REGINA, Sask — A large percentage of schools within Regina Public Schools (RPS) have moved away from Core French.
Mark Haarmann, director of education/CEO of RPS, said this decision to remove Core French from 65 per cent of schools for this year was to focus more on literacy.
“We’re making sure that literacy, numeracy, being able to sort of problem-solve and develop 21st-century skills is a real focus.”
The decision was influenced by several urban divisions that have already eliminated Core French. From there, RPS let each school review its literacy data to see whether it had identified any gaps.
“Afterwards, they met with the school community councils and really got community input as well, and then they would decide if they would continue with Core French.”
Of those 35 percent of schools that stuck with Core French, Haarmann noted a mixed bag of grades offering Core French.
With this move, Haarmann said the school board is now focusing on ensuring literacy levels across RPS continue to increase gradually.
Part of achieving this is incorporating the University of Florida literacy inventory.
“It is probably the best reading and writing program I've seen in my 35 years in public education. It's remarkable how it blends the old-style thinking of phonics, the quote-unquote basics, with really some more whole-language type of strategies. So that's the part where I think how we teach is going to drive things going forward,” stated Haarmann.
This year, RPS recorded its highest Grade 3 literacy rate in 12 years, at roughly 70 per cent. Haarmann said the results highlight the importance of having staff continually review student data and adapt to the changing needs of learners.
Despite schools removing Core French, RPS is still offering French Immersion between Kindergarten and Grade 12 at select sites.
Haarmann also said schools could return to Core French mid-year or the following school year.
"Schools would look at all those variables. They'd look at the data; they would look at what the school community council wanted to and see if it would be possible.”
