I believe in every child’s right to achieve and access equal opportunities. That’s why I joined the Future Leaders network. To my mind that is not just every child in my school, it is every child I can support.
This includes the thousands of children displaced by the Syrian refugee crisis who may be joining our communities.
Among Future Leaders – and in many other educational institutions – we talk about doing “whatever it takes” and “not leaving any child behind”.
For those of us who have house systems in our schools, many bear the names of inspirational, historical change-makers; change-makers who inspire our students to go above and beyond the realm of possibility, always daring for greatness.
Day-in, day-out, we strive to act as role-models, to show our students what the world as it should be could look like. What if, after all this, we still need to aim higher?
The world we live in is plagued with trauma and the Syrian refugee crisis is increasingly becoming one of the worst humanitarian events in modern history. Standing by, it is clear, will simply not do. We have the opportunity to help.
Faith institutions, charities, tenants associations – and schools – are rolling up their sleeves and are beginning to challenge the status quo.
My school, La Fontaine Academy, is part of the STEP Academy Trust. We have pledged to support the resettlement of Syrian families and, where possible across our seven primary schools in south London, offer refugee children school places.
In addition, STEP’s chair of trustees and CEO Mark Ducker, also part of the Future Leaders network, have written to the mayor of London offering the Trust’s unequivocal support for a coordinated response to this humanitarian crisis.
All of STEP’s schools follow the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which enshrines children’s entitlements to life, protection, health and education. We do not only want to welcome refugee children into our schools, we must.
We welcome the government’s recent commitment to admit more victims of this crisis into the UK. But what can we, as schools, do until Britain’s doors open?
Over the past two days, more than 30 parents have contacted me independently to ask what they can do to support refugees as part of our wider community. I write this just after our first Action Meeting, called to allow us to make a concrete plan to coordinate our school community’s response to the crisis.
First come resources. We are collecting food and clothes, which will be transported to Calais by a local charity.
Next comes education. Our students may be meeting their targets in English and maths, but we have failed in our responsibility as educators if our children do not leave us as caring, active citizens in their communities – local, national and international. We are now planning assemblies for each year group, to explain the crisis to our students in an age-appropriate way, and to prepare them for the possibility of welcoming Syrian peers into our school.
All headteachers across the STEP Academy Trust are planning activities to get children engaged in debates and reflections about the current situation.
We want our children to understand what it means to welcome, to give sanctuary, to provide refuge. Many of our children will be writing letters and packing boxes with toys, which will be sent to Calais. Most of the children who receive them will not end up in our school, but we want to show them all that there are children in Britain who are ready to welcome them.
Finally – preparation. We want to be ready for any new members of our school, members who are likely to need more support than most. We are setting up a buddy system, so all new students will have access to a peer to show them the ropes, and to be their friend. We have been in touch with English for Action, who have agreed to provide free English lessons for our new students and their families.
We have a chance to make history. We all have an opportunity to have a positive impact for refugees by welcoming them into our schools. Standing by, it is clear, will simply not do.
- Sebastien Chapleau is head of La Fontaine Academy, a primary school in Bromley.
Further information
- Find out more about what La Fontaine is doing at www.lafontaineacademy.org.
- For more on how to get involved yourself, visit Citizens UK at www.citizensuk.org.
- English for Action can be found at http://efalondon.org/
- For more on the work of Future Leaders, and to apply or nominate someone, visit www.future-leaders.org.uk