The programmes
Bilingual classes respect language parity: the curriculum is delivered half in English and half in French.
These classes follow the same curriculum as the non-bilingual classes: the French National Ministry of Education Curriculum (decree dated 04/04/2007, in French)
The aim is for the students to acquire all the skills laid out in the Primary School Programme of Study, in addition to those required for daily usage of a second language.
Teaching structure
Classes (maximum number 25) are led by two part-time (50%) teachers and a full-time teaching assistant in kindergarten.
Teaching schedules and timetables
- In cycle 1: PS and MS
As an example, a teaching week in a bilingual section may be organized in the following way:
| Week (in rotation) |
Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
| Week A |
Francophone teacher |
Anglophone teacher |
Francophone teacher |
| Week B |
Anglophone teacher |
Francophone teacher |
Anglophone teacher |
| Week (in rotation) |
Thursday |
Friday |
| Week A |
Anglophone teacher |
Francophone teacher |
| Week B |
Francophone teacher |
Anglophone teacher |
Timetables are based on a two week rotating period, so that students benefit from learning each subject in both languages.
Throughout the year, one weekly 45 minute lesson of “binome” time in PS and MS is held in MS. During the “binome” times, the English and French teachers are both with the children.
During this time, the other bilingual class is placed under the responsibility of another teacher.
This “binome” teaching time, which is conducted in both languages equally, is mainly used for reinforcing literacy and numeracy skills.
Binome teaching objectives:
- for the children:
- To be aware of the concept of two languages.
- To build bridges between different learning techniques.
- To facilitate the linguistic, social and cultural awareness that is part of language development.
- To understand the similarities and differences between the two languages.
- To develop the ability to be able to switch languages where two different language models are being used simultaneously.
- for the teachers:
- To further cooperation between the two teachers.
- To reinforce the professional development of both teachers in terms of developing an effective curriculum.
- In cycle 2 : GS, CP and CE1
Throughout the year, 1 weekly 45 minute lesson of “binome” teaching (both teachers together in the class) takes place.
In GS, CP and CE1, when both teachers teach the same class (binome teaching), the other class is with another teacher.
Teachers in Cycle 2 have a further 1h30 per week allocated as joint lesson planning time. During this time, students are either with the librarian or the computer science teacher.
During the regular two week cycle the French and English teacher are in class on alternate days so that children have equal exposure to both teaching languages.
Language parity teaching time for the different subjects is as follows:
| Subject |
Annual hours |
Weekly hours |
|
| Literacy (French/English) |
414 h |
11 h 30 |
|
|
|
|
|
| Art and Design / History of Art |
81 h |
7 h 30* |
|
|
|
|
|
* Weekly teaching time may be modified with regards to specific teaching projects but respects the annual official teaching time for each subject as laid out by the French MoED.
- In cycle 3 : CE2, CM1 and CM2
The teaching structure is identical to cycle 2: the French and English speaking teachers spend alternate days in class on a rotating two week basis.
The time allocated to each subject areas is shown in the chart below:
| Subject |
Yearly hours |
Weekly hours |
|
| Literacy (French/English) |
344 h |
9 h 30 |
|
|
|
|
|
| Science and Technology |
78 h |
9 h 30* |
|
Humanities
- Art and Design / History of Art**
- History-geography-social dialogue |
78 h
78 h |
|
|
|
|
* Weekly teaching time may be modified with regards to specific teaching projects but respects the annual official teaching time for each subject as laid out by the French MoED.
** History of art annual teaching time is 20 hours and concerns all subjects.
Parental support
Parents have an important role to play in supporting and helping their children educated in a dual-language medium. It is vital that at least one of the languages (French and/or English) is practised outside school on a daily basis, especially when other languages (e.g. Cantonese or Mandarin) are more commonly spoken at home.
Regarding French in particular, non French-speaking parents will make every effort outside school time to aid their child in the learning of French, by providing support for homework, through extra-curricular activities in French (at school and/ or outside school), through access to French language programmes (TV or DVD) and through any other activity enabling children to have exposure to the French language.
Passage from a bilingual to a non-bilingual class
In order to facilitate passage from a bilingual to a non-bilingual class, all classes at each level, including the bilingual classes, stringently follow the assessment criteria set out in the 2008 French Ministry of Education Curriculum.
Reintegration into a non-bilingual class in the French stream will only be executed upon recommendation of the teachers of the cycle concerned and validation by the Headmaster, following a meeting with the parents concerned.
Evaluation
- Evaluation of students
Evaluation of students' progress is carried out in the same way as evaluation in the non-bilingual classes. It is important to reiterate that the evaluation of the skills covered in the curriculum can only be done at the end of the cycle.
Specific report cards have been created. These enable teachers to evaluate students’ progress in each subject in both English and French, independently of specific language ability.
- Monitoring of the bilingual stream
Regular meetings of the bilingual teaching staff and the Francophone and Anglophone bilingual coordinators are organized.
Regular inspections are planned throughout the school year to monitor the bilingual classes and training periods are proposed for teachers of French Schools in Asia.
Leaving certificates
On request, a departing student can obtain a leaving certificate indicating the number of years spent in the bilingual stream and a certificate of English proficiency to aid application for admission into an international stream of a French school or an English-medium school.
Useful documents and links:
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