Strategic Action 2.5: Make the French Immersion program easier to access by introducing new entry points and meeting the needs of all learners.
Welcome to the Louis Riel School Division’s Multi-Year Strategic Plan (MYSP) 2023-27 action pages. For each strategic action, we are diligently taking steps to achieve our goals. Together, these goals strive to create the best possible educational environment for students, staff, and community. On these pages, you will find answers to two key questions: What have we done so far? And where do we plan to be by 2027?
What have we done so far?
French Immersion Staff Engaged in Reflective Professional Learning Session:
- In November 2023, all French Immersion teachers and educational assistants attended a professional learning session centred on The French Immersion Policy in Manitoba (Manitoba Education, May 2023). Participants were inspired by a panel of students who provided insight into their lived experience in LRSD’s French Immersion schools. Staff reflected personally and collectively on their practice and identified aspects worthy of celebration and others in need of finetuning; some that should be adopted and others that should be abandoned.
New Analytic Tool Developed to Examine French Immersion Retention Rates:
- Our data literacy team has developed an analytic tool to examine retention rates in French Immersion by school, by grade, and over time. A detailed report on the topic was presented to trustees at the December 17, 2024, regular Board meeting.
École Sage Creek/Bonavista Announced Middle and Late Immersion Starting September 2025:
- Beginning in September 2025, École Sage Creek/Bonavista will become:
- the third LRSD school to offer Middle Immersion (Grade 4 entry point), increasing the number of spaces in this highly popular and successful program by 50 per cent, and
- the first LRSD school to offer Late Immersion (Grade 6 entry point), offering a new opportunity to access French Immersion to students who missed earlier entry points, particularly newcomers.
All LRSD French Immersion Schools Adopted Single-Track Model by 2025:
- With the opening of the école serving the Sage Creek/Bonavista neighbourhoods, all LRSD French Immersion schools will employ the single-track model (where all students attending the school are enrolled in French Immersion), fulfilling Recommendation 4.2.1 of The French Immersion Policy in Manitoba.
Where do we plan to be by 2027?
Analytic approach, expanded immersion options, and neurodiversity framework:
- Principals and vice-principals will use the analytic tool to better understand current French Immersion retention rates and to develop a plan for enhancing them over time.
- Middle Immersion and Late Immersion will be offered in multiple sites throughout the Division.
- Implementation of a framework to support neurodiversity and diverse abilities in our classrooms (see MYSP strategic action 2.2) will lead to:
- a greater number of students feeling successful in the French Immersion program, contributing to higher retention rates, and
- a growing number of families viewing the French Immersion program as a good fit for their children, thus increasing access to the program.
