A HOME AWAY FROM HOME
Joining a new school can be daunting for any student. It can be even more stressful for students outside the country coming to a private school for the first time, especially when they are less familiar with the language or lifestyle. Many schools that host international students offer a number of supports, from English as a second language (ESL) programs to fun and informative orientation events.
Depending on their country of origin, coming to Canada for an education can bring a number of surprises for new students. It’s not just the language barrier for nonEnglish speaking students, says Cheryl Chiang, director at McDonald International Academy. “There’s also the culture shock and, for some, even the weather.”
McDonald International Academy has 300 students in grades nine to 12 across its two campuses in downtown Toronto and North York. Up to 80 per cent are from outside of Canada, most of whom stay with local families or have their own apartments.
To help students adjust to life in Canada the school engages new students in a host of activities, from a start-ofthe-semester welcome party and scavenger hunts to holiday celebrations and excursions in and around the city.
Many traditions we take for granted require some sort of orientation. Even a prom can be a foreign concept to some, Chiang says.
When celebrating Hallowe’en, for example, teachers educate students on what it means. “We explain why people wear costumes, do pumpkin carving, and might even take them to a pumpkin patch or on a hayride. We also celebrate a number of international holidays, such as Chinese New Year.”
The school also offers an ESL program, and students can receive extra one-on-one support from peer tutors when they need it. “Students actually get used to things pretty quickly,” Chiang says.
At St. Andrew’s College, an all-boy boarding and day school in Aurora, students in the boarding program can represent up to 20 different countries. Michael Roy, director of admission, marketing and business development, describes the integration of international kids within the school community as “somewhat holistic and natural. They are living, studying and eating together as well as taking part in activities. For the most part they assimilate naturally, even if they don’t speak the same language.”
New students coming from outside the country arrive two days before the returning boys for orientation time. Every student also takes part in camping experiences as a means to bond with others.
Because it is a combined boarding and day school, there are plenty of opportunities for international students to socialize and explore activities with their classmates and their families outside of the school, Roy says.
St. Andrew’s also has a mentor program run through a parent’s guild, in which a student’s family is assigned a school parent. “It’s a tremendous help for incoming parents because a lot of them may have trouble speaking English. Sometimes the boys interpret for them; sometimes the parents connect with other parents.”
Albert College in Belleville is a pre-kindergarten to grade 12 co-ed combined day and boarding school. Keith Stansfield, head of school, says it offers both ESL classes and a summer school program to get students’ language skills up to speed. Although not widely used, there is also an English foundations yearlong program for students whose English is not strong enough to go into a streamed ESL programs. “While not many families want that extra year, it is extremely effective to front-end load English training,” he says.
As with many schools taking international students, acceptance is determined by their IELTS (international English-language testing system) score. Depending on the type of program or school, the minimum score requirements for admission can vary. “It’s not realistic for students with low scores to think they can graduate with sufficient marks to get into university,” Stansfield says.
A split boarding/day school structure provides a number of inherent advantages for newcomers, he adds. “Because their classmates are from Belleville they can go home for weekends with someone and have a Thanksgiving turkey dinner. One student from China … came back from a weekend dogsledding trip.”
One of the most popular and effective orientation activities is a kick-off field trip in which all grades seven to 12 students and their teachers take a three-day field trip to Algonquin Park. “It’s a great chance for new students to meet all their teachers and kids from different countries and have a chance to acclimatize to school life in Canada.”
This type of social integration with their classmates is extremely important given that travelling to a new country and studying a new language can be incredibly intimidating for many of these students, Stansfield says.
“The reality is, these kids are not thinking so much about school but who they can have lunch with.”
INTEGRATING ... IS SOMEWHAT HOLISTIC AND NATURAL. THEY ARE LIVING, STUDYING AND EATING TOGETHER AS WELL AS TAKING PART IN ACTIVITIES. FOR THE MOST PART THEY ASSIMILATE NATURALLY, EVEN IF THEY DON’T SPEAK THE SAME LANGUAGE. — MICHAEL ROY, ST. ANDREW’S