School resources & actions.

We are asking schools, individuals, and social groups to raise awareness of the plight of refugees and people seeking asylum. Do you want to get involved?

The objective of this page is to equip schools with resources they can use to educate students on the experience of refugees and the role they can play in supporting them.

Aid Box Community welcomes the invitation to speak at schools and aims to play an active role in raising awareness on this in Bristol.

Below you can access a presentation about who is a refugee, what life in the UK is like for someone seeking safety, and what we do at Aid Box Community to help. You can also find a support pack with activities & fundraising ideas for schools.

Contact

Please email our Fundraising & Communications Coordinator Margherita at margherita@aidboxcommunity.co.uk with any queries.

Assemblies

Primary School Assembly Plans, Unicef - This popular package of free primary school assemblies focuses on various articles of the UN Convention on the rights of the child and links them to events and days of recognition. It includes assemblies on why people become refugees and on the contribution refugees make.

Secondary School Assembly Presentation, Refugee Action - A presentation introducing the refugee crisis, what is means to be a refugee or an asylum seeker, what life is like as a refugee in the UK, and what your school can do to help.

Christian Aid - This assembly on TES uses case studies from Angola, Bangladesh and Burma to explore some of the reasons that force people to become refugees. With an accompanying Powerpoint presentation, it aims to help pupils empathise with the situation of people who have to leave their homes.

SPCK Assemblies – A Long Hard Journey. This is a new assembly package suitable for the whole school, exploring experiences of refugees and the importance of offering them a welcome. The assembly is accompanied by Powerpoint Presentation.

Teaching Resources

Teaching About Refugees, United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) – The UNHCR has developed a comprehensive teacher’s toolkit of free resources to help teachers create a welcoming environment for refugee pupils and to help explain the meaning of refugee, asylum, migration and statelessness to children aged 6-18 years. There is also a curated selection of teaching materials on refugee and migrant issues from NGOs, governments and other organizations available by age group.

Rights Respecting Schools Resources, Unicef – Unicef offers a wide range of teaching resources to support the educating of children about their rights and global citizenship. ‘Forced to Flee’ is a free teaching pack that explores displacement, taking a global perspective to examine why people leave their homes, complemented by children’s stories and primary and secondary lesson plans. It is a follow-up to ‘In Search of Safety’, an education pack which helps children (from 7 years old upwards) make sense of the refugee crisis in Europe. This contains more than 20 activities ranging from short one-off lessons to longer projects and whole school ideas and includes children’s stories, infographics and videos to bring the issues to life.

Amnesty International UK – The ‘Seeking Safety’ activity pack for 6-8 year olds features eight interactive activities to understand why people flee their country. The pack is designed to approach the issue of asylum in a way that is accessible and appropriate to primary children. The materials and activities can be used in stand-alone lessons or in projects to encourage pupils to make connections between areas of learning.

Amnesty’s ‘Football Welcomes’ Resource - For 7-14 year olds, has been designed to support teachers to encourage discussion about refugee rights and to celebrate the contribution that people of refugee backgrounds have made to the UK, especially to football.

British Red Cross - These teaching resources (for 7-14 year-olds) celebrate 20 years of Refugee Week helping learners to build empathy and understand the contributions, creativity and resilience of refugees. There are five activities differentiated for primary and secondary learners, each designed to take approximately 30-45 mins. Activities include discussion questions, a walking debate, creative activities and video case studies. Key facts and terms are included for educators, along with guidance on how to manage discussions sensitively.

The British Red Cross has also developed lesson plans for the 7-14 age group on ‘Refugees and World War II evacuees’, exploring a speech by Princess Elizabeth aged 14 years, and on ‘Identity and Belonging’ with activities to consider identity, belonging and the impact stigma can have on refugee communities.

Action Aid – ActionAid has designed school resources for key stages 1 - 5. The ‘Refugees: In their own words’ resource can be used to build literacy and empathy towards child refugees, and to answer questions such as: ‘How is life different for child refugees?’ and, ‘if you were a refugee, what would you take?’. The ‘Children in Conflict’ resource encourages pupils to compare and contrast their lives with that of a 13-year-old Syrian refugee, living with her family in a Refugee Camp.

National Education Union - ‘Welcoming Refugee Children to your School Guide’ is available on the National Education Union website.

Twinkl - A wide range of downloadable worksheets, factfiles, powerpoint presentations, posters and activities on refugee issues are available on Twinkl, suitable for use with primary children.

Educational Videos

Refugee Week – A list of short refugee-related educational videos is available on the Refugee Week website.

An Intofilm resource has also been developed for teachers to use to mark Refugee Week. It contains a guide to five films, which have been specially selected to be accessible to learners from 5-19 years. The guide includes discussion questions and activity ideas to encourage learners to ask and answer questions and reflect on why people seek sanctuary in other countries.

Seven Short Films about Refugees, Amnesty International - Seven freely available videos on the reality of life as a refugee, ranging from 1 to 16 minutes have been recommended by Amnesty International’s human rights education network. They can be useful conversation starters for anyone wishing to learn more about human rights.

Everyday People, Music Action International - A group of teenage refugees and asylum seekers have created a song with a message of peace and unity for other young people to learn and perform for Refugee Week. ‘Everyday People’ is available as a video and comes with a Harmonise teaching resource aimed at Key Stage 2, developed by Music Action International with Refugee Week and the British Red Cross.

Actions

Simple Acts, Refugee Week - Read a book about exile, define the word ‘refuge’ or share your refugees welcome banner: Refugee Week is inviting schools to do one of 20 Simple Acts.

The British Council has developed a homework challenge based on the Simple Acts campaign and suitable to help pupils of all ages (4-18 years) find out more about the lives of migrants and refugees, show support, and celebrate the contributions they make around the world.

Schools of Sanctuary Resource Pack - is available online as well as information about the process of becoming a School of Sanctuary. There is also a useful list of teaching resources, lesson plans and facts and figures about refugees for schools. School of Sanctuary is a school that is committed to being a safe and welcoming place for all, especially those seeking sanctuary. This could be people whose lives were in danger in their own country, who have troubles at home or are just looking for a space of safety. It is a school that helps its students, staff and wider community understand what it means to seek sanctuary and to extend a welcome to everyone as equal, valued members.

Charity Work - Link up with a local refugee organisations in Bristol like our charity to support our work, raise funds, and take part in local actions and events.