{"id":78496,"date":"2022-03-07T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-03-07T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/interior-news.com\/2022\/03\/07\/enchant-5-facts-about-cole-la-grande-ourse\/"},"modified":"2025-10-20T04:32:23","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T04:32:23","slug":"enchant-5-facts-about-cole-la-grande-ourse","status":"publish","type":"sponsored","link":"https:\/\/interior-news.com\/sponsored-content\/enchant-5-facts-about-cole-la-grande-ourse\/","title":{"rendered":"Enchant\u00e9! 5 Facts about \u00c9cole La Grande-ourse"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Registration is now open for September enrolment at <a href=\"https:\/\/lagrandeourse.csf.bc.ca\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u00c9cole La <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/lagrandeourse.csf.bc.ca\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Grande-ourse<\/a>, the Smithers school offering Francophone education to students from Kindergarten to Grade 7.<\/p>\n<p><strong>1. \u00c9cole La Grande-ourse is a public school<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u00c9cole La Grande-ourse is not a private school! It&rsquo;s a public school that provides free education in French &mdash; even school bus transportation is free. As a member of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.csf.bc.ca\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Conseil scolaire francophone (CSF) of British <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.csf.bc.ca\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Columbia<\/a>, students must have a family connection to francophone education.<\/p>\n<p><strong>2. Francophone instruction, and English too<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>To be admitted to \u00c9cole La Grande-ourse, students must meet one of the following requirements:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Speak French as a first language, or<\/li>\n<li>Have received previous Francophone education (not French immersion), either in Canada or abroad, or<\/li>\n<li>Have a parent or sibling who has received Francophone primary school education (not French immersion).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Read the full conditions of admission at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.csf.bc.ca\/csf-eng\/admissions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">csf.bc.ca\/csf-eng\/admissions<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Students are educated on all subjects in French, and supplement their studies with English as a second language classes starting in Grade 4.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Almost all of our current students are fluent in both languages,&rdquo; Principal Khoutir says. &ldquo;Not only do we teach in French, we also educate our students in French culture around the world.&rdquo; <\/p>\n<figure class=\"post-attachment in-story figure\"><a href='http:\/\/interior-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2022\/03\/28303581_web1_220307-Impress-SIN-EcoleLaGrandeOurse-school_3.jpg'><img width=\"480\" height=\"373\" src=\"http:\/\/interior-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2022\/03\/28303581_web1_220307-Impress-SIN-EcoleLaGrandeOurse-school_3.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"Registration is now open for September enrolment at \u00c9cole La Grande-ourse , the Smithers school offering Francophone education to students from Kindergarten to Grade 7.\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/a><figcaption class=\"p-exclude\">Registration is now open for September enrolment at \u00c9cole La Grande-ourse , the Smithers school offering Francophone education to students from Kindergarten to Grade 7.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>3. \u00c9cole La Grande-ourse is new, but growing fast<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The school is in its third year in the community, and currently teaches 17 students from Kindergarten to Grade 7.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The pandemic has certainly made our first few years interesting, but we&rsquo;ve grown steadily since opening in 2019,&rdquo; says Anne-Marie Findlay, who teaches Grades 3 to 7. &ldquo;Having a small, multi-age group is really wonderful. The older kids are such great role models for the younger children, and the younger kids really look up to them.&rdquo; <\/p>\n<figure class=\"post-attachment in-story figure\"><a href='http:\/\/interior-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2022\/03\/28303581_web1_220307-Impress-SIN-EcoleLaGrandeOurse-school_1.jpg'><img width=\"640\" height=\"426\" src=\"http:\/\/interior-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2022\/03\/28303581_web1_220307-Impress-SIN-EcoleLaGrandeOurse-school_1.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"Ecole\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/a><\/figure>\n<p><strong>4. Building collaboration and autonomy<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Students are sometimes separated for age-specific studies, but they also spend time learning together.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The community spirit is really strong. Kids learn to work both independently and with instruction. It builds collaboration, and autonomy as well,&rdquo; Principal Khoutir says.<\/p>\n<p>The school has a kitchen, garden and great outdoor space, and students spend a lot of time outdoors exploring their natural environment and learning about their world. \u00c9cole La Grande-ourse has also taught skiing, skating, curling and other sports.<\/p>\n<p><strong>5. Register now for September 2022!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Registration is now open for the next school year! Visit <a href=\"https:\/\/lagrandeourse.csf.bc.ca\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">lagrandeourse.csf.bc.ca<\/a> to learn more, or call 778-648-2144 to speak with school staff and arrange a tour. To keep up with the latest news, follow \u00c9cole La Grande-ourse on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/La.Grande.Ourse.Smithers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Facebook<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"figure\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"28303581_web1_220307-Impress-SIN-EcoleLaGrandeOurse-school_1\" src=\"http:\/\/interior-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2022\/03\/28303581_web1_220307-Impress-SIN-EcoleLaGrandeOurse-school_1.jpeg\"><figcaption>\u00c9cole La Grande-ourse has a kitchen, garden and great outdoor space, and students spend a lot of time outdoors exploring their natural environment and learning about their world.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":78503,"template":"","sponsors":[],"class_list":["post-78496","sponsored","type-sponsored","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Enchant\u00e9! 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