Newly arrived pupils from overseas experience two major transitions that can have a significant impact on their lives and ability to settle in school: their journey from their home country and their arrival in a new country which may be very different from what they are accustomed to.

Some pupils may have fled from countries where there are human rights abuses and armed conflicts. They may have had traumatic experiences and difficult journeys to safety. Some will be coping with grief and bereavement and may remain separated from one or both of their parents or other close family members. A number of new arrivals may also experience stress in the UK because of problems with health, language, poverty or racism.

Welcome and safety

Schools play a key role in helping pupils to adapt to the changes they have experienced. Going to school can provide a sense of normality and stability. The school environment can also help pupils to feel supported and understood.

Effective admission and induction procedures can ensure that all new arrivals are properly welcomed and feel safe in school, and also help schools to identify difficulties that pupils and families are facing and managing. Information from the admission process can help all staff in the school to develop a sensitive awareness of pupils as individuals, and can assist the planning of pastoral support and appropriate learning goals. The 'Admission procedures' area of this site offers guidance on this.

Healthy Schools

The National Healthy Schools Standard is part of the Healthy Schools Programme led by the Department for Education and Skills and the Department of Health. A healthy school is recognised as one which is committed to improving physical and emotional health, and which invests in health to assist in the process of raising achievement and improving standards.

Local healthy schools programmes must promote a whole-school approach, including identifying opportunities in the national curriculum for healthy schools activities.

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Supporting pupils' emotional needs through the curriculum

All maintained schools are required to provide a broad and balanced curriculum that promotes pupils' spiritual, moral, social, cultural, mental and physical development.

Schools can use their freedom to adapt and shape the curriculum to meet pupils’ emotional needs and overcome some of the barriers these may present for pupils' learning. Many schools have found that the curriculum provides opportunities to include refugee pupils' experiences and to explore positive ways of handling problems.

Activities that improve emotional well-being: some suggestions

Activities that improve emotional well-being contribute to school improvement. This understanding helps inform discussion on policy and curriculum planning with staff and governors.

Understanding experiences

Teachers need to be sensitive and responsive to the ways in which some pupils, particularly refugees, asylum seekers and those separated from one or both parents, may be affected by their experiences. Teachers might also consider how pupils' loss and grief might appear within the classroom. Ofsted recommends that LEAs ‘provide schools with better advice and guidance on how to support asylum-seeker pupils experiencing psychological problems and trauma’ (The education of asylum-seeker pupils, Ofsted, 2003).

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Developing activities in PSHE and citizenship

PSHE and citizenship provide numerous opportunities for teachers and children to explore sensitive issues such as loss, change and bereavement. Key skills in developing confidence and good relationships can also be promoted.

Developing the use of circle time

Circle time activities can help all participants develop skills of empathy and listening to others. Establishing ground rules to create a safe, relaxing environment can increase the confidence of pupils to share feelings and experiences. Role-play activities can enable pupils to discuss problems, show empathy and practise new responses.

Providing opportunities for autobiographical and life story work

Children can develop resilience and positive coping strategies if they have opportunities to make meaning out of their experiences. The national literacy strategy Framework for teaching reception to year 6, and the key stage 3 Framework for teaching English: years 7, 8 and 9 both provide opportunities for pupils to engage in personal, reflective talk and writing.

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Developing creative activities

Many schools have found that embedding creativity in the classroom has positive outcomes for the achievement and well-being of all pupils. For newly arrived pupils, activities such as music, drama, art and storytelling assist them in understanding their experiences and managing difficult memories and feelings. Some schools have developed exciting and innovative projects where they have worked collaboratively with artists.

Creating opportunities for play and sports

Many newly arrived pupils from overseas may be missing out on opportunities for play, recreation and making friends. Access to leisure opportunities may also be restricted for families on a low income. High quality play and sports activities can help pupils manage experiences of loss and change. By releasing tension and having fun and enjoyment, pupils can often cope better and show resilience. Play and sports activities also help pupils develop their language and social skills.

Case studies

Creative Journeys – therapeutic art workshops for asylum-seeking and refugee children

This case study describes how in Nottingham LEA the Creative Journeys project has enabled artists to work in several primary schools to provide therapeutic art workshops for newly arrived asylum-seeking and refugee children.

Educational provision for newly arrived children in Manchester

Manchester local education authority's EMA service, in partnership with large numbers of local schools, uses EMAG and Vulnerable Children Grant funding to provide a range of services to promote the inclusion of international new arrivals. This includes the Emotional and Trauma Support project, a multi-agency project jointly funded with the Children's Fund to promote the well-being of refugees and asylum seekers in schools through activities such as integrated play

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Useful weblinks

Please note: QCA is not responsible for the content of external sites

Anti-bullying Network
Brief information sheet on circle time with a list of resources.

Teachernet: Circle time
This area of the Teachernet website offers brief information about circle time.

DfES: Personal, social and health education
This website is a dedicated learning and development resource for teachers of PSHE and citizenship. The site provides a database of resources and the opportunity to share ideas, seek advice and contribute your own good practice through the bulletin board.

DfES: Primary national strategy: Developing children's social, emotional and behavioural skills
This resource consists of a guidance booklet, a set of cards for whole-school assemblies and class-based activities and reference materials (posters, photographs and photocopiable resources). It aims to provide schools and settings with an explicit, structured whole-curriculum framework and resources for teaching social, emotional and behavioural skills to all children. Such an approach makes a significant contribution to the provision for personal, social and emotional development in the foundation stage, and personal, social and health education in the primary phase.

Teachnernet: Promoting children's mental health within early years and school settings
Mental health is about maintaining a good level of personal and social functioning. For children and young people this means getting on with others, both peers and adults, participating in educative and other social activities, and having positive self-esteem.

The DfES, in collaboration with other people and organisations, has produced this guidance document designed to help teachers and others, working alongside mental health professionals, to promote children's mental health and to intervene effectively with those children experiencing problems. It offers pointers and examples of good practice in the area of the early identification and interventions for children and young people experiencing mental health problems in pre-school and school settings.

Ofsted: The education of asylum-seeker pupils
Ofsted report (2003) on their evaluation of the impact on schools of the arrival of asylum-seeking pupils. Inspectors visited 37 schools in 11 different local education authorities.

NHS: Meeting the health needs of refugee and asylum seekers in the UK
Although this is a booklet written for health workers there are sections in it that will be of interest to teachers who want to know more about the experiences of asylum seekers or refugees in their care and how to support them.

QCA: Supporting school improvement: emotional and behavioural development
A booklet that supports school improvement by offering guidance on setting improvement targets for pupils’ emotional and behavioural development.

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Further resources

Mantra Lingua
My life story, Mahmout, U and Thompson, A, 2001
A dual-language workbook designed for use by bilingual pupils at different levels and ages to write about their lives. Available in English with Albanian, Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, Czech, French, Portuguese, Serbo-Croat, Somali, Spanish, Turkish and Urdu.

National Association for Pastoral Care in Education (NAPCE)
NAPCE produces a range of resources including:

Children and bereavement, death and loss, Wagner, P
Developing effective links with parents, Wagner, P
Refugee children in school, Wagner, P and Lodge, C.

Trentham Books
In the midst of the whirlwind – a manual for helping refugee children, Richman, N, 1998
A very useful manual for teachers, social workers, health workers and others that offers practical guidance on understanding the experiences of refugee children and their families.

Save the Children
Providing emotional support to young separated refugees in the UK
This downloadable guide offers advice on how to provide emotional support to young separated refugees and asylum-seeking young people in the UK. It includes information on the typical emotional experiences of young refugees, practical ways of providing support, mental health issues, and key contact details.

Home from home: a guidance and resource pack for the welcome and inclusion of refugee children and families in school
This is a resource pack that provides guidance for the successful inclusion of refugee children and families into school. The materials have come from the experience of staff at Salusbury WORLD, an innovative refugee project based at Salusbury Primary School.

The effective practice described in this pack will be relevant to anyone who works in support of children’s education in both primary and secondary sectors: teachers and teaching assistants, learning mentors, home/school liaison workers, educational psychologists and others.

The pack is divided into clearly signposted sections for quick and easy reference, covering:

• welcoming refugee children and their families to the school community
• preparing for new arrivals in the classroom
• helping refugee children become effective learners
• creating opportunities for parents to get involved
• developing play opportunities after school and in the holidays
• signposting advice and support in areas such as housing, health and immigration.

An order form can be downloaded from the Salusbury WORLD website.

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