Our Programmes

THE ACADEMIC YEAR IN FRENCH

Laurentian Academy falls perfectly into line with the vast educational reform taking place in Quebec and elsewhere, by offering a wealth of program integrating fundamental skills, all of which are presented in the context of pedagogical activities aligned to the reality and experience of modern youth.

Individual study, in-depth research, co-operative learning, teaching by projects, the use of educational software adapted for use on the Internet : these are the essential features of the modern arsenal of strategies and means used by the educators at  Laurentian Academy. All this is carried out with the object of developing in each student those skills, whether intellectual, methodological, personal or social, or related to communication, which are outlined in the program of the Ministry of Education of Quebec (MEQ).

Laurentian Academy sees the student as being the "principal actor" as he or she advances along the road of scholarship. Our students are able to deal with complex questions, to create significant relationships and to develop the skills which will later be transferred to situations of equal or greater complexity.

Laurentian Academy recognises the benefits of  recent research in Cognitive Pedagogy and, in collaboration with its team of educators, intends that students be allowed to benefit from these advances such as individual work, systematic studies, teaching by projects, utilisation of well adapted educational software and the Internet. In order to be re-admitted to  Laurentian Academy, students must satisfy  specific promotion norms. We offer   our students at the upper level of Secondary school, academic and career counselling to guide them in their choice of a future career with a view to CEGEP registration.

THE ACADEMIC YEAR IN ENGLISH
(International General Certificate Of Secondary Education)

The IGCSE is conceived as a two-year (2) program leading to the award of an internationally recognised certificate. The IGCSE is internationally recognised as a qualification within the world of education.  It is   recognised in colleges and universities throughout the world as the equivalent of British GCSE and the GCE ‘’O Levels.’’ In order to take account of differing abilities, the curriculum offers a choice between Core course content and an Extended content in most subjects. This allows the teacher to adapt the course to the level of the students present. All candidates must choose seven (7) subjects among the following five (5) groups : languages, humanities and social sciences, science, mathematics and finally creative, technical and vocational.

LANGUAGE PROGRAMS

For a number of years our institution has offered, through   Laurentian  Academy, member of the international organisation ALTO, a teaching programme in French or in English as a Second Language. Three versions of these programmes are available determined mainly by the length of the stay and the type of participants. The short-term stays (1 to 4 weeks) aim mainly at foreign school groups who are here on a visit during the school year, within the framework of our linguistic, cultural, sports or tourist stays. The medium-term stays (1 to 3 months) is intended for groups (of a smaller size) as much as for individuals. ; this Intensive Linguistic Program is adapted, according to circumstances, to group or individual activities, which the young participants share with regular students of the Academy. Weekends are devoted to tourist visits alternated with regular activities in the boarding school. Finally, the long-term stays (over 3 months) are programmes in a more elaborate version, for students aged from 10 to 17 years old, whose first language is neither French nor English but who desire to pursue their education in one or other of these two languages ; the ultimate objective is to prepare the student to join a regular teaching program at our institution.

The Intensive Program in French (or English) as a Second Language (FLS or ESL) run by  Laurentian Academy ensures rapid and lasting progress. The curriculum is intended to have a particular emphasis on the development of language mastery . Evaluations take place from the first day that a student arrives in class, via written and oral tests, so that each student is classed according to their proper level. Classes are structured, lively and interactive. Discussions, role-playing, special projects and homework are all part of the curriculum . After   regular class hours, students may continue learning in our multimedia centre and make further progress at their own rate. Our intensive program is built on a series of twenty (20) lessons per week (3 hours each morning during the week) and two (2) hours daily of study, research and homework.

The methods used for evaluation include, among others, an oral test to evaluate the degree of understanding ; the production of short videos ; a reading test and finally a written document for evaluation. At the end of their stay, students registered in the short-term and medium-term programs (from 1 week to 3 months) receive a certificate of participation, which describes their level of ability. Students registered in the long-term programme undergo regular testing in order to determine their progress in acquiring the language in question. They are also examined from time to time on the other subjects being studied such as Biology, Sociology, Science and Mathematics.