of how busy it is for our teachers right now. I would suggest contacting them for this request immediately. This would allow the student to continue into the summer. At 12 months a course will be dropped.
#3 - Book those exams fast! It's really busy right now in the testing rooms. Every day is "selling out" so to speak. Book yours early here: http://vlns.ca/courses/book-an-exam.
#4 - If you're sending marks to post-secondary institutions make sure you filled out the PSI report. That allows universities to get your FINAL grades once they're uploaded. This uses the same form as the PSI process, but will be used for final marks. The cutoff for that is the end of June. Link here: https://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/exams/tsw/tsw/student/
#5 - The Adult Grad fee DATE will be changing in September. This school year there was no charge if you were graduated and born after July 1st, 1996. Starting September, any class you're actively enrolled in (INCLUDING ones you're taking NOW), will use the July 1st, 1997 date so get your education while you can! :)
#6 - If you were thinking of adding another course we've got spring/summer versions that are designed to get people moving faster through them up at VLNS.ca right now for all of our most popular courses. They'll be the ones most actively monitored and marked by teachers during July and August.

​All newly admitted students are invited to join us on the Burnaby campus on Thursday May 26 from 6:00PM to 9:00PM for the 23rd annual Information Evening.

It’s a chance for students to connect with members of the SFU community to learn how to make the most of their university experience. Parents and Counsellors are also encouraged to attend.

More info available at:​
https://www.sfu.ca/students/counsellors/news/2016/information-evening-2016.html

I wanted to share some information with you around course extensions, my availability long term, and graduation timelines.

1. Course Extensions: If you are going to need time beyond June 6th to work on your course, and you've been registered in the course for less than 12 months, you can email your teacher (info generally being on the course site) with a message that says you're an adult and that you'd like to be extended into the summer session. If at the end of the summer session you're still working away and you're still under 12 months of time in the course you can ask to be extended into the following school year. The email to your teacher just needs to mention you're an adult student working with me who wants to continue into the summer.

2. Next Graduation date for diplomas: Just so you know the next date for graduation diplomas is July 1st. That means that there are no graduation diplomas being sent home between now and later July. We just got a batch today. I contacted a couple of you already about this.

3. VLN is reorganizing: In August/September VLN will be moving to Sir Charles Tupper, at King Ed & Fraser (not too far from here). As part of this reorganization many of us won't be moving with it and so my job at VLN is somewhat discontinued at the end of June. I say somewhat because I'm likely coming in for August to cover the counselling department, but would be away for July and beyond August. There will still be continued and uninterrupted service, but I mention this because the personal of the school will be changing fairly substantially. A new counsellor will be available to continue supporting you as well into September.
​
If you have any questions about this or anything let me know. Hope you're all doing well with your classes. Thanks, Nick.

1. Upload to the Ministry of Education - After countless error reports that needed to be dealt with as part of the new software we have to use our office staff has now successfully sent every mark to the ministry for our students. This means that if you were waiting for a mark to make it to your transcript AND YOU ARE A VLN HOME SCHOOL student it should be up there by Monday. If your home school is somewhere else then it still remains their responsibility to upload the marks of other schools such as ours. You can check your transcript by logging in here: https://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/exams/tsw/tsw/student/
Related... If you wrote an April provincial exam, those should be up as early as next Friday (April 29th) or in the week after.
2. PSIs have been sent to the ministry - I just emailed all of the requests for PSIs to the Ministry of Education to share with the post-secondaries you may have asked for. The ministry should be sharing those with your post-secondary institutions at the start of May. The PSI window is now closed.

If you're a graduating student of VLN who has completed their courses this school year or will be completing by June, and you're interested in going to the combined VLN and Adult Education graduation ceremony, a lovely event will be put together and held in your honour. It's more relaxed than many graduation ceremonies, but it still offers the respect that graduating should!
​
If you're interested in going, here's the details:
Date: May 27th, 2016 at 6:30pm
Place: John Oliver Secondary (41st and Fraser - where VLN is)
Cost: $10 to cover the gown rental
​*Please note, this is not an event with food.

If you're interested in going you need to email Nick van Iersel (nvaniersel@vsb.bc.ca) by April 15th. Pleas feel free to email Nick with any questions as well.

The counselling department has just sent out instructions to all of our school's teachers. PSIs are for any students who need progress sent to a university. It is done for grade 12 students and adults who are graduating.

If you are needing a mark sent to a university or post-secondary institution make sure you do two things before April 15th:
1. Go to the PSI website and sign yourself up if you haven't. Instructions are here: https://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/exams/trx_updates/pdf/psi_selections_instructions.pdf
2. Contact EACH course teacher you need a mark for BETWEEN April 1st and Aprill 15th with a request to have your mark shown PSI. You'll need to identify the class you're in and give them your PEN as well.
​
KEEP IN MIND: This does not apply to anyone who has already completed a course, such as those who were applying for UBC and SFU who already needed to have the whole course complete or if you're not a grade 12 or adult graduating

Deadline: April 30

WHAT DO I REPORT?
Final marks for grade 11 courses and interim or final marks for grade 12 courses. If you have a grade of TS (Transfer Standing), enter a grade of 50% for that course. Grades for online courses may be used for admission however the course must be 100% complete by April 30.

WHEN SHOULD I REPORT?
If you are studying on a semester system you should report marks as soon as you have some midterm marks for your second semester — usually around mid-March.  
If you are studying on a linear system, you should report marks at the end of Term 1. If you have not received an offer of admission once Term 2 marks become available you should self-report your Term 2 marks.

WHERE DO I REPORT? 
Log in to your student account using your student number as your computing ID. If you have difficulty logging in, please contact Registrar and Information Services at 778.782.6930.

Info taken from: https://www.sfu.ca/students/admission-requirements/applied/fall.html

And remember... Make sure you've completed your PSI.

If you're looking to write a provincial exam in the April window you should contact Mr. Rutley. I've included the information here.

We will be holding Provincial Exams in April as follows: 
Thursday April 7th 
9:00 English 12, Science 10, AWM10 and FMP10
12:00 English 10, Science 10, AWM10 and FMP10
Friday April 8th
9:00 SS11, Science 10, AWM10 and FMP10
​
Students who want to write should give their full legal names and PEN #’s to Mr. Rutley (jrutley@vsb.bc.ca) prior to April 6th. Students are expected to arrive 20 minutes prior to the exam with photo ID and their PEN#’s.

Upcoming 2016 Langara Information Sessions
Attend an information session to learn about the program admission requirement, and more. Website: http://langara.ca/news-and-events/information-sessions/index.html
​
Caribbean Field Studies February 18, 2016       
Social Service Worker February 22; March 14; April 18, 2016
Library & Information Technology February 24; March 24; April 19; May 25; June 21, 2016  
Publishing February 25; March 22; April 27, 2016   
Journalism March 23, 2016  
Bachelor of Science in Nursing March 24; May 26, 2016

Vancouver Police (VPD) 2016 Information Sessions
 Interested applicants for Police Officer, Jail Guard, Community Safety Officer, and Traffic Authority positions are invited to attend an information session with VPD's recruiting staff. Come and hear a brief overview of policing as a career and what is involved in the VPD's selection process. Please note these Information Sessions are not for the civilian and volunteer opportunities with the VPD.

Upcoming Sessions: March 12, April 9, May 14, June 11, July 9, August 13, September 10, October 8, November 12, December 10

APR 23/16 (Sat) - UBC Neuroscience Graduate Student Association 2016 Vancouver Brain Bee Competition
This is a wonderful opportunity for students in grades 9-12 to learn about the brain, come to UBC, and see what it's like to work or study there. The Vancouver Brain Bee motivates students to learn about the brain, captures their imaginations, and inspires them to pursue neuroscience careers in order to help treat and find cures for neurological and psychological disorders. This is a free event.

More information, frequently asked questions and the online registration form can be found at: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/2016-vancouver-brain-bee-tickets-21293444265?aff=erelexpmlt 

APR 20/16   VCC Info Night ~ Broadway Campus in Vancouver
VCC will showcase all 120 programs.  Location:  Broadway Campus from 4 until 7pm.  Bring your family and friends to explore your education and training options at VCC. Talk to instructors, students and advisors.  Learn about the 120 programs that VCC offers in the areas of: health sciences, design, music, business, hospitality and transportation trades.  Check out their high school and skills upgrading and first-year university transfer programs.  Tours and program-specific seminars will be available.  Apply for programs or courses on-site and VCC will waive the $35 application fee.  RSVP now to be entered into a draw for an iPad Mini.

​For more information visit:  http://www.vcc.ca/applying/apply-now/info-sessionstours/info-night/  http://www.vcc.ca

1. UBC's Self reporting portal is now open and will be until April 11th. Make sure you self-report your grades before then. https://ssc.adm.ubc.ca/sscportal/. Further info on self-reporting is available here: http://you.ubc.ca/admissions/canadian-highschools/bc-yukon-selfreporting/
2. SFU's deadlines is March 1st. I re-called and confirmed with Stephanie Miller this morning that on April 30th they need to be able to see your mark on the transcript for the end of April. This was why we have stuck all year with a more aggressive deadline date. Explanation of why is here: http://www.mrvan.org/news-items--info-blog/explanation-of-sfu-deadline-march-1st-vs-april-30th
3. SFU deadline for admissions and all scholarships is quickly approaching. Scholarships are Feb 28th, Beedie Business school is Feb 28th, and all other departments/faculties is March 31st. More info available here: http://www.sfu.ca/students/deadlines/admission_scholarships.html
4. SFU self-reporting deadline is April 30th. Click here to do that: https://www.sfu.ca/students/admission-requirements/applied.html
5. UVIC deadlines are approaching for entrance consideration. The application is due February 28th. Additional documents are required for their school of business on March 15th. Check out info on UVic entry here: http://www.uvic.ca/future-students/undergraduate/admissions/deadlines/
6. Kwantlen deadline for selective entry programs starting in the fall is March 1st. See information here: http://www.kpu.ca/admission/spring-summer2015/application-deadlines/canadian This excludes the Nursing program still being refined/updated. Monitor their site for info on that.
7. BCIT continues accepting on many of its programs. Some space is still available fo rfirst come first serve programs. Competitive entry programs vary in application date. Information for all programs can be found here: http://www.bcit.ca/study/

IF WE WIN, WE WILL HAVE A CELEBRATION FOR ALL PARTICIPANTS HERE AT THE SCHOOL.

WHO: Any VLN student in Grade 3 to Grade 12 (that’s you)  
 
WHAT: Make a marble-sorting machine*; VLN will provide the basic materials. You may bring tools like rulers or scissors.
(*Complete details are here.) 
 
WHERE: Room 117 at the VLN
(East Wing of John Oliver Secondary School, 530 E. 41st Avenue, Vancouver; enter at the back of the school, near the brown portable)
 
WHEN: Tuesday, February 23rd from 9:30 AM to 12:00 PM
Use the VLN Field Trip Form to get permission to participate. We would also appreciate it if you could bring a completed VLN Media Release Form.
 
WHY: Meet teachers! Meet other students! Fun! Snacks! More!
 
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP:  DEADLINE WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 17
 
ANY QUESTIONS? CONTACT MS. HORNG BY E-MAIL:  shorng@vsb.bc.ca

A graphic display for all post-secondary deadlines. Very helpful. Thanks to our counsellor Raquel Kolof for making it!

Concerning students applying to SFU
* Please note this only applies to an online course being used for competitive entry (a student’s four academic grade 12 classes).
 
As you may have noticed SFU and VLN post different deadlines for completing courses. SFU has advertised a completion date for Distance Learning (DL) courses of April 30th, 2016 on any competitive GPA course. VLN has instead used March 1st as the deadline for completion. The reason for this is in how marks are entered and uploaded. SFU wants all marks available to them on May 1st, so they’ve given a deadline that precedes it by a day. What students should know is that there are specific operations that must be complete in order for a mark to appear on a ministry transcript.
 

1. Students must finish the course and write any necessary final exam (this is the VLN deadline)
2. Final material is marked by the teacher
3. A final grade is given and uploaded by our system
4. These grades are entered into a shared database and report cards are created
5. Uploads of marks are made to the ministry, generally at pre-determined times by the student’s home school

 
It is the responsibility of the home school to upload the marks of all of its students, no matter where a course was taken. Because of this, we cannot guarantee that a mark will be uploaded by a given school outside of the mandatory upload periods for students. All schools will be uploading marks in the last week of March because second trimester report cards are ready and PSIs are coming. This is the last guaranteed opportunity for a mark to be uploaded to the ministry.
 
Marks MAY also be uploaded through the ministry when PSIs go out at the end of April, however; many schools don’t provide these to the ministry in the same way (they often use spreadsheets), so we cannot guarantee that marks from other schools (such as VLN courses) will make it to your transcript on that upload.
 
As a result, the only way we can guarantee a mark will be available on your transcript when SFU looks is by using the date of March 1st.

UBC Deadline of February 1st
Any student who has completed all of their work and written the final exam/provincial exam (if required) WILL meet the UBC deadline. The deadline is for students work, not for teachers to have work marked, nor for a mark to be entered into the ministry website. Once teachers have marked all work a final grade will be issued. Your home school will then upload these marks to the ministry and your transcript in their next upload period (see below).
 
When will I see my mark on my transcript
Students fall into three categories depending where their home school is.

1. Full-time VLN student – Your mark will be updated by VLN directly in our next ministry approved upload time through a program called TRAX. This is currently scheduled to happen around the middle of February for our school.
2. Public Schools in districts other than Delta, New Westminster, or VSB Continuing Ed – Your mark will be put into the computer system (MyEd) by VLN. The mark will then be uploaded by your home school, via TRAX. Semester schools will be uploading mid-February, linear schools will be uploading in March. PLEASE KNOW that both dates will still be fine for UBC.
3. Independent schools, as well as Delta, and New Westminster – Marks will be finalized, a report card will be generated for the student, and the student then takes the report card to their home school counsellor or records clerk to be entered. The home school is legally obligated to submit marks from other schools for any of their students. The timeline of their upload via TRAX to the ministry will be in accordance with their own timelines. Students can ask your home school when they are planning to do the next upload.

 
Interim report cards

1. Anyone applying with a self-reporting deadline from Ontario or Quebec should email their counsellor (http://vlns.ca/contact/staff-contact).
2. Anyone who wants an interim mark for other universities must have completed 50% of the course and have written one major test.

Reminder! The deadline to apply for Simon Fraser University's Major Entrance Scholarships is fast approaching.
Students must complete the online scholarship application by the January 31 deadline and submit all items required to complete both their admission and scholarship applications by the February 15 deadline.

More detail can be found on our "after you've applied" website.

If you have been asked to act as a reference you will find some useful information on our counsellors website: How to help your students with their Major Entrance Scholarship application.

For more information contact...
​
Heather Gawenda | Student Recruiter | Simon Fraser University
8888 University Drive | Burnaby, BC Canada V5A 1S6
Phone: 778.782.5334 Fax: 778.782.5399
Email: hgawenda@sfu.ca sfu.ca/futurestudents ​

University of Toronto and Queens University have changed their policy. We've updated our information sheet for students applying to post-secondary institutions (also copied below), but here's the summary.

Queens University - Contact your counsellor (me) AND your VLN teacher with a request to have your grades submitted to Queens by April 1st. Queens will require the school to send the marks to admission@queensu.ca which I can then do by the April 30th deadline - likely on/about April 15th once it's all clear to go.

University of Toronto:

• The University of Toronto requires you to submit documentation showing completed courses as well as those in progress by February 16, 2016.
• If you require a report card showing VLN courses in progress, please notify your teacher by February 1, 2016.
• The report card will be ready for you to pick up by February 10, 2016.
• If you would like the report card to be emailed to you, please contact your VLN counsellor (preferably in that February 1st to 10th window).

If you've got questions around any of the following, this is a grade document created by the ministry to help answer questions. Of course, I'm here as well if you have further questions.

Major Topics:
1. Provincial Exams and provincial exam marks
2. Transcripts
3. Receiving diplomas/dogwoods
4. PSIs

​Click HERE.

One of my colleagues was recently at a big event for a professional development day in November and raved about these programs. I thought I'd share the 3 page poster in case you're curious to get more information.

Check out the link HERE.

​Dear Students,

Lots of important information. Please read on when you have a few moments…

Patience around marks coming in. The ministry has asked most of the province (and right now it’s the Vancouver school district) to change the system we use to handle marks and student information. This process started 2 weeks ago, but it continues to be a transition, so there is some patience required.

REPORT CARDS - If you would like a copy of your  Term 1 report card, please email: reports@vlns.ca with your full legal name and Personal Education Number (PEN).

WINTER HOLIDAYS - VLN will be CLOSED from Dec 21 to Jan 3.

Letters from your counsellor: If you need a mark before the Christmas break please contact me and I can write a letter for a post-secondary institution. Please don’t contact me for a letter unless it’s an emergency with a mark for an immediate entry into post-secondary. No marks for post-secondary starts in September 2016 need to be in yet. That will all be taken care of with lots of time left.

Working over the holidays: You are welcome to work on your courses over the holidays but drop boxes may be closed and teachers will not be available to mark work or respond to questions until school reopens on Monday, Jan 4.

BOOKING EXAMS - Students wanting to take exams in January please book ASAP!!! January exam slots fill up fast due to UBC's Feb 1 deadline to complete online Gr 12 courses. http://vlns.ca/courses/book-an-exam

My website… Lots of post-secondary information is posted regularly. I recommend you check it out once every couple weeks. http://mrvancouver.weebly.com

If you have any questions, please contact me. Thanks!

UBC has come out with some Application Tips for navigating through their process. It's got practical information for applying to universities and post-secondaries as well. Check out the video, and also try visiting their site: http://you.ubc.ca/admissions/how-to-apply/ubcs-online-application/?utm_source=ezrecruit&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=awards-reminder#tips

Want to learn more about UBC's Engineering programs? Check out their open house on November 28th. See poster for details. Open to anyone!