Last updated: 29 Apr 2009

Newly arrived children 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 that may be very different from what they are accustomed to.

Young refugees and asylum seekers

Some children, such as refugees and asylum seekers, 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 children will be coping with grief and bereavement, and may remain separated from one or both of their parents or other close family members. Refugees and asylum seekers may also experience stress in the UK because of problems with health, language, poverty and racism.

Younger asylum-seeking and refugee children are a psychologically vulnerable group. They are more dependent on the care of their parents or other adults and any event that disrupts the quality of childcare is likely to affect them severely. Torture, armed conflict and the stresses of being an asylum seeker in the UK can make parents emotionally unresponsive to their children, with major consequences for those children. Very young refugee children may also have an incomplete understanding of death, persecution and exile and come to believe that exile is their fault.

The Personal, social and emotional development area of learning has a major part to play in ensuring that the social and emotional needs of young children are met. It helps young children form constructive relationships with their peers and with adults, as well as developing a respect for diversity. It also provides a structures approach to achieving the successful social and emotional development of vulnerable children and those with particular behavioural difficulties.

Activities to support the personal, social and emotional development of young children should be implemented in the context of other good practice such as effective induction procedures, supporting parents and recognising when children are distressed and in need of extra support.

Effective induction procedures
Effective induction procedures can ensure that new children are properly welcomed and feel safe, and also help early years practitioners to identify difficulties that children and families are encountering. Information from parents can help all staff to develop a sensitive awareness of the children as individuals, and can assist the planning of pastoral support and appropriate learning goals. More information on induction procedures can be found on the Whole school issues area of this site.

Supporting parents
Where parents are emotionally vulnerable or experiencing difficulties, it is important to ensure that they receive social support. Further information is given in the Partnerships with parents area of this site.

Recognising distress
Early years practitioners need to be sensitive and responsive to the ways in which some children, particularly refugees, asylum seekers and those living in difficult circumstances, may be affected by their experiences. It is important for staff to be observant and to know when children are distressed. Only then can appropriate support be given. Manifestations of some of the follwing behaviour may indicate that a child is deeply distressed (Communicating with children - helping children in distress Richman, N. (1993) Save the Children)

• losing interest and energy or being very withdrawn and taking little interest in surroundings
• being aggressive or feeling very angry. Children can manifest aggressive behaviour for a number of reasons. Some children copy the violence they have seen around them. Young children may be unable to put their feelings into words so use violence as an outlet. Traumatic experiences can also make children feel tense and irritable, and they may lose their temper easily
• acting out stressful events or problems in their thoughts and in their play and drawings. Playing out such events enables them to develop understanding of these events and gain control over difficult emotions. When children play out violent or traumatic events time and time again it indicates that they are not getting over the experience
• physical symptoms such as poor appetite, eating too much, breathing difficulties, pains and dizziness
• losing recently acquired skills and faculties, for example keeping dry at night
• nightmares and disturbed sleep
• being nervous or fearful of certain things such as loud noises
• being unable to form relationships with other children, perhaps being too sad and withdrawn to want to play, or unable to trust other children. A newly arrived child might also not understand what other children are doing. Refugee children may be isolated because they are rejected by other children, who see them as different or are afraid of their disturbed behaviour
• having difficulty relating to adults because they mistrust them. Sometimes children keep away from adults because they fear loss: they are reluctant to show affection to a significant adult lest that person disappear.

Teaching and learning: some suggestions

Play

Play can be used to help children settle and make sense of their experiences and feelings. Further information is given in the Play and exploration area of this website.

Expressing feelings

Autobiographical techniques are used with refugee children and others in difficult circumstances in many countries. They help develop understanding of complex events and feelings. Enabling children to express their feelings orally is a key part of the EYFS. Examples of activities are:

• my life story book, where children make a scrapbook or picture book about themselves. Children can use paints and crayons to draw about themselves, and work with an adult to write captions for their drawings 
• my world, an activity that can be done with groups of children. Each draws him or herself at the centre of a piece of paper (or sticks a photograph at the centre) and then draws pictures of objects and people who are important radiating from 'me' at the centre. The drawing can be used to prompt discussion and reflection. The same activity can be adapted to 'my world back home', where the child draws objects and people left behind.

Art

Art can be utilised in the same ways as creative writing and play: to enable children to express themselves and develop understanding of complex events and feelings. There are times and places where a registered art therapist should be used, for example for work with very disturbed children. But all early years practitioners can use art with children in ways that help them settle. It is best to give children time to use new art materials such as crayons, oil pastels, paints, plasticine, clay and collage materials before any directed activity is planned.

Creative Journeys - Theraputic Art workshops for Asylum Seeker and Refugee Children

The Creative Journeys project is mangaged and coordinated by the asylum seeker and refugee support team at Nottingham City Council. The purpose of this programme is to offer asylum seeker and refugee children an opportunity to participate in activity to express their feelings and share experiences. This case study can be found on the Every Child Matters website.

The aim of using art with newly arrived children is twofold: to boost self-esteem by creating something and to help them reflect on events and feelings. Activities might include:

• self-portraits, including drawings, paintings or masks. The teacher can discuss facial features and feelings with the children
• the desert island, in which children work in groups of four or five around a large sheet of paper painting the items they would take to their desert island. There is space for painting personal items as well as communal space for children to paint together. The activity is a good prompt for talk.

Art Therapy for Groups (Liebman, 1986) is an excellent resource for such activities.

Role play and puppetry

Role play and puppetry can be used similarly, to express feelings and reflect on events. Children can use puppets to communicate ideas and feelings that would be too difficult to say directly. Children can also use puppetry to experiment with different types of endings to stories.

Persona Dolls provide a non-threatening and enjoyable way to raise equality issues and counter stereotypical and discriminatory thinking with early years practitioners and young children. The dolls have their own personalities, families and cultural backgrounds, and likes and dislikes. Children quickly bond and identify with the dolls and see them as small friends; they are happy and sad for them, and talk about their problems. Persona Doll Training is designed to provide hands-on experience in using the dolls, raise awareness and offer opportunities for reflection and discussion of issues including racism, gender, disability, health, culture, religious and other equality issues.

Circle time activities can help children express themselves and 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.

Storytelling

Many traditional stories, as well as modern children’s literature, explore themes such as conflict, changes in life circumstances and bereavement. These stories can be shared in storytelling sessions. In doing this children learn about how others have responded to conflict and change. Sharing stories about loss and bereavement help, children who have experienced such life events to see that they are not alone or different.

Befriending

Giving peers the opportunity to welcome, befriend and help a new arrival will benefit the new child as well as developing important social skills in the befrienders. Adapt the song 'Happy Birthday' to 'Welcome to...' when a new child arrives.