Page 62 - Guiding-at-risk-youth-through-learning-to-work-Lessons-from-across-Europe

Guiding at-risk youth through learning to work
Lessons from across Europe

4.2.5. Supporting recently-arrived immigrant children
Support for recently-arrived immigrant children and their families can have far
reaching benefits for the children themselves, their families, schools and the
wider society. It reduces the likelihood of young immigrants dropping out of
school early because of poor academic performance related to language
difficulties or poor knowledge of the education and training system. Language
difficulties can affect not only the ability of a student to study effectively, but can
also lead to feelings of isolation and low self-esteem. Given progressive
demographic change in the European Union, many countries have a established
system to help immigrant children to settle into their new educational
environment and the European Social Fund (ESF) has provided many with joint
financing. The measures used vary between countries, depending on national
preferences and context.
In countries such as Greece, France, the Netherlands and Sweden,
immigrant children are given the opportunity to attend temporary reception
classes if they do not have the required level of proficiency in the host language
to cope successfully in the school system. Pupils are taught mainstream
curriculum content and receive language tuition to minimise the risk of them
falling behind. Students are then gradually integrated into mainstream classes. In
Sweden, classes offer new arrivals Swedish language tuition and lessons on
Swedish society (Swedish National Agency for Education, 2005). Pupils who
have moved into regular classes and who require additional support can benefit
from guidance services, staffed by support teachers and offered in Swedish or in
the pupil’s mother tongue. These are provided in small groups, but assistants can
also help individual pupils during their normal classes. In Greece, Greek families
who are returning to live in Greece can also attend integration classes to help
with the transition.
Segregated reception classes are not supported by all; some argue that this
hinders integration process into the host society. In some other countries, such
as the UK, newly-arrived immigrant children are integrated into mainstream
classes as soon as they have arrived, and supported in this by teaching
assistants and other personnel. It has not been possible in this study to provide
detail on the effectiveness of either one of these approaches but it has been
found that there is little evaluation evidence available to compare them. What is
also clear is that it is not only children who need guidance at this stage; it is also
vital to inform the parents of immigrant children about the education system and
its benefits. Such guidance can be provided, for example, by schools and
authorities through interpreters, by making written information about the school
system available in different languages, or through designed individuals with the

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