The Schools Team help families to become familiar with school life in their new community. They help to build positive home-school relationships, where both sides work together to get the best educational outcomes for the children. These actions include:
- Contacting Cornwall Council admissions team to allocate children to schools
- Prior to families’ arrival, we liaise with the school to explain the role of Welcome and support we can offer, such as:
- Pre-arrival chat with the staff and children of prospective classes, to plan a welcome for the new pupil, for example through setting up a ‘buddy’ system, preparing a school bag, or a short video message to show the family
- Explanation of specific funding that is attached to the Community Sponsorship scheme, and sharing experiences of best practise for how this can be used to welcome refugee children
- Remind the school of their statutory obligation to provide interpreters, a website that is available in other languages, and translated documents
- Gather information on how schools communicate with parents
- Assess children’s school readiness and how Welcome can prepare them, for example by helping to access free uniform or equipment; sharing accessible information about the school with the family, such as what the school day is like and expectations; this may involve home-schooling, if a family arrive during the summer
- Accompany the family and interpreter to their first meeting or tour of the school
- Ongoing and regular check-ins and liaison with the families and schools, ensuring any questions are answered and communications received. This involves supporting parents in communicating with the school, for example to report absences, join after-school clubs, and order food
- Organisation of homework club support: volunteers supporting children with their homework on a tailored weekly basis in the family homes
- Support with parents evenings, enabling linked-up, targeted support with homework club
- Support transition periods, for example by attending open evenings with the family, introducing child to teachers, advocating for additional transition days