ELL - You Need to Know This About SWIS!
Do you have students in your class who speak other languages at home? Do you need support with home-school communications?
The SWIS Team is here to help! Lindy will introduce you to the Settlement Workers In Schools (SWIS). They help to bridge cultural and linguistic barriers and introduce families to the BC school system. They can make phone calls or attend parent meetings at our schools. Find out if your student already has a SWIS worker assigned, how to access their support and what to do if your student doesn't qualify for the program. There are alternatives that can make a big difference.
SWIS will share some tips and tricks for communicating with families, and share the most common concerns and questions from parents. We will share some multilingual visuals and culturally appropriate translations for use in the classroom, or when sending information home.
Please join us to meet your SWIS team!
Target Audience
K-12
Sessions
Presenters
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Westshore International - ELL
Lindy Kovacik
Lindy Kovacik has been working with SWIS for over a decade. She values their contributions enormously and has seen the difference they make in helping our families feel welcomed and settled. Nurturing a sense of belonging and growing roots are essential for our students' success. When families feel supported and a trust relationship built, then the ripple effect is felt in the schools. We have seen incredible growth recently, especially in our beginning and new to English speakers. By connecting families with a settlement agency, you will be more successful in starting and strengthening your educational partnership with parents who may be feeling linguistic and cultural isolation as they begin a new life in Canada. The ELL teachers in our ELL department support you in making these referrals. Learn more about how that can directly benefit you, your students and their families.
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Lisa Wang
Lisa Wang works for the Intercultural Association of Greater Victoria (www.icavictoria.org), a settlement agency with the SWIS program and a translation department. She is the Coordinator for the SWIS program. Lisa has worked with SD62 since the beginning of our partnership many years ago. She speaks Chinese and has worked for 8 years with the SWIS program. The other SWIS workers include Elie Kozma, SWIS Program Manager, Sabina Niraula, who speaks Russian, French, and Spanish, and Sondoss Elnegahy, who speaks Arabic.
The Settlement Workers in Schools is a school-based outreach program to help newcomer school-aged children and their families settle and integrate into their school and community. ICA’s SWIS program partners with three school districts SD61,62 and 63, serving more than 90 schools. The services including school registration; school and community resource connections and assisting with applications; facilitating culturally sensitive communications between parents and school staff; collaborating with schools, especially with ELL teachers and counselors on special group events and information sessions.
SWIS programs helped more than 700 new immigrant students and parents last year from many different countries.