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Thank you very much for the direction weltschmerz, almost missed on this one. we will be submitting the forms tomorrow, they have entrance exam on 18th and 25th.
We have a classe d'accueil type of thing at my kids' school but it only appears to be for part of the day a few times a week. They aren't in there full time.
What you are describing might be relevant to kindergarden-age children (in blue from the depliant from Comission scolaire de Montreal) - but that was not the case for 7-8-9-10-11-12 year olds.
Registration of non-Francophone children,
between the ages of 5 and 17, for measures
supporting the acquisition of proficiency
in French (abbreviated: SAF).
• SAF is available to non-Francophone
students registered for the first time in
Quebec’s French-language education system.
• Depending on available classroom space,
5 year old children may attend regular
kindergarten classes and receive integrated
SAF or, attend a SAF specific kindergarten
class.
• Students between the ages of 12 and 17
are eligible for SAF classes and, if needed,
services are provided to children who have
significant gaps in their schooling.
• Typically, the length of SAF studies is of
ten months. Nevertheless, this length may
depend on a student’s knowledge of French
or learning pace. If needed, students unable
to join regular classes within 10 months can
extend their time in SAF classes.
Mine were the kids who were heading for the second set of 10 months, at which point I said enough.
Jumbo's article is right - these are separate transition classes. If you put these students into regular classes, they would disrupt them by not understanding and with the teacher having to spend considerable time explaining with signs and body language.
Did you have any serious issues about your child being in such a class? Or was it a question for you of biting the bullet for a short time to get their French up to snuff?
It was the biting the bullet thing. I wanted to get them to learn French in the shortest time. Of course I had issues with the absence of regular subjects. I gave it a year. They didn't become fluent speakers in that time. Not sure if all the accueil classes are like this, or our school was somewhat weak. I lean towards thinking that it is the same everywhere. The teachers cannot force the language, there should be a measure of motivation from the students themselves. Mine apparently didn't have great motivation. The kids from impoverished countries have 200% motivation and speak in 6 months. But, it's not just about their country of origin. A woman from Bulgaria had severe problems with a 13-yo son, who was in an accueil in secondary. He was passively refusing to integrate, daydreaming and falsifying parents' signatures in his agenda. The woman learned about it only at the end of a year when the school suggested that he might need to be transferred to a special school (read, for mentally handicapped). It gets harder the older the children are.
Mine spent their 3rd and 5th grade in the accueil, that is, they missed all that 3rd and 5th Canadian graders do, and I had to look in the face of truth: they may spend 3 years in accueil in total, and yes they would be finally speaking, but at what cost. I think we reached the goal for 70% or so: they do understand French conversation around them. We function. At their bilingual school now, they are at par with their peers, be it "the English day" or "the French day". Had I enrolled them directly to this English bilingual school at grades 3 and 5, they would have been flailing in French.
It was the biting the bullet thing. I wanted to get them to learn French in the shortest time. Of course I had issues with the absence of regular subjects. I gave it a year. They didn't become fluent speakers in that time. Not sure if all the accueil classes are like this, or our school was somewhat weak. I lean towards thinking that it is the same everywhere. The teachers cannot force the language, there should be a measure of motivation from the students themselves. Mine apparently didn't have great motivation. The kids from impoverished countries have 200% motivation and speak in 6 months. But, it's not just about their country of origin. A woman from Bulgaria had severe problems with a 13-yo son, who was in an accueil in secondary. He was passively refusing to integrate, daydreaming and falsifying parents' signatures in his agenda. The woman learned about it only at the end of a year when the school suggested that he might need to be transferred to a special school (read, for mentally handicapped). It gets harder the older the children are.
Mine spent their 3rd and 5th grade in the accueil, that is, they missed all that 3rd and 5th Canadian graders do, and I had to look in the face of truth: they may spend 3 years in accueil in total, and yes they would be finally speaking, but at what cost. I think we reached the goal for 70% or so: they do understand French conversation around them. We function. At their bilingual school now, they are at par with their peers, be it "the English day" or "the French day". Had I enrolled them directly to this English bilingual school at grades 3 and 5, they would have been flailing in French.
You were in the Maritimes before, right? So they had gone to school in English before?
yes. I have a choice. People from other countries don't. They may spend 1-2-3 years in accueil.
This is going to sound blunter that it is meant, but nobody is forced to come here. It is a choice they make and they should be willing to live with that choice.
As for the classes d'accueil in French, well if you look at the countries of origin of immigrants, with few exceptions immigrant kids by and large are not arriving here already knowing school-level English, and so going through a classe d'accueil is the exact same thing and no harder than as going to ESL anywhere else in North America, the UK or Australia, or whatever such things are called in Sweden, Germany, Italy, Portugal, etc.
My wife visited Westmount high school yesterday and she was quite impressed with Advanced Placement program that school is having. All the best to your daughter for the entrance, is she going today or tomorrow? my daughter is at Villa Maria today for entrance. Not sure if she can crack it but at least she can get some experience. There is an entrance exam at Beurling academy on Nov 1st. I have found some online material for SSAT that is conducted for the schools across north america including Canadian provinces, sharing here with you.
Honestly, I just bought a book the other week, at Bureau en Gros, which is called Reussir au Examen au Secondaire (don't even know if it exists in English). We spent time on it here and
there. I am not at all sure if that is good enough or terribly not enough. That has been ALL our preparation. To add, my daughter didn't have any normal school subjects at all last year, having it spent just learning French. Soooo.... It's clear as mud. Well, she does all the math manipulations, but we don't know if it will be enough. The Villa Maria gave us booklets which state that no special preparation is necessary. Understandably, this whole exam preparation is a money-making business, too.
Mine will turn 12 in May, so she won't be significantly older, neither. But at least both Beurling and Westmount (and Villa Maria) are 30 min away from us, with a bus-metro change. The Nun's Island is a bit more pain in the neck.
I don't understand the dismal rankings, neither. After having experienced the open doors phenomena, I will be relying more on my gut feeling. Those highly placed on the ranking just didn't fit us at times to the point of skin crawl. Thanks for info on Westmount High, we'll go visit there, too.
We visited the Royal Vale school and came to know that sec 1 and 2 is in full 100 % French medium.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nuala
Royal Vale is 45 min away from us, that is becoming a bit excessive, in my opinion. It must be more than 1 hr away from you. The school is good, but the distance concerns me. I think further on, in Secondary 2 or 3, my daughter might be stronger to make her own choice.
/with private transportation that may be less of a problem.
AJ, they were in the accueil class - together with other newcomers to Canada. When I have a moment, I will find and post the comission scolaire explanation of this transitional class. The emphasis there is on the language: the students are from Albany, China, and other 150 countries. Of course the main order of the day is to teach them French, how can one talk about geography without the language?
Yes, they sit in the transitional class at any grade they have arrived in Canada. For some, it takes 2 or 3 years - and yes, no regular subjects all this time. They do have a bit of math, but since the ages are mixed in this class, the teacher takes the easier route: gives easier tasks. His main goal is to get these kids to speak French and send them off to a regular class.
After moving here from NY, my daughters started in grade 3 and Kindergarten at river-view immersion program. My elder one struggled all the time in french whereas younger has no issues at all because she started early. That is the reason I am looking for English program with french as SL for elder one where as for younger one I don't really have to worry much.
My wife visited Westmount high school yesterday and she was quite impressed with Advanced Placement program that school is having. All the best to your daughter for the entrance, is she going today or tomorrow? my daughter is at Villa Maria today for entrance. Not sure if she can crack it but at least she can get some experience. There is an entrance exam at Beurling academy on Nov 1st. I have found some online material for SSAT that is conducted for the schools across north america including Canadian provinces, sharing here with you.
Oh great, thank you. Good luck to your daughter. Mine will take the exam tomorrow. Also going there for the experience. We'll have some time to study with the help of these links this afternoon. I haven't scheduled a visit with Westmount High yet, your info sounds optimistic.
We are with the Montreal school board, so I didn't quite understand you mentioning receiving some forms - was it info about LB Pearson schools and dates for admissions? I started acting on my own for some reason, reading about high schools in Mtl and got to learn about all this happening a year in advance ! (Was surprised, too). My daughter haven't received any forms, I have to ask the school.
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