Are you the Education Lead in your Community Sponsorship group? Are you wondering how to start fostering a relationship with a school? This resource is a great place to start!
Reset has collaborated with the International Rescue Committee (IRC) to provide guidance for Community Sponsorship groups on utilising the IRC’s valuable Healing Classrooms resources when working with schools. Once school placements are made for the family’s children, we suggest reaching out to the school and sharing these resources. This could be in the form of a meeting set up with the school, the family, the group, and an interpreter to ensure everyone is on the same page from the start. These resources will enable the school to start out on the right foot when supporting the family’s children.
Who is the IRC?
“The International Rescue Committee (IRC) helps people affected by humanitarian crises—including the climate crisis—to survive, recover and rebuild their lives.”
The IRC have a programme dedicated to supporting refugee children in schools. This programme, The Healing Classrooms Programme, “aims to support schools and educators to develop inclusive and nurturing learning spaces where refugee and asylum-seeking students can gain the necessary academic, social and emotional skills to develop their full potential.”
The IRC offers free training sessions and resources to educators and schools supporting refugee and asylum-seeking students in the UK. You can access these resources here. Watch the video below to find out more about the Healing Classrooms Programme.
Being a Buddy Resource
“One of the ways to support refugee students to feel a sense of belonging is to buddy them up with other students.”
The Healing Classrooms Programme has developed a resource pack on “Being a Buddy.” You can find the resource here. Watch the video below to find out more!
Initial Meetup with Caregivers Guidance
“To effectively welcome, support and teach refugee and asylum-seeking students we need to know each child as an individual.“
You can access this resource here. Watch the video below to learn more about the Initial Meetup form.
School Celebrations Survey
“One of the key aspects to successfully support refugee students in your school is to create good relationships with parents and caregivers and to ensure a culture of inclusion and representation. The School Celebrations Survey can be sent to parents and caregivers in order to involve them in planning key celebrations and support their inclusion in the school community. “
You can access this resource here. Watch the video below to find out more about the survey.
Additional Resources
Here are a few more examples of some the valuable resources the IRC has to offer:
- School Orientation Student Booklet – language-based activity booklet for secondary schoolers who are transitioning to their new school environment. You can access this here.
- Mindfulness Moments Cards – mindfulness activities for students. You can access this here.
- Toxic Stress and Brain Development – a resource explaining the impact of toxic stress on a child’s brain. You can access this here.
- Social-Emotional Learning Intervention – a pack of games that reinforce social-emotional learning. You can access this here.