Quebéc Education Program – Elementary Education

The Quebec Education Program (Q.E.P.) divides elementary education into three two-year cycles. This organizational model takes into account the need for a long-term approach in developing competencies. It corresponds better to the students' learning rate and permits more differentiated teaching practices.

The Q.E.P. is designed as a system with three integrating elements: subject areas, broad areas of learning and cross-curricular competencies. Its structure is intended to facilitate the establishment of connections among the different educational components.

Subject Areas

Within the Elementary Education Program, there are 14 programs (courses) of study organized into the following six subject areas: Languages, Mathematics, Science and Technology, Arts Education, Personal Development, and Social Sciences.

Broad Areas of Learning

The broad areas of learning help students relate subject-specific knowledges to their daily concerns and thus give them a better grasp of reality. There are five broad areas of learning in the Québec Education Program: Health and Well Being, Personal and Career Planning, Environmental Awareness and Consumer Rights and Responsibilities, Media Literacy, and Citizenship and Community Life.

Cross Curricular Competencies

Cross-curricular competencies represent goals that are common to the whole curriculum. They apply to all the broad areas of learning and are also closely linked to the subject areas. The Q.E.P. contains nine cross-curricular competencies grouped into four categories: Intellectual (to use information to solve problems, to exercise critical judgment and to use creativity), Methodological (to adopt effective work methods, to use information and communications technologies), Personal and Social (to construct his/her identity and to cooperate with others), and Communication (to communicate appropriately with others).

Français, Programme d'immersion

All elementary schools across the English Montreal School Board offer various levels of French language instruction integrated within the Québec Education Program.

At Cedarcrest, students from Kindergarten through to Grade 6 follow a French immersion curriculum model. From Kindergarten to grade 2 (cycle 1), students receive 95% of their academic instruction in French, with the exception of Ethics and Religious Culture. In grades 3 to 6 (cycle 2), students follow a bilingual program. Totals do not include French spoken during recess, daycare and extra-curricular programming.