Languages Department

The Modern Languages Department at St. Peter Catholic Secondary School offers courses in Core French, French Immersion and Introductory Spanish. Our Core French classes are offered from grade 9 to 12 and we also offer a large variety of courses in the Immersion program. In grade 9 students are offered courses in French in the following subjects: French, Religion, Geography, Science, Visual Arts, and Phys Ed. The variety of courses offered continues in grade 10 with the following courses: French, Religion, History, Phys Ed., Hospitality, Drama, and Career and Civics. By grade 11 and 12 French and Religion are offered. This variety of courses gives students many opportunities to reach the minimum of 10 immersion credits to earn their Immersion Certificate.

Our department also offers an Introductory to Spanish course. This course is an open level course where students learn the basics of how to communicate in Spanish. There are field trips planned to local restaurants where students use the language to order food and converse. This field trip also teaches them about the culture. One of the students enjoyed the course and learning this new language so much that she applied and completed a 3 month exchange to Spain through the Canadian Education Exchange Foundation. This was an amazing opportunity for her to deepen her learning of the language and culture.

The teachers involved in the department offer our students rich and rewarding learning opportunities. They have all learned their French language from various parts of the country and they are all passionate about teaching and sharing their language with the students. We focus our teaching around the philosophy of the CEFR where communication plays a major role in everyday learning. Students learn the language in a manner that will help them to use the language in meaningful and practical ways. This is especially important in the Core French program where students are still in the beginning stages of learning French as a Second Language.

To do this, we offer learning activities that are based on real-life experiences such as ordering food. We practise various real-life situations in the classroom and then try to bring them to life in different ways. We have created a crêpe ordering station, visited restaurants that offer French service and students have also mentioned how beneficial their second language was when they were on trips to Europe with the school.

We organize different events to bring more French into the school and classroom with such activities as a presentation about the production and history of maple syrup and yearly activities around Manie Musicale and the celebration of French music.

We also have students that help run stations in French at the Peterborough Children's Water Festival every year to allow elementary immersion and French language students to see the French language come alive in their community.

This poster was used as a menu board for students to order from.

Trip to St Veronus where students were given a French menu and were asked to place their orders in French with the staff who were very gracious and accommodating to our students. This was a great way to see the French language come to life in our community.

Our French Teachers!

Franco-Ontarian Day!

We like to celebrate Franco-Ontarian Day in September to celebrate all of our students who are learning French as a second language.

By grade 12, all students enrolled in a French as a Second Language course (Core or Immersion) are offered the opportunity to sit the DELF exam. This is a French language proficiency test for students studying French as a second language through to their grade 12 year. If successful, the certificate that they receive is valid for life and recognized worldwide. The DELF certificate is also an asset for students who are looking to travel and work or volunteer abroad. This exam is completed in the spring and tests students' abilities in Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing.

The languages department uses collaboration, differentiation and a variety of technology to help the languages to come alive in our classrooms.

Les crêpes à Noël

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