Lord Tennyson Elementary PAC - Home of the Tigers
  • Home
  • About the School
    • Key Contacts
    • Calendar & Hours
    • The New School >
      • New Playground
      • Seismic Upgrade
      • New School Out-of-School Care
    • History & Archive >
      • Archive
  • Info for Families
    • COVID-19 Resource Centre
    • Before/After School Care
    • Calling in Sick & Student Health >
      • Fruit and Veg Program
      • Head Lice
    • Lost & Found
    • Hot lunch program
    • Noon Hour Programs
    • PIE (Partners for Inclusive Education)
    • Helpful Websites
  • Tiger Spirit
    • Tiger Spirit at School
    • Clubs
    • Sports >
      • Cross Country Club
      • Track and Field Club
      • Volleyball
    • Whole School Events >
      • Welcome Back BBQ
      • Virtual Halloween Howl 2020 >
        • Virtual Halloween Howl Pics - Div 1
        • Virtual Halloween Howl Pics - Div 5
        • Virtual Halloween Howl Pics - Div 8
        • Virtual Halloween Howl Pics - Div 9
        • Virtual Halloween Howl Pics - Div 11
        • Virtual Halloween Howl Pics - Div 12
        • Virtual Halloween Howl Pics - Div 15
        • Virtual Halloween Howl Pics - Div 16
      • Winterfest
      • Spring Fling
      • Sports Day
    • Quebec Trips >
      • Quebec 2023
      • Quebec 2022
      • Quebec 2021
      • Quebec Futures Fund
    • Tenny Logos
  • Tennyson PAC
    • About the PAC
    • Get involved
    • Meetings, Minutes, Bursaries, Forms
    • Fundraising & Donations >
      • Kick-Start Campaign
    • Parent Education Speakers
    • The District PAC (DPAC)
    • Sign-up fo PAC email
  • Div List / Class Websites
    • Division List (all classes)
    • Div 6 (M Raphael)
    • Div 7 (Mme Kulokas & Mme Jennifer)
    • Div 8 (Mme Emilie)
    • Info for Teachers
  • News Blog
  • About the PAC

Message from DPAC

2/6/2018

0 Comments

 
Dear PACs,
VSB is currently undergoing a French Immersion Program Review. As part of the review process, DPAC has been asked to 1) send up to 5 interested parents to be part of the Working Group (details in the attached pdf document; contact secretary@vancouverdpac.org if interested) and 2) to ensure the representative we include on the Working Group can represent our diverse membership.  
We have been asked to be inclusive of the array of perspectives within the VSB parent community. This means we want to hear from parents who are currently part of a French Immersion PAC and the diverse reasons they chose to be there. We also want to hear from members of non-French Immersion PACs, especially from those members whose children left or were denied entry to the FI program or have strong feelings about choice programs and/or their impact on regular stream.
There are a couple ways to share your input. We are arranging an input session on Saturday, February 10th most likely from 10am-noon for interested parents to discuss the attached meeting summary with the DPAC representatives on the Working Group. Realizing that this is not an ideal time for many, we would also love to receive written input … ideally before the 10th, otherwise before the next Working Group meeting on February 15th.
The following two questions are the primary action items from the last Working Group Session. More information is attached in the Draft Meeting Summary and the powerpoint slide files.
An update with the time and location of the Saturday, February 10th meeting should be sent on or by Tuesday, February 6th.
Please share this email with members of your PAC. Group and individual responses are welcome.
Cheers,
Amanda


  1. Guiding Principles/ Measures of success for a successful French Immersion Program
The Working Group discussed guiding principles for our review of the French Immersion Program.  This focus of this discussion evolved into an exploration of measures of success for a successful French Immersion Program.  Participants acknowledged that the current issues facing the VSB French Immersion Program require that measures of success continue to be top of mind.
Once completed, these measures of success will serve as an ongoing reference point for the program review.  Keeping these measures of success top of mind will assist the Working Group in its deliberations and in communicating its work to the broader community, and will assist the VSB in making trade-offs during decision-making.
Potential measures of success include:
  1. Student-centred focus
  2. Family friendly
    • Mindful of driving, commutes, sibling right, etc.
  3. Access
    • Geographic distribution of the program (location of schools/sites in relation to where families are; matching supply and demand). Access means a lot!
    • Recognizing diversity (economic, cultural, geographic, etc.)
  4. Welcoming to families from across the district – not exclusive and good for students of all income levels and learning capacities
  5. A K-12 program with options and choices at different points
    • Program provides support for any student to complete their schooling in French Immersion.  If students are leaving French Immersion, they are doing so to pursue other endeavours and not because they don’t have the support to complete it.
    • If a student chooses to leave the program this does not necessarily translate to a lack of success for the program. As a choice program, students can choose to leave and still be successful.  They may wish to try something new.
  6. French Immersion as a Choice program
  7. Qualified teachers with native-like fluency (maintaining a quality program)
  8. Student success (fluency – equal orally and written) – joy, ease, willingness to speak French
    • DELF – external standardized test – this is more important to some than others
  9. Focus on success for each student – we don’t want to dilute learning outcomes
  10. Equal opportunity to apply
    • Access to the program is not sacrificed by ability to apply; Everyone gets a chance to apply
  11. Importance of geographic distribution of choice programs/ seats relative to demand
Action: Working Group members asked to review this list.  Are these all measures of success?  Are they clear?  Any missing?
2.      Potential survey or focus group questionsDuring discussions, a number of questions were recorded for possible inclusion in the survey and focus groups planned for April, 2018.  The April survey and focus groups will elicit additional feedback from parents, teachers, partners and students regarding the VSB French Immersion Program.  Preliminary questions included:
  • Why do some families choose French Immersion?
  • Why do some families not choose French Immersion?
  • Why do some qualified French Immersion teachers choose to teach in English in the VSB?
Action: Identify additional potential questions for the survey and focus groups.  What do we want to know from our wider population?


--
Amanda Hillis
Secretary
VancouverDPAC.org
604-762-4565
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Blog Submissions

    Please send any blog entries to blog@lordtennyson.ca  (and include a photo if you can).  See our blog guidelines.

    Blog Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012

    Blog Categories

    All
    Seismic Upgrade
    Tennyson News
    Zerowaste

    RSS Feed


    Newsletters

    Visit our Newsletters page for the latest school newsletters (and some old ones too)
Suggestions or problems? Please email website@lordtennyson.ca