We are a French-speaking community group which has approached Newtown School to establish a French bilingual unit. The aim is to set up a unit that will support bilingual learning so children can read, write and speak fluently in both English and French, as well as developing their cultural knowledge. Benefits of bilingualism
Research shows that children acquiring additional languages improves the
ir cognitive skills, enhances analytical thinking and problem solving skills. Benefits for the Newtown community
Whether your child is part of the unit or not, the Newtown School and community would enjoy many spillover benefits such as cultural activities, after school activities, school linkages etc. Adding French to the Te Reo school multilingual learner units would provide an opportunity to experience and interact with on a daily basis another language and cultures. The Francophone world is culturally dynamic (film industry, music, art, cuisine etc.), and we would expect this to permeate and further enrich the school and its pupils. A new facet to the melting pot that is Newtown! Read more…
Implications
Setting up a bilingual unit would have of course implications, for example the school will need to think through carefully how it would in the short and longer term accommodate a French bilingual unit, in a context where there is pressure on space in Wellington schools. This is why the school is running a consultation. Your voice is important to the Newtown community! Sounds expensive
We are proposing that some of the additional costs, including the purchase of French language teaching resources and payment of the part of the teachers’ salaries not covered by the Ministry of Education, would be funded through FRENZ by the families enrolled in the unit and French government grants. Has this been done before
Yes, three schools are now running bilingual units in New Zealand, two in Auckland (Richmond Road School and Birkdale North School) and one in Christchurch (Ao Tawhiti School), totalling about 140 students. All have been set up thanks to the support of the FRENZ charity. See and read more…
What is FRENZ
FRENZ is a non-profit organization which goal is to promote bilingual French/English education in New Zealand. As well as bringing a wealth of knowledge in setting up those units, its role is to fund, purchase and manage the French learning resources and books, develop other opportunities for the children to speak French (such as organising exchange-trips to New Caledonia, extra-curricular activities, etc.), help find native French teacher applicants through its network, assist with the teacher salary in the early days when enrolments in the bilingual units are not sufficient for the teacher to be fully funded by the Ministry of Education. Please contact us at [email protected]
How will it work
If it goes ahead the operational details of the unit will need to be fleshed out by the school with the support of FRENZ and our community group. But a few early points have been defined by the school in its public consultation document:
- A memorandum of understanding would be signed between Newtown School, Board of Trustees and FRENZ to establish how the bilingual unit would operate, expectations of both parties and determine when the unit would open.
- The school would employ a New Zealand registered teacher who is bilingual in French and English.
- In the bilingual unit the New Zealand Curriculum would be taught in both French (60%) and English (40%). The unit would be likely to start with a small number students (6-10) and increase over time as it becomes established with a full class.
