Home School Liaison
The Home Liaison project works with identified families, school staff and Somali students to overcome barriers which may be preventing children from achieving their full potential.
The project works with identified families, school staff and Somali students to overcome barriers which may be preventing children from achieving their full potential. At OSCA, we organise and provide social, recreational and educational activities during school holidays to engage with young people including those in the NEET category and assist them to return to education.
It was set up to address the alarming trend of Somali students' under-performing in local schools and assist schools to reduce the number of Somali students truanting and excluded from schools.
Our adopted strategy to raise educational attainment, reduce truancy and the dropout rate amongst Somali pupils is threefold:
To improve communication between schools and the pupils' parents
It is difficult for Somali parents possessing limited language skills to communicate with their children's schools and, consequently, they are unable to effectively monitor the progress of their children. The Home / School Liaison officer therefore facilitates the communication between the Somali parents and the schools by undertaking the role of a translator, as well as ensure that the parents are made aware of progress made by their children in school.
Help teachers to understand the cultural backgrounds of Somali pupils
Through concerted partnership with local schools; we have been successful in raising awareness of the cultural sensitivities of Somali pupils and families to many professionals. We only hope this process will enable them to change things in how they support Somali children's.
Increase confidence of Somali pupils and assist with language barriers by working with mentors from universities and facilitate extra-curriculum activities
The Home Liaison Project has been working with Sir John Cass over the last 10 years to great success. We are also in contact with a number of schools and take on referral cases from various primary and secondary schools in the borough.
School Head:
'I am delighted that OSCA is providing excellent services to Somali students in our school, we know their presence makes a big impact on educational achievements of Somali pupils. OSCA has been working with us for the past five years and we support their work'
