Dear friends,

We were delighted to recently share BBC coverage of St Saviour's Primary School who, as part of their journey to become a School of Sanctuary, worked with their community to raise money to resettle a Syrian family, who joined them at the end of last year. This is truly going above and beyond! Have a watch to be moved and inspired.  

On a less positive note, we've been hearing about a worrying number of cases of children being wrongfully age assessed as adults. This suddenly results in significant barriers to their education, being housed with and sometimes sharing rooms with adults, and the risk of exploitation and further harm to their mental health. The devastating impact of incorrect age assessment is heart-breakingly clear in this first-person account recently shared in the Metro.

Schools are often the first trusted institutions that children seeking safety come into contact with and play a vital role supporting them - this can extend to their journey through the asylum system. In our latest blog, we share advice and resources to help you support children and their families during this challenging experience, including during age assessment, accommodation move-on, and in their asylum claims more generally.

In this edition of the newsletter, by popular request, we have developed some guidance for Schools of Sanctuary in challenging contexts whilst sharing other new resources, upcoming events and trainings, the latest updates from A Day of Welcome, and two suggested collective actions to get involved with. Read on to learn more...

Finally, this term I'm asking all of you (yes, even YOU!) to join me as I run the Edinburgh Half Marathon to raise money for Schools of Sanctuary. I ask that the Schools of Sanctuary network gets behind me and by running one mile and donating just £1 per person we can ensure even more schools are places of welcome and support for children seeking sanctuary.

Kind regards,
Megan, Schools of Sanctuary lead
[email protected]

We're delighted to welcome St Benedict's Primary School and St Joseph's Catholic Primary School (Birmingham), Bluecoat Primary School (Nottingham), St George's CofE Primary School (Stockport) and Merridale Primary School (Wolverhampton) as our newest Schools of Sanctuary.

Award Coverage

• Merridale Primary Becomes City's 12th Schools of Sanctuary

Click here find out more about the awards process.

Run a Mile with Me

Join me on the 24th May and ask everyone in your school community to run, walk, skip or crawl one mile and donate £1 each to help us ensure ensure more children who have been forced to flee, feel safe, welcomed and belonging in schools just like yours.

Sign up to take part and get access to updates, curated resources and suggested activities to make this even more meaningful as we approach the run. 

Thank you for running with me!

Let's Amplify Our Compassion

This term we're challenging our networks to help us shift the narrative about people seeking sanctuary by pitching positive stories to our local press. Too often the public discourse is dominated by hostile rhetoric and misinformation and we want to change that! Instead let's share how new arrivals enrich our communities and that we are proud to be building cultures of welcome. 

Have you got an inspiring story of a student with lived experience of forced migration achieving phenomenal grades, leading sports' teams to victory, volunteering for a local cause or beating the odds to be offered a place at university?

Do you have a moving story of friendship between new arrivals and local-born-and-raised students?

Have you researched a local hero with a history of forced migration and want to celebrate their achievements?

Is your school coming together to support a local refugee organisation or stand up for welcome?

These are all powerful stories that can introduce a new perspective to people in your community. Work with your students to pitch a story to your local press and help students flex their leadership and citizenship skills by having their voices heard. Before you get started make sure to think about how you can do this safely and whether it is appropriate for your local context - read our Guidance for Schools of Sanctuary in Challenging Contexts to help you think this through.

Use our 'Local Media Challenge: Amplify your compassion' toolkit and resources to help - and make sure to share your successful media pieces with us! If you need further help, contact our Comms Manager at [email protected] who can help you pull your pitch together.

Not only is this an important way we can work to build empathy, challenge hostility and foster welcoming communities, but a great way to celebrate your school's sanctuary efforts.

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