Dear families,
It's been a successful year, full of French learning, fun events, and making new friends and connections in our dynamic community along the way. We are grateful to see our children grow a year older in beautiful Killarney Heights.
For some children, growing a year older means moving on from KHPS and starting a new chapter. Learning French has opened many doors, expanded their minds, improved their memories, informed their world views, and enriched their social awareness, amongst the many benefits of bilingualism. Farewell and best of luck to those who are graduating, moving away, or moving on.
For the families who are continuing at KHPS, we look forward to seeing you in 2024, ready for another year! For those who are new to the school, welcome to the FANS community.
As we plan for 2024, please take a look at upcoming key dates to add to your calendar, plus important information on some changes and exciting things to come.
Before closing off the year, please have a read to celebrate the accomplishments from Term 4, and complete our end-of-year survey so we can take your valuable feedback into consideration.
Warmest wishes for a happy holiday season and a wonderful New Year!
The FANS Team
Association
French Market success!
Wow, what a day! Despite the morning downpour, the French Market at Killarney Heights Public School went ahead and attracted wonderful crowds from near and far.
Over 40 VIP guests, seven sponsors, 65 stallholders, 250 volunteers, and thousands of marketgoers participated in this 17th edition, proving once again that it has become a must-do French cultural event on Sydney’s Northern Beaches.
So that everyone could enjoy the market's joyful atmosphere, the doors remained open until 5 o'clock. The day became a story of resilience, perfectly illustrating how strong our community is when we work as a team.
Some 200 cakes, 100L of waffle batter, 700 croque-monsieurs, 1120 madeleines, 1200 sausages and 1000 crepes were prepared for the enjoyment of attendees.
Key fundraiser for bilingual education
The French Market 2023 has successfully raised $65,000 net towards our not-for-profit association. These crucial funds will go towards the shift to the new curriculum and the recruitment costs of teachers.
Thank you! Merci beaucoup!
A huge thank you for everyone’s hard work, enthusiasm, time, and skills to make this year’s event so memorable and successful! Your involvement lifts our French Market and helps showcase our FANS bilingual program at Killarney Heights Public School as a leader in French-English education on Sydney’s North Shore.
Thank you to our partners and sponsors for supporting our major FANS fundraising event: Decathlon AU, Four Frogs Creperie, Peugeot North Shore, and Col Crawford Renault, along with Ray White Fairweather Group, Tefal, and France at Home. Thank you to the raffle donors for their generous prizes. Thank you to Booth Me Up for donating a photo booth for the day so guests could create fun souvenirs.
Thank you and bravo to all the volunteer teams and stall coordinators who helped set-up on Saturday, and those who worked on Sunday from 5:30am until 8:30pm, greeting, cooking, baking, selling, supporting, and troubleshooting to make the day run smoothly and with smiles, until the packing up and cleaning of the whole school. Your positive attitudes made the sun shine through the rain!
Thank you to our FANS community for the beautiful baking, toy prizes, and French book donations that filled the stalls with quality options. Thank you for supporting your children in the selling of raffle tickets.
Thank you to all of the singers, musicians and dancers whose performances lifted the Market with song and music.
A huge thank you and congratulations to the French Market Committee, who has put in months of planning behind the scenes, managing every aspect of the Market, down to the very small details and until the last gazebos were put away. Without you, there would be no French Market.
Thank you to KHPS for being such a strong partner, supporting the event 100% each year.
Thank you to all of the attendees, who came from near and far to celebrate French culture.
We hope to see you next year on Sunday 3 November 2024. If you loved the French Market and want to get involved with the organising Committee or sponsoring the event next year, please get in touch at frenchmarket@fanssydney.org
French-Australian
Excellence Awards
You may already know Clemence Duprat, Vice-President of FANS, leader of the French Market, and outstanding finalist nominee for Woman of the Year in the 2023 French-Australian Excellence Awards.A dedicated and passionate volunteer, Clemence is a driving force behind the bilingual program and the annual French Market fundraiser. She is also a teacher and mother of two girls.
The winners were announced at a gala event on Wed. 7 December. Thanks to FANS member François Vantomme and Le Courrier Australien for organising the awards and celebration.
Congratulations to FANS member Segolene Deeley for her win in the Business - High Impact category. The entire community is very proud.
Read more
Education
Important Dates 2024
Thank you, teachers & staff!
Thank you to our teachers of French for their incredible work with the students, and for their patience, flexibility and dedication.
KHPS is a unique public school with the addition of the FANS bilingual program, requiring a lot of coordination between the school and FANS teams. We are grateful for everyone’s hard work all year long to make the bilingual program possible.
So, a huge thank you to all the teachers, who make the magic happen in class, and the office staff for their commitment.
A big thanks goes to Mme Maurin, who has moved to France, for her work with our children. She will be missed and we wish her all the best!
Welcome to Mme Margaux Nunez, who is replacing Mme Maurin. Please help welcome her to the school.
French Spelling Bee challenge
This term saw all Anglophone and Francophone stream students competing in a French Spelling Bee. After practicing their word lists at home, finalists were selected from each class and the final competitions were held during Weeks 7 & 8.
Congratulations to all of the students for their preparation and participation, and a special bravo to the finalists and the winners!
There were some tight battles, and we are very proud of everyone for their presentation skills and spelling accomplishments. The FANS teachers and staff jury members were very impressed by the students’ spelling level, as some of the winners were able to spell ten words correctly in a row. It’s clear that they’ve been working hard in class and at home.
Bilingual Program Fees 2024
As a bilingual program within a public school, we are committed to maintaining an affordable, quality bilingual program. We aim to make bilingualism accessible to all families, and our program fees are very competitive compared with independent and international schools.
The program fees of $1620 for the Anglophone stream, and $4075 for the Francophone stream represent total revenues of $1.3M, to cover $1.3M of salaries.
With a unique 1:15 average teacher-student ratio, the FANS bilingual program offers great value as an investment in your children’s bilingual education.
Please carefully read the general terms and conditions of the bilingual program and of the Association.
Intensive French Before School classes (IFBS)
Intensive French Before School (IFBS) classes are offered by the FANS bilingual program.
These classes are an integral part of the program for Francophone stream students and optional for Anglophone stream students.
The IFBS classes start in Year 1 and continue through Year 6.
IFBS for Francophone stream students
The mandatory IFBS classes for Francophone stream students are on Monday and Thursday mornings for all Francophone stream students for Years 1 - 6.
In 2024, IFBS classes will start at 8:00am and end at 8:45am, to allow for a 15-minute break before the 9am school bell. This change follows the school’s decision to allow for 2 hours of teaching during the morning sessions (from 9 to 11am), when the children are at their best learning capacity.
The IFBS classes consolidate notions in grammar and conjugation and are an integral part of the Francophone stream bilingual program.
IFBS classes will start on Thursday 8 Feb. 2024.
A Kindy "garderie" operated by FANS is available during IFBS, Monday and Thursday from 8:00am to 8:30am, for the Kindy siblings of older students attending IFBS.
Note: There are no IFBS lessons on the first Monday of any Term due to school Pupil Free days.
IFBS for Anglophone stream students
The optional IFBS classes for Anglophone stream students are on Wednesday mornings for Anglophone stream students for Years 1 - 6.
In 2024, IFBS classes will start at 8:00am and end at 8:45am, to allow for a 15-minute break before the 9am school bell. This change follows the school’s decision to allow for 2 hours of teaching during the morning sessions (from 9 to 11am), when the children are at their best learning capacity.
These optional classes reinforce and deepen students' French language knowledge, and require an additional enrolment to the bilingual program.
IFBS classes will start on Wednesday 7 Feb. 2024.
The annual cost is $500, invoiced following your regular invoicing schedule (annually or quarterly).
To enrol your child in the IFBS Anglophone stream classes, please email admin@fanssydney.org with:
• your child's full name
• the year level in 2023
• any allergies or medical conditions
L'Etude French Homework Club
To support students with their French homework and lighten the workload at home, FANS offers L’Etude French Homework Club for students in the Francophone stream.
Classes are led by a Teacher of French and take place every Monday or Thursday, 3:00-4:00pm.
High School Extracurricular Classes 2024
FANS offers bespoke extracurricular classes for High School students from Years 7 - 12.
Classes are located at the Forestville Community Arts Centre (beside the Forestville Library).
To learn more and to enrol, please visit our website:
Enrol Now
DELF Exam Preparation Classes: The DELF is a diploma awarded by the French Ministry of Education, via France Education International.
This diploma is internationally recognised, is valid for life, and opens a vast array of opportunities to study in French-speaking universities around the world. A select number of Australian universities will accept your DELF diploma and positively adjust your ATAR result to improve your selection ranking.
Various classes are offered to help students prepare to write the A2, B1 and B2 DELF Junior exams.
History Workshop: This exciting workshop focuses on introducing students to French history through conversation, films, documentaries, and current events. The Workshop is taught over 2 years:
Part 1 (2024): students learn about the French Revolution, the Industrial Revolution, the early French Republics and French Colonisation.
Part 2 (2025): students learn about the two World Wars, the Cold War and Decolonisation.
News & Current Affairs: This new workshop aims at developing students' critical thinking skills by discussing news and current events to better understand the world.
Learn more
Social
Thank You Volunteers Barbecue
We enjoyed a sunny barbecue at Bilarong Reserve in Narrabeen to celebrate the wonderful FANS volunteers who have made this such a successful and fun year.
A huge MERCI to everyone for all your time, effort, skills and commitment to our not-for-profit association and the bilingual program.
French cinema tickets giveaway!
Marine T
Claire
Claire A
Angelica
Aviva
Aurelie P
Marie J
Hedy R
Cathlin B
Gabrielle B
Vanessa M
Kylie A
Klara L
Monique D
Suzie L
Florent S
Marine H
Sandra B
Nathalie P
Tracey S
Focus
End of Year Survey
Share your feedback
We want to hear from you! Each year we ask FANS members to tell us how we're doing by sharing your feedback and ideas. Please take a few minutes to complete this end-of-year survey so we can hear your voice.
Until next year...
Happy Holidays and Joyeux Noël!
We wish you a happy and safe summer break.
Best regards,
The FANS team
