In conjunction with the Fédération des parents' next annual conference, a major event for the Francophone community of our province will take place: the first ever summit on the transmission of French in British Columbia: SommetCB.ca

This year, the annual conference of the Fédération des parents francophones de Colombie-Britannique will be held November 2 to 4 at the Executive Airport Plaza Hotel in Richmond.

The conference will start, as it usually does, with the presentation of awards to recognize the volunteer involvement of parents in various communities and the dedication of educators in the preschool network.

In addition, the opening night will end with the swearing-in ceremony for the new Conseil scolaire francophone de la C.-B. (CSF) trustees elected on October 20, 2018. These trustees will form the new Board of Trustees of the CSF.

A Day to Mobilize Parents, Community and Education Partners

On Saturday, November 3, the day will be devoted to a major event for the Francophone community in our province: a summit dealing with the transmission of language in British Columbia. Parents in the Fédération des parents network will be invited to participate, along with partners in the Francophone community network and in the field of Francophone education.

The Fédération des parents would like, on this occasion, to mobilize parents, its community partners, and its partners in the education sector (from early childhood education to the post-secondary level) around this critical issue.

One of the key elements for the sustainability of a community is its success rate in ensuring the transmission of language and culture to children and young people, by means of contributions from the community as a whole. Similarly, it’s important to rely on the entire Francophone community when you’re a Francophone parent living in a minority environment, so that you can succeed in transmitting your language and culture to your child. This is especially true if, as is often the case, your partner is not Francophone.

The community partners participating in the summit are convinced that by working together and combining their efforts with regard to children and young people in our communities, the likelihood of successfully transmitting the language is greater. It’s with these ideas in mind that the summit on the transmission of language in British Columbia was conceived.

* Summary of the summit’s objectives:

• Bring together BC Francophone community partners to create collaboration between different elements of our community (such as the Francophone association network, young people, parents, seniors, immigrants, and participants in education and early childhood);
• Encourage the exchange of information and sharing about issues regarding the future of the Francophone community;
• Implement concrete actions to transform the Francophone community environment (its family, in the broad sense of the term; school, from child care to post-secondary institutions; and the community at large); and change behaviour in order to more actively help pass on French language and Francophone culture to small children, older children, and young people;
• Identify practical courses of action for modernizing Civic Community Schools in our communities.

*   The organizing committee is composed of representatives from the following organizations:

• Assemblée francophone des retraités.es et des aînés.es de la C.-B.
• SFU Office of Francophone and Francophile Affairs
• Conseil culturel et artistique francophone de la Colombie-Britannique
• BC Francophone Youth Council
• Conseil scolaire francophone de la Colombie-Britannique
• Fédération des francophones de la Colobie-Britannique
• Fédération des parents francophones de Colombie-Britannique
• Réseau-Femmes Colombie-Britannique
• Société de développement économique de la Colombie-Britannique.
  

A Unifying Event

The summit is meant to be a unifying event that focuses on the transmission of language and culture from one generation to another, which places children and young people at the heart of the project, and the family at the centre of action.

It takes a village to raise a child, and this is even more true in a Francophone minority situation. The summit will allow us to explore this concept and to identify practical courses of action to establish in our communities.

It’s an event not to be missed! More details will be available when school starts in September.

SommetCB.ca