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Schools of Sanctuary

There is a lot of momentum around the Schools of Sanctuary work in Newcastle and it is brilliant to see lots of schools interested in the work and getting involved.

You can find out more about Schools of Sanctuary and how to get involved, including a whole load of resources to help you on your journey here.

You can also hear from children who are pupils of recognised Schools of Sanctuary about what this means and why this is important to them here:

How to get involved: 

For schools that want to get involved there is timetable of training sessions and events planned for the 2023/24 academic year. There are also fortnightly Q&A drop-ins throughout the year where you can find out more about Schools of Sanctuary and how to get involved, as well as ask questions and get support with your application. You can find the full timetable of events here.

For any schools who are new to this we recommend watching a recording of the  City of Sanctuary  ‘Introduction to Schools of Sanctuary’ event here.

And for those who are looking for training there are some brilliant offers nationally including:

IRC’s Healing Classrooms (October 2023)

REUK Supporting Refugee Children in the Classroom (November 2023)

UNHCR’s Teaching about Refugees (November and December 2023)

As well as the training opportunities we would recommended checking out IRC’s back to school blog that complies key resources to help schools create a welcoming environment for new students.

Work of the existing schools of sanctuary as well as those working towards their awards have looked at a variety of things as part of the process, including looking at their existing curriculum and weaving in themes relating to refugees and forced displacement; looking at the school library and having an area dedicated to books about refugees, asylum seekers and human rights; making resources available to staff e.g. a Schools of Sanctuary Folder; school staff completing the Newcastle City of Sanctuary training module and building in learning about refugees and asylum seekers into staff inductions and ongoing training. There has also been thought given to how the schools support new arrivals with schemes set up such as EAL buddies for new arrivals who have English as an additional language, Language of the Month and Parent English Classes.

We were thrilled to see two of our awarded Schools of Sanctuary and one of our (hopefully!) soon to be schools featured as part of the 2023 Refugee Week communications, with fabulous videos promoting their work – these are all well worth a watch:

Atkinson Rd                                             Christ Church                                        Simonside

Schools of Sanctuary awards in Newcastle:

We are extremely proud of all of the schools who go above and beyond to welcome people seeking sanctuary, this includes:

Atkinson Road Primary School

Bridgewater Primary School 

Broadwood Primary School 

Byker Primary School

Central Walker Primary School

Christ Church CE Primary School

Hawthorn Primary School

Hotspur Primary School 

Kenton Bar Primary School

Our Lady and St Annes Catholic Primary School 

Regent Farm First School

St Catherines Catholic Primary School 

St Michael’s RC Primary School

St Pauls C of E Primary

Throckley Primary School

Walkergate Primary School

Wingrove Primary School

West Jesmond Primary School

West Walker Primary School

Here is a quote from one of the Newcastle schools: “We are thrilled with the award but even more so with the knowledge and understanding we have gained throughout the application process. Our Senior Leadership Team have used this period of reflection to further improve the offer we give to our most vulnerable pupils and have felt encouraged and supported.”

More information – these will give you brilliant updates, ideas and resources:

Sign up to Schools of Sanctuary mailing list here

Subscribe to Schools of Sanctuary Newsletter

Follow Schools of Sanctuary on Twitter & Facebook

Watch Event recordings

Attend upcoming events

Complete/share with staff the Online training module  to get a simple overview of migration and support available in Newcastle

Organisations that can support your school with training and awareness raising sessions for staff and pupils: 

Red Cross Empathy and Migration sessions for pupils

West End Refugee Service awareness raising sessions for staff and pupils

Scotswood Community Garden Schools of Sanctuary sessions