2019 has been a year of continued growth in our French as a Second Language (FSL) programs. In addition to our Core French programs, KPDSB offers French Immersion programs at Valleyview Public School in Kenora, and at New Prospect Public School and Dryden High School in Dryden. At Beaver Brae Secondary School in Kenora, Extended French programming is now available in grades 7-12. These options provide students with the opportunity to select the language learning that works best for them.
In spring of 2019, twenty Grade 12 Core and French Immersion students participated in the Diplôme d’études en langue française (DELF) assessment, which provides language certification issued by the Republic of France through the French Ministry for National Education. We are extremely proud that 100% of participants successfully earned their diploma, and we expect to see this number double for the 2019-2020 school year. We are pleased to maintain our partnership with the DELF Centre so that we can continue to support our students with this internationally recognized initiative.
In addition to our students’ learning, we continue to provide professional learning opportunities for our FSL educators to further develop effective instructional practices, and a growing number of our teachers have become DELF certified. FSL instruction and professional learning are built around the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), which we continue to implement in classrooms. The CEFR is a proven framework and tool for French language instruction and an anchor to building student confidence. One of the characteristics of the CEFR, is the recognition that interactions matter, not just the grammatical aspect of language. The CEFR encourages a natural development of language and is based on student interest and authentic learning. This approach has also allowed educators to use experiential learning to enhance and maximize French language acquisition.
KPDSB has been fortunate to be able to offer state of the art professional learning to our educators with the continued support of distinguished guests to the board. These opportunities have included face-to-face professional learning sessions with the Registrar of the Ontario College of Teachers, Dr. Michael Salvatori, and renowned CEFR presenter Denis Cousineau. Both learning opportunities provided educators with instructional strategies based on research and current best practices. The school board also received funding to send French Immersion teachers to the conference of l’Association canadienne des professionnels de l’immersion (ACPI) in Quebec this fall where they were able to gain incredible learning to support programming in primary and junior divisions for our French Immersion schools.
Ongoing opportunities such as those described above help to foster the development of communities of learners in the classroom, the school and the board.
