At Kensington Primary School, we are committed to creating a safe environment that includes everybody. We foster a welcoming culture of inclusion and acceptance for all, seeking to provide a place of safety for all those seeking refuge. 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. 

We have a tradition of welcoming and supporting families from sanctuary-seeking backgrounds and continue to receive them today. With 50 different languages and nationalities in our school, we believe our pupils need to learn about issues faced by those seeking sanctuary in order to understand their local communities and the wider world better.

We share and educate our community about the human right to sanctuary and highlight the importance of this through our emotional health curriculum and multilingual approach. We endeavour to be a school of sanctuary as part of this vision.

How we welcome new arrivals

• A welcoming, inclusive ethos which puts the child at the centre of our approach.

• A multilingual approach which actively sees home languages as a strength.

• Ensuring a new child develops friendships and feels valued.

• Develop trusting relationships with parents, finding out where families have come from and supporting them in acquiring relevant support and making new connections when they join us.

• Drawing on the strengths of our new pupils and using existing skills to develop new learning. 

• Adaptation of learning in lessons and utilising a child’s first language to leverage their learning.

• Working in partnership with parents to ensure home learning continues in their first language, making sure deep and meaningful conversations support new ideas taught in school.

• Collaborating with all key partners in ensuring the new child and their family have all the resources needed to succeed.