Up and Away - National Council for Curriculum and Assessment

✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
For teachers:
It is most important to achieve a means of communicating with parents whose mother tongue is not
English. Parents may, because of inadequate proficiency in English, feel excluded from their children’s
education.
For parents:
Encourage parents to speak to their children in the mother tongue, and to do all the things they
would normally do – reading stories, talking about the day, telling the children about the home
country, etc.
Encourage parents to ask their children about what they are learning – in doing so, parents learn the
words that are important in their children’s lives.
If possible, provide dual-language books for pupils to take home so that parents can read stories to
their children in the mother tongue and children can read the story back to their parents in English.
Involve parents in projects which celebrate multiculturalism in the school.
Section 2 The language support programme
Working with parents of newcomer pupils
! Points to remember!
Newcomer parents may not be familiar with the routines of parent-teacher meetings – where to go,
where to wait, etc. Make sure that you have a helper to smooth the way.
Create a welcoming environment in the classroom or meeting room, and remember that the parent
will be depending on visual clues.
Set aside additional time to speak to a parent so that you do not feel under pressure.
Prepare for the meeting by having examples to hand of the child’s work (particularly the European
Language Portfolio), the books/resources that you are using, and the pictorial report forms on the
next pages.
Do not use another child to interpret.
Remember that a parent coming from a different educational culture may not be aware of some of
the most basic routines and procedures in Irish education – see if there is anything you think
could/should be explained.
Involve parents in school activities which do not require a high level of English language proficiency
– book-covering sessions, tidy-up projects, preparing celebrations, etc.
It is most important that parents continue to
speak to children in the mother tongue.
Children need to develop their L1 in order to
maintain contact with the extended family and
home culture.
In addition, children need this level of
interaction in their mother tongue in order to
develop cognitively during these critical years.
Parental involvement is critical for school
success. It is necessary to:
Find appropriate ways of involving parents
in school matters.
Provide support to parents who may feel
intimidated or inadequate in the
educational context.
29