“Coffee mornings help to build a relationship with the local community and are an opportunity to breakdown barriers.” - an example from a school in Berkshire
As students started to come back into the classrooms after the Covid pandemic related disruptions, many schools like The Forest Secondary School in Berkshire were also finding that due to the British National Overseas visa scheme, there was an influx of families arriving from Hong Kong in the surrounding areas with children they wished to join their school.
Reading, situated an hour outside London is one of the areas of the UK where families have been motivated to settle, often due to the quality of schools available. Education is a primary concern for most Hong Kongers deciding to move here.
The Forest School, is an all boys Secondary with a mixed sixth form, and their headteacher Shirley Austin says it was a challenge, needing to move quickly to support the influx of students from 2020. Led by Shirley the school has been determined to provide strong support for the arrivals, setting up integration measures for both the students and their parents.
Two finance staff at the school are now Cantonese speaking and a Hong Konger businessman was appointed into the canteen providing him with a first step back into gaining work in the UK and the students another member of staff who could speak their native language. Students automatically see the schools EAL (English as an Additional Language) co-ordinator when they arrive, their reading age standard of English is assessed and resources such as Cantonese books are being sourced for the library.
Monthly coffee mornings, held in the library have been a vital forum enabling the school to build relationships with the parents of their students (and is also open to Hong Kong families attending different schools in the area). As well as providing practical advice and information on a variety of areas from family’s legal rights to a place in a school to how teaching is carried out in the UK system – Shirley Austin, The Forest Schools Headteacher who leads the coffee morning presentations is keen to emphasise that they are a crucial chance to build a relationship with the local community and breakdown barriers.
Headteacher Shirley Austin said: “I want them to know I am a Headteacher but I’m not a separate scary authority, I am a mum of three children running a school. We are here to support and help. We want to help them to understand the systems here.”
As relationships have strengthened, parents have been encouraged to discuss any additional needs their children may have and to air their concerns so that the school can reassure and address any issues. The Forest school is happy that the measures put in place such as the coffee mornings are helping to ensure the Hong Kongers feel welcome here and the support in various forms can continue to build strong bonds and help to deliver great results for the students and the school.
Further readings:
About the Welcoming Committee for Hong Kongers and the government’s Welcome Programme
The Welcoming Committee for Hong Kongers has been set up in response to the BN(O) visa scheme. It brings together the ‘welcomers’ and the ‘welcomed’ and helps coordinate efforts across the UK’s nations and regions from civil society, communities, business, education and government to support Hong Kongers to settle in the UK. It also conducts research to inform policy, share best practice and support organisations to make their voices heard. The Welcoming Committee is hosted at independent think tank British Future, which works for a confident and inclusive Britain, welcoming and fair to all.
Through the Welcome Programme, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities is providing funding to 42 locally based organisations around the UK to ensure that local grass roots community groups can meet the needs of the local Hong Kongers in the communities where they are based.