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French immersion numbers increase in Powell River schools

James Thomson Elementary School sees dramatic rise in bilingual education students
David Brindle
James Thomson Elementary School Powell River
EN FRANÇAIS: [From left] Finn Padgett, 12, Leo Brousseau, 10, Ryan Marshman, nine, Kate Barszczewski, eight, Helen Barszczewski, 11, Gabrielle Marshman, 12, and Saphire Mitchell, eight, are all enrolled in James Thomson Elementary School’s French Immersion program. David Brindle photo

Enrolment in French immersion continues to climb dramatically in Powell River and reached another record in the 2017/2018 school year, according to a report by Canadian Parents for French - BC and Yukon released on September 4.

More students than ever before are participating in French programs offered at two schools in School District 47. In 2017/2018, 156 students, or 7.1 per cent of the entire student body of about 2,200 were taking French immersion. Provincially, the average is 9.5 per cent.

Of the seven schools in the district, only James Thomson has a full immersion program. Brooks Secondary School includes it in some courses.

James Thomson principal Jasmin Marshman said she is not surprised about the success.

“It's a provincial trend but we knew when it came here that it would take a little while to catch on,” said Marshman. “Once parents saw the benefits of what French immersion can do for their kids’ learning we knew it was going to take off.”

The program is for children of families who do not speak French and francophone families who choose the program to help their child learn or be exposed regularly to English while building their French literacy and numeracy skills, according to Marshman.

The report shows in graphic detail that French immersion has been on the rise since the program was first introduced at James Thomson in 2010/2011 when only 19 students were enrolled, or 0.8 per cent.

 

 

With room for a maximum of 20 students in kindergarten, there is so much demand for getting into James Thomson that the school district has to do a kindergarten lottery in spring.

“Last year we had 25 applicants,” said Marshman.

The school had a waiting list but managed to make room for everyone.

“We've been fortunate but I don't think we'll be able to do that much longer,” said Marshman. “We are just meeting it right now but we're getting on that cusp of not pretty soon, which is uncomfortable. I don't like having kids on wait lists.”

Marshman added that a big factor in the demand for spots is if a family has one child in French immersion, ytheir other child can be automatically enrolled.