Supporting access
Young refugee children have the same entitlement to early years education as other children in England and should be able to enjoy access to the range of early education settings. QCA and The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) have identified a number of principles of good practice in early years settings. Whilst these apply to all children, two have particular relevance for the inclusion of refugee children.
- Practitioners should ensure that all children feel included, secure and valued
- No child should be excluded or disadvantaged because of ethnicity, culture or religion, home language, family background, special educational needs, disability, gender or ability.
However, refugee children and their families may experience barriers to accessing early years educational provision. They may arrive in a local area where they have no friends, family or members of their community. Refugee families may lack information about local provision and might be unfamiliar with the different settings for learning available. They may also be unsure about how to enrol children for places.
Good practice
Refugee children’s entitlement to early years education
Young refugee children and families will benefit when early years practitioners and other local services are aware of their entitlements, and work together to promote access to early educational settings.
School staff will find information about refugee children on the refugee and asylum seekers’ children area of teachernet and the The foundation stage area of the QCA Pathways to learning for new arrivals website.
All children are entitled to receive a free, good quality, part-time early education place from the term following their third birthday. A free nursery education place consists of a minimum of five 2.5-hour sessions per week for 33 weeks of the year. The parentscentre website provides more information on free early years education and the Foundation Stage.
Provide information about early education and childcare
The ChildcareLink website provides childcare and early years information collected from over 170 English and Scottish local authorities, with sign-posting information from the Welsh National Assembly. The website helps you find useful information about the different types of childcare and early education in a local area. The Sure Start website contains details of the local Children's information service, which can provide additional help and advice with all aspects of childcare and early years education.
Provide information in community languages
Translated information about early education and childcare can be distributed through schools, supplementary schools, religious and community centres. Local children’s information services often provide translated information . The Islington CIS website has downloadable guidance leaflets for parents in Albanian, Somali and Turkish.
The Sure Start Foundation Stage Information Pack for Parents is for practitioners to use when introducing the foundation stage curriculum to the parents/carers of children attending their setting. A leaflet for parents is available in several languages, including Turkish, Arabic, Vietnamese and Somali.
Liaise with health visitors
Health visitors are qualified nurses who work as members of primary healthcare teams. The role of the health visitor is to promote health and prevent illness in all age groups. Health visitors may know of newly arrived refugee families with young children who might benefit from access to early years provision or childcare.
Create a friendly and welcoming environment
All practitioners should ensure refugee families are made to feel welcome. Reception and parent meeting areas can provide displays that celebrate linguistic and cultural diversity. A personalised ‘Welcome to…’ poster is an approach some schools use. MantraLingua produce welcome posters and playgroup signs in different languages, as well as a Nursery Welcome Booklet CD Rom. Lingua produce a wide range of common school signs in 28 languages.
Make use of interpreters
Interpreters can support good communication between the setting and the family when they arrive. Some families will also need interpretation when attending meetings with staff. Guidance can be found on the Interpreting and translation area of the QCA Pathways to learning for new arrivals website. Many local authorities provide interpreting and translation services.
Establish clear admission procedures
This can ensure that information about a child’s background experiences, health and development is quickly gathered, and shared with practitioners. This is also a good time to identify the best arrangements for ongoing contact between the school and home. Early learning can be discussed with parents. Detailed guidance on developing effective Admission and induction procedures can be found on the QCA Pathways to learning for new arrivals website.
Show sensitivity towards refugee families without birth certificates
Some refugee parents may not have birth certificates for their children. Early years settings can accept other documentation, including that issued by the Home Office, as proof of date of birth.
School clothing grants, meals and free school travel and transport
Some families may need help in applying for free school meals, school clothing grants and free school travel and transport. The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) parentscentre website provides information on eligibility for free school meals, school uniforms and school travel and transport.
Monitor the uptake of early years places and activities
This can help a setting identify whether all groups in the community are enjoying access. Individual nurseries and other early years settings can obtain accurate demographic data about the local area from Sure Start local programmes, from the early years development and childcare partnership, or from the research and statistics section of a local authority. Managers can then compare this with their own data about the uptake of their service, to see if any local community is under-represented in its use of early years services. Local authorities, through their children and young people’s plan, should be developing outreach and consultation with refugee groups to address the under-representation of refugee children in early years settings.
Provide advocacy and additional support
Some refugee families will have difficulty accessing the services they need. Many early years settings will have developed good links with local services and projects that work with refugee families. They can ensure that information about these services is accessible within the setting. Early years settings can also direct or ‘signpost’ families to appropriate sources of support or make referrals for them. The multi-agency working section of this site provides information and guidance.
Case studies
There are small numbers of isolated refugee children and families living in semi-rural areas of East Cleveland . Sure Start East Cleveland found that few refugee families were participating in local Sure Start activities. The case study East Cleveland Sure Start Programme describes how friendly and welcoming drop-in sessions have reduced the isolation of refugee children and families, and promoted their integration into the local community.
The Roma Education Project is a Children’s Society project in the London Borough of Newham, The case study describes how the project has supported the admission of Roma children into schools and early education settings, and improved their integration and well-being.
A group of 81 Liberian and Congolese refugees were offered a new home in Bolton under the Gateway Protection Programme. The case study shows how the ‘Starting Point’ project supported the induction of children into schools, colleges and early years settings, and addressed the needs of children, young people and families.
To see Starting Point in action please see the Starting Point short film extracts.
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