New DVD helps integration of refugee children and young people

Published by Hannah Wooderson for 24dash.com in Communities and also in Education

The campaigning group of young women, the ‘Glasgow Girls’ from Drumchapel High and pupils from St Paul’s Primary in Whiteinch have starring roles in a DVD that is part of a new resource and training pack for schools in the city, aimed at helping the integration of refugee and young people arriving in Glasgow.

Shared Futures is an exciting new pack for teachers and youth workers showcasing initiatives from across the UK that are helping to make it easier for refugee and asylum-seeker children to settle into schools and local communities.

Developed by the charity Salusbury WORLD, with funding from Comic Relief, Shared Futures is a DVD containing nine short films highlighting positive activities with children and young people in schools in Scotland, England and Wales.

A resource pack for teachers and youth workers provides a range of training activities for their classes, to be used in conjunction with the DVD.

Glasgow has seen a significant increase over the last few years in the number of children and young people from other countries enrolling in schools and nurseries - recent figures reveal that there are currently 2400 asylum-seeker and refugee children (with 86 different languages) and since 2005, approximately 3000 foreign national children.

Last year the average enrolment rate of foreign national children in Glasgow was almost 25 pupils - an average school class - per week.

Bailie Gordon Matheson, Executive Member for Education and Social Renewal said prior to the announcement: “This new resource will compliment the good work already undertaken in our schools across the city and will work in tandem with the highly successful anti-racist curriculum in early years establishments and primary schools.

“Shared Futures is an invaluable resource for everyone who wants their school, youth group or early years centre to be a welcoming and supportive environment for refugees and their families.

“The central message of the training pack and DVD is that there is rarely just one answer to promoting the inclusion of newly arrived children and young people and making them feel safe. The pack offers a number of examples of good practice and will certainly encourage useful discussions within classrooms.

“Through the voices of its young participants, important themes like race equality and tackling media myths are addressed in a mature and sensible way throughout the training pack.”

The special event on Tuesday 23 September at the City Chambers to launch the pack to stakeholders and a range of agencies, has been organised by the Council, in partnership with Salusbury World and Comic Relief, and is an opportunity to share best practice and with a common aim - to best meet the needs of these children and young people, newly arrived in Scotland.