January 6, 2015: The Halton District School Board takes pride in offering excellent Grade 1 programs to students in their communities. Every school in the Halton District School Board with Grade 1 will be running Parent Information Sessions in January 2015 to highlight these programs.
Parents of Senior Kindergarten students are encouraged to attend these sessions to hear about Reading, Writing and Math programs available in both our English and French streams. The information sessions, listed below, will help parents gain an understanding of the programs offered in schools.
“No matter how familiar or involved parents currently are in their child’s school, we hope parents of Senior Kindergarten students will attend to hear about the programs and exciting learning opportunities in our schools,” says David Euale, Director of Education for the Halton District School Board.
Today we sent the following email to HDSB regarding the grade one information sessions...
Dear Directory and Secretary of the Board:
In December of 2013 we sent the attached letter requesting equivalent promotion of English and FI at grade one information nights because only FI was being promoted.
Since our letter, there have been two of the "new" grade one information nights and we are thoroughly disappointed with what is being presented - or rather not being presented.
Whether it's mandated English track or optional French Immersion, shouldn't there be a standard "Here's what your child will learn in grade one" presentation for parents, no matter the school/city/town in Halton? We have received feedback from parents who have attended these so called information nights and were incredulous to learn the following:
Dear Directory and Secretary of the Board:
In December of 2013 we sent the attached letter requesting equivalent promotion of English and FI at grade one information nights because only FI was being promoted.
Since our letter, there have been two of the "new" grade one information nights and we are thoroughly disappointed with what is being presented - or rather not being presented.
Whether it's mandated English track or optional French Immersion, shouldn't there be a standard "Here's what your child will learn in grade one" presentation for parents, no matter the school/city/town in Halton? We have received feedback from parents who have attended these so called information nights and were incredulous to learn the following:
- In many schools the grade one teachers were not included or asked to put together a presentation or be part of the grade one information night in any way -- it was the Kindergarten teachers and Principals who addressed the parents! Additionally, we learned schools that have the Primary Core French pilot did not ask their Primary Core French teachers to be part of the Grade one info night. What on earth could the rationale be for excluding grade one teachers from grade one presentations? Why would the Primary Core French teacher not be invited to address the parents on this new initiative?! This is shameful.
- At one particular dual track school's presentation, the English teacher spoke about grade one for approximately 1 minute. The FI teacher followed and went on to talk for 30 minutes. The parents were then told there would only be 4 or 5 questions following the presentations. When a parent in the crowd asked what the demission rate was for FI, the Principal said they didn't know but would find out. That is a MAJOR question a parent could/should ask and yet this information was not readily available at "information" nights?! How is it that no one presenting that night knew the answer?! By the way, it's 35-40%
- Another family we heard from said there wasn't much information about what would actually be taught in grade one OR the new primary core French program - and their home school is one of the 24 schools to receive the primary core French pilot! The family was advised by their home school that since it was a pilot project it might not be running next year so it could end up being just grade one French and then waiting until grade four for the regular core French -- this is outrageous!! Thankfully, this family decided to attend a grade one information night at another school in their ward and were surprised to learn what is actually taught in grade one and what their child is expected to know by the end of grade one. As for the new primary core French pilot, we let this family know that the motion that was carried is as follows:
Be it resolved that effective in the 2014-15 school year, the Halton District School Board introduce 40 minutes/week of Primary Core French beginning in Grade 1 in 24 Halton District School Board schools, with a commitment for a full roll-out by 2017-18, with an annual review of the roll-out to be brought back to trustees each year.
Be it resolved that students in these schools will receive the following minutes of Core French instruction between Grades 1- 8:
- 40 minutes / week Grades 1-3
- 120 minutes / week Grades 4
- 160 minutes/ week Grade 5
- 200 minutes / week Grades 6-7-8
That each school is allowed to put together its own haphazard presentation for these information nights is egregious. Some schools obviously do a good job providing parents with information but others are downright useless and are not providing information whatsoever and are actually doing damage.
One attempt we've seen at giving parents some sort of 'standard' information was this English Program - French Immersion chart that seems to be provided by HDSB. One would never know that the above-mentioned grade one core French was NEW, nor would they learn anything about it from this chart. How pathetic!
One attempt we've seen at giving parents some sort of 'standard' information was this English Program - French Immersion chart that seems to be provided by HDSB. One would never know that the above-mentioned grade one core French was NEW, nor would they learn anything about it from this chart. How pathetic!
Here was a chance for HDSB to boast/brag/celebrate this first ever primary core offering and instead they did absolutely NOTHING. Had they explained more about it, like that this exciting new initiative "introduces children to the language through vocabulary presented with gesture /pantomime/drama/music that teachers will use - along with a multitude of other methodologies and resources...e.g. dance, drama, music, technology, picture books, YouTube videos, puppets, read-alouds, read alongs..all to introduce and build initial French vocabulary"...and that "The program and strategies were designed with the understanding that students need to move and interact -- using the language helps them retain it." These quotes are from former Associate Director, Jeff Blackwell. Perhaps if this information was added to the left side of the page it wouldn't give the appearance that children in the English track do not achieve as much as the ones in FI.
According to the HDSB Trustees' Code of Conduct, "As a Board, trustees are responsible for promoting student achievement and well-being, and for effective stewardship of resources." That's achievement and well-being of ALL students, not just those whose parents are opting for FI.
HDSB can do better and should do better. This is absolutely unacceptable.
Therefore, to address this current situation we would like to see an HDSB news bulletin issued immediately VIA EMAIL to all elementary schools regarding a reminder for grade one registration with accurate information. This information needs to properly highlight the Primary Core French program as new, along with providing details on instruction time and methodologies. Parents should learn from the news bulletin which schools currently have it and that there is a commitment for a full roll out of this pilot by September 2017. A "Frequently Asked Questions" section should be included and near the top should be the demission rate from French Immersion -- with an honest answer. This news bulletin must be emailed prior to the February 6th deadline to register for French Immersion.
For next year, we hope to see many improvements with care and attention going into providing all schools with standard accurate information who can then add their own initiatives that are unique to each school. We would also like to see grade one teachers (including Primary Core French) invited to be part of the sessions.
We look forward to your response.
Respectfully,
HFFINS
According to the HDSB Trustees' Code of Conduct, "As a Board, trustees are responsible for promoting student achievement and well-being, and for effective stewardship of resources." That's achievement and well-being of ALL students, not just those whose parents are opting for FI.
HDSB can do better and should do better. This is absolutely unacceptable.
Therefore, to address this current situation we would like to see an HDSB news bulletin issued immediately VIA EMAIL to all elementary schools regarding a reminder for grade one registration with accurate information. This information needs to properly highlight the Primary Core French program as new, along with providing details on instruction time and methodologies. Parents should learn from the news bulletin which schools currently have it and that there is a commitment for a full roll out of this pilot by September 2017. A "Frequently Asked Questions" section should be included and near the top should be the demission rate from French Immersion -- with an honest answer. This news bulletin must be emailed prior to the February 6th deadline to register for French Immersion.
For next year, we hope to see many improvements with care and attention going into providing all schools with standard accurate information who can then add their own initiatives that are unique to each school. We would also like to see grade one teachers (including Primary Core French) invited to be part of the sessions.
We look forward to your response.
Respectfully,
HFFINS