Today, the French Immersion classes of Mme Ranich, Mme O’Shaughnessy, and M. Laurins engaged in an enjoyable French oral activity, made possible with the generous support of Starbucks on Regent, which donated items for the occasion. Students were tasked with planning their desired drinks using provided prompts. After placing their orders, they had the delightful opportunity to enjoy a “coffee with a friend” and engage in spontaneous French conversations, all while savoring delicious treats.
We are proud of our Francophone heritage.
On September 25th, 2022, Sudbury Catholic Schools celebrated Franco-Ontarian Day! This celebration is an annual opportunity to learn about Franco-Ontarian culture and history in real life and bring awareness to this wonderful community on an occasion that combines education, fun, language, and history. As the number of FSL students and families continues to grow, it is important for Sudbury Catholic to infuse French Culture into the classrooms.
In our video that highlights our Franco-Ontarian celebrations, we use the phrase, “Ma Francophonie, j’y tiens!”, which translated from French means, “We are proud of our Francophone heritage!”
In addition to annual celebrations, FSL teaching and learning is being further supported in our community through our FSL Plan. One of the most important goals of Sudbury Catholic School’s three-year FSL Plan is improving student confidence and proficiency. We’re committed to providing french language learners with the support they need, and to continue to offer programming that is evidence-based and engaging.
“With what we currently know about how kids learn to read, our Board has committed to shifting from a balanced to a structured literacy approach. Structured literacy provides explicit instruction of the key components of literacy so that students develop excellent pre-reading and reading skills. This approach also guarantees early identification of students at-risk through assessment. The best interventions can then be used to support and move students along. With purposeful reading instruction and interventions, students will demonstrate increased achievement in the FSL program. Literacy leads to proficiency, confidence, and an enthusiasm for life-long learning. And that’s the best gift of all” – Camille Heaton, FSL Consultant.
Staff and students took part in Franco- Fun Day: a day dedicated to celebrating French language and Franco-Ontarian culture! Here are just a few ways our schools joined in on the fun:
Canadian Parents for French Ontario is offering free French virtual programs for students from Grade 1 to 12 funded by the Ministry of Education from May to August to support French as a Second Language students.
Click the link below for more information about this exciting opportunity!
On Wednesday, November 25th, St. James Catholic Elementary School students participated in a celebration of La Ste-Catherine. They learned about Marguerite Bourgeoys and how this nun established a school in Ville-Marie (Montreal) by making pull taffy (la tire) to attract the native students to her class. The French immersion teachers prepared the taffy the night before so that their students can taste this sweet confection. Stations in the gym were set up with different activities including dancing to french canadian music, a history lesson from Soeur Marguerite Bourgeoys (Mme Gaudette) and taffy tasting.
Mademoiselle Prosser’s grade 1 french immersion class at St. James Catholic Elementary School have been learning about partners in their community this month. With the help of Mrs. Hachez, her students got the chance to learn about planting and how seeds work. They even got to plant their own tomato, bean, and marigold plants. The students are very proud of the little garden that is growing in their classroom!
March 20th was International Francophone Day and to celebrate the occasion, St. James Catholic Elementary School students dressed in green and white. This day is a celebration of French language in all countries. Some students participated in an activity called “New Age Kurling”, others sang French songs and participated in French DPA (daily physical activity). Teachers organized various classroom activities including colouring the fancophone flag and making crowns.
“Le 20 mars * marque comme chaque année la Journée internationale de la Francophonie. L’occasion pour les francophones de fêter leur bien commun, la langue française, mais aussi d’exprimer leur solidarité et leur désir de vivre ensemble au travers de centaines d’événements organisés dans le monde entier.” www.francophonie.org
St. James Catholic Elementary School Core French classes, lead by teacher Sabrina Rocca, celebrated the anniversary of the franco-ontarien flag on September 25, 2012. The flag was unveiled on September 25, 1975 at Laurentian University. On this day, students learned about its inception and significance. They celebrated by making their own franco-ontarien flags.
As part of the Sudbury Catholic Board’s celebration of the International Day of La Francophonie, students in all schools across the board were involved in designing a button that reflected their perspective on celebrating and acknowledging the French language.
The first place winner in the Sudbury Catholic Board’s Francophone button contest was Roman Leblanc, a grade 8 French Immersion student at St. James School. Roman “designed the button to represent our French culture. The button includes the Canadian and Franco-Ontarien flags and the flags are surrounded by the international French colours”.
Roman’s button was distributed to students boardwide as part of Sudbury Catholic’s Franco-Fun celebration.
On hand during the festivities at St. James was school trustee Estelle Scappatura who congratulated Roman on his unique design for his button.
Students, staff and community partners celebrated the International Day of La Francophonie on March 20th at St. James Catholic School. Gathered in the gymnasium everyone participated in DPA (Daily Physical Activity) by exercising, dancing and singing “en français” thanks to an electronic presentation created by French Immersion teacher Madame Rocca and her students.
