Birch Cliff Public School is home to an Early French Immersion program. In the 2021-2022 school year, we are home to a French Immersion Program from SK - Grade 5. For more information on Early French Immersion in the TDSB please visit the TDSB Website French Immersion website.
Admission Procedures:
Early French Immersion (Junior Kindergarten (JK) Entry)
The entry point to Early French Immersion is Junior Kindergarten. It is an entirely online process. All communication will be sent via the email address you provide. Please check your email regularly, including junk mail folders.
To apply, please visit the application site www.tdsb.on.ca/pars.
For children born in 2019:
- Please select the “Non-TDSB Student” option and follow the steps to generate an identification number. You must then return to the PARS site and follow the application procedure with this number.
- Once in PARS, please select the Early Immersion Program from the drop-down menu, and complete the application process.
- On-time applicants will be offered a placement via the email address you have provided.
- You MUST take action to reserve a spot by the deadline requested when you are offered a placement
On-time applicants will be offered a placement via the email address you have provided. You MUST take action to reserve a spot by the deadline requested when you are offered a placement.
Offers of placement will be ongoing throughout the weeks and months following the close of the application period. Please check your email regularly, including junk mail folders, and follow any instructions.
Please note:
- While every effort will be made to place students in the school identified as their area French Immersion school, this is not always possible. In cases where the number of applications in a given area is greater than the number of allotted program spaces in the school, students may be redirected to schools with available program space.
- Placements are made based on the child's primary home address of record prior to the application deadline. If the address changes between the application deadline and the fall of the entry year, there is no guarantee of placement in the new area.
- Late applicants will be held on a local school waitlist and considered subject to available space until the end of September of the entry year.
About the Program:
The French Immersion teachers at Birch Cliff teach and speak standard French, although their accents may vary due to regional differences. For some of our teachers, French is their first language, while others have acquired their French skills through university courses, work experiences, and programs such as French Immersion itself. The end result is that students who complete the entire French Immersion program at Birch Cliff are exposed to a variety of French models, in an enriched setting which enables them to learn about different French cultures, as well as, key grammar concepts.
French Immersion is not for every child!
It is not uncommon to receive requests from parents during the school year to move their children from the French Immersion program into the English program. Students leaving the French Immersion program are required to return to their local or home school as determined by their home address.
So how do you know if your child is a "good candidate" for French Immersion?
While one can never be absolutely sure, here are some questions to guide you in your decision-making. If your responses are mostly positive, then chances are that your child will experience success in a second language program. It is also a good idea to meet with your child's junior kindergarten teacher to explore whether or not your child would be appropriate for the French immersion program.
- Did your child learn to speak his or her first language, such as English, easily?
- Is your child a good listener?
- Is your child able to focus attentively or is she or he easily distracted?
- Does your child learn new things independently or does an adult need to be close by?
- Does your child have any auditory or hearing difficulties?
- Is your child easy to understand when she or he speaks?
- Is your child able to express ideas clearly or ask questions appropriately for his or her age?
- Does your child use age appropriate vocabulary?
- Is your child interested in learning another language?
- Is your child interested in print materials such as books, or in learning the alphabet and its corresponding sounds?
- Do you read to your child on a regular basis and are you willing to help your child develop literacy skills in his or her first language?
If you decide against French Immersion for your child at the Kindergarten level, you should know that they will receive French as a Second Language, or Core French instruction, beginning in Grade 4 for 200 minutes a week.