After months of discussions, planning and contract reviews, we’re delighted to announce that SelfDesign® Learning Community will be beginning the 2023–2024 learning year as a B.C. independent provincial online learning school (POLS).
The BC Ministry of Education and Child Care recently released its Online Learning BC hub, an online resource about the province’s K–12 provincial online learning schools. The hub lists the Ministry’s 37 approved provincial online learning schools, of which SelfDesign is one of 16 independent POLS, and provides information about these schools’ programs and courses.
Provincial online learning schools provide online learning services to kindergarten to grade 12 learners across B.C. Any online school in B.C. that isn’t a designated POLS can offer online programs and courses only to students residing within their school district.
“SelfDesign has learners in almost every school district in the province, so becoming a POLS was really important for us,” says Catherine Dinim, principal of SelfDesign Learning Community. “Without the designation, we may have been limited to serving learners from only one school district, which wouldn’t have worked for many of our learners and families nor for us as a school.”
What this change means for existing SelfDesign learners and families
SelfDesign Learning Community is the school of record for all of our enrolled learners, although we currently offer cross-enrolment for specialized courses at local or other schools for learners in grades 8 and higher as permitted under B.C.’s School Act. We also encourage learners looking for fun learning opportunities with SelfDesign to check out our HomeLearners Network offerings.
What this means for SelfDesign
Behind the scenes, however, the designation provides an additional degree of stability that allows us to plan even more effectively for the future.
“Come August, for the first time, SelfDesign will be operating under a three-year agreement with the Ministry,” says SelfDesign Learning Foundation President & CEO Amber Papou. “The longer contract provides us with assurance in funding and continuity. It’s also an opportunity to take what we have and to continue to grow — which is really, really wonderful.”
For the last 20 or so years, independent online schools in B.C., including SelfDesign, have had contracts with the Ministry that were renewed, and occasionally changed, from year to year.
Also behind the scenes, the change means SelfDesign Learning Community and all other POLS, both public and independent, will be evaluated by the Ministry under the same accountability and quality assessment framework.
“We’ll still have inspections and monitoring visits,” Catherine says. In the past, SelfDesign has undergone alternating Ministry inspections and monitoring visits to examine and evaluate our program in a two-year cycle.
“Beginning in the new learning year, the accountability and quality assurance framework that supports us will apply to both independent POLS, which — like us — are used to having an annual inspection, and public POLS, which typically have been inspected less frequently,” Catherine says.
As we transition to the Province’s new model for online learning, Catherine says, “We’ll be looking at how we can provide opportunities to B.C. learners while also maintaining our approach and commitment to our core philosophy, beliefs and values. Our philosophy and approach are the foundation of everything we do and all the offerings we develop and provide. They define us and determine what we do and the way we do it. They’re what makes us SelfDesign, and that’s something we’ll always want to hold onto.”
Read more about our application to become an independent POLS>
Read more about SelfDesign’s philosophy and approach to learning>
Find out more about enrolling your child in SelfDesign Learning Community>
