Supporting unaccompanied refugee children

Unaccompanied refugee children are children and young people who are under the age of 18 and not living with their parent, relative or guardian in the UK.

Many of the barriers to integration that refugees face are magnified for child refugees who arrive in the UK alone. Having been separated from their parents and wider family, they may be isolated and can experience particular difficulties in accessing mainstream services such as education, accommodation and health. They may be more vulnerable to emotional or mental health problems, social exclusion, bullying, discrimination and racism.

Primary schools play a significant role in supporting unaccompanied refugee children. As well as providing a stable and nurturing environment, schools also need to work in close partnership with other services to ensure children’s needs and entitlements are met. Schools can also help unaccompanied refugee children to build links with members of their national or ethnic community, and with the wider local community.

Good practice

With the right support, stability and encouragement, unaccompanied refugee children can and do succeed and make valuable contributions to the life of their schools and local communities.

Effective admission and induction procedures

Unaccompanied children can usually be identified when they are admitted to school. QCA Pathways to learning for new arrivals provides guidance on developing good practice in Admission and induction procedures. In the absence of parents or guardians, unaccompanied refugee children are likely to be in public care – and classed as looked after children. All schools should have a designated teacher who is responsible for the education and welfare of looked after children. The designated teacher should be aware of any unaccompanied refugee children who are looked after and should take an active role in liaising with other agencies.

The The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) and the Department of Health (DH) have jointly published Guidance on the Education of Children and Young People in Public Care, which provides further information on the role of designated teachers. This can be downloaded from the Education Protects Publications web page.

Secure an educational placement quickly

It is essential that unaccompanied children start to attend school regularly, access learning activities and the friendship-making opportunities provided by school. The supporting access and enrolment to school area of this website provides guidance on this. Through developing peer support and friendships unaccompanied children can be helped to feel welcome and gain a sense of belonging to the school and wider community. The Government expects local authorities to set a maximum time limit of 20 school days within which they must secure an education placement for any children in care.

Additional advocacy and support

Social workers or other professionals and volunteers who work with unaccompanied children may provide advocacy and further support. The Refugee Council also provides specialist support to unaccompanied refugee children.

The Children’s Panel of Advisers employs advisers who are bilingual and help unaccompanied children and young people obtain good legal advice and support, and access other services.

Close Liaison with other services

Schools will need to work closely with social workers and foster carers to ensure that children make progress and are accessing their entitlements. The multi-agency working area of this website provides guidance.

Unaccompanied refugee children who are in public care should also have a Personal Education Plan (PEP) to help them achieve their potential. The PEP should be developed in partnership with other services and agencies. The PEP is most effective when drawn up with all the significant people in a child's life including the young person themselves, and when it is an integral part of the care planning process.

Education Protects includes Care Planning and PEPs - A Collection of Local Authority Examples .

Whilst unaccompanied children are likely to be in public care, some will not be. Some children are in less formal placements with members of the community, who may refer to themselves as ‘guardians’. As with parents and other carers, this arrangement may or may not be suitable. If educational professionals have any concerns at all they should refer to social services.

A Better Education for Children in Care - Practice Guides, This good practice guidance, was published by the Government's Social Exclusion Unit which has since been replaced by the Social Exclusion Taskforce. The guide shows the many ways in which social workers, schools, colleges and other professional agencies can come together to support looked after children in schools and colleges. Unaccompanied refugee young people who are in public care should also have a Pathway Plan to help them into independence and to achieve their potential.

Sensitivity to the diversity of backgrounds

Teachers will need to take care to avoid using language that may exclude unaccompanied children, for example when referring to ‘parents’ or when setting up curriculum projects that involve or refer to ‘family’ at home. Schools can develop knowledge of the cultural backgrounds of unaccompanied refugee children and look for ways to include this in the curriculum.

Country information profiles are provided on the QCA Pathways to learning for new arrivals website.

Cultural community contact

An awareness of local communities, refugee community organisations and youth refugee projects will be helpful. Projects that provide cultural and sporting activities that reduce isolation and promote well-being are:

Shpresa Programme in London

Asylum Welcome in Oxfordshire

Guidance on developing activities and setting up youth groups for unaccompanied refugees have been produced by:

Refugee Youth, the Barbara Melunsky Refugee Youth Agency

Save the Children

It is important to be sensitive to the divisions that exist within refugee groups from the same country. Children should have access to those groups with whom they feel comfortable.

Out-of-school-hours learning

Unaccompanied children may need further encouragement and support to attend existing out-of-school-hours learning provision. The out-of-school-hours learning area of this website provides guidance.

Who Cares? Trust publishes several resources that can help schools improve educational outcomes and experiences of young people in public care.

Practical help and emotional support

Unaccompanied refugee children may not have the advice and support that parents usually provide. By being supportive listeners, practitioners can help children make sense of what has happened to them. Some children will talk about their concerns only when they are ready and should not feel under pressure to talk about things they don’t feel comfortable about. They should know however that a sympathetic listener is available for them. Schools will find useful Save the Children’s free downloadable guidance booklet on Providing emotional support to young separated refugees (.PDF)

Unaccompanied refugee children may be vulnerable to bullying. The promoting emotional well-being area of this website provides information and guidance on how schools can respond effectively to bullying.

Case Study

Supporting a young unaccompanied refugee child (.PDF)

Icknield Primary School in Luton welcomed a young, hearing impaired Somali refugee. The case study describes how the school worked effectively with other agencies to meet his needs and enable him to make progress.