In an increasingly global world, family’s frequently travel and live in multiple locations, learning the language and culture of each of the countries as they move.
At American School of The Hague (ASH), approximately a third of the student and parent population rotate out every school year due to new job postings. Parents, staff and students work closely together to lessen the effects of cross-cultural relocation for everyone in the community, creating a safe and secure environment for these important transitions.
Transitioning to new culture, jobs, countries and schools can impact the entire family and often leads children to questioning their true nationality; is it where they live, where they came from or where they are headed to? “Home” for what is now termed a Third Culture Kid, is a hard place to find.
A Third Culture Kid (TCK) is defined as “someone who, as a child, has spent a significant period of time in one or more cultures other than his or her own, thus integrating elements of those cultures and their own birth culture, into a third culture”. At ASH, a family can stay for as little as three to five years – making for a very quick transition into both the ASH Community and local Dutch culture.
To help eliminate uncertainty and disorientation that can be felt when transitioning, as well as dealing with the emotions experienced through the loss of loved ones left behind, the long-standing approach to supporting families and staff through their transitions, is the essence and backbone of A Safe Harbour, the well-renowned transitions program at ASH.
A Safe Harbour is a concept or a philosophy more than an organization – a collaborative effort of staff, student and parent welcomers who work hand in hand to help each member of the schools’ community with all aspects of arriving, orientating, integrating and departing to meet its mission “to help students, parents, and staff cope with the challenges, and maximize the opportunities, inherent in the experience of international relocation and cross-cultural mobility”. In addition to A Safe Harbour, special events held throughout the year continue to help embrace the cultures, like International Day, which encompasses the entire student body, celebrating their cultural backgrounds.
With more than 77 nationalities learning and working together at the School, helping ASH community members be a part of the global community and finding a balance with growing up multi-culturally, is just part of daily life at ASH. This past school year, interactive workshops were held which focused on Families in Transition – Raising Global Nomads Whilst Balancing a Sense of Sanity & Self-Development on the Move, and X-Cultural Lunch Bunch – Foraging for New Foods & Networking for New Ideas, which are just a few of the opportunities for new parents to expand their social network within the school and feel more at home in The Netherlands.
It is the joint efforts of our parents; staff and students that make the ASH community flourish, creating the ongoing support for our families transitioning with their continued stay.
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