Supporting the learning of children and young people of asylum-seeking families and refugees
Information about the local authority
Cardiff Council is in the city of Cardiff and has a population of 369,000. The local authority maintains 126 schools. There are 101 primary schools, including 17 that provide Welsh-medium education and three maintained nursery schools. There are 18 secondary schools including three Welsh-medium schools. In addition, there are seven special schools and one pupil referral unit.
Context and background to the effective or innovative practice
Cardiff has the most diverse population in Wales as it contains the largest concentration of non-white population both in terms of actual numbers and percentages of any local authority in Wales. More than 40% of Wales’s non-white population are resident in Cardiff. More significantly, some 55% of black groups resident in Wales are living in Cardiff.
Cardiff’s ethnically diverse population is due in part to its past trading connections and post war immigration. Many groups of people arrived and settled in the following decades. Cardiff has also been a dispersal area for asylum seekers for more than a decade. The council was part of the Syrian re-settlement scheme (SRVSP) before the COVID-19 pandemic and at the time of the inspection had families on the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) scheme, waiting for dispersal. The council provides education for children who are part of these schemes, even if they are only in the city for a short time. In recent years, EU nationals have arrived, along with large numbers of students from around the world who attend local universities and bring their families. This presents challenges for schools as their population increases and becomes more diverse, often at short notice.
The council receives additional funding through the Minority Ethnic/Gypsy Roma Traveller (ME/GRT) grant to support ethnic minority pupils and those with English or Welsh as an additional language. Since 2015 the majority of this funding has been delegated to schools. The authority maintains a small central team including five ‘closing the gap’ officers who oversee support for schools across the city and a small team of teachers and teaching assistants. Support for Welsh medium schools is through the medium of Welsh. In recent years, the central team’s support has mainly focused on supporting schools who have not traditionally had pupils who are asylum seekers refugees or migrants and have not got established expertise in working with pupils with English as an additional language.
Description of nature of strategy or activity
The decision to delegate the majority of the Minority Ethnic/ Gypsy Roma Traveller (ME/GRT) grant to schools and to maintain a small central team has supported school staff to improve their provision for pupils from a diverse range of backgrounds. Although support is still available through the central team, schools are no longer solely reliant on this external support and school staff are more confident in providing learning experiences that meet the needs of the increasing diversity of their school populations.
The central team organise regular training events and forums for school staff to support this work, for example on re-engaging with pupils who have English as an additional language (EAL) after the school closures caused by the pandemic and supporting the wellbeing of asylum seekers and refugees. The team use these events effectively to share good practice between schools. Team members provide materials and resources to support schools, including for refugee week and Black History month.
The team has produced an induction pack for schools to support the process of admitting a refugee, asylum seeker or a migrant with little English or Welsh. All new parents have support to complete admission forms and to help them to provide information on their child’s previous experiences including language background, personal interests, previous schooling and any relevant information about the family. Interpreters and translated materials are provided for families when required. This information is passed on to class/subject teachers prior to the child starting school. Schools ensure that new pupils have school uniform ahead of their first day.
Cardiff was officially recognised as a City of Sanctuary in 2014. Schools in Cardiff embrace this and have become part of the growing Schools of Sanctuary network across the UK. Schools are creating a culture of welcome and inclusion whist raising awareness of the issues faced by refugees and asylum seekers. The programme is being driven by the central team and through the local authority’s Race Equality Action Plan.
The EMTAS team works with school staff to ensure that the views of asylum seekers and refugee pupils about the school’s provision and support are considered. The central team has facilitated training on best practice in terms of family engagement and continue to work with outside agencies to seek best practice in reaching families that are hard to reach. Officers secured valuable support from Bridgend local authority about how to improve family engagement.
Supporting schools whose demographic is changing is key to the work of the central team. Some schools in Cardiff have extremely well-established practice, others need support to establish their practice. Wherever possible school to school support and networking is encouraged. One Cardiff secondary schools in the last four years has trebled its numbers of EAL learners to 16% of the total school population with 36 known languages spoken. The headteacher has worked with members of the EMTAS to establish a small support team to ensure that bilingual learners are quickly settled into school life and are challenged to reach their full potential.
What impact has this work had on provision and learners’ standards?
Many pupils who have English as an additional language achieve well when compared to their peers, particularly by the end of key stage 4.
Schools in the Schools of Sanctuary network have noted that their children have improved their knowledge and understanding about the meaning of refuge and what it means to seek sanctuary. In some instances, evidence showed that initially children viewed the concept from a position of trepidation and a focus of its impact on them and how it affects their lives. As they engaged more in exploring the meaning of refuge, so their understanding of the challenges refugees faced developed, and the emphasis shifted to one where there was a growing empathy for those seeking sanctuary.
Provision and support for individual pupils and families have resulted in pupils settling well into schools and many make good progress in learning English.
How have you shared your good practice?
Termly EAL forums are now well established in the local authority and provide the opportunity to share good practice from schools in Cardiff and from other local authorities.
The School of Sanctuary network has been established and schools have been able to share innovative practice and their school of sanctuary journeys. Schools in Cardiff have learned from schools in England and the network is now accessible to all local authorities across Wales.
Officers have shared many aspects of our practice across authorities in Wales, shared resources and supported developments in other local authorities.
Useful links
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