GRADE 8 HONOURS COURSES
OFFERED AT BURNABY SOUTH
At Burnaby South, honours courses (or Pre-AP courses) begin at the Grade 8 level in the following subject areas:
•English
•Mathematics
•Science
•Social Studies
Burnaby South’s Honours courses are designed for students who:
•have high academic achievement
•are creative and innovative
•enjoy a challenge
•are keen and active participants in class
•have a positive learning attitude
In order to enter into Grade 8 honours courses, prospective students need to complete the Application Form for Grade 8 Honours courses. This can be obtained through your Grade 7 teacher (if the elementary school is part of the Burnaby South catchment area) or you can download the form from this website.
In addition to the Application form, the following table lists the Honours entrance requirements.
| Subject | Entrance requirements and information |
| English 8 Honours | • For admission into English 8 Honours, students should have demonstrated interest, ability, and willingness to be readers and writers. • Students will be selected from using recommendations made by Grade 7 teachers and the student's results from the English 8 Honours Entrance exam. • The English entrance exam will take place at Burnaby South on Tuesday, April 24, 2012 at 2:30 pm. The exam will be a writing response to a statement or prompt. The prompt will encourage the students to write a narrative response. Students will need to agree or disagree and give reasons. |
| Mathematics 8 Honours | • Students who wish to take Math 8 Honours should have demonstrated strong problem solving skills and a thorough understanding of the Math 7 curriculum. • Admission into Mathematics 8 Honours will be based on recommendations made by their Grade 7 teacher and on the student’s results from the Math 8 Honours entrance exam. • The Math entrance exam will take place at Burnaby South on Tuesday, April 24, 2012 at 12:30 pm. The exam will consist of material from the Grade 7 math curriculum and problem solving type contest questions similar to the Gauss math contest. Questions will be multiple choice & written response format. For more practice on the Gauss contest-type questions, view the web http://cemc.math.uwaterloo.ca/contests/gauss.html |
| Science 8 Honours | • For admission into Science 8 Honours, students should have demonstrated an interest in science topics and have general science skills and abilities of a typical Grade 7. • Admission into Science 8 Honours will be based on recommendations made by their Grade 7 teacher and from results of the Science 8 Honours Entrance exam. • The Science entrance exam will take place at Burnaby South on Tuesday, April 24, 2012 at 1:40 pm. The exam will consist of problems that apply logic and scientific concepts such as the scientific method. Students should also have an understanding of the metric system. |
| Social Studies 8 Honours | • For admission into Social Studies 8 Honours, students should have an interest in current affairs and world issues. They should also demonstrate strong literacy skills and possess a good work ethic. • Students will be selected from using recommendations made by Grade 7 teachers and the student's results from the Social Studies 8 Honours entrance exam. • The Social Studies 8 Honours entrance exam will take place at Burnaby South on Tuesday, April 24, 2012 at 3:05 pm. The exam will require students to read a passage of text and critically answer questions related to the text. As well, students should be familiar with some current events. |
Admission into Honours courses is very competitive. Last year, there were over 130 students who applied for one or more Grade 8 Honours course at Burnaby South. Despite a recommendation from their Grade 7 teacher, not all students will be admitted into Honours. A confirmation of acceptance into the specific Honours course will be provided in June after reviewing results of the placement tests and teacher recommendations.