Learning about refugee and asylum issues (for all staff)
- The Brighton & Hove Education & Enterprise Marketplace has free online training tools specifically to support staff understanding of refugee and asylum issues. It includes exercises on terminology, myth-busting and action planning.
- Future Learn online course for volunteers working with people from refugee backgrounds.
- Future Learn also has a course specifically related to caring for unaccompanied and separated children.
- Human Rights: The Rights of Refugees Take an edX course to support your teaching. Amnesty International
- Teaching about refugees. UNHCR
- My Bright Kite This organisation provides training for institutions working with children from refugee backgrounds and workshops about personal lived experience as refugees
- See our Finance section for advice on invoicing
- Future Learn offers “Working supportively with refugees: principles, skills and perspectives” – an online five week free course
- ASAP have a free e-learning course on asylum support
Best practice in schools: Supporting the needs of students from refugee backgrounds
- Improving Education for Refugee Background Students: Research Findings 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.
- UNHCR advice for teachers on including students from refugee background in the classroom covers areas such as stress, trauma and language acquisition. Case studies
- Education for Refugee and Asylum Seeking Children: Access and Equality in England, Scotland and Wales (2018), UNICEF
- Education Guidance for Refugee and Asylum Seekers, (2016), Gateshead Council
- The Education of Asylum-Seeker & Refugee Children, (2005) a University of Cambridge study
- ‘Best practice’ advice on supporting refugee children from SecEd
- Without My Family: The impact of family separation on child refugees in the UK An essential report from Amnesty International, Save the Children and the Refugee Council
- The Open School Doors programme supports schools in building knowledge and understanding of newly arrived families’ needs. There are resources and extracts from teachers and parents, many informed by Schools of Sanctuary.
- The National Association for Language Development in the Curriculum addresses EAL issues.
- Refugee Children in the UK (2006), Jill Rutter. First published in 1999, it looks at UK responses to refugee children and contains case studies of Congolese, Somali and south Sudanese students.
- The National Education Union toolkit for teachers and governors about their statutory duties under the 2010 Equality Act in England and Wales. There is also a guide, Welcoming refugee children to your school.
- Clear and practical advice from the Children’s Society
- Refugee Week also suggests a number of books about how to incorporate refugee and asylum issues into the curriculum. Look under ‘Further Resources’.
- Access to Education article covering the differences in the UK from the Asylum Information Database
- Government (England) guidance on handling applications from overseas children
- Scottish government policy on refugees and asylum seekers
- Wales has a policy document here
- Coping Skills for Kids General mental health advice on anxiety, stress and anger
- Health and Wellbeing – Learn how Learn My Way – Free courses on using a computer, browsing the web, sending an email and finding work onlineto make doctors appointments online, order repeat prescriptions and find advice on specific health conditions
Training on asylum support
Redress have an online course on the concept of torture in the international human rights framework, how to seek accountability for torture and the aspects of the international human rights system which may be most useful to those who are in contact with torture survivors within the asylum system, or others at risk of mistreatment in immigration detention.
Good Things Foundation has a range of training and resources available including:
- English My Way – Free teaching resources for those who support adults with no or low levels of English
- Voicebox Cafes – Make your voice heard by becoming more politically active
- Learn My Way – Free courses on using a computer, browsing the web, sending an email and finding work online