To fulfil criterion 1 (training and education opportunities are provided for college staff and management on refugee, asylum and forced migration issues), FE colleges must show how a) staff have been able to develop their own awareness of refugee, asylum & migration issues generally and b) how staff have been given opportunities to develop their professional expertise in meeting the needs of students from sanctuary seeking backgrounds.
The suggestions outlined below are not definitive and it is not necessary for FE colleges to complete every suggested training in order to be recognised. Instead, consider which themes/ topics are most relevant for which members of staff and in which areas it is most necessary for staff in your institution to develop. You should also consider ways in which trained staff can share their knowledge and expertise to benefit colleagues.
A) Learning about refugee and asylum issues
- Contact your local refugee support organisation to see if they can visit your school to explain to staff about the work they do & the challenges the people they work with experience
- Reflect on what areas your staff need to develop their understanding: facts, figures and terminology; rights and entitlements of people seeking sanctuary in the UK; your local migration contexts; recent changes in UK immigration policy and how this will affect sanctuary seeking students; the diversity of sanctuary seeking experiences. Assign a member of staff to research and present in weekly/ monthly/ half-termly staff meetings and/or share an update in staff communications. You should sign up to City of Sanctuary UK and Right to Remain newsletters to stay on top of the latest developments.
B) CPD Trainings/ Resources to Develop Professional Expertise
General
- Future Learn – Working Supportively With Refugees: Principles, Skills and Perspectives
- Future Learn – Volunteering with Refugees. Understand how to best support the emotional, linguistic, and social needs of refugees who are settling into a new country.
Access and Barriers
- Refugee Education UK: Access to Further Education training
- Refugee Education UK: FE Access FAQs
- Refugee Education UK: Practitioner Advice Sheets
Supporting Students Seeking Sanctuary in College
- Future Learn – Migrants and Refugees in Education: A toolkit for teachers
- Future Learn – Caring for Children Moving Alone: Protecting Unaccompanied and Separated Children
- Improving Education for Refugee Background Students: Research Findings – A report that looks at students’ aspirations and barriers to learning, including mental health issues and has suggestions for improving practice. University of Sussex’s Centre for International Education.
- UNICEF – Education for Refugee and Asylum Seeking Children: Access and Equality in England, Scotland and Wales (2018).
- UNHCR – Including Refugees in Your Classroom. Guidance related to language acquisition & stress and trauma.
- Amnesty International, Refugee Council & Save the Children – Without My Family: The impact of family separation on child refugees in the UK.
- Refugee Youth Service – Journey of an Unaccompanied Child Training and Workshop
Teaching about Refugees/ Migration
- UNHCR – Teaching about Refugees
- Migration Museum – Training and supporting resources to help you teach about migration and identify opportunities to do so within the (English) curriculum.
ESOL
Funding
Antiracism / Combatting hate
- Hope Not Hate – Training on a number of topics related to combatting hate, including how to deliver lessons on these themes in schools, recognising unconscious bias & spotting hate. Workshops also available for students.
Mental Health/ Wellbeing
- Anna Freud Centre – Trainings on different themes relating to wellbeing, including supporting students affected by trauma, enabling parent/carer engagement and safeguarding staff wellbeing.
- International Rescue Committee – Healing Classrooms Programme: Training and associated resources to help schools’ develop their practice and provision in support of students with refugee backgrounds.
- Kazzum Arts – Trauma informed training
Careers/ Higher Education Progression