Schools in Vancouver

Ad Vancouver,

I lived in Vancouver for twenty-eight years and my two youngest children attended French Immersion Schools in the public school system in Richmond BC (neighboring city to Vancouver) since they were in kindergarden. I was very active in their education and participated in all school events. They both received and excellent education and got great marks. They are both happy and successful adults now as a result of their education. I have never heard any complaints about the quality of French education in British Columbia, but on the other hand I have seen and heard lots of success stories.

On a side note, I absorbed enough of the language (by osmosis) that we all spoke French most of the time and people often asked what part of Quebec we were originally from. My experience in French when I was in highschool, way back when was abysmal, I never applied myself. I learned much more because of my kids and the exposure to French was intrumental in gaining fluency in the Portuguese language in only eight months of part-time study.

From somebody who's been there I have nothing but praise for the public school system and the French Immersion Program. The educational system all over Canada has a worldwide reputation for excellence. They would not have gained that reputation were it not well deserved. One need only look south of the border and find out how many hospitals, clinics, law firms, engineering firms and other large corporations spend great amounts of time and money coming up to Canada to do their recruiting.

Cheers,
William James Woodward - Brazil Animator, Expat-blog Team

Thanks William for your reply.I actually have concern about one particular point: The Canadian schooling system is based on credits and some arts and sports activities count as many credits as other scientific or maths materials, which makes students choose the easiest path sometimes through sports or arts... I'm not saying that arts or sports should be avoided, but I mean that they shouldn't offer that other easy path to students.

Did you face any similar issue with your kids or friends' kids?

Hi Ad Vancouver,

Perhaps not, but that still doesn't diminsh the fact that Canada has established a worldwide reputation for excellence of education. While on its face it may appear to be "an easy path" as you put it, it doesn't help much when trying to enter a Canadian university.

I guess when you judge a person's education (or lack thereof) you really need to look at the end result. Certainly evaluating some point along the way has its merits, but in the real world we always tend to place much more value on the final results.

I'm sure you must agree that US and British hospitals, multi-national corporations wouldn't be spending so much money and effort in actively recruiting Canadians if they didn't place such a high value on our educational standards. What is it they say about the proof is in the pudding?

I'd be the first to say, our educational system may not be the VERY BEST in the world, but it's way up there.

In order to meet graduation requirements and be awarded a British Columbia Certificate of Graduation (Dogwood) students must earn a minimum of 80 credits to graduate. These must include 48 credits for required courses, a minimum of 28 elective credits, and 4 credits for Graduation Transitions.

Required Courses: Credits that must be earned in the following subject areas:

a Language Arts 10 (4 credits)
a Language Arts 11 (4 credits)
a Language Arts 12 (4 credits)
a Social Studies 10 (4 credits)
a Social Studies 11 or 12 (4 credits)
a Mathematics 10 (4 credits)
a Mathematics 11 or 12 (4 credits)
a Science 10 (4 credits)
a Science 11 or 12 (4 credits)
Physical Education 10 (4 credits)
Fine Arts and/or an Applied Skills 10, 11, or 12 (4 credits)
Planning 10 (4 credits)

So as you can see, a student must have Physical Education in grade ten as a compulsory course (4 credits) and the may have Physical Education in other years as elective credits, that does nothing to help them as far as the compulsory credits go. The other elective subjects operate in just the same way. They can make up part of the required 28 elective credits, however they do not serve as a substitute for the 48 required course credits. If the truth be known, the vast majority of students who seriously plan on going into university tend to avoid Physical Education and other non-academic courses as options.

As a language teacher (ESL) with a 25 year career I can tell you that starting children into either English or French Immersion too early really has no great beneficial effect. Five years of age is about right for them to really begin to grasp what they are being taught. Teaching children of three and four years of age is not as much teaching them the language as it is exposing them to the language through playing. They certainly are not capable of absorbing enough information to structure anything much more than very rudimentary phrases, much less cohesive sentences until they are at least five. Does it help? Of course it does, as does any exposure to a language. Having said that, the general consensus is that those benefits don't even begin to kick in until after they've reached five years of age and begin more serious study in the language. There is also not much empirical information that they do any better than their counterparts who were not previously exposed to the new language.

I know from my own experience, my children were not exposed to the French language prior to entering kindergarden. They both dominated the language very early on in French Immersion, my daughter was an honors student and went on to graduate from Simon Fraser University. My son, despite learning difficulties became fluent too. He left school after graduating from high school and later took further technical courses. I sure have no complaints with the end results with either of them.

Cheers,
William James Woodward - Brazil Animator, Expat-blog Team

Hi William,

Thanks again for your clear and extensive answer. I was wondering if I could benefit from your generous replies again by asking you the following questions:

1- It seems that students coming from francophone schools (EFIV or FSL, or French Immersion) can still easily continue their studies in anglophone schools and universities. Is that right? Do you think they might face any difficulty because their courses were primarily in French?

2- I understood your point about starting school at 3 Vs 5 years old. However, when both parents work they must put their child in a day care, and when I compare prices I see that day cares charge as much as the EFIV per year, so why not registering the child at 3 yo in the EFIV and benefit from additional activities/learning?

3- The EFIV's curriculum is a mix between the French and the Canadian (BC) curriculum. Coming from a French school, I know that they are tough (sometimes called elitists) but they also help you widening your choices and be ready for any path you choose to follow later on. I think it still offers many pluses compared to the other francophone schools in Vancouver such as FSL or French Immersion, don't you think?

4- The tuition fees are definitely high in EFIV compared to the other francophone schools, but again it's comparable to day cares. Are there any other options than day cares if both parents work?

Thanks.

Hi Again Ad Vancouver,

No, students transitioning between the French programs and the English have little or no difficulties in doing so because the curriculum is the same, all that's different is the language used in teaching it. In the case of Canadian French Immersion students they've already learned English at home.

My kids all went to private pre-schools until the age of 5 my youngest two went to a French language pre-school. Once they entered the public school system at 5 years old they began in a before school care program. This was without charge at a school very near the French Immersion school where they had classes and they were escorted between schools. However the French pre-school really wasn't to teach the language per se, just to expose children to it through play. Did it give them any advantage or jump-start their language education? I can't really say for sure, but it sure didn't hurt. If the fees for each are the same then clearly one would choose the one that offers most benefits besides cost.

I really can't comment on EFIVs since I have no experience with them. What I have been doing is commenting on the FSL and French Immersion education in Vancouver and the surrounding neighbor cities from my own personal experience as both a parent and teacher.

Many, especially some expats, who are concerned about quality education for their kids still don't have money to burn. I see absolutely no reason that justifies paying out of pocket for something that the public school offers for free, especially when it is of the highest quality. That's not just my opinion (about the quality), that's the general consensus of employers and other educational institutions worldwide.

I'm not big on elitism or flaunting status so wouldn't pay one thin dime extra just for that. What I care about is the end result. I don't need a top of the line Mercedez Benz to get from Whiterock to Downtown Vancouver when a Cherry QQ or Coast Mountain Bus Company can do that just as well and for a lot less. So with that in mind the public school system in BC (both the French and English) passes with flying colors in my estimation. I would highly recommend it to anyone and they can place their kids in any school with confidence.

Cheers,
William James Woodward - Brazil Animator, Expat-blog Team