The International Welcome Centre for students who have moved here from other countries, is in a new location this year.
It was previously located at Edith Cavell but now it can be found at Queen Elizabeth.
Admissions Officer Caroline Gingles says there are two reasons a student would come to register, “If they are born in Canada and do not speak English as their home language, so they need extra language support. The other reason is if they are a Kindergarten to grade 12 student who is born outside Canada, regardless of the language spoken at home. In that case, it doesn’t matter if they are from Scotland or Singapore, they can register here.”
Gingles says the Centre acts as a conduit to take all of the documentation for all International students, “We do intake assessments to determine if language support is needed.”
They will then learn which school they will attend, based on the Anglophones East school boundaries.
Last year, over 670 students registered in Anglophone East from 94 different countries.
“I’m an immigrant myself and I understand exactly what they are going through. I know the challenges firsthand. I do appreciate that it can be very difficult. You miss your home, but you are also very happy to be here,” Gingles added.
