Schifflange school signals promising results of French literacy programme

As the pilot programme for French literacy classes enters its third year, our colleagues from RTL recently visited the Nelly Stein school in Schifflange where two parallel classes – one taught in German, the other in French – are gearing up for the new academic year.

Julio, Sarah, Isaac, Kilian, Allan, and Santiago are among the pupils of the first French literacy class. Having now entered third grade, known in the Luxembourgish system as 'cycle 3.1', they continue with a syllabus mirroring that of the German literacy classes. Up until now, they only had one hour of German per week, which now increases to seven.

Teacher Sarah Scholtes, who lead the class during the first two years, draws positive results from the programme. She says that it has become clear that French is beneficial to the pupils chosen for the class, as they are more familiar with the language thanks to their immediate environment outside of school. According to Scholtes, this also made the children less shy and more willing to express themselves.

"I also had to translate very little. Before, when I was still teaching children how to read and write in German, it was the case that I had to translate a lot in the beginning, because they did not understand enough", Scholtes explained. The absence of a language barrier has moreover allowed to increase pupils' vocabulary, essential during the early development phase, according to the primary school teacher.

Third-graders usually have six hours of both German and French, but due to the different levels of the pilot classes, they will instead have seven hours of German and only five of French this year. Classes follow the same mathematics curriculum regardless of their literacy programmes since the books exist both in French and German, allowing them to stay at the same level. They do however continue with separate maths lessons until fifth grade.

Luxembourgish remains the lingua franca

Both the French and German classes have joint sessions for minor subjects, where lessons are mostly held in Luxembourgish while work sheets are adapted to their respective primary languages. So far not a problem, says Scholtes, noting that translations have long been standard practice in Luxembourg schools.

Since most pupils use Luxembourgish to communicate among themselves, using this language to respond in a class has become normal to them, the teacher argues.

"We have a plan", further stresses Nancy Thackeray, who coordinates the internal work group of the Schifflange school. She also draws positive conclusions from the first two years, but acknowledges that the situation is continuously being monitored. Nevertheless, managing the different schedules is without a doubt challenging, according to the coordinator, but not a task that they cannot handle.

French literacy classes a country-wide option by 2026

Scholtes explained that feedback from parents has been positive over the last two years. Many of them now feel more at ease to help kids with their homework, which they appreciate.

Parents continue having the choice to voluntarily register their children for the French literacy programme. The first two years of kindergarten usually point toward the best option, according to Thackeray. Teachers file a recommendation before parents later settle on a choice after thorough deliberation.

For the time being, the Nelly Stein school is one of four schools in the country participating in the pilot programme. Despite existing requests, it is not possible for non-resident children of the respective municipalities to join the programme.

At present, the Education Ministry eyes a country-wide introduction of the French literacy option by 2026.