Last updated: 05 Aug 2008

Arriving during the school year can put pupils at a disadvantage, especially when friendship groups have already been established. For pupils who are new to the country, do not speak English or do not know a school’s systems and routines, it can be even more difficult. They may have urgent need of friendship.

Schools can help overcome this potential barrier to inclusion by establishing a safe and welcoming environment. Pupils already in school can be organised to participate actively in offering friendship and support to new arrivals.   

Friends can help them:

• feel welcome
• be included in activity
• find out what to do
• learn English
• feel they belong.

DCSF guidance recognises the importance of having a peer chosen to support each new arrival.  

‘Being part of a peer group at an early stage is likely to reduce the possibility of bullying and racial abuse. Buddies can also help with access to the curriculum by explaining tasks and providing support in lessons’
(Managing pupil mobility: guidance, DCSF, 2003).

This guidance can be found on the Pupil Mobility area of the DCSF website along with Managing pupil mobility: a handbook for induction mentors. The handbook provides a useful toolkit for schools wishing to develop the role of support staff in assisting the integration and achievement of new arrivals. Guidance on developing a buddy scheme is presented in detail in section 6.2 on page 40.

Developing peer support: some suggestions

When developing peer support for new arrivals, schools will find it helpful to:

• build on and extend existing peer support initiatives and anti-bullying strategies
• ensure that pupils are actively consulted in the planning, designing and reviewing of the peer support scheme. The 'Promoting children's participation' area of this site provides further guidance on this
• provide ongoing support and supervision to the pupils involved
• regularly monitor and evaluate the scheme
• give peer support high status through accreditation, for example by presenting certificates to buddies in school assemblies.

All pupils new to the school will benefit from the allocation of buddies.

Buddies can help in a variety of ways, including by:

• showing the new pupil around the school
• helping with timetable information and diary/planner
• introducing the new pupil to school staff
• introducing other pupils who speak the pupil's first language
• pointing out where things are kept in the classroom
• helping to explain work set
• helping with learning English
• accompanying the new pupil at play/break time
• being a potential friend or gateway to friendship
• supporting a review of a pupil’s settling in.

Although it can be helpful if a buddy is someone who shares the first language of a new arrival, it is also important that a buddy is someone responsible who has good social and communication skills.

Developing peer support in the curriculum

Peer support can be mobilised effectively when lessons are planned to create a welcoming environment. There are a range of opportunities in the curriculum to raise awareness of the experiences and needs of new arrivals and to recognise and celebrate diversity.

Circle time sessions can be a good opportunity to consult and involve pupils in buddying and for developing peer support skills.

The Ofsted report The education of asylum-seeker pupils (2003) includes a case study (paragraph 51, page 21) which demonstrates how a class buddy contributed to the successful integration and achievement of a newly arrived 15-year-old pupil from the Balkans.

Case study

Providing friendship and support to new arrivals

This case study demonstrates how Plumstead Manor School has mobilised pupils to provide effective support for new arrivals as an integral part of admission and induction procedures.