A Festival of French for Everyone!

Wednesday, February 29, 2012 6:30pm to 8:00pm
St Eugene Elementary School
120 Parkdale Avenue South, Hamilton
Ample parking, access from Queenston Road

A FREE extravaganza for all families of French Immersion students from Kindergarten to Grade Four
Children’s entertainment, tips & resources for parents,
French book sale

PARENT INFORMATION SESSIONS:
Tips and resources to help your child succeed in French Immersion:

• French Materials at the Hamilton Public Library
  Kathleen Shannon – Youth Services Librarian
• Helping with Homework when you don’t Speak French
  Christine Rees – FSL Consultant Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board
• Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR)
  Laura Hermans, PhD. –  Language Education Consultant
• French Resources and Activities outside of School
  Rosalind Minaji – CPF Hamilton

FRENCH BOOK SALE:
French materials for students: Usborne Books will provide a wide variety of engaging elementary French language material for sale including French dictionaries, nonfiction, fiction for younger readers, activity books, flashcards, and more. They will accept cash, Visa, and Mastercard. Preview the materials at: www.usborneonline.ca/denise

CHILDREN’S ENTERTAINMENT:
While parents are in the library, kids will be entertained in the gym by staff from Les Petites Pommes Camp and students from the McMaster University French Club. French language games and activities will keep them occupied while you learn.

Check out all the fun at our last Frenchapalooza here!

Get the word out to your school or community with this printable poster.

• Frenchapalooza Wed. Feb.29th
  • Parent Info Sessions: French Materials at the Hamilton Public Library, Helping with Homework When You Don’t Speak French, Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR), French Resources and Activities Outside of School
  • French Book Sale: provided by Usborne Books
  • Children’s Entertainment: provided by Les Petites Pommes
• CPF Ontario Fiction Contest
• Les Petites Pommes March Break Camp
• Public School Board French Immersion Update
  • Change to Starting Point for FI
  • Creation of New Single Track FI School in Binbrook
• CPF Hamilton on Facebook and Twitter

View the complete newsletter here.

Registration began yesterday morning at 9am and these spots are limited, so if you haven’t already registered, keep that in mind.

Schools offering FI SK in Fall 2012:

• A.M. Cunningham (4 classes)
• Earl Kitchener (3 classes)
• G.R. Allan (2 classes)
• Glen Echo (2 classes)
• Norwood Park (4 classes)

Schools not offering FI SK in Fall 2012:

• Dundana
• Fessenden (see letter here)
• Lawfield

Still undecided at this time:

• New single-track FI school at current Bellmoore site (information session for parents to be held March 22nd 2012)
• Guy Brown (decision to be made after June 15th  2012)

Be sure to read the letters pertaining to your particular school for complete details.

Post updated Feb.21, 2012

This means that FI SK will continue at those schools that can accommodate it  (without new portables, staffing, resources, or extra funding) until the end of June 2014. Beginning September 2014, the starting point for French Immersion for all schools in the board will be grade 1.

Director of Education John Malloy said the board would be meeting Tuesday to iron out details as to how this decision would be “operationalized”. There is a lot of work to be done to identify the criteria that determines which schools can accommodate FI SK this coming September and how the registration procedure will function.

More information to come as it is available.

Monday, January 30th at 6:30pm
Education Centre
100 Main Street West
Hamilton, ON L8N 3L1

The agenda has been posted on the board’s website and includes the results of the public consultation on both issues. French Immersion items begin on page 27.

Introducing a wide range of literacy resources for the elementary grades – Littératout.  A new website dedicated to providing quality French language resources for reading, writing and oral communication instruction.

All the resources on Littératout are downloadable; many are free while others are available at a very reasonable subscription cost.  Click here to visit their website.

Wednesday, January 25th at 7pm
Education Centre, Lower Auditorium
100 Main Street West
Hamilton, ON  L8N 3L1

Next Monday’s HWDSB Board meeting, where trustees will vote on the grade 1 start point for FI and the new single track FI school in Binbrook, is also open to the public:

Monday, January 30th at 6:30pm
Education Centre
100 Main Street West
Hamilton, ON L8N 3L1

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 21^st French Immersion Advisory Committee meeting. We also held our own workshop about the issue on January 10^th. 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.

All families located within the Lawfield French Immersion boundary are invited to complete the Single Track FI and Boundary Change Survey. This is regarding the proposed addition of a single track French Immersion school at the current Bellmoore School site located at 2121 Provincial Route 56, Binbrook, ON.

A reminder that the three public consultation meetings for FI school clusters begin tonight.

UPDATE: Apparently, according to EBASE, the questions “added” to the survey were not new. If they were not visible in the early days, it was a glitch – not intentional.

A written survey or written comments may also be sent by Canada Post to:
E-Best, 2nd Floor East – 100 Main Street West
Hamilton, ON  L8P 1H6
Attention: Research Officer

Three community meetingshave now been added to the HWDSB website. Attend to “hear more about the proposed change and have the opportunity to provide feedback”:

Cluster SOUTH – January 17, 2012 at 7:00 p.m. Barton Secondary School (75 Palmer Rd., Hamilton) – Auditorium

• Lawfield
• Norwood Park

Cluster NORTH – January 18, 2012 at 7:00 p.m. Glen Brae Elementary School (50 Secord Drive, Hamilton) – Library

• A.M. Cunningham
• Glen Brae
• Glen Echo

Cluster WEST – January 19, 2012 at 7:00 p.m. Ancaster High School (374 Jerseyville Rd. W., Ancaster) – Cafeteria

• Dalewood
• Dundana
• Earl Kitchener
• Fessenden
• George R. Allan
• Guy B. Brown
• Ryerson
• Westdale