Tamanawis Secondary 24-25

To support the smooth transition of Tamanawis’ newcomer students. 

Context and Observations: 

In the past few years, Tamanawis had a rapid growth in the arrival of newcomer students from countries like India, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Italy, Sri Lanka, and Ukraine. So far this year, we have already welcomed around 110 new ELL students. This trend seems to continue with increasing new arrivals from across the world. As a point of first and frequent contact, the LST department noticed the following issues with regard to successful transition of Tamanawis’ newcomer students:

• Barriers to Newcomer Family Engagement: There is a need for the families of newcomer students to be engaged, to access, and know about their child’s progress in school. While the issues of parent engagement are not new; LST department has noticed that a lack of fluency in English, a lack of awareness and education about the education system, and lack of information are barriers to informed family engagement.
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• Impact on Transition Due to Cultural Differences: Our newcomer students are arriving from countries and societies in which the values, norms and expectations are different. In many cases, this is the student’s first interaction with education in the western world. LST department is often the first point of contact for these issues. Female students from Afghanistan for example have asked our department for space to eat out of sight from boys (as they will need to remove their face coverings to eat), for exemptions from physical fitness, and have demonstrated sensitivity to images and content in class.

Initiatives Undertaken 2024-2025: 

• Peer Buddy Program: The department launched a peer buddy program in which older experienced students were paired up with newcomer students to help them feel socially and emotionally connected. Case managers facilitated the first few sessions at lunch time through ice-breaking activities and games. We conducted a survey to find out the success of this program. Many new students mentioned positive impacts of this initiative.
• Newcomer Family Orientation: The department held a newcomer and welcome orientation session for families of newly arrived students. The session covered information about school, an overview of report cards, the role and function of the LST department and case managers, counsellor access information, reading and accessing report cards, summer school registration, and provided an opportunity for family members and students to ask questions. The session was attended by approximately 45 individuals and was conducted in English as well as in other languages.
• Staff LST-ELL Support Session: LST department held a lunchtime session on supports and strategies that classroom teachers can use to contextualize their instructional strategies and pedagogy to support ELL students and those with learning support designations.
• Compiled and Distributed Resources and Adapted Materials: Our department also created resources and released a booklet outlining a variety of adaptations teachers may find useful in their practice. The booklet featured adaptations across instructional, assignment, assessment, organizational, technological, environmental, behavior, motivation and reinforcement, as well as self-management categories.

As the staff and students at Tamanawis Secondary continue to learn together and develop their skills and strategies around Social and Emotional learning, we anticipate continued growth in the following areas:

• A continued practice of supporting the smooth transition of Tamanawis’ newcomer students
• continuing and increasing the practice of teachers making positive connections with students to lessen the possibility of anxiety in the classroom
• continue to develop learning activities that engage students, particularly with visual representations of information
• further develop the skills needed for students to effectively communicate and collaborate that will serve them well in their education both now and into the future.