After four months, the GENTLE Family Reception Centre that assisted Syrian refugee children has closed.
The Guided Entry into New Teaching and Learning Experiences program, which started in a lunchroom of White Oaks public school on Jan. 4, welcomed 467 pupils (389 government assisted refugees and 78 privately sponsored pupils) in a four-month period. They are now all attending Thames Valley District School Board schools.
The centre provided an assessment and school readiness program for the Syrian children.
Sue Bruyns, a learning supervisor with the Thames Valley board who was overseeing the centre, says many people were on the centre’s team, including, at its busiest time, 1.5 admin assistants, 2 EAs, an ECE, a school support counsellor, a team of five elementary assessors, a team of two secondary assessors and others, as well as volunteers.
“We had an incredible team of volunteers,” Bruyns says.
“The best way to describe (the centre) was, we were responsive to the needs as we came upon them.”
She says many of the pupils had limited English skills and limited prior schooling.
“They had lots of gaps in their schooling.”
But, she says, the students were able to excel and be placed in local classrooms.
Most are in London, but a few families are in Oxford and Elgin Counties.
