➡️Stay at Desk
- If you’re helping another role (like scoring a reading assessment), they can bring their work to you.
- Be friendly & greet students. You are the face of Jesus 😊. Try to give everyone eye contact and a warm smile.
- Be ready to use Google Translate, non-verbal communication or pre-printed material in case someone comes who does not speak any English.
➡️International Link / ESL sign
- Color printing can be done at or by the Link office.
- This is especially important because:
- There may be more than one activity going on in the building.
- If someone is new and does not speak English, it will help them feel more at ease.
- It communicates we care about them.
- It is a first impression of the level of quality of our English program
➡️Set up the welcome desk so it’s the first thing they’ll come to after entering
- In the morning school we have a bow of all supplies for the welcome table (name tags, those who are register binder, ect.).
- It might be that for welcome desk setup we communicate that we first retrieve the box from the Link space @national hills.
➡️Consider what items may help students feel welcome / safe
Consider what items may help students feel welcome / safe. For example, a sanitizer pump. This is especially important as a way to extend grace to some cultures who are more health conscious than ours. (This is a separate pump from one on the snack table).
💡Ideas: What should be inside the welcome desk box
Welcome table packing list
- Name tags
- sticky name tags (for new people and placed students with no name tag yet)
- 3 or more Sharpie markers (or another that writes thick)
- Permanent name tags (for students who completed registration and have been placed)
💡Ideas: Class placement lists
- Get rid of previous class placement lists
- Printed list of who is placed in class (with date). Needs to be easily accessible (in front of you or in the role folder)
Welcome them, say Hello
- Here’s some signs they are new:
- they don’t have the ESL book for this year
- Look lost
- Came with someone.
- Is someone new?
- New volunteer: connect them with School Leader
- New student: connect them with Registration person. What if someone just wants to visit? Connect them with School Leader for approval.
💡Ideas: Welcome Desk Nametag
- You may need to help low level students
- Everyone needs to have a name tag, no matter what. This includes students, volunteers, even family members who are not just dropping them off. If someone is going past the welcome desk, they need a name tag. If they balk, you can tell them truthfully that we have to do it in order to care for our students and volunteers well.
- If they don’t have a permanent name tag, give them a name tag and ask them to put their name on it with a sharpie.
- For students, if at all possible, ask them to write their own name. We always want to be empowering them.
- If they can’t find a name
- They may still be placed (e.g. in the other school), so check the “placed” list printed this week.
- If they’re not on that list, they were not placed.
- Help them make a paper name tag.
➡️Give each student a ‘Placement documents’
- Get their name on there (see if they can do it on their own)
- Have them take with them to keep track of their registration progress.
- Thank them and point them toward registration
- If a student tries to indicate they were already with us and already have their book, still ask them to go to the registration area. Everyone has to register.
- You can hand the nametag to them if you want. It makes them feel known & helps unclog the area & keeps flow moving.
- If student picks up nametag
- remind them to leave nametag when they go home
- Make sure they know where to go (especially if they’re new)
- Name tags. Help foster relationships by encouraging people to use the types of name tags the School has chosen (e.g. name stickers vs. permanent name tags). And don’t worry, although we want to encourage all students and volunteers to wear one, you don’t have to feel like the “name tag Nazi.” Some students or volunteers may forget or be hesitant, but some form of name tags are important for relationships, and relationships are a huge goal we have. Name tags are also helpful when the facility is hosting multiple events; we want to make sure to know who belongs in the building.
- If they are not placed, use a blank checklist behind this sheet to get them started:
- You or they put name at top (first & last).
- Point them to registration person/table.
➡️Determine if student is placed in class
- Need placement roster ( database or print)
- If a student has already been placed but doesn’t know where the class is.
- try to find someone else (e.g. who is handling Registration?) who can be a friend to get them to their class.
- Or you could try to find another student in their class who knows where they’re going.
- Last resort is to give them a map since it is impersonal and they could still get lost.
- But it is preferable to leaving the Welcome Desk. Classrooms may have signs on them, but it’s not a guarantee.