What is CaPP? -- The official Stuff

Your parent(s) or guardian(s) will also want to read this.

CaPP stands for Career and Personal Planning. CaPP-Online 8 to 10 attempts to address the requirements of the Ministry of Education, Skills and Training's Education Instructional Plan.

Specifically, it:

• provides a context for implementation of the personal planning and Work Experience initiatives described in the plan,
• serves as a vehicle for instruction related to personal development topics in grades 8 to 10, and
• draws together work that students undertake in connection with career preparation programs, co-operative education, apprenticeship programs, mentorships, and other school-community partnerships.

Overall, CaPP 8 to 10 attempts to contribution to the development of students as well-rounded, balanced individuals. It complements the academic and vocationally-oriented courses that constitute much of the curriculum by focussing on students' personal development and on how their schooling and extra-curricular activities relate to their future plans and life after school.

The curriculum has been designed to help students prepare to deal with a world of complex, ongoing technological change, continuous challenge, expanding opportunities, and intricate social evolution. It is hoped that the learning opportunities here will help students become thoughtful, caring individuals who plan and reflect, make informed choices, and take responsibility for their personal and career development. The courses encourage students to show initiative and accountability in decision making and help them develop planning skills ranging from time management to self-assessment and from goal setting to locating and accessing sources of support and assistance. These skills apply to their work in every other subject area and to the activities they will undertake following graduation.

CaPP 8 to 10 helps students relate their learning in school to the demands of the working world and the expectations of society. It also provides opportunities for students to maintain, reinforce, and develop those skills, attitudes, and behaviours that will allow them to enhance their personal well-being throughout their lives.

Requirements and Graduation Credits

Career and Personal Planning 8 to 12 is an extension of the Personal Planning K to 7 curriculum. Over these 5 years it is expected that students will:

• develop and regularly maintain Student Learning Plans beginning in Grade 8, and
• complete 30 hours of Work Experience during their Grade 11 or Grade 12 years.

Students must complete the CaPP requirements in order to satisfy graduation requirements.

How is the course Organized?

In each of grades 8, 9 and 10 CaPP is organized into three broad areas:

• Planning Process
• Career Development
• Personal Development

Planning Process

This section of the course will help students to:

• plan and make decisions systematically;
• gather and record the information needed to make and carry out education, career, and personal plans; and
• put plans into effect, monitor and evaluate them, and make refinements as necessary.

Career Development

This organizer addresses learning associated with career-related skills, career possibilities, and the demands of the workplace. Career Development includes learning outcomes related to Work Experience as well as to the complementary theoretical learning associated with this area. Career Development is an ongoing cycle of awareness, exploration, and preparation. Through this cycle, students integrate personal, educational, work-related, and community learning experiences to prepare for future career choices.

The Career Development section has three sub-classes:

• Career Skills: Awareness to develop students' understanding and appreciation of personal characteristics and how these relate to potential careers;
• Career Exploration: to enable students to take advantage of community resources in order to relate their learning and skills to education, career, and personal roles in a changing world; and
• Career Preparation: to practise the academic, teamwork, and personal management skills needed to succeed in the workplace

Personal Development

Personal Development is designed to help students acquire the knowledge, attitudes, and skills needed to lead healthy and productive lives. The personal development section of the course is sub-divided into six major topics:

• Healthy Living: to encourage students to value and adopt balanced, healthy lifestyles;
• Mental Well-Being: to develop in students an appropriate sense of personal worth, potential, and autonomy as well as a sense of their relationships with others;
• Family Life Education: to develop students' understanding of the role of the family and students' capacity for responsible decision making in their personal relationships;
• Child Abuse Prevention: to develop in students the capacity to assess, prevent, and resolve abusive situations;
• Substance Abuse Prevention: to develop in students the ability to make responsible decisions regarding substance use as they develop healthy lifestyles; and
• Safety and Injury Prevention: to develop in students the ability to apply principles of safety to all aspects of their lives.

The Electronic Student Learning Plan

A key component of CaPP for grades 8 through 12 is the Electronic Student Learning Plan. For CaPP-Online this involves completing and updating an electronic form over the course of your three years of study. This form should include the following information:

• the student's name, the teacher's name, and the date of the version (since it is assumed that students will modify their SLP from time to time), the name of the school and the name(s) of the student's parent(s) are other identifying information that could be included;
• the student's list of people who constitute his or her support networks (personal, educational, career);
• a personal inventory summary that includes a listing of the student's
  • interests,
  • career-related values,
  • strengths,
  • accomplishments,
  • experience, and
  • skills;
• a record of short-term and long-term goals (personal, educational, career) that the student has set, plus information on the current status of those goals;
• a list of the Career and Personal Planning prescribed learning outcomes that the student has achieved for that grade;
• a list of the courses that the student intends to take in the coming year -- this should relate to the student's personal, educational, and career goals;
• provision for the student to make changes to the SLP, for the student's teacher-facilitator to make comments from time to time, and for the student's parents to sign course selection forms indicating that they approve the selection of courses for the next year. There should also be provision for the principal to sign the plan when the student's schooling is complete and she or he becomes eligible for a British Columbia School Completion Certificate.
• a student statement on each of the following topics, as a way of bringing closure to the planning process summarized in the SLP:
  • what I have learned about myself
  • my focus for the coming year (or term)

For more information on this topic, link to Student Learning Plan.

Students may not graduate from secondary school without a completed Student Learning Plan that is begun in Grade 8. Go to General Information Part II.