French Immersion in Lethbridge School Division
French Immersion classes are offered from Kindergarten to Grade 12. The curriculum for subjects taught in French is the same as in the English programs and follows the same Alberta Curriculum guidelines. Please see this link for more Alberta Education information about French immersion programming:
Within the Lethbridge Public School System, French Immersion classes began in the 1980s. French programs were initiated at École Agnes Davidson and Fleetwood Bawden schools. The School Board amalgamated French resources in 1992 and designated École Agnes Davidson as the city's elementary level immersion school. However, beginning in the fall of 2017, Nicholas Sheran School became the designate French Immersion School for students living on the West side of Lethbridge while École Agnes Davidson remained the French Immersion School for students residing in the South and North sections of Lethbridge. Currently, École Agnes Davidson is the only public elementary school serving all of Lethbridge.
French Immersion Program at École Agnes Davidson School
At École Agnes Davidson we take pride in our well-established French Immersion program. We have dedicated French immersion teachers and staff who are skilled and passionate about their job; your children are in good hands! French Immersion is an educational approach intended to teach students to understand and communicate in French by teaching them most of their school subjects in French. In immersion programs, French is not only a subject, but a language of instruction and a means of communication.
Research and experience show that immersion leads to higher fluency in French while maintaining levels of competency in English. Upon graduation from high school, the student is expected to be functionally bilingual.
French Immersion is primarily for students who have a desire to learn French and whose family is not French speaking. Instructional strategies and materials are designed with this in mind.
It is the hope that the French Immersion program will:
- instill a lifelong ability to communicate with French speaking people, here in Canada and around the globe
- understand, speak, read and write in French;
- encourage an interest and foster an ability for learning other languages
- enhance creativity and problem-solving ability
- enhance your child’s enjoyment of literature, art, music, theatre and travel
- increase your child’s understanding of and respect for other peoples and other cultures
- give your child access to a larger pool of information and to more educational and career opportunities
- help children to understand more about themselves, their country and their fellow Canadians
The French Immersion program, which started over 40 years ago throughout Canada, is s a proven way of acquiring excellent language skills in French and is specifically designed for parents who do not speak French, but wish their children to speak both official languages. Bienvenue à tous! Welcome everyone.
Instruction in the Immersion classroom focuses on:
- teaching curriculum content;
- responding to the child’s educational interests and needs;
- creating an atmosphere in which second language development is nurtured and encouraged;
- facilitating meaningful communication in French.
The language of communication between home and school is English. Teachers will communicate a child’s progress to parents through report cards, interviews, informal written notes, agendas, phone calls, etc. Parents are encouraged to discuss their child’s progress at any time with the teacher.
