Brief Update on New BC Curriculum

Parents/Guardians,

If you were able to attend our last PAC General Meeting on Apr 27, we touched a bit on the curriculum. The takeaway was that, within Dickens, the shift to the redesigned curriculum is a minor one vs other schools where the change may be more dramatic. 

Why? Because we are very fortunate to have a different methodology at Dickens than other schools and our staff are already doing several of the things that are now part of the new upcoming BC curriculum.

On behalf of parents, both Carol Duffy and I attended, together with Anna Maria Niccoli-Mullett, Nik Chiu and Erin Gibbs, the official VSB session regarding the redesigned curriculum last week Tuesday.

I wanted to share some info with you and a PDF presented at the meeting, and to draw your attention to a few key points - see the PDF link at: https://goo.gl/7VIKUI

This is the first time the province has involved teaching professionals and parents in the redesign of the curriculum - much feedback has been incorporated and has helped shape many areas.

• Slide #3 - Purpose of the revised curriculum - some good points here.
• Slide #5 - Concept based - important to understand its foundation.
• Slide #6 - Some good principles to follow which are guiding principles for this curriculum.
• Slide #7 - The Education Citizen - my favorite in the deck.
• Slide #8 - timeline for developement & implementation across K-10.
• Slide #9 - www.curriculum.gov.bc.ca - the key place for info to parents - review the "What's New" and "What's the Same" tabs - info here is updated regularly.
• Slide #13 - Core Competencies - key to understanding the curriculum.
• Slide #15 - Know, Do and Understand (KDU) - another key element to understanding.

Last but not least, PACs can invite the VSB participants conversant in the curriculum to speak at more hands on sessions to larger parent & guardian communities, e.g. at a PAC General Meeting in the fall, if you are interested. We'll keep you posted with updates here on the blog.

Sincerely,
Andrea Sinclair
Dickens PAC Chair