Newcomers

The term “newcomer student” is defined in the Intercultural Guidelines provided by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA, 2005: 169) as: “Students who arrive into a classroom from a country or background that is different from that of the majority of children in the classroom.”  This, as some teachers point out, is a problematic definition since some classrooms have a majority of ESL students.
Newcomer students fall into a number of different categories:

1. EEA citizens and their children (EEA – the European Economic Area – consists of the 25 member states of the EU, as well as Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.  Though not officially part of the EEA, Switzerland is sometimes thought to be part. 
2. The children of work permit holders from outside of the EEA, who are most likely engaged in 3D work, namely “dirty, dangerous and difficult” (Pobal, 2006: 10);
3. Irish born children of non-national parents (whether under jus solis or - since 2004 - jus sanguinis rights);
4. The children of asylum seekers and refugees; and

Separated children (unaccompanied minors) – young people under the age of 18 who seek asylum in their own right but have no accompanying adult parent figure.