The Bridge to Newcomer Youth program came to life in late 2022. This upskilling pilot program aimed to fill the educational gap for newcomer and refugee youth aged 16-20 years old in the public school system with low English language levels of CEFR B1 and below (noting A1 level as the priority).
The Bridge provided an innovative pathway for youth to work on growing their English language capacity, workplace readiness skills, community network and confidence – while simultaneously earning curriculum credits towards their formal education.
Working with Early Education and Childhood Development (EECD), this student cohort ran over two terms from Feb 2023 to January 2024 and included support with finding summer employment. The goal of the program is to help bridge the students’ learning needs to help them achieve their individual goals by graduating high school, progressing into the labour market, post-secondary education or specialty programs such as Skills Launch.
Participants attended high school in the morning and the local settlement agency in the afternoon, thereby developing two networks and spaces to feel ‘safe’ and learn. In the afternoon, a Workplace Learning Facilitator worked with them on a pre-employment curriculum focusing on language learning, cultural change, and workplace understanding. The third component of The Bridge was a summer work placement wherein the students applied their skills in real life.
Summary of feedback received:
I am most proud of and/or my greatest accomplishment is:
- “Becoming more confident” (shared by most students)
- “Getting out of my comfort zone and networking.”
- “I feel like I belong to the society, and I am not alone.”
- “Getting an interview”
- “Attending job fairs, speaking to employers and applying for jobs.”
- “Using the skills I was taught in class at my interview, and it worked like magic; I got the job!”
- “Finding a summer job of interest to me.”
- “Having an opportunity to get a summer job.”
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