Education Minister Peter Fassbender toured the new Royal Bay Secondary construction site with Belmont Secondary school trades students who are working and learning on the job site.

Minister Fassbender was at Royal Bay to outline the significant progress made in the K-12 sector to re-engineer education and training since B.C.’s Skills for Jobs Blueprint was launched six months ago.

A major focus of the Skills for Jobs Blueprint is to give K-12 students an earlier head-start to hands-on learning, which will help keep more students engaged in their own learning and ready for the workforce or more advanced training when they graduate. This is also in keeping with the BC Education Plan, which aims to promote deeper learning and stronger core competencies by providing students across all disciplines with more opportunities to apply classroom knowledge to real world situations and projects.

Construction of Royal Bay Secondary is 90% complete, thanks in part to students like Carson Launder who landed a paid electrical apprenticeship with Glenco Electric. He got his start through Belmont’s residential carpentry program, one of many skills and trades pathways offered through the South Island Partnership between SD 62 and Camosun College.

Belmont students working at the Royal Bay site are currently enrolled in the Secondary School Apprenticeship (SSA) program. SSA allows students to gain paid work experience in their field while attending school and earning graduation credits. Many Belmont students were first exposed to the trades through SD 62’s Trades Awareness Skills and Knowledge (TASK) program, which allows students to explore a variety of trades including form work, framing, floor construction, roof construction, plumbing, sheet metal and electrical.

Through its recently created Skills Exploration 10-12 curriculum and resources, the Ministry of Education is actively working with school districts to encourage programs like SD 62’s TASK program, which provide a vital role in exposing students to skills and trades careers and putting them on a path to formal dual credit and apprenticeships programs like the Accelerated Credit Enrolment in Industry Training (ACE IT) program or the Secondary School Apprenticeship program.

Quotes:

Peter Fassbender, Minister of Education -

“Belmont students are taking the knowledge they learn in school and applying it to real world situations. That’s how you really learn. The greatest part about the new Royal Bay Secondary is not only that it’s built in part by students for students, but it clearly demonstrates how we’re looking to transform learning in B.C.”

Quick Facts:

• Over the next decade, 1 million job opening are expected in B.C. — more than 78% of these jobs will require some form of post-secondary education and 43% will in trades and technical occupations.
• Since launching BC’s Skills for Jobs Blueprint six months ago, the Ministry of Education has made significant progress on its goal to give students an earlier head-start to hands on learning, including the commitment to double the number of ACE-IT spaces to 5,000 over the next two years:
  • Agreements have been signed with 12 out of 12 school districts along the Northern/LNG corridor for student recruiters and co-ordinators, with particular focus on outreach to Aboriginal youth.
  • A second annual intake to the ACE-IT program was implemented starting this school year (2014-15).
  • School districts will receive $10.5 million in BC Education Plan funding for skills and reading.
  • The new Skills Exploration 10-12 curriculum and resources were completed and distributed to districts well in advance of the start of the 2014-15 school.
  • The Career and Skills Toolkit for school district career programs went live on Aug. 26, 2014.
  • Developed a list of vacant schools to potentially house skills and trades partnerships.
  • Implemented policy shifts required for graduation flexibility for skills courses.
  • Through the Teacher Regulation Branch, supported the BC Teachers Council in developing an options discussion paper on how to make it faster and easier for qualified (Red Seal) tradespersons to earn teaching certificates.
  • Delivered numerous presentations to partner organizations, including BC Association of Schools Business Officials, BC Confederation of Parent Advisory Councils, BC School Superintendents Association.

Royal Bay Secondary construction update:

• Slated to open September 2015.
• The new $40.8-million Royal Bay Secondary will accommodate up to 800 students from grades 9 to 12.
• It features a teaching kitchen, a 350-seat theatre, an asphalt rubber running track and a rooftop basketball court, as well as enhanced project spaces.
• Royal Bay also includes an expanded skills and trades area, with dedicated spaces for carpentry and rough wood, metal work and a STEM workshop (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics).

Belmont Secondary construction update:

• Slated to open September 2015.
• The new $53.9-million Belmont Secondary will accommodate up to 1,200 students from grades 9 to 12.
• The new Belmont Secondary will have three skills and trades shops, supporting their successful residential carpentry and cosmetology program, as well as space for SD 62’s Trades Awareness Skills and Knowledge (TASK) program.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/bcgovphotos/15651495641/player/

Learn More:

BC’s Skills for Jobs Blueprint: http://www.bcjobsplan.ca/getskills/

BC's Education Plan: http://www.bcedplan.ca/

Information on the new Belmont Secondary and Royal Bay Secondary: http://newschools.sd62.bc.ca/

Media Contacts:

Government Communications and Public Engagement
Ministry of Education
250 356-5963