Britannia Secondary School
Britannia Community Secondary School | |
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Queen Victoria Annex | |
Website | britannia |
Britannia Community Secondary School is a
The school was founded in 1908 as the second high school to be constructed in the city, and is now the oldest remaining secondary school.
Situated in the
History
Britannia, the second high school to be constructed in Vancouver is now the oldest remaining secondary school. The first classes were held in the Admiral Seymour building in September, 1908. The school moved to the then partially completed Britannia building in 1910. The school colours of red, green, and white and the school motto "Per Vias Rectas", which means "straight forward", were adopted at this time.
In September 1955, the gymnasium and cafeteria were added to the 'old building'. It was also at this time that Grades 8 and 9 students were first admitted for enrolment. During the 1966-67 school year, a new wing was constructed providing additional
In 1974, Britannia Secondary became Britannia Elementary-Secondary School. The elementary section opened its doors on January 9, 1975 to 16 staff and 370 students making a combined student enrollment of approximately 1800. This was also the year of incorporation of the Britannia Community Center Society and the year that Britannia became a community school. Britannia celebrated its centennial in 2008. Britannia alumni assisted in the planning of the celebration.
Enriched courses
Britannia offers an International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme for grades 11–12 and a Venture program for grades 8–10. Britannia and Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School are the only two public secondary schools in Vancouver to offer the programme. The programme offers some course content which is at the first-year university level.
The Venture program, which is based on the mini school concept, prepares students intending to enter IB in grade 11 to gain leadership skills, develop teamwork and offers a more enriching educational experience than regular classes.
Alternative programs
Britannia offers many alternative programs including the Britannia Hockey Academy, which was the first sport-focused academy in the Vancouver school system, and is licensed by the Hockey Canada Skills Academy. Other alternative programs in Britannia are for some students with academic difficulty, and/or have a first nations heritage.
Facilities
Britannia Secondary is unique in having community centre facilities within the complex. The school is situated on a 16-hectare (40-acre) site. The Britannia Community Centre boasts an ice rink, swimming pool, several gyms, a weight room and fitness centre, and Britannia Secondary students often use these facilities in physical education classes and in extracurricular activities.
Britannia also has a library within the community centre that is a Vancouver Public Library. Despite this, britannia added a library to the third floor of the building and students are encouraged to use this instead of the public library. However, students can still use the public library if they have a library card.
Demographics
The Britannia student body comes from a catchment area that includes the neighbourhoods of
Alec MacInnes serves as principal, a position he has held since 2019, with Karen Blake and Krista Ediger as vice principals. The staff consists of 3 administrators, 53 full and part-time teachers and 26 support staff members. The school as an average class size of 22.9, which is lower than the district average class size of 24.8.
Athletics
Provincial championships | Provincial runners-up | ||
---|---|---|---|
Sport | Year(s) | Sport | Year(s) |
Sr Football | 1967 Tie | Sr Football | 1970,1971 |
Girls AA volleyball | 1969, 1970, 1971 | Boys AA basketball | 2009 |
Wrestling | 1975, 1976 1977, 1978 |
Girls AA basketball | 2011 |
Boys table tennis | 1982, 1983, 1984 1985, 1988, 1989 1991 |
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Girls table tennis | 1982, 1988, 1989 1990, 1991, 2015, 2017, 2019 | ||
Junior boys ultimate friesbee | 2006 | ||
Boys AA basketball | 2008, 2010 | ||
Girls AA basketball | 2012 |
Britannia is predominately an AA school in terms of athletics according to the BC School Sports. The school had a dominant football team in the 1970s, winning the Shrine Bowl Provincial Championships once, and being runners-up three times. In 1974, Britannia hosted their first basketball tournament called the Bruin Invitational Basketball Tournament. Since then, the tournament is hosted annually and it has been a great success to Britannia.
On March 8, 2008, The Britannia Senior Boys Basketball team won the British Columbia AA Provincial Basketball Tournament by beating the
On March 10, 2012, the Britannia Senior Girls Basketball team also made school history by capturing its first B.C. girls basketball title after a silver medal finish the year before in 2011. Britannia's senior girls team beat Lambrick Park 69-61 in the AA Provincial basketball final after a fourth quarter surge that saw the Bruins outscore the Pride 21-4. This tops an incredible feat that has 5 consecutive Britannia basketball teams medal at the AA Provincial Championships since 2008.
Britannia has teams for
.Notable alumni
Britannia has produced Premiers, Supreme Court Justices and philanthropists over its 102-year history. Notably, in the past three years, Britannia has produced two
Year of Graduation | Name | Description | |
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1930 | Tong Louie | noted businessman for the establishment of London Drugs (a retail chain of stores) and philanthropist and Order of Canada recipient | |
1939 | Barbara Howard | track and field athlete | |
1948 | Dave Barrett | former Premier of British Columbia | [4] |
unknown | Frank Iacobucci | former Supreme Court of Canada Justice | [5] |
1997 | Amber Hall | former Women's National Basketball Association player. | [6] |
1971 | Barry Houlihan | former BC Lions player | |
unknown | Angelo Branca | former Supreme Court of British Columbia judge |
References
- ^ "School Information".
- ^ "News and Stories Search".
- ^ Howard Tsumura (2008-03-20). "Britannia Bruins boys make B.C. hoops history". The Province. Archived from the original on 2008-10-27. Retrieved 2008-10-22.
- ^ Hawthorn, Tom (2018-02-03). "Dave Barrett: The Man Who Changed a Province". The Tyee. Retrieved 2020-04-26.
- ^ Canada, Supreme Court of (2001-01-01). "Supreme Court of Canada - Biography - Frank Iacobucci". www.scc-csc.ca. Retrieved 2020-04-26.
- ^ "Alumni". HOME OF THE BRITANNIA BRUINS. Retrieved 2020-04-26.
External links
- Britannia Secondary
- Vancouver School Board—Britannia Secondary
- History of Britannia Secondary
- Britannia Community Centre
- Britannia Centennial