Good results in reception class for Ukrainian children

Since last spring, eleven Ukrainian children, from the first to the eighth form, have been attending a reception class in Eysturskúlin.

And the results are good, says school principal Eyðna Magnussen.

There were some challenges when, after the summer break, the pupils started taking Ukrainian online classes from home. This proved difficult due to the two-hour time difference between the Faroes and Ukraine.

“Their online school day lasted from 5am our time to 10am our time, and then when they arrived at school here, they were obviously exhausted. Their school day was simply too long,” explains the principal.

 >> SEE ALSO Underprepared school system adapting to refugee challenge

“We soon realised that we had to make some adjustments, and since then it has gone really well.”

Most of the children now receive all their teaching in Eysturskúlin.

“In addition to making them feel welcome, our primary goal is to teach them a bit about the Faroese language because learning the local language is the key to inclusion.”

Some of the Ukrainian children spend about half the time in the reception class and the other half in regular classes together with Faroese pupils in their year group.

 >> SEE ALSO Ukrainian schoolbooks for refugee pupils

“They know a lot of Faroese words, and the teacher is now focusing on teaching them to combine the words into sentences. It is relatively easy for them to understand Faroese, although they don’t speak it very well yet.”

The principal says the Ukrainian pupils appear to have settled in well in their new school.

“We are not seeing many signs of traumatic suffering in these 11 children. Most of them left Ukraine before the war started.”

Read the Faroese version of this article here.

More Faroese News in English.