As part of ‘Child Friendly Leeds’[1], the city recognises that starting school in a new location is daunting. The city has therefore established a weekly session for children aged 9-16 called ‘Fresh Start’, to learn about the British school system in a fun and informal way also helping to improve their English, confidence and support their transition. Leeds has also started weekly parent drop in’s for school policies, community issues and EU Settlement. Schools aim at securing the engagement of the parents in the school community activities and the city brings forward that this approach has provided a platform to grow this.
The GRT Outreach & Inclusion Team also deliver English language sessions alongside migrant/minority languages including informal and fun activities for parents and children. An example of this includes a weekly session at Nowell Mount Community Centre using ‘Story Sacks’ as a tool to encourage the use of both home language and English when reading to children. Story Sack is a family learning scheme of work to introduce parents to the idea of story sacks as a way of making reading skills fun and interactive by designing ‘bags’ and artefacts to promote learning.
