Every year a cohort of trainee students come to St. Mary's and work with our pupils on a project that they feel passionate about in the social justice arena. Covid 19 was not going to put a stop to that this year and we were lucky enough to have 2 students in class and 2 students who appeared remotely.
This year it was the subject of how families without settled status may be charged for secondary care and how unfair this is. Year 6 did a number of roleplays to understand the different scenarios and how people may be treated. They also found out that sometimes the wrong information can be circulated. Did you know that everyone is entitled to GP care or emergency treatment regardless of status or whether you have a fixed address? Did you know that everyone is entitled to receive free vaccinations for Covid 19? Year 6 then created some fabulous illustrations of what they had learned to be used in a future information booklet for use across the borough! Some of our amazing children took part in a Zoom meeting with the Home Office to discuss and give their views on a range of issues related to NRPF, Immigration and British Citizenship.
They were given the opportunity to talk about how these issues affect them and their families. In addition they gave their views on how unfair they felt the system of applying and paying for Child British Citizenship was and some of the problems their families have encountered when dealing with the Home Office such as language or delay. When asked to name an animal that they would associate with the Home Office one of our children said a lion because one little thing might really upset the lion causing him to roar or bite unexpectedly. The purpose of the consultation was for the Home Office to listen to children, to hear their views and to make some changes accordingly. The children made some great suggestions for improvement including the use of translators, simplifying language used in forms and letters, being fairer and transparent to all who use the Home Office and maybe letting parents pay fees in instalments. We are so proud of our children who displayed all the values we talk about in school including responsibility, respect and community. The children have received certificates from the Home Office for their contributions. Our Year 5 & 6 children have been doing some real courageous advocacy! After hearing that some people without settled status are getting charged for routine operations at hospitals including Lewisham, they decided to create some Christmas cards to the CEO Mr Travis with a strong message. The cards were then delivered by some of the children to the hospital with a naughty or nice bag. It is amazing to see our children campaigning for a more just and fair system for all.
Councillor Kevin Bonavia visited our school last week. He is a Labour Councillor and a Cabinet Member of Lewisham Council for Democracy, Refugees and Accountability. He was shown around school by some of our Year 6 pupils who then presented him with a booklet containing their work at special workshops last year about what it was like to be a child at school when your parents have no immigration status and no access to benefits. Councillor Kevin was able to share the good news that any child attending a Lewisham school whose parents have no recourse to public funds will now receive a free school meal.
Councillor Kevin then met with some parents from our Immigration Action Group to hear their experiences of how people have been treated at Lewisham Council. He agreed that improvements needed to be made especially if Lewisham are to call themselves a “sanctuary borough”. He agreed to work with us in a number of ways so watch this space. During the last meeting issues that affect families facing immigration and settlement issues were discussed. These include the isolation and stigma which people may feel, the mental health stress this has on families as well as practical problems about finding money to pay immigration and NHS fees. What really has an impact on people is the way that they are treated when they attend places like Lewisham Council or an Immigration Reporting Centre.
The Immigration Action Project is intended to be a place of education, action and support. Hannah from Citizens UK worked with parents to look at what might be an effective first course of action. So the parents decided to write a letter to the head of the NRPF team at Lewisham to invite him to meet with parents at St. Mary’s to see how things could be improved. The letter has been delivered and we await a response. It is wonderful to see such courageous advocacy in action and to witness parents supporting each other so kindly. Parents were also able to meet with Jess from the Coram Children’s Legal Centre who was able to offer immigration advice on an individual basis. Next meeting will be the 11th July so do come along! St. Mary’s is very excited to be part of a fantastic new project with Citizens UK and Coram Children’s Legal Centre. Many families in our community face issues around immigration, settlement and citizenship in the UK. This can affect your right to work, to receive benefits and to receiving treatment under the NHS. By getting together and discussing the issues which affect families we can attempt to provide the right help both practically and emotionally. Most importantly, by working together we can start to campaign for real changes.
Come to the next meeting on the 13th June@ 9am and find out more. We also have an immigration advisor coming into the session to provide support and answer any questions you have in complete confidentiality. This is an ongoing project which really puts the values of St. Mary’s vision for our school community into practice. Lewisham Refugee & Migrant Network is based in Deptford and provides practical and therapeutic support to migrant women. They provided an employment workshop for parents as part of their outreach work. This gave useful advice on how to start looking for a job, what to include on a CV and ways to use your skills in the volunteering sector.
LRMN also came in for a coffee morning and are providing support to parents in our school on issues such as housing, immigration and benefits. For more information check out LRMN at lrmn.org.uk Our shared Caribbean parents breakfast was another gastronomic delight – with salt fish and ackee, plantain, hard dough bread and salt cod fritters – the conversations flowed about favourite meals and recipes. These are lovely opportunities to taste different foods, meet other parents and talk about food! Keep an eye out for the next shared parents breakfast.
There was a great turnout for the first ever shared parents breakfast! The focus was on Chinese food to link in with the Chinese New Year which takes place next Tuesday 5th February.
The table was full of delicious dishes cooked by our parents including spring rolls, Chinese noodles, bao buns, dumplings, Chinese sweets and cakes. It was lovely to see everyone trying something they may not have tried before. 2019 will be the Year of the Pig and we wish all our Chinese families a very happy New Year – 新年快乐 Next half term we will have a Caribbean shared breakfast so we look forward to more cuisine from another part of the world! St.Mary’s first parent trip took place on Thursday with a visit to Sky Gardens in London on a beautifully sunny day. The 360 degree views from the top were spectacular and we were able to identify lots of famous London landmarks.
We also saw Tower Bridge, HMS Belfast, the Tower of London, Monument and the Shard along the way which gave parents lots of ideas of things to do with their children during half term. We walked 7000 steps and got some exercise in as well as the chance to get to know each other. Thank you to all the parents who came along and look out for details of the next parent’s trip. |
School of Sanctuary News BlogEvents and activities from our work as a School of Sanctuary Archives
July 2023
Categories |