Refugee Week

Resource type: Event

Price band: Free

Key stage: KS1, KS2, KS3, KS4, KS5, EYFS

Region(s): All of UK

Refugee Week is a UK-wide celebration of the contributions, creativity and resilience of refugees and people seeking sanctuary.

Refugee Week is held every year around World Refugee Day on 20th June. In 2022 Refugee Week takes place from 20th-26th June. The theme for Refugee Week 2022 is ‘Healing’.

The Refugee Week website provides a number of resources for schools, including:

Recording of an online workshop looking at the challenges faced by children and young people seeking sanctuary and some approaches to supporting their particular needs in the classroom.
Children and Young People’s packs containing themed activities and teaching resources.
Access to a range of online films that explore the experiences of refugees.
Links to organisations that can organise a speaker to come into your school.
Booklists

Cost: Free.

About Counterpoints Arts: Counterpoints Arts is an arts organisation committed to commissioning and promoting art projects by and about migrants and refugees. They run a number of programmes and projects, including Refugee Week.

Further resources:

Schools of Sanctuary are a national network of over 300 primary and secondary schools committed to creating a culture of welcome and inclusion for refugees and people seeking asylum. As well as information about how to become a School of Sanctuary, their website also provides links to a wide range of teaching resources, assemblies, refugee stories and training opportunities.
Find ideas on how to run a Day of Welcome on Friday 17th June 2022 to build a culture of welcome and understanding for refugees and asylum seekers. Free toolkit and teacher guide available with registration, as well as two free online author events for KS2 pupils with Michael Rosen and Miriam Halahmy on Friday 17th June.
The National Education Union has a free ‘Welcoming Refugee Children to your School’ teaching resource with information about how to create a welcoming environment and tips on how to make the curriculum more accessible.
Watch this free webinar on ‘How to Talk to Children and Young People About War: Understanding and Supporting our Refugee Children’ in which Dr Tina Rae, Educational and Child Psychologist, and Educational Consultant, outlines practical strategies to support refugees and create a welcoming and safe space in schools.
The Hampshire EMTAS Moodle has collated a number of useful links and resources for staff working with children and families who have come to the UK as asylum seekers or refugees.
Get involved with the School Library Association’s #ReadforRefugees Sunflower Challenge. This sponsored read is designed to promote reading and provide a way for children to do something positive in the face of tragedy. Supporting resources available and all proceeds will be donated to UK for UNHCR.
Download a teaching resource for EYFS pupils based on the picture book Lily and the Polar Bears from the National Literacy Trust. Available with their free membership.
Watch five top children’s authors, including Frank Cottrell-Boyce, Onjali Rauf and AM Dassu, as they introduce and read from their books on the VIP Reading YouTube channel for Refugee Week. There is also a free Refugee Week assembly to download.
Award-winning author Tom Palmer and the National Literacy Trust are teaming up to create a set of free resources – including a brand new instalment story and online Q&A – for UKS2 and KS3. Available to download from June 17th.
For primary aged children, CLPE, Books for Topics, the National Literacy Trust, BookTrust (younger and older readers) and Scottish BookTrust (3-5 year-olds, 9-11 year-olds) all have booklists that explore the issues faced by refugees and asylum seekers.
You can find recommended booklists for secondary school pupils from BookTrust (older readers and teenagers) and Scottish BookTrust.
Watch author Bessora and translator Sarah Ardizzone discuss their graphic novel inspired by the refugee crisis, Alpha: Abidjan to Gare du Nord, here. (Suitable for KS3-5.)
Find resources to support EAL students here.