Multi-agency working

Multi-agency working is about different services, agencies and teams of professionals and other practitioners working together to provide the services that fully meet the needs of children, young people and their parents or carers.

Schools and colleges are aware that some students and their families, including some refugee students, can have complex needs which may impact adversely on students’ health, well-being and learning. As a result, they are developing their role to respond to the wider needs of all students. Schools and colleges play an important role in helping refugee students and their families establish themselves in local communities.

Schools and colleges may be unable to respond to every type of problem a student might encounter but they are well placed to identify potential difficulties and help students find the support they need. It can be through the school or college that students might be connected successfully to a wide range of other services that can help them, such as health, housing and employment.

A key part of Government policy is to encourage wider participation in further education (FE), especially of young people from low-income families and disadvantaged backgrounds. Some schools and colleges are developing partnerships in their neighbourhood communities to achieve this. The supporting access and enrolment area of this website gives information on this.

It is recognised that different groups of young people experience particular barriers and difficulties when accessing FE .The provision of student support is therefore a central part of efforts to widen participation. In FE colleges, careers advisers, student support officers and multidisciplinary teams, such as learning support and counselling, have developed extensive contacts with local voluntary and statutory services to respond to the employment, learning, welfare, health, social, emotional and childcare needs of students. Through this liaison and partnership, support is extended to the families of students.

Students who attend sixth forms in school may benefit, with their families, from access to a range of services if their school is a full service extended school. These extended services can include access to childcare, family and lifelong learning, health and social care services, parenting support, study support, access to ICT facilities and access to sports and arts facilities.

Extended schools includes case studies and guidance as to how to set this up effectively. Local consultation will help schools agree with their partners what types of services they would like to offer their pupils, families or the community. Some key services are briefly described, but schools are also encouraged to offer their own activities or programmes that reflect the needs of their local community. Refugee students and families will benefit from schools working effectively with local partners and services. For example, schools can work with FE colleges to develop lifelong learning opportunities for refugee young people and adults as part of their extended provision.

Good practice

Develop partnerships with outside agencies

Create partnerships that reflect the needs of the local community. Some schools have identified particular needs and developed extended school services in partnership with outside agencies. For many young people, Connexions Personal Advisers can guide them to the services and support they need. The Connexions partnership and the school usually negotiate a partnership agreement annually. The agreement will set out the objectives of both parties and include a delivery plan. The Connexions practitioners website also provides case study examples of how partnerships have been developed in a variety of schools and colleges.

Schools and colleges can work with a wide range of other services to support the needs of their students.

• Establish partnerships with local nursery providers to offer childcare facilities to students who have young children
• Provide careers advice through local partnerships. For example, Tower Hamlets College’s careers advice to students is provided by Employment Solutions, a local partnership with Job Centre Plus and Tower Hamlets Council
• Provide advice. For example City and Islington College has a student service team that provides advice and counselling to students on aspects such as welfare, finance, homelessness, refugee and immigration issues. The college has built strong links with external agencies for the provision of specialist help
• Offer counselling. Qualified counsellors on college sites will liaise closely and sometimes refer students, including refugee students, to specialist agencies supporting mental health.
• Host supplementary school provision to support the educational and social needs of local refugee communities. Information about Supplementary and mother tongue schools is given on the QCA Pathways to learning for new arrivals website.

Signpost additional sources of help and support

This can ensure that school and college staff do not give advice in those areas where they lack information and expertise. It is, for example, an offence to provide advice on immigration matters unless one is registered with, or granted a certificate of exemption by, the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC). The OISC website has an Adviser Finder search facility to locate immigration and asylum advisers in different parts of the country.

Build up knowledge of local services

With an awareness of what kinds of services exist locally, schools and colleges can be effective in directing students towards them and can make information on local services available.

Create attractive and well-maintained displays for students and their families with leaflets and posters about local services. Some refugees will find translated information particularly helpful. The Refugee Council provides a range of translated resources for refugees.

Ensure that refugee young people; families and communities can make use of the institution’s ICT facilities. Extending your school's ICT to your community on teachernet provides detailed guidance on ways of extending ICT facilities to local communities. The Community Programmes unit at Becta has developed some guidance for schools and other centres interested in building consultations into partnerships. The Help is at Hand website provides comprehensive information to support access to ICT facilities.

Useful websites for refugee young people:

Websites to search for local facilities:

Health for asylum seekers and refugees portal (HARPWEB)

Citizens Advice

Advice UK

UK online centres - search for the nearest ICT facilities. These include ICT facilities open to the community that are based in schools and colleges

Education Action can arrange drop-in surgeries at schools and colleges

Mapping the UK being developed by the Information Centre about Asylum and Refugees in the UK (ICAR) provides information about asylum and refugee issues as they relate to specific cities and towns in the UK

For translated and culturally appropriate information on employment, health, housing, immigration and welfare:

Multikulti

Refugee access

Compile information on local services. Key staff can assemble this information in a format that is accessible to those who need it. A downloadable local services information template (.doc) may be helpful to schools and colleges wishing to assemble information on local services that work with refugees.

Develop the Common Core of Skills and Knowledge

The Common Core of Skills and Knowledge for the Children's Workforce sets out the basic skills and knowledge needed by people (including volunteers) whose work brings them into regular contact with children, young people and families. It aims to enable multi-disciplinary teams to work together more effectively in the interests of the child. Key proficiencies include skills in multi-agency working and sharing information.

Further guidance on good practice in multi-agency working is provided in the Common Core Prospectus.

Evaluate extended school provision

By evaluating extended school services, schools can ensure there are opportunities for all parents and members of the local community to benefit. They can also consider whether more targeted services for refugee families are appropriate. For example Park View Academy, an extended school with a sixth form in the London Borough of Haringey, runs supplementary school provision linked to Somali and Turkish family learning classes. The school has also developed counselling services to support the specific needs of refugee students.

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