Learning the language – School’s Out Summer’s essential play
A unique School's Out Summer program helps newcomer kids learn English while making great summer memories.
Nine-year-old Dulce is having a brilliant summer. She’s making lots of new friends, has visited a firehall for the first time and is enjoying ice cream, all part of a United Way BC School’s Out Summer program in Abbotsford. Like the other 8-to-10-year-olds in the program, Dulce is new to the community and to Canada. She and her parents arrived from Colombia just a few months ago.
“I get to practice my English here. It will help me prepare for school [in the fall],” Dulce says. Many of the 40 participants are newcomer and refugee children from war-torn countries like Ukraine, Afghanistan and Syria and have spent time in refugee camps.
“They didn’t get that learning experience in those camps, and they weren’t able to start their schooling until they got here,” says Manpreet, Program Supervisor at Archway Community Services. School’s Out Summer helps kids learn structure in fun, safe way.
School’s out, now what?
Summer is a particularly challenging time for kids and parents, with a reduction in school-time services and wrap-around supports available during July and August. It’s even more daunting for new Canadian families unfamiliar with the language and culture while trying to make ends meet. In the summer months, many families struggling on tight budgets also have to worry about having enough food, a gap that is even greater without school-provided meals.
United Way BC School’s Out Summer provides kids and their families across the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley access to the vital out-of-schooltime supports and daily meals and snacks that end when schools close in June. The program helps prevent the summer slide by keeping kids engaged, curious, and learning in fun, hands-on ways. It also ensures that when September comes and kids are in a new classroom, new grade, or with a new teacher, they’re ready to succeed and not starting from behind. Each program is designed to meet the unique needs of the communities they serve.
Built around community and kids needs
“We’re doing [a] literacy-based [School’s Out Summer] program because all [the] kids are newcomers. They come from different backgrounds…[and] they speak different languages: Arabic, Punjabi, Spanish, Ukrainian, Russian, Dari and Farsi,” Manpreet says. “They needed that extra support during the summer.”
“Literacy is more than just reading, writing, and numeracy. It’s the foundation for how kids communicate, think critically, and understand the world around them. When we support literacy through fun, hands-on activities in School’s Out Summer programs, we’re also helping kids grow their core competencies so they can express themselves, solve problems, and work well with others. These are the skills they need not just for school success, but for life. School’s Out Summer programs help kids stay connected, confident, and curious long after the school bell rings,” says Trisha Dulku, Strategic Initiatives Manager at United Way BC.
Monday through Thursday for eight weeks, kids at this School’s Out Summer program take part in sharing circles, story time, reading, journaling, games and other activities along with a weekly field trip helps kids get comfortable with English, the community and one another.
“We teach social emotional development skills and English, and we also engage in the community. So, letting the kids like get familiar with new places. It’s really fun” says Ellysa, Program Facilitator.” It’s a beautiful thing to just see the kids grow in their confidence.”
“They don’t understand each other, but they make it [work]. When they were sitting together, they’ll help each other,” Ellysa says. Google Translate is also a popular support to help kids and volunteers connect and understand English and each other.
Experiences for all
“Summer programming has gotten so expensive for some parents. They can’t afford it, especially newcomers. They’re new here, and they’re looking for programming during the summer where their kids can attend something,” says Manpreet.
Saffanah works with Abbotsford newcomer families as a settlement worker. “It’s not like school, [which is] covered by the government, and not all the families can afford it, so programs like this are very helpful. Very nice,” Saffanah says. “[It] gives a chance for kids to try new things.”
School’s Out Summer programs are offered free or at very low-cost at 22 program sites across the region and will support over 1,200 kids this summer with vital emotional and social development support their academic success, physical health, and overall well-being. Saffanah’s nine-year-old son Kenan is one of them.
“He loves the activities, and they take him to many different places… He’s having a lot of fun,” she says. He’s also practicing his leadership skills by translating from Arabic to English and back for his friends.
“This program helped him to help them. He always tells me I have my friends to translate [for]. Sometimes I translate for them.”
Dulce says, “I have gone to many parks, to the pool, to share and play with children who speak another language and have other cultures different from me. The food they give us is very tasty. They always give us yogurt [and] fruit [and] on days of excursion [a] sandwich or pizza, hamburgers.”
“Our daughter has benefited because she has somewhere to go to have fun and learn…She is in contact with nature, she [has] met new friends and teachers, and we have noticed her very excited and happy to attend the program,” says Dulce’s father, Carlos.
UNITED for kids and youth
Thanks to generous United Way BC donors, these children are not only learning English and preparing for school this Fall, but they are also creating summer adventures that will last of lifetime. They are among the nearly 6,500 children supported by School’s Out and School’s Out Summer programming at 108 sites across BC.
“These families are struggling financially, but when [the kids] go back to school and they’re able to tell [their school friends] this is what I did all summer, that’s going to be the best part,” Manpreet says.
“Just seeing the faces light up and [have] new experiences like [when] we went to the bowling alley,” Ellysa says. “One of the kids was absolutely having a blast, and he [said] I’ve never done this before.”
“It just really instills this hope and cheer in them, especially if it’s something that they’ve never experienced before. It’s very fulfilling for a child to be involved with something like this. It gives them something to look forward to, and it gives the parents an outlet for their child.”