This year, I have a leadership unit to oversee and support our approach around ESOL teaching and learning, and to raise cultural awareness at our school. I am co-ordinating a team of staff representing each year level, and together, we are working on strategies to improve cultural awareness and empathy amongst staff and the wider community. At our first team meeting, I shared some of the factors migrant families face, having learnt about this from my study (2019-2020) through Massey University. These factors may include: Cultural and family dislocation, and possibly also a sense of loneliness/cultural isolation Finding employment at a similar level to what they had in their homeland Many migrants report an initial joy and excitement about their new homeland, but after weeks/months, many report a sense of disappointment or isolation Migrant children may be reluctant to speak their mother tongue, yet research shows that maintaining the first language ac...