course-planning-grade-11-12.11839f35263

GRADE 11  GRADE 12
COURSE PLANNING
WITH YOUR COUNSELLOR, MS. CANCAR!
WHAT DO I NEED TO GRADUATE
with a dogwood diploma?
• 80 credits total (most courses are 4 credits each)
Hint: You need to pass the course to get the credits!
• 52 credits from the required grade 10-12 classes you will take,
including CLE 10, CLC 11/12, and PHE 10.
• 28 credits from all your electives
*You need to take 4 grade 12 level courses to graduate (this includes
your mandatory English 12 class)
**make sure you take at least one elective in Applied Skills if you are mostly taking
Fine Arts electives, or vice versa
HOW DO I KNOW HOW MANY CREDITS I
HAVE?
• You can look up your credits through the Ministry of BC site by signing up for a BCeID here
• Once you have your ID (which you will need in Grade 12 anyway, so might as well do it
now!), you can login and view your transcript (a list of all the courses you have passed that
you get credit for)
• you will also use this site in grade 12 to send your transcript to various PSIs when that
time comes in grade 12.
• Instructions on how to get signed up for your BCeID are also posted on under Guidance &
Support Course Planning tab on the school website!
• If you have taken a full course load in grades 10 & 11, and you plan on taking 6-7 courses
in grade 12, chances are you have enough credits to graduate- but check to be sure!
• If you are lost or confused about your credit total, please see me for help, as I can also
check how many credits you have.
DECIDING WHAT TO DO AFTER HIGH SCHOOL?
WORK TRAVEL
COLLEGE OR
TRADES/ UNIVERSITY
APPRENTICE-SHIP
PROGRAM
HOW SHOULD I DECIDE WHAT COURSES
TO TAKE NOW TO GET INTO POST-
SECONDARY LATER?
• Look at the admissions requirements NOW for the various post-secondary
institution (PSI) where you’re interested in going.
• See what courses they require you to have, and which ones are suggested, but
ultimately optional.
• Tupper Counselling website has easy links to all the major BC post-secondary
institutions.
• If you’re confused, see me and I’ll help put you in touch with an Admissions Advisor
at the PSI who can answer your PSI-specific questions, as they change yearly.
* IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE REQUIRED GRADE 11
AND 12 COURSES TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR ADMISSION INTO YOUR PREFERED PSI
PROGRAM- but you can always ask me for help in locating that info.
• Students wishing to pursue
university studies in STEM will
usually need to demonstrate high
grades in: Pre-Calculus Math 11, Pre-
Calculus Math 12, Calculus 12,
Chemistry 11, Physics 11, and
at least two Grade 12 sciences
(Anatomy and Physiology, Chem or
Physics 12)
WHAT ABOUT CAREER PROGRAMS
(TRADES/APPRENTICESHIP)?
• If you think you may be interested in trying out a trade or career program,
or simply want to learn more, you can chat with:
• me (generally)
• Mr. Evans (Tupper Tech)
• Chef. Regan (Chef program)
• Mark Reid or Allison Newton from VSB Career Programs are experts on all
the programs. mreid@vsb.bc.ca / anewton@vsb.bc.ca (all Career Programs)
*Application deadlines for many of next years’ programs are coming up on
March 1st. For more info and to look through the various programs in trades,
tech, and healthcare, visit their website.
SCHOLARSHIP REQUIREMENTS
• Currently, to be eligible for Tupper Scholarships, grade 12 students need to be
enrolled in seven classes at Tupper. If Covid school changes persist into next year,
we may look at making some changes to this. Currently, online classes do not
count.
• Grade 12 students will have the chance to apply for all Tupper Scholarships using
our Scholarship Application package around January 2022.
• The Scholarship Committee at Tupper is made up of Tupper staff members who

come together to look at student achievement to make decisions based on who is
the best fit for each scholarship. This committee also makes decisions in regard to
outside scholarships requiring school nominations.
• In addition to Tupper scholarships, many outside scholarships exist. Students

wishing to apply for scholarships should start to look in the summer of their grade
12 year- if not before- as many of the due dates for scholarships approach quite
quickly and usually require reference letters from staff or other community
members. It is recommended that students give referees a minimum of two weeks
to complete reference letters, so they are of the highest quality and give you the
best chance. I will post scholarship opportunities as they come in, on my school
WHAT IF I FAIL SOMETHING OR MAKE THE
WRONG CHOICE IN GRADE 12?
All is not lost! You have tons of options like:
• Summer school
• VLN or another accredited online school
• Repeating the course next year at Adult School
• Going to college first before university
• Choosing a different path, learning something about yourself you
maybe didn’t know, getting life experience…
*PLEASE remember that your life isn’t ruined if the path to your
preferred PSI, or even graduation, goes a little differently than you
thought it would. You have support!
HOW DO I DECIDE WHAT JOB OR CAREER
INTERESTS ME?
Talk to a mentor!
• Just like your CLC assignment on Mentorship says, talk to your
parents/caregivers and other adults in your life that you trust, admire, think
have interesting jobs- this includes your teachers too, as we are a collection of
adults with extremely varied pre-career experiences and educational
backgrounds!
• Ask possible mentors what path they took after graduation? How did that turn
out for them? What was their educational path? How did they pay for it? Did they
work during their PS schooling? And anything else you think would help you get
some ideas!
HOW ABOUT IF I WANT TO WORK OR
TRAVEL AFTER HIGH SCHOOL?
• Cool!
• And same as above, talk to trusted adult people in your life
about their experiences to help you decide if this is a good
idea for you.
• FYI, you can enter a PSI as a mature student (19+ years old)
AND NOW, ONTO ACTUALLY
CHOOSING YOUR COURSES…
• Start by checking out the Course Planning Book on the Tupper
Website. Make sure you look out for any new courses that might be
interesting to you- ex: Social Justice 12, Literature 12, Environmental
Science 11, etc.
• This year, you will complete a Teams Form and tell me your course
requests that way, and I will input them into MyEdBC myself so we
can avoid any errors.
• Be sure to list your alternate choices for courses as well. You have
priority for most courses as a grade 12 student, but some courses
might be too full or not running so you may need backups.
• This form will be available for 2 weeks, starting February 8th, and due
February 19th so please pre-plan by checking out what admission
criteria is for your desired PSI(s) BEFORE selecting your courses.
Here is the
link to the
TEAMS FORM
and a sneak
peak of what
it looks like.

I will also be
posting it on
Teams.
HOW DO I KNOW WHICH
COURSES
I NEED FOR NEXT YEAR?
• Review your transcripts
• Use the graduation calculator
worksheet I have posted on Teams
to calculate how many courses you
have left to complete.
• Then choose 1 or 2 more courses
than you need in case you fail one,
get sick, need to drop a course, or
can’t complete a course for another
reason.
Also consider that while you may be near 80 credits by
the end of grade 11, taking more courses than
necessary is a good idea for a few reasons:
-they’re free in high school so take advantage now and
experiment a bit!
-You may become interested in a subject or area by
taking an elective you didn’t ‘need’.
-Many PSIs are now using a ‘breadth’ approach to
looking at students’ educational histories, meaning that
the more varied your grade 11 & 12 courses are, the
more desirable a student you become to a college or
university.
-Currently, to be eligible for a Tupper Scholarships, you
must be enrolled as a full time student (7 classes) at
Tupper.
CAREER LIFE EDUCATION10 –
YOU MUST COMPLETE IT!!
• If you have not completed CLE10 by this summer, I will be

enrolling you in the class at Tupper in your grade 12 year.
*** This is a mandatory class for graduation, and one that if
left until the last minute, can prevent folks from graduating-
make sure this isn’t you!
HOW YOUR SCHEDULE IS MADE
• Once everyone’s courses are requested, we spend
months building the timetable.
• Factors that impact how the timetable
is made: number of people requesting a
course, teacher’s work schedules, room
availability, student support needs, and overall
operating school budget/ staffing. IT TAKES A LOT
OF WORK TO MAKE A SCHOOL TIMETABLE.
• NOTE- We are still unsure how COVID-19 or
Provincial Health Guidelines may impact next
year’s schedule, but we are carrying on with
course planning as best we can and will keep
everyone updated via our usual communications.
INFO ABOUT THE TIMETABLE
• Your course requests drive our entire timetable and the staffing
process for the following school year. The school gets
a limited amount of “blocks” to spend on courses
and must figure out how to meet everyone’s requirements with
that allotment. When not enough students sign up for an
elective course, it is at risk of being cancelled.
• Sometimes there can be staffing changes later in the year as a
result of timetabling.
• For these reasons, student schedules are not “set” until late in
the summer and we still work on fixes etc in the beginning of
the school year.
STAFFIN
G
• Can I choose my teachers?
No, we cannot accommodate requests to move your required classes
based on teacher preference. Elective classes requests are often a
combination of teacher preference and subject interest, and that’s
usually within your control!
• Can I be put into classes with my friends?
No, but in a regular school day, there are ample opportunities to
spend time with friends during the day, even if they’re not in your
class. It’s also good for you to make new friends and practice getting
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
• Can I take Literature Studies 12 or Creative Writing 12 instead
of English 12?
NO. But they are both excellent elective choices for you if you
are interested in English or the Arts. Speak to Ms Patterson (Lit)
or Ms Braun (Writing) about the courses for more info!
• Any other questions? Come to the course planning session on

Teams on February 11th from 6:15-7pm!
HELPFUL WEBSITES WE TALKED ABOUT
TODAY:
• https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/education-training/k-12/support/graduation
BC Grad Requirements.
• https://6839387.wixsite.com/website/college-application-guidance
Tupper Counselling Website with PSI admissions direct links.
• https://www.educationplannerbc.ca
Good for getting started with PSI searches, applications, information, & help.
• https://www.vsb.bc.ca/schools/sir-charles-tupper/Guidance-and-Support/Course-Planning/Documents/sbfile/2
10114/COURSE%20PLANNING%20BOOK%202021-2022%20v1(1).pdf
Tupper Website for the Course Planning Book 2020-2021.

• https://www.vsb.bc.ca/site/Career-Programs/Pages/Default.aspx
Career Programs @ VSB.
• https://www.vsb.bc.ca/schools/sir-charles-tupper/Guidance-and-Support/ScholarishipsOpportunies/Pages/defa
ult.aspx
WANT TO TALK MORE ABOUT
COURSE PLANNING?
• I will be holding an evening Q & A session on Teams February
11 at 6:15-7pm for all grade 11s and their families.
• Students AND parents/caregivers are welcome and
encouraged to attend together on Teams.
• Students can also drop by the Counselling Suite during flex
time or after school to chat.
• Or email your questions to mcancar@vsb.bc.ca and we can
go from there.
…yes, that is my cat, L

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GRADE 11  GRADE 12

• The Scholarship Committee at Tupper is made up of Tupper staff members who

• In addition to Tupper scholarships, many outside scholarships exist. Students

• If you have not completed CLE10 by this summer, I will be

• Any other questions? Come to the course planning session on

Tupper Website for the Course Planning Book 2020-2021.

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