Page 75 - PSPS: A Training guide

When preparing and implementing a structured plan for the transition to primary
school of a migrant child with a different cultural background, it is equally important
that the plan includes steps not linked to the child and his/her family. It needs to
incorporate the steps for other children to understand the differences they notice, to
accept and respect them and to welcome a new peer as part of the ‘same team’ –
their class.

Community asset mapping is also a very useful exercise and can be done in the
preparation phase for the process of transition of a migrant child to primary
school.

Finding community groups of the same cultural background to the migrant child’s one
can bring many positive things, from information about cultural characteristics of the
child, to potential volunteering to help with language barriers.

Working together with the child’s preschool teachers, parents/carers and any
volunteer/representative of an NGO or international organisation involved in
organising and conducting workshops and other activities with migrant
children is necessary to develop and implement a coherent set of steps in each
environment to facilitate the child’s smooth and successful transition to
school.
Every child looks up to the most important adults in their life and picks up messages on
relationships. When parents/carers and/or preschool teachers work well together with
a school teacher, the child will feel safer and more confident to move from preschool
to primary school, or from a migrant/refugee centre to school. Simultaneously, a well-
structured transition plan for a migrant child to primary school needs to have
preparatory elements performed at preschool and/or at the refugee centre.
Parents/caregivers will be more likely to engage with teachers from primary school if a
person they are used to interacting with (preschool teachers or NGO/international
organisation’s workers and volunteers) are working together.