Building a community for learning

This step focuses on creating a sense of belonging and meaningful relationships.

Why do students need a community for learning? Click on each number to learn more.

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1. Refugees lose not only their homes but their culture, their communities and their sense of belonging. 2. It is very rare that entire families can escape and claim asylum together. Refugees are often separated from family members and friends after displacement. 3. Many children receive education in refugee camps in makeshift schools or attend schools that are not equipped to meet their needs.

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How can the Healing Classrooms Approach help?
Schools can provide a sense of belonging, a respectful and welcoming space which forms a new, welcoming community for refugee students.
Classmates and teachers can build strong, meaningful and supportive relationships to help rebuild trust for refugee students.
Schools can learn how to adapt to meet the specific needs of refugee students.

 

Activity icon Task 13: Put yourself in their shoes

Timing: 10 minutes

In the poem you read earlier in this unit, Brian Bilston helped you to understand one of the challenges newcomer refugees may face in feeling welcome in their new communities.

Now complete this activity where you consider what specific things schools can do to help build a welcoming community for new students and families.

  1. Imagine you and your family have finally arrived in a safe country after being displaced for several years.

    What could your child’s school do to help you feel a part of the new community?

  2. List five things that the school, staff and pupils could do to build a community for learning for you and your family.

    For example, having a buddy scheme so you have a friendly face to show you around the building and accompany you in lessons and a staff-student mentor scheme, so you have a trusted adult to discuss how your week has been.

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Now you have taken the time to consider the challenges a refugee student may face in making new friends, finding trusted adults to share their thoughts with and other ways to feel a part of their new community, take a moment to reflect on the support your school already provides.

When people flee their homes to claim refuge elsewhere, they lose so much. Children lose their education, their friends, their family members and their homes. Meanwhile, parents lose their status in the community, their source of income and their support network.

When families arrive in the UK, it’s important that schools help to rebuild that sense of community by signposting families to external support (like community groups, English classes and religious centres) and building a welcoming community around their new students.

Seeing your culture reflected in your new school, having opportunities to build friendships and feeling like your teachers are invested in you as an individual are vital parts of becoming a part of a new community.

The Healing Classrooms Approach helps schools to adapt to become more inclusive places where refugee children can begin to resettle, rebuild their lives and work towards a better future.

Poem – Refugees by Brian Bilston

Importance of a sense of belonging