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Dear friends,

It was wonderful to see so many familiar faces and new ones at our first informal lunchtime network meeting on the 12th October. Thank you all for your thoughtful contributions and reflections - we will be drawing on this discussion to help plan our support and activities over the rest of this academic year.

Make sure to also sign up to our next network meeting with a focus on wellbeing and welfare on the 30th November - we hope to see you all there.

In early October, our sister stream 'Schools of Sanctuary' was attacked by Nigel Farage and GB News, who criticised schools for helping children to meet people seeking asylum to hear their stories and falsely accused the Schools of Sanctuary programme of promoting open borders and indoctrinating children. You can read our full statement in response here.

We have been delighted to see so many Colleges keen to get recognised with a Sanctuary award. We would like to remind FE Colleges that if you are planning to apply for a College of Sanctuary award this academic year (2023/2024), please get in touch with us by 1 December 2023. This helps to ensure we can best plan for spring appraisal panels with our limited capacity. 

Read on to learn about upcoming CPD opportunities, a discussion of the challenges facing sanctuary seeking students and coverage of various FE Colleges of Sanctuary by FE Week, reports looking at the current experiences of sanctuary seeking people including in education, a fantastic resource to include in Health and Social care courses - and plenty more!

Kind regards,
Sara, Further Education Colleges of Sanctuary Lead
sara.trewhitt@cityofsanctuary.org
Next FE Colleges Network Meeting: Wellbeing and Welfare

Join the FE Colleges of Sanctuary Network for our next meeting at 1pm on the 30th November to discuss what colleges can do to support wellbeing and welfare. 

In this informal session we will hear about the efforts taken at Peterborough and Leeds City Colleges, two recently awarded Colleges of Sanctuary.

Sign up
New Resources from the UK Trauma Council

The UK Trauma Council has just shared their brand new resources on childhood trauma, war, migration and asylum resources. City of Sanctuary UK was delighted to play a small part in offering feedback and suggestions during the development of these resources and we strongly encourage schools to have a look – they are fantastic, accessible sources of practical advice and information aimed specifically at people working in education settings.

Resources here
Why young asylum seekers and refugees are struggling to access college courses

An investigation by FE Week highlighting barriers to access and spotlighting the inspiring practice in many FE Colleges of Sanctuary.

Read more
Leeds City College's Journey with an Unaccompanied Child

Last year, staff at the Leeds college learnt about the challenges affecting unaccompanied children and thought about the ways in which colleges can effectively support them.

Read more

A warm welcome to Nottingham College, City of Liverpool College, Weston College, Hopwood Hall College and St Helen's College who have signed the supporting organisation pledge and taken the first step towards becoming FE Colleges of Sanctuary.

See the full list of currently awarded colleges here.

Click here find out more about the awards process.
Upcoming events & International Days
  • 2nd December: International Day for the Abolition of Slavery
  • 10th December: Human Rights Day
  • 18th December: International Migrants' Day
  • 20th December: International Human Solidarity Day 
  • 24th January International Day of Education
  • 27th January International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust
Upcoming trainings & webinars 
  • 30th November at 1.00pm: FE Colleges of Sanctuary Network Meeting - Wellbeing and Welfare. Register now.
  • 3oth November at 2.00pm. INSPPIRE: Learnings from Case Studies in High Income Settings. Register now.
  • See upcoming training from REUK in the new year here.
Teaching & Learning Resources 
  • Unique Health Challenges for Refugees and Asylum Seekers - British Medical Association. For those studying Health and Social Care, make sure that students have opportunities to learn about the specific challenges facing those from refugee and asylum seeking backgrounds. 
  • FREE Empathy+ Migration Workshops with the British Red Cross
  • Barnet Council have created a useful short video guide to Unaccompanied Asylum Seeker post-16 Education, available in different languages.
  • Childhood Trauma, War, Migration and Asylum Resources - UK Trauma Council. Animations and a fantastic toolkit aimed at education settings working with young people affected by forced displacement.
Other Opportunities & Resources
  • Report - Unlocking Potential: The Right to Education and Opportunity (UNHCR)
  • Report - 'I Felt So Stuck' Inadequate Housing and Social Support for Families
    Seeking Asylum in the United Kingdom (Human Rights Watch and Just Fair)
  • Toolkit - ESOL for refugees:A toolkit for commissioners and practitioners (Migration Yorkshire)
  • Words Matter Manifesto (Migrants Rights Network)
  • Report - INSPPIRE: Learnings from Case Studies in High Income Settings (Refugee Education UK)

Together, we are building a culture of welcome. If you understand the vital importance of Colleges of Sanctuary, please dig deep and help us to spread welcome in colleges during these very challenging times. Click here to donate. Thank you.

City of Sanctuary UK is a registered charity, no. 1184613.

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