[eal-bilingual] Shared Futures: Supporting the integration of refugee children and young people

Shared Futures is a new project, which aims to assist schools and  
youth groups in:
·      welcoming refugee children and young people

·      promoting their well-being

·      helping them and their families become part of their local  
communities.

The project is managed by Salusbury WORLD, and builds on the  
successful body of good practice developed by the organisation and  
its best-selling publication Home from Home. The project is funded by  
Comic Relief.

During 2007, Shared Futures undertook research to capture existing  
effective practice within the UK, which has developed in recent years  
in schools, youth groups, local education authorities and the  
voluntary sector. This guided the selection of examples of effective  
practice which have been filmed and will soon be available on a DVD.

Presently the project is developing the DVD, a supporting resource  
pack and further web pages that will showcase a range of innovative  
and creative approaches in schools, youth groups and the community  
that promote inclusion and integration.

The resource pack and DVD will be launched in June during Refugee  
Week, and will then be available from Salusbury WORLD and the website:

http://www.sharedfutures.org.uk/

Regional launch and workshops

Later in 2008, the project will also support schools and youth groups  
through opportunities for training workshops and consultancy. These  
will be freely available to practitioners throughout the UK.

The project can provide a trainer who can work with you to plan  
workshops, training and other dissemination events that support your  
development work across schools, youth and community settings in your  
area. These events can take place from September onwards.

There is some initial budget to subsidise part of this work.

If you are interested in taking up this off please contact Duncan  
Little (see details below).

The project and its resources are for teachers and other  
practitioners working in primary and secondary schools, including  
teaching assistants, learning mentors, educational psychologists,  
Connexions advisers, and educational social workers. It will also be  
of relevance to practitioners working in other settings for children  
and young people in the wider community, such as youth and community  
services, supplementary and community schools, children’s centres and  
faith groups.

For more information contact the Shared Futures project manager,  
Duncan Little:duncanlittle1234 at hotmail.com