Newcomer pupils in Northern Ireland: a pastoral perspective

Rapid changes in Northern Ireland's demographic, resulting in an increasingly multicultural and multilingual school population, are presenting new opportunities and challenges for schools in a region emerging from a troubled recent past. Reflecting on this from a pastoral perspective, this article focuses on the relationships between the school and the family, the teacher and the child, and finally the child and their peers. The conclusion is reached that, although schools have made remarkable progress in adapting their practice in order to offer a high-quality learning experience for all pupils, the pastoral needs of newcomer pupils, their families and their teachers should not be overlooked.