Early Learning Initiatives

Q & A: PEN, Attendance, Reporting and Data Requirements

Requesting Personal Education Numbers (PEN) and collecting attendance information for children attending StrongStart BC Early Learning Program

Background:

On July 1, 2007, the provisions of the Student Achievement Enabling Act, Bill 20 came into effect. This Bill introduced a number of changes, including assigning personal education numbers or PENs to children participating in StrongStart BC Early Learning Programs.

The Ministry already assigns every school-age child with a personal education number (PEN). This personal education number forms the basis of the student’s educational record, from kindergarten to graduation, and on to post secondary programs.

With the new legislation, information may now be collected about children participating in StrongStart BC programs.

The following questions and answers should help schools as they adopt this new process.

Q1: Why do we need PENs for children participating in StrongStart BC Early Learning Programs?

PENs will allow school districts and the Ministry to understand uptake patterns in various programs across the province. In conjunction with other information, PENs can also help us to assess the short term and long term effectiveness of StrongStart BC on the educational achievement of these children. This data will assist school boards and the Ministry to make evidence-based decisions to assist in policy and program development. With data, we can argue the efficacy of a program.

Q2: What is the role of a Board of Education in requesting PENs for children participating in the programs?

Boards of Education should ensure each child attending a StrongStart BC program is assigned a Personal Education Number (PEN) as soon as possible. As children join the program throughout the year, PENs should be requested for each child.

Q3: What is the school’s role in requesting PENs?

Schools are required to request a personal education number from the Ministry for each child attending a StrongStart BC program. All PEN requests (and attendance information) must be submitted to the Ministry using BCeSIS.

Q4: What are the roles and responsibilities at the school level in requesting PENs?

Principals and StrongStart BC program Facilitators should discuss how they will collect enrolment and attendance information and request PENs. As this is a new process for some schools, staff in the school should support each other to accomplish these reporting requirements.

If the school does not have a PEN coordinator on site, StrongStart BC Facilitators may need to send the verified registration information to the school district office, for a PEN to be requested.

At each StrongStart BC early learning program, facilitators register children who attend. Facilitators provide parents/caregivers with the registration forms and explain the documentation required to register.

Some facilitators will also verify the registration information against the child’s valid ID (for more information about valid ID refer to Question 5). At other program, the school administration staff or district staff will verify the registration information. This registration information is used by schools in order to request a PEN.

Q5: What information is needed to request a PEN number from the Ministry of Education?

To be sure schools have all the information they need to request a PEN, the StrongStart BC early learning centre registration form must include the information listed below:

  • Legal surname
  • Legal given name
  • Legal middle name
  • Usual surname
  • Usual given name
  • Usual middle name
  • Birth date
  • Gender
  • Residential Postal Code

For verification purposes, parents are asked to present legal proof of this information at time of registration. Possible legal documents include:

  • Birth certificate
  • Permanent resident card
  • Certificate of citizenship
  • Documents issued by Immigration Canada
  • Aboriginal Status Cards
  • Canadian Passport/Visa
  • Other Vital Statistics documentation are acceptable as legal proof.

For more information about acceptable legal documentation, visit: Data Entry Guidelines and Acceptable Documentation

For a sample registration form, visit the StrongStart BC website: Pen Registration Form

Q6: What are other things schools need to know about PENs for StrongStart BC?

StrongStart BC programs will collect and submit PEN requests using the StrongStart BC program school code. The registration would occur only once, or only when a child first attends a program. You may find that a child already has PEN from another registration if parents use more than one centre or if families have moved during the pre-school years. Staff should do a “search” for a child before requesting a PEN.

PEN requests should be submitted to the Ministry of Education on a regular basis throughout the year. Using BCeSIS, these PEN requests will be processed automatically on a nightly basis.

Q7: Where do I find the StrongStart BC program school code?

Staff from the Early Learning Branch have sent out the StrongStart BC program school codes to District Early Learning  contacts. If you need more information, email the Ministry PEN coordinator at Pens.Coordinator@gov.bc.ca

Q8: Where can I get more information about PEN requests?

1. Visit PEN Web at www.bced.gov.bc.ca/pen.

2. For “Step by step instructions: How to use the PEN Web Application” visit: Personal Education Number (PEN) Web Application web page.

3. If you have any PEN related questions, please email: Pens.Coordinator@gov.bc.ca

Q9: StrongStart BC centres are also required to collect and submit attendance information to the Ministry for children attending centres. How do we do that?

As per the StrongStart BC policy, districts are required to collect enrolment and attendance information about the children attending the program. ALL districts must submit PEN requests and attendance information to the Ministry using BCeSIS.

Q10: What if my district or school is using BCeSIS?

A special “Early Learning Implementation Team” has been put together to assist districts/schools with their implementation of BCeSIS. As soon as possible, school districts using BCeSIS should decide what the best implementation option is for their StrongStart BC program. For more information about implementing BCeSIS to request PENs and submit attendance, click on the BCeSIS Frequently Asked Questions (PDF, 64 KB) document.

District contacts should visit the StrongStart BC Centres Learning Resource Centre custom view on the ISW for more information about BCeSIS training opportunities:

If you need more information about BCeSIS implementation and training, please contact your BCeSIS Level 1 contact or email: learning@isw-bc.ca.

Q11: What if my district or school is not using BCeSIS?

ALL districts must submit PEN requests and attendance information to the Ministry using BCeSIS. If your district is not using BCeSIS at this time and you wish to set up BCeSIS for your StrongStart BC program, please contact Eric Maitland (BCeSIS Implementation Manager) at Eric.Maitland@ca.fujitsu.com or call 250-708-2676.

Q12: School staff and facilitators are busy people. How often will they need to enter the data using BCeSIS?

Attendance data by child can be entered on a daily, monthly or bi-monthly basis, based on a schedule that enables it to be accurate for the following dates:

  • January 10 (attendance for September through December)
  • July 10 (attendance for January through June).