Introduction
This is the final session in The Welcome Program and is an opportunity for you to provide feedback about the program and to discuss how you are settling into high school.
By the end of this session you should:
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have an opportunity to speak about your successes and any difficulties you may have had in your time at high school
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have an opportunity to evaluate the program and contribute ideas about ways to assist future students
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receive an acknowledgement of your participation in The Welcome Program.
Preparation and resources
To complete this session, you will need access to the following resources:
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a computer
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documents (found in the Activities section below)
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8.1 – Content and activities
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8.2 – Student evaluation.
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Activities
Suggested activities for this session:
Discuss the following questions as a class group:
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How are you feeling about high school now?
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What has been the best thing about high school so far?
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Is there anything that you would like to find out more about?
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Do you have any concerns? If so, have you already spoken to someone about this?
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Who is attending a homework centre?
Everyone’s thoughts and ideas are welcome. Your teacher may have some additional questions for you to discuss as part of this activity.
This is also an excellent opportunity for you to raise any questions that you have about high school. Hearing how your friends and peers deal with certain situations can be very helpful.
Activity 2 – Program evaluation
The program evaluation activity requires you to think about The Welcome Program and provide feedback. If you are having trouble remembering everything you did as part of the program, open a copy of 8.1 – Content and activities1.
Your teacher will give you a printed copy of the 8.2 – Student evaluation document and explain how to complete it.
If there is time, you may be able to discuss your answers with the rest of the group. Be sure to give your written feedback to your teacher, as this will help them improve the program in the future.
Conclusion
Any feedback, suggestions or comments that you made during the evaluation are appreciated and will be used to improve the program in the future.
If you have any other feedback or questions, feel free to see your teacher.
This is the final session of The Welcome Program.
Teaching notes
The Welcome Program sessions are designed to be teacher facilitated. Students should not be left to complete the activities without guidance.
This session will provide ongoing support to new students.
Aims
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To provide students with an opportunity to speak of their successes and any difficulties they may have had in their first term at high school.
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To give students an opportunity to evaluate the program and contribute ideas about ways to assist future students.
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To acknowledge students’ participation in the program.
Before conducting this session, read all of the information in this resource and plan accordingly. You may choose to conduct some activities without using student computers and will therefore need to print out copies of worksheets for the students.
Invite another member of staff to present certificates.
Students will need access to the following resources:
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computers
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their NSW DoE student account to access Google Drive (test to see if students are able to log on to school computers and access the internet)
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if students are unable to access Google Drive, you may need to print copies of all the worksheets
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print outs of 8.2 – Student evaluation2 (have students work on a hard copy of this worksheet so they can hand their feedback to you upon completion)
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printouts of Participant certificate3 (remember to add student names and sign the certificates prior to the session).
Welcome students back to the follow-up session. Tell the students that this session is an opportunity to provide feedback about The Welcome Program and to talk about how they are settling into high school.
Ask the students to contribute to a class discussion. Some questions to guide the discussion could include:
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How are you feeling about high school now?
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What has been the best thing about high school so far?
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Is there anything that you would like to find out more about?
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Do you have any concerns? If so, have you already spoken to someone about this?
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Who is attending a homework centre?
This is an ideal opportunity for students to be able to express any thoughts that are on their mind or ask questions which will assist them with life at high school.
In order to cater for their needs, planning time could be set aside to prepare a session to address these specific needs.
Activity 2 – Program evaluation
Remind students about the content and activities in each session of The Welcome Program. The document 8.1 – Content and activities1 includes some brief information about the other sessions.
Hand out an evaluation sheet to each student. Ask them to answer the first 3 questions on their own. Then ask the students to form pairs and rate each session in terms of how helpful they found it. Discuss how to respond in Question 4 before continuing.
Ask students to also write down any suggestions on how The Welcome Program could be improved for future students. Students could then report back to the whole group with their responses.
Activity 3 – Certificate presentation
Award certificates to participants. Alternatively this could be done at a morning tea or assembly. Remember to prepare the Participant certificates3 before this session.
Thank students for their participation and their feedback.
Remind students that they are always able to ask for help if they have any questions or concerns.
For more information, visit the NSW Department of Education’s The Welcome Program website4.
Links
- https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uUHDpfTV89cF6SHjdas8i1nGOpH6DwYZoa9h1ZSxt7o/edit?usp=sharing
- https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gf6B9Jh3lpofsFx_2nFtnBUqM4wAJnM_zfmpZmX5U9Q/edit?usp=sharing
- https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1vZhYWdDuG2I79Pn9KffbxwD_qXNJCR8UEgKayXWjfSo/copy
- https://education.nsw.gov.au/teaching-and-learning/curriculum/multicultural-education/refugee-students-in-schools/whole-school-response/the-welcome-program