CPF Hamilton has submitted a detailed response to the survey questions regarding the proposed grade 1 start for French Immersion in HWDSB. We present reasons for keeping the current SK start point and give several suggestions for alternatives. A big thanks to Rosalind Minaji for her hard work on this.
RE: Survey Response on Kindergarten Entry Point for French Immersion Students
Part A – About You:
Thank you for the opportunity to provide comments on the issue of moving the entry point of French Immersion (FI) from Kindergarten to Grade 1 effective September 2012. This submission is on behalf of Canadian Parents for French (CPF), a national organization of over 25,000 English-speaking members who support French as a second language education for Canadian children. CPF conducts education research at both the national and provincial stage and advocates at all levels of government for improvements and access to French Immersion programs.
CPF members in Hamilton-Wentworth have children at all FI sites, and in many grade levels of the program. Our members attended the three public consultation sessions in January, as well as the December 21st French Immersion Advisory Committee meeting. We also held our own workshop about the issue on January 10th. This submission does not speak on behalf of any particular school or parent, but it is reflective of the views of the organization and represents the larger public interest at stake in the FI community.
Part B – About the Entry Point Recommendation
Are you in favour of the French Immersion program changing to a Grade 1 start within HWDSB and why or why not?
Canadian Parents for French is not in favour of the proposed change, for the following reasons.
1. Effect on Program Quality
Hamilton’s FI students currently have the opportunity to develop their comprehension in a kindergarten environment based on the passive absorption of the language, before they move to a Grade One curriculum based on active use of language. Because younger children have a greater ability to learn a second language, the introduction of French Immersion in Senior Kindergarten is a model which produces stronger oral language skills. The extra 400 hours of instructional time gained during Senior Kindergarten will make a difference in student success with the Grade One curriculum.
2. Impact on future enrollment and Program sustainability
The proposed change will result in a disincentive to enroll in the French Immersion program and may lead to declining FI student numbers over time. As a single track school, Norwood Park will be most at risk since it will have no in-school kindergarten classes to draw from. Once children attend their neighbourhood schools for junior and senior kindergarten, they will establish routines and friendships that will be hard to break. It will therefore be difficult and inconvenient for parents to transfer Grade One students to the French Immersion School in their catchment area. The later introduction of French Immersion may also result in a loss of potential students to other School Boards. Francophone Boards offer full day, full French kindergarten and are actively working to increase their enrolment. Hamilton’s Catholic Board starts French Immersion at the kindergarten level and also offers door to door bussing.
The example of Peel Region has been provided to show that FI enrollment can increase after a change to a Grade One entry point. It should be noted however, that Peel Region has undergone a period of unprecedented population growth, requiring the construction of schools in newly developed areas and the opening of many new FI program sites. This population growth, coupled with significant promotional efforts by the Peel School Board, was responsible for much of the FI program growth.
Other school boards are facing the full day kindergarten dilemma and are finding solutions for French Immersion. Of the 54 Boards offering the FI program, 35 have an SK entry point. Last year the Toronto District School Board opened five new dual track school sites and this coming year will open five more. This technique splits catchment areas and ensures that schools contain a balance of Core English and French Immersion students. The Toronto Board is maintaining a 100% French instruction model from Senior Kindergarten until Grade 3
3. Full Day Kindergarten is a Board-wide Issue, not just a French Immersion Issue
Purpose built full day kindergarten classrooms may be required at schools across the city – not just at French Immersion sites. How many of these new classrooms will be required, and what will the final capital and operating costs of their implementation be? Are the 10 purpose built classrooms required to maintain the kindergarten FI program simply a drop in the funding bucket? Why is the Board considering such a significant change to a very successful FI program in the absence of a Board-wide analysis of total full day kindergarten implementation costs?
4. Other Accommodation Issues at FI schools
The proposed change to the FI entry point will reduce some population pressure, but it will not resolve the crowding at Norwood Park, Lawfield, Dundana, AM Cunningham and other FI schools. It is a makeshift solution, driven by immediate budgetary pressure rather than long-range thinking. There are other potential solutions to the issue which should be explored.
Alternative solutions to explore include:
· Open a middle and high school French Immersion site for students in Grades 6 to 12, at one of the mountain secondary schools slated for closure. This would free up space in Lawfield and Norwood Park for JK and SK students.
· Provide a 50% French model for SK students to allow for flexibility in the allocation of teachers and ECE staff, while maintaining current levels of French at the kindergarten level.
· Explore the potential of using elementary schools slated for closure, or schools with excess capacity to accommodate new FI program sites.
· Approach Mohawk College to open a French language Early Childhood Education program stream.
· Create an SK magnet site for French Immersion students at schools that do have space.
· Create a consolidated FI middle school site on the mountain to free up space at Norwood Park and Lawfield for kindergarten students.
· Explore potential capital cost savings through the construction of new buildings rather than building additions which can trigger Ontario Building Code mandated upgrades to the remainder of a school.
· Institute a cap on the number of SK classes at crowded French Immersion schools, so that families who register after the classes are full may end up in an English Kindergarten class and transfer to the French Immersion stream in Grade 1.
· Open more dual track French Immersion sites to relieve the pressure on the existing sites and free up Kindergarten space.
If the entry point into French Immersion were to change to Grade 1, how would this impact your decision to enroll your children in French Immersion within HWDSB?
Although this question attempts to predict the impact of the proposed change on future FI enrollment; it is very difficult to consult with the families who would be impacted by the change. Most of the parents at the public consultation sessions in January already had children in the FI program and were not faced with the above decision. Families considering kindergarten enrolment for 2012 are probably not aware of this consultation process. Families with even younger children may not even know that the FI program exists. However, as noted above, CPF does feel that there will be a negative impact on future FI enrollment if the entry point changes to Grade 1.
If the entry point into French Immersion was to change to Grade 1 within HWDSB, how could HWDSB assist you with this transition?
1. Additional communication funding should be provided to try to maintain Grade 1 enrollment at sustainable levels. Promotion of the FI Program should occur at all schools and daycare centres and should take place in both junior and senior kindergarten.
2. A generous out of catchment policy should be instituted for SK students who will be attending FI at a dual track school should kindergarten space be available.
3. An out of catchment policy should be instituted to allow JK and SK students to attend a school where older siblings are in the FI program.
4. Provide bussing to the FI school site from the student’s home school.
5. Provide drop off childcare at FI school sites to allow parents to manage different bell times at home schools and FI schools.
6. A long term accommodation strategy for FI should be created, with plans for expansion of the program into underserviced areas such as the south-west mountain, lower Stoney Creek and the Meadowlands.
7. Once Full Day Kindergarten is implemented, and overall enrollment at dual track schools has dropped, the Board should consider changing the FI entry point back to senior kindergarten.
Conclusion
CPF recommends that the Board maintain the current FI entry point for 2012/2013 school year in order to allow for additional evaluation and analysis of full day kindergarten accommodation issues and alternatives. Additional options should be explored with a final recommendation to the Board in the Fall of 2012. French Immersion is a growing program – instead of scaling it back, new opportunities and sites should be developed to ensure that all students can easily access it.
