Overview
Post-Arrival Orientation is an important orientation for all students and wherever possible should be offered as an in-person event.
The Post-Arrival Orientation Leader Guide is linked below, built on the AFS Framework for Active Global Citizenship, it includes important activities that help students reflect on the experience so far, process adaptation issues and develop coping mechanisms.The leader guide contains many supplemental resources in the preparation pages including PowerPoint slides that correspond with each section. We recognize some Post Arrival orientations may be held at a camp or facility without access to a projector in this case please use the slides as a guide and print where needed so you may guide your discussions and activities to ensure the overall goals are being met.
This is also a good time to bring host families together to check in on their experience so far, there is a presentation for a Post Arrival Host Family Orientation linked below for this purpose.
Orientation Planning
This Orientation is usually held approximately 6-8 weeks after the Arrival Orientation. All students, including late arrivals, should have arrived and received an arrival Orientation in advance of the Post Arrival Orientation event taking place. The Post Arrival Orientation provides a good opportunity for volunteers to evaluate the relationship between the student and the host family.
Orientation Materials
The Post-Arrival Orientation delves deeper into the Cultural Realm as students have already had the opportunity to experience some of the host culture. It is an ideal opportunity for deeper conversations about what the students have learned about themselves, their home and host cultures, and what challenges they may be facing.
All of the resources you need to conduct a 2024 Post-Arrival Orientation are listed below;
Click here to access the Post Arrival Orientation Leader Guide
- Download the above linked PDF leader guide to your computer so that you may add any local information needed. Please do not edit or change any of the content.
- Optional Supplement - Is This an Emergency? (These slides can be added to either a hosted student Arrival or Post Arrival Orientation to help with expectation setting in the host family home).
- Volunteer Sign Up Sheet - download this template and use it as is, as a shared google doc or a sign up genius to recruit volunteers to do tasks a the orientation.
- Best Practices for Organizing In-Person Orientations and Events
Running a separate Post Arrival Orientation for your host families? Use these, Post Arrival Orientation Slides for Host Parents
To customize the slides with your Area Team info open the link, click 'File' in the upper left, choose your format (PowerPoint, PDF etc) then save to your computer, open the file and edit as needed)
Additional Activities:
- Post-Arrival Checking-In Survey for Students
- Post-Arrival Orientation Optional Survey for Host Siblings (optional)
- Cultural Values – Statements and Explanations
- “Your Body, Your Safety” pamphlet - a required resource for students at/around Post-Arrival Orientation about recognizing and reporting sexual misconduct (Printer settings for the pamphlet: color or grayscale (color preferred), landscape mode, print on two sides, flip on short edge)
- “Emotional Passport”- a tool to help guide participants in identifying and utilizing self-care strategies. This can be used as a group guided activity or one-on-one. Keep in mind, the concept of “self-care” could be unfamiliar to some hosted participants.
- Student Learning Journey (SLJ) Reminder - print this handout and give to your students or post on the wall at your event. Encourage participants to continue the SLJ modules while on program (this does not include Italian students who do not take the SLJ)
- Additional Activities Booklet
Important Note: If volunteers are planning to have a hosted student stay overnight with them for an orientation or other team event, or for any other reason, it is important that the volunteer be screened as an Event Family or Host Family. Such an overnight stay cannot be considered a prudent parent stay. If a team will be using Event Families for a particular event, please start the process of completing Event Family screening well in advance of the event so AFS has time to complete the screening process before the event. Please refer to the Event Family Stays page in Help & Learning for more information.
Previous Materials for reference:
- 2021-22 Post Arrival Orientation PPT- In Person (contains activities for Host Parents)
- 2021-22 Post Arrival Orientation PPT- Virtual (contains activities for Host Parents)
Please remember to log your orientation in Global Link- thank you!