Welcoming Parents

When you first meet with parents or they visit a reception centre, it can be helpful to provide them with information that extends beyond their child's placement in a school. Consider what else they might need to know to successfully integrate in the school and broader community.

Information Schools Should Provide to Newcomer Families to Support Integration:

Course schedules (e.g., child will have more than one teacher and more than one classroom)
Physical layout of the school
Homework policy and purpose
Attendance policy (e.g., mandatory phone call and note when child is sick)
Discipline policy
Immunization policy
Dress code, winter clothing, physical education uniforms
Cafeteria options
Subsidized lunch applications
Transportation options to and from school
Back to School Night information
Progress report and report card descriptions
Parent-teacher conference dates and purpose
After-school clubs and sports options
Special education services
Summer school availability
The role of guidance counselors and other non-teaching staff

Source: Short, D. J., & Boyson, B. A. (2012). Helping newcomer students succeed in secondary schools and beyond. Washington, DC: Center for Applied Linguistics (p. 52). Retrieved from http://www.cal.org/resource-center/publications/helping- newcomer-students

Watch: Building Relationships with Multilingual Families Through Family Engagement Events

Key information that could be gathered and kept on hand to share with

newly arrived parents:

- How schooling works here in Alberta including school, district and provincial educational information (district calendar, programs of study, assessment practices, classroom management/discipline, parent-teacher conferences, etc.). Here is a sample from the Canadian Multicultural Education Foundation
- Local community events
- Pre-school programs
- How to access the local library
- Community and language supports available for parents
- Local sporting programs
- Maps - Getting around
- Backpacks and school supplies and where to purchase them (a number of community agencies provide supplies: e.g., Tools for School backpacks, United Way, mittens)
- Indoor/outdoor shoes
- How to dress students for the weather
- Information about lunch and snack routines, and what it means to be a nut-aware school; might need to be as specific as introducing parents to Ziploc bags. Distribute any available community brochures on Healthy Eating, Snacks, etc.
- Plan to host 1 or 2 Parent Information Sessions per year, e.g., how school works, how to support your child in their learning, transitioning to Gr 7, how high school credits work, etc.

Considerations when Communicating with Newcomer Families

Social media:

Can be an effective tool for sharing information
Should not be depended on though as not all families may regularly use social media sites
If using as a communication tool, provide translations of the messages being shared

Translated materials or notes:

Can be sent home in students’ homework folders
Important to have reliable translations of materials
Parents or guardians may have a range of literacy skills in their home language

Bilingual staff or family liaison:

Can be invaluable for fostering parent communication and outreach
Important that bilingual staff are not called away from teaching or student support to interpret

Face-to-face options:

A great way to communicate with ML families
Possible opportunities might be during drop-off or pickup, at community events, or school events.
Consider if you will need to secure an interpreter for these interactions

Snyder, S., & Fenner, D.S (2021). Culturally responsive teaching for multilingual learners. Corwin Sage.

Resources

IT'S HERE! Raising Teens in a New Country Handbook!Raising Teens in a New Country: A Guide for the Whole Family, was created for parents and teens who are new to the U.S., and for the service providers working with them. The teen years are a time when children learn important lessons and skills that will help them as they develop into adults. This is

Family StrengtheningMost refugee families make the difficult decision to resettle in a strange country for the sake of their children, seeking safety, security and opportunity. Like American parents, they hope for their children’s lives to be better than their own. Yet, the realities of raising children in a new country can be daunting as parents navigate

Use the link above to find more Family Strengthening resources, such as "Raising Children in a New Country: An Illustrated handbook" and "Raising Young Children in a New Country: Supporting Early Learning and Healthy Development".

Information Tips for Parents 1

Information and Tips for Parents 1

Information Tips for Parents 2

Information and Tips for Parents 2

Parent Session- General.pdf

Parent Sessions for ELL Families

Generic_Invitation_to_School.pdf

Using a generic family invitation form that can be completed and used for all types of events that occur at the school allows family members to become familiar with it during the school year. The form should be translated into families’ home languages so teachers have less need for ongoing translation services.

Generic Parent Invitation