L'Archipel

French welcome here
There are limited spaces for 2021. Enrolments open and close around September each year.
​Email office@richmondroad.school.nz for an enrolment pack.

Florence Barbas-Voillaume  Rōpū leader (Years 4-6), Beatrice Fesien (Years 2-4), Vesna Nikolic-Ivanovic(Years 0-2)
Sphiner Folasa (Learning Assistant)

Notre objectif

Our goal is to ensure that students can competently navigate their own culture and language and be equal scholastically to any other child in New Zealand mainstream education beyond primary school.

French-English bilingual education in New Zealand is a unique model. Our bilingual unit follows the New Zealand curriculum and the children are fully integrated into the public school system.
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​Note that L'Archipel is LabelFrancEducation certified which is a label that promotes outstanding education in French among students and parents. It is granted by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. ​

En classe

                Full immersion and bilingual NZC delivery
L’Archipel is organised into 3 classes. During their time in Le Nid (Years 0-2), your child will be taught the New Zealand curriculum solely through the medium of the French language (unless circumstances dictate otherwise). In L’Envol (Years 2-6), the programme is delivered at a 40/60 ratio: 4 consecutive days in English followed by 6 consecutive days in French and so on (every Monday being a French day). 
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Our language unit currently has three teachers and one learning assistant. We also regularly welcome 'stagiaires' from French speaking countries who volunteer their time to share their expertise of the French language with our students.

​A typical day in L'Archipel goes something like this
08h30 Students start arriving
09h00 Karakia et l'appel
09h15 Lecture et écriture
11h00 Récréation
11h30 Mathématiques
12h30 Art/Thème/Sport
13h00 Pause déjeuner
13h50 L'appel et lecture à soi
14h10 Art/Thème/Sport
15h00 Fin des cours

En dehors de la classe

L'Archipel participate in a range of French events. These include

• French Week
• Auckland French Speech Competition
• Biannual class trip to New Caledonia.

In addition to participating in French related events, our students mix with the Samoa, Māori and Kiwi Connections rōpū in wider school activities such as sports, music, our school production, our biannual camp for seniors, Ritimana Matariki events and celebrations of other heritage languages.

Albums photos

​Take a look at these to get a sense of what L'Archipel is about:

​French Week 2020
Le Musée Vivant de L'Archipel
Re-bonjour! Ou comment se saluer en ces temps de distanciation sociale

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Ce que pensent les parents de L'Archipel

“As a French Irish family living in New Zealand, having a bilingual education for our children was very important to us. L'Archipel is an amazing unit with fantastic teachers. Our oldest daughter just finished 6 years in L'Archipel and is a very confident French speaker and reader. We are really lucky to have the opportunity to give our kids a bilingual education”.
“Je suis heureuse que mes enfants soient scolarisés à L'Archipel, qu'ils puissent apprendre le français tout en bénéficiant des méthodes d'enseignement néo-zélandaises, intéractives et ludiques. Un grand merci aux maîtresses!"
"I have two daughters at L'Archipel. Bilingual education is very important to me so I was thrilled to be able to send my children to Richmond Road School. L'Archipel is just such a lovely unit. The teachers are very passionate and always find time for parents and children after school hours. And because the teachers are trained in New Zealand, we get the best of both worlds. The teaching environment is nurturing, positive and the kids still get immersed in French culture.
I think it is important for bilingual children to be able to have more than a conversation in the "minor" language. Being in a bilingual unit means they can learn a subject in the minor language. It is important in order to embed the minor language for life.
​I love the fact that at l'Archipel new kids get buddied up with older kids and that makes the younger kids feel comfortable and build their confidence. Whatsmore, the parent community at l'Archipel is welcoming and fun."
"We have felt so fortunate to be have been able to give a bilingual education to our four boys, [all of which have been through, or are still going through, L’Archipel at Richmond Road].  Our kids are being given a lifelong gift of fluency in another language and culture via a very rich immersion experience, led by teachers who are as passionate as we are about bilingual education.  We have also loved that our kids have also managed to experience and learn about the cultures in their sister units - TWW/Maori, MiM/Samoan, and The Hub/Kiwi - it’s a true reflection of the multicultural society we live in, and we feel like this experience prepares our kids well for the world they will enter."

Communication entre l'école et la maison

​At L'Archipel teachers use digital platforms to communicate and share resources with home. Depending on the class your child is in, their teacher might use Seesaw or/and Google Classroom and Google Drive to share classroom learning. These platforms allow Teachers-Parents, Teachers-Students and Students-Parents interactions.

Our Whanau Open Afternoons are also great opportunities for students to showcase their work and for parents to come along and acknowledge the learning that has taken in the classrooms. These hui offer an opportunity to discuss and understand curriculum initiatives that teachers are undertaking.
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For school wide news, the school website is the go-to place. There are also regular Richmond Road School newsletters which have important dates and interesting stories about what our tamariki have been up to. School assemblies hosted by a different rōpū every other Friday are another great way to find out what is happening at Ritimana.

L'engagement des familles

Our students are strongly supported by our school – Richmond Road School has recognised the role of bilingual education and acknowledges the need for children to connect with their cultural heritage through language by actively supporting the development and growth of L'Archipel and the French language in the school. 

​You as a parent can get involved by

• Coming along to parents evenings 
• Going on school trips
• Speaking French with your child/ren
• Attending parent-teacher-child conferences
• Helping in the classroom as needed
• Contributing to fundraising with ideas, time or resources via the Richmond Road PTA 
• Being an active member of FRENZ, our French parent association contact@frenzschool.org.nz
  https://www.facebook.com/FrenzSchool/
• Keeping in touch with what’s happening at L’Archipel by joining the Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/792530674265746​​​

Visites

L'Archipel warmly invites any prospective parents and their children to attend an Open Day at our unique kura. Please contact the office to book a tour office@richmondroad.school.nz

Inscriptions 

Enrolment process is as follows



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Ce qu'en disent les élèves

“J'aime être à l'Archipel car je peux apprendre en français, et je peux parler à mes grand-parents et mes cousins de France quand je les vois.”

"I liked being in a bilingual unit because I was learning to speak, read and write in two languages and it was lots of fun!! I really loved my 6 years at L'Archipel."
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“I am glad I am in L'Archipel because everybody helps everybody and there are lots of nice people”.

"J'aime jouer avec mes copines et faire l'écriture. J'aime apprendre en français. J'aime ma maîtresse parce qu'elle est gentille.
Et j'aime les plantes dans l'école."

"The thing I valued the most about L’Archipel was that now I can speak French fluently."

"It was fun, I got to meet a lot of friends. I learnt a lot and I got to learn another language."

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