Prairie South School Division offers core French classes to students in grades 1 to 8 in six schools, but by next year, it will no longer offer that program at Lindale School.
Board trustees approved a motion during their Jan. 9 meeting to discontinue core French at that school effective September 2024, after principal Eric Campbell and vice-principal Dave Roney submitted a letter to the division with that request.
Trustee reaction
School representatives gave an in-camera presentation to the board and discussed several challenges they face with offering French, trustee Crystal Froese said. While the division offers this program in other schools, she was still sad about its removal from Lindale since Canada is a bilingual country and French is spoken in 30 countries worldwide.
She equated learning another language to learning music because it opens more doors for students and enhances their education. Yet, she understood that it was difficult to find French teachers who could offer a solid language education.
Letter’s content
Staff and school community council (SCC) members wanted the program removed because learning French is optional in Saskatchewan schools, the senior administrators wrote.
Teachers discussed removing the program during three meetings throughout 2023, with those conversations revealing:
- Teachers struggled to teach French effectively
- Elementary and middle years teachers’ instruction is not at the level the administrators expect from other subjects
- This regular instruction is similar to the French instruction the school provides during opening activities for primary grades
“The time used for teaching French is not growing the understanding of our students. It is not the most effective use of instructional time,” the letter said.
Meanwhile, French teachers are difficult to find since most work in French immersion schools like École Palliser Heights. Moreover, any Lindale families passionate about French-language instruction have already chosen to send their kids to Palliser.
The senior administrators noted that their school’s goals include reading, writing, math and student mental health and well-being, areas on which teachers all want to focus.
“The SCC discussed the potential removal of French language teaching off and on for the last couple of years. In January last year, we began discussing the pros and cons of these changes … ,” Alana Noble, SCC chair, said in the letter.
“After looking at our school learning data and considering our options, the entire SCC believes the removal of French would be a positive change for Lindale,” she added. “The parent data that was collected also shows that most families agree with this change.”
After obtaining support from teachers and the SCC, Lindale’s administrators sent a message to school families in October saying they intended to remove core French from programming, while they also shared an online link asking for input, the letter said.
By late November, 36 families had responded to the question, “Do you support removing French as a subject taught at Lindale?” Of the responses, 66.7 were in favour, 19.4 per cent were opposed and 13.9 per cent were indifferent.
Campbell and Roney also encouraged families to contact them with any concerns but did not receive any written or verbal inquiries.
The 30 to 60 minutes per week that teachers spend on teaching French will provide more time for classroom instruction and learning interventions in reading, writing and math, the letter said. This change also requires less overall planning for teachers, who can direct that time to more important areas.
With some students wanting to continue learning French, primary-grade teachers will include basic language and commands during opening activities, the letter added.
Also, the school has integrated some French-related counting, colours, food, greetings and calendar work into activities, while other events and resources can offer some language instruction in everyday learning.
The next PSSD board meeting is Tuesday, Feb. 6.
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