French Immersion

French Immersion

Flin Flon School Division has offered the French Immersion Program since 1984 for students from Flin Flon, Creighton, Denare Beach and the surrounding area. The program operates out of two schools in the Division and encompasses approximately 120 students.

École McIsaac School delivers Kindergarten to Grade 8 programming that involves up to 95 students per year. These students meet or exceed the 50 per cent programming guideline necessary for Bilingual Certificate status. Hapnot offers French as second language programming through conventional courses, as well as correspondence and video conferencing courses at the S1-S4 levels (Grades 9-12).

French Immersion is a program that is designed for families that do not speak French and is based on a universal immersion model. Qualified instructors deliver the program curriculum in an activity based, language oriented environment. Kindergarten students receive all regular classroom instruction in French. Beginning in Grade 1, students receive 1 to 1 ½ hours per day of English Language Arts instruction. Physical Education and Music are also taught in English. All other subjects are taught in French following the Manitoba curriculum so that students cover the same material whether learning in English or French.

The Division is also able to provide a French Language Support Monitor every second year through a grant arrangement with Patrimoine Canada and the Manitoba Government. Outside groups such as the Bureau de l’éducation française and French language theatre groups are involved regularly to help support and supplement the local program.

Immersion students also have the opportunity to strengthen their French language skills through activities such as the Festival du Voyageur trip to St. Boniface for Grades 7 and 8, the history based Batoche trip for Grades 5 and 6, and through high school French exchange programs with Quebec communities. Examples of other activities that increase French language skills include Le Party de Noël, the annual Sliding/Skiing Day, Freeze Frame workshops, the Boreal Film Festival, and La Course Stupéfiante! (the Amazing Race). In addition, a local French Summer Camp is offered every two to three years to maintain French language skills over the summer break.

To receive a provincial diploma in French Immersion, a minimum of 14 out of 30 S1-S4 credits must be obtained from courses taught in French. To meet this requirement, Flin Flon School Division is partnering with three other Divisions to deliver courses in French through an internet based, video conferencing network. The full requirements for a diploma in French Immersion are listed at: http://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/k12/policy/gradreq/grad_req-fi.pdf.

The French Immersion Program has strong community support through the Flin Flon Chapter of Canadian Parents for French (CPF). For more information on the mandate of this group please refer to their website at http://www.cpf.ca/ or call 204-687-7578 to receive information regarding the local Chapter.

The CPF - Flin Flon Chapter meets the second Monday of every month at École McIsaac School at 7:00 pm. Please refer to the École McIsaac School calendar for the current dates.