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French immersion comes to Simcoe Composite

Program starts in fall of 2020

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Haldimand and Norfolk students will be able to attend French immersion high school classes for the first time starting next September.

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Simcoe Composite School will be welcoming its first official class of French immersion students in the fall of 2020.

Principal John Della Fortuna along with teachers Joanne Defreyne and Rheal Pelland are preparing for the incoming cohort of students.

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Pelland has been attending the dual track schools across the counties to meet and interact with  the future Grade 9 students.

“I’m meeting the kids, speaking with them in French, seeing what their abilities are,” said Pelland. “Some of them are already ready for next year.”

Linda De Vos, a superintendent of education at Grand Erie District School Board, leads the French immersion program at the schools.

“We really believe in being able to offer opportunities,” said De Vos. “The families that began the dual track call themselves the pioneers of French immersion in the counties, and that is so true. We want to be able to give them the opportunity to continue that education right through to Grade 12.”

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Some of the factors that the board had to consider when selecting which high school would be chosen for the program were amount of space, how many students would be joining the school each year, French teacher qualifications, and location in terms of travel time for the future students.

“Where better to be than Simcoe Composite School,” said Della Fortuna. “We have world class amenities here that are going to lead to a great program.”

“I have been pushing this to the previous two principals as well,” said Defreyne. “Knowing that this was going to happen, and we didn’t want to lose these kids to another board or to Brantford. These are our kids and we want them to have the ability to continue their French studies in the area.”

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The students preparing to head to SCS have been in a dual track French immersion program for 10 years. Each year the program has implemented another grade of French immersion working its way up from junior kindergarten to Grade 8. Now, the high school implementation from Grade 9 to 12 will take place over the next four years.

“I’m excited to see what it looks like in four years. It’s going to change our school,” said Pelland.

The elementary schools in the two counties included in the dual track program are Walsh Public School, Lakewood Elementary School, Caledonia Centennial Public School, and River Heights Public School.

To graduate with a certificate in French immersion at the secondary level, students need to accumulate 10 credits in French. Four are for French as a Second Language courses, and six are for other subjects in which French is the language of instruction. These 10 courses are spread out across the four years of high school, and taken alongside courses taught in English to complete their full 30 credits.

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During the program students will have the opportunity to take a test to receive a language certificate regulated by the Ministry of Education in France that proves they have the comprehension, writing, listening, and speaking skills of a bilingual citizen. The official title of the diploma is Diplôme d’études en langue française.

“In a program like French immersion you need to know that you’re going to be supported,” said Della Fortuna. “I have full confidence that our staff will be able to deliver that support for those kids.”

Students entering Grade 9 interested in the program that did not take dual track in elementary school are able to take a proficiency test to see if they are at the level to enter the program.

astaylor@postmedia.com

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