Administrators at Signal Hill Elementary School have made some last- minute changes to the school-day schedule after parents of late French immersion students raised concerns about the amount of language instruction their kids were actually going to get.
"I would like to recognize that our French Immersion planning has caused some concern for you and I would like to apologize for that," said principal Roberta Kubik in an email sent out to parents on Tuesday, Sept. 17 and shared with Pique by the school board. "I was not effective in communicating with you about this."
At issue was the amount of French language instruction that late French immersion students, who begin in Grade 5, receive at the school, with some parents voicing concern that the proposed level was tool low.
Parents of French immersion students raised concerns on social media and reached out out to Pique, but wouldn't comment on the record.
On its website, the B.C. Ministry of Education states that it "recommends that the first year of Late French Immersion programs be taught totally in French" and that courses taught in English should not "exceed 20 per cent of instruction time" in the second year of the program.
Signal Hill's original plan would have seen late French immersion students receive classes in French until lunch, and then "blended learning time" after that, meaning that only 62 per cent of the school day would be spent exclusively in French.
The school has since decided to scale back the amount of English instruction students will receive, with Kubik explaining that now "blended learning time" will be consigned to three afternoons a week (meaning two more additional afternoons of French).
Assistant Superintendent of School District 48 (SD48) Paul Lorette said the changes were meant to create opportunities for students in both streams of the school (French and English) to have more opportunities to learn alongside each other.
Lorette added that SD 48 administrators completed a routine review of its French programs a couple years ago and that it determined that French immersion could have the "unintended consequence" of being divisive to a student body.
This, he said, is especially true in small communities.
"When you have a group of children who are together, and then you have one group going into one classroom doing French immersion, and another group learning in English, that can have an impact on friendships," he said.
"So what happened was that the board asked the schools just to be mindful of that and to work on some strategies to minimize that sense of division between the two programs."
Signal Hill responded by offering some mixed classes last year, receiving positive input from French immersion students, who felt that it honoured the diversity of the school, said Lorette.
Under the new schedule, late French immersion students will now receive close to 80 per cent of their instruction in French, said Lorette.
Asked about the fact that students in their first year of the late French immersion program still won't receive the full 100 per cent of French instruction recommended by the province, Lorette said that it is important to understand that that figure is a recommendation, not a guideline, and the school board feels it is doing what is in the best interest of students.
Lorette added that he is confident that Signal Hill students will achieve the educational goals laid out by the ministry, noting that the Signal Hill's late French immersion students begin in Grade 5, whereas typically such programs start in Grade 6.
"The majority of time, the children are in their French immersion class and their instruction is in French," he said.
In a statement to Pique, Erica Hurtubise, co-chair of the Signal Hill Elementary parent advisory council (PAC) said that the PAC "recognizes and welcomes the efforts the school has made to reduce the divisive effects that the French Immersion program has been seen to have across all schools in the Sea to Sky District."
Parents who raised the issue declined comment.
