MOOSE JAW — A school in southwest Saskatchewan plans to discontinue offering Core French to elementary students and focus on other areas like reading, writing, student well-being and math.
Kincaid Central School — located southwest of Gravelbourg — submitted a letter to Prairie Â鶹ÊÓƵ School Division’s board office last spring seeking approval for the discontinuation of the language program. Division administration then presented that letter to trustees during their Sept. 3 board meeting, with the group unanimously approving the change for the 2024-25 academic year.
Shane Onraet, Kincaid Central’s principal, wrote that French-language instruction is optional in Saskatchewan schools, so staff and School Community Council members discussed the situation and agreed that eliminating the program was prudent.
The school has discussed Core French instruction for more than 20 years, with the school discontinuing face-to-face French for high school students in 2001-02 and for middle years’ youths in 2006-07, the letter said.
Teaching staff have considered discontinuing Core French for elementary students for several years, choosing to continue after each conversation. During this year’s conversation, there were several points that staff considered about whether they could offer the course.
One point was that while Core French teachers worked hard to present language instruction in engaging ways, students retained very little of those language skills, the letter said.
Secondly, the school community is becoming more diverse with various cultures and languages, with immigrant students struggling to become proficient English readers. Having to learn French adds to their challenges and affects their feelings of success in their learning.
Thirdly, the school has had two qualified French language teachers for several years, but one accepted a position outside the school division and left at the end of the 2023-24 year, the letter said. This left a high school math/science teacher to lead Core French classes, but her skills are needed in those other areas.
“This would leave Core French in the hands of teachers who do not have the skill base to adequately teach French-language content,” the letter noted.
Fewer educators to teach the language course means the school would have to combine more courses than in the past, including having triple and possibly quadruple grades in one French class.
“Discontinuing Core French will not solve the challenges of multi-grade classrooms but will help to alleviate some of the effect,” the letter continued.
Meanwhile, the school’s goals last year focused on reading, writing and student well-being, while this year, they will add instruction to address gaps in students’ math skills. This focus on math will benefit student learning and improve youths’ well-being by allowing teachers and students to better focus on these areas.
“We understand that we may have students wanting to continue to learn (the) French language. We have a teacher who would be willing to offer French Club as an extracurricular activity if there is interest from students,” Onraet said.
“We are also willing to explore forms of technology, which may be implemented independently or interactively in a group setting such as Rocket Languages, Duolingo and Rosetta Stone for example,” he continued, adding families can also take Core French through the Saskatchewan Distance Learning Corporation (SLDC).
The next PSSD board meeting is Tuesday, Oct. 8.
