POLISH SECTION

© Dear friends

Last year the adhoc comity of the
Conseil scolaire and Fédération
des parents worked on a docu-
ment about the parent’s place in
©, the educational system and local
= partnership.

— The document toured the province
and was presented to each and every Association de parents
during the “Tour of the century”. Itwas also formally adopted
by the boards of both the Conseil scolaire and the
Fédération de parents.

The time has now come to bring this document to life. This is the
year of learning, trying out, breaking in. An important step, if
there is one, because foundations will be laid, flexible and cus-
tom made to the specific and individual needs of each of our
schools, foundations which will help ensure, for our school/nome/

INFO-PARENTS COLOMBIE-BRITANNIQUE ‘aby NOVEMBRE 1999

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community environment, the joining of forces of the dif-
ferent partners in education toward the same desired re-
sult.

This is the patnership start-up year: we question our-
selves, we search for solutions, above all we seek coher-
ence between the proposed actions and the desired re-
sults.

Partnership at the provincial level of the decision-making
process of the Conseil scolaire, where parent participa-
tion will be active and continuous. Partnership at the lo-
cal level of the “educational and community partnership”
-PEC- where parent participation at the partners’ table of
each school will be as active and continuous.

So important is partnership that it will be the theme of our
“Congrés annuel” on this coming 26 and 27 November:
“Partnership in action’ to which you are all invited.

Yours truly, Daniel Le Scieller

Hello to all!

| am back in the saddle as Executive
Director of your Parents Federation,
however for a limited time. | am assuming
an interim position during Martine St-
Onge’s maternity leave. She will be back
in January. | am taking advantage of this
opportunity to give you comments and my
evaluation of some of the pressing issues
concerning our Federation at present.

Model of Parents Participation and
Community/Education Partnerships
The project of the parents’ participation
model and the Community/Education
Partnerships (PEC) are tightly linked. The
parents’ and local partnership participa-
tion model intend at first to promote pa-
rents’ participation in the Francophone
educational system. Later, through the
partners’ committee structure, it wants to
allow for the setting up of PEC in the
school communities, and to facilitate it: the
main reason for PEC is to create the space
for Francophone schools to realise its
school, cultural, and community manda-
tes.

The joint committee (CSF — FPFCB) which
developed the parents’ and partnership's
participation model sent its recommen-
dations to the School Board in October
99. The proposed model was the topic of

NEWS FROM THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Ms. Myriam Ferland, originally from Beaupré, Quebec is the new counsel for the Northern region of the
province. She has two children (3% and 6 year old), and she has taught for several years in Saskatchewan,
Alberta, and here in B.C. Residing in BC for the last seven years, she devotes a lot of time to the Francophonie,
mostly preschool, as she takes care of Prince George’s Mini Francofun. Welcome and thanks.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
MARC GIGNAC

a province-wide consultation last Spring.
Following its adoption by the
Francophone School Board, training tools
and contents will be developed so as to
facilitate its initiation in Francophone
schools throughout the province. Next
year the FPFCB will work in collabora-
tion with the CSF to support the imple-
mentation of this model to train parents
so they will be able to fully assume their
role in the Francophone Educational sys-
tem.

With the arrival of the Francophone
School Board (CSF), is the Federation
of Francophone Parents of B.C.
(FPFCB) still necessary?

The setting up of the CSF by the Provin-
cial Government, intended to give the
management and the control of the
Francophone Educational System to the
Francophones. The CSF is thus an en-
tity with the responsibility to administer the
educational system. Its work is framed
by provincial laws and regulations, as well
as by directives from the Minister of Edu-
cation to whom it must answer. It must
offer programs and services to
Francophone students within the limita-
tions imposed by its budget. lit must
choose at times or apply cuts in services,

which are not necessarily to the
liking of the electorate.

As far as the FPFCB is con-
cerned its role has not changed
with the CSF’s arrival. It still is the
spokesperson for British Columbia’s
Francophone parents, who have one
or several children registered in a
Francophone school or program. It
defends and promotes their interests
with various decisional organisations,
either at the provincial or federal lev-
els as does the Federation for
Anglophone Parents (BCPPAC ) for
its members.

Moreover, given the distinctiveness
of Francophone educational system,
where parents’ and the community's
implication in the schools is neces-
sary in order for the school to fulfil its
cultural and community mandate, the
FPFCB has an important role to play
in the development and the imple-
mentation of ways that could foster
that implication. It has thus an im-
portant role to play with other provin-
cial partners, as a part of the part-
nership that has been established
about files like school community
centres, preschool, educational and
community partnership (PEC), cul-
tural integration, etc...

(continued)