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School Of Sanctuary

School of Sanctuary
 
St Mary's is a School of Sanctuary. But what does this mean?
 
School of Sanctuary is a national network of over 300 primary and secondary schools all committed to creating a culture of welcome and inclusion for refugees and people seeking asylum.
 
Being a 'School of Sanctuary,' means welcoming and supporting refugees along with people from all different backgrounds. We want to educate the children at our school about the human right to sanctuary and help them make sense of the world so that they can become responsible citizens and to create positive change in their communities. As a 'School of Sanctuary,' we strive to build an inclusive and supportive school community, which helps the most needy and vulnerable.  
 
 
Intent
At St. Mary's, we have passionate young people dedicated to raising awareness of the issues facing people in the asylum system, who want to challenge misconceptions and build social action. 
 
Implementation
These are the things we have done already: - 
Key Stage 1's message - Be Kind to Refugees this Valentines Day.
We collected donations for the refugees supported by St Chad's Sanctuary.
Year 5 created some beautiful artwork to show the journey of a refugee based on the work of Keith Haring.
Children explore the role that they can play in social and world issues.

‘Show your Heart’

Each year group created an orange heart to create awareness about the Anti Refugee Bill and show that they support refugees.

Refugee Retreat Day

Year 5 children following their retreat day have visited each class to share with pupils and staff what they learnt:

- Why people become refugees

- The differences between refugees and asylum seekers

- Why some refugees come to the UK and Birmingham

- Why some refugees are destitute

- Why they need protection...

Children learnt about the Holy Family and their journey from Bethlehem to Egypt as refugees. 
We offered our prayers for Refugees during Mass and Assembly.
We joined the #FillTheSkiesWithHope movement and made paper planes to show our support.

Refugee House Retreats

The Spiritual Council planned a refugee retreat. Every teacher asked a deep question.  Children explored lots of different questions about refugees such as ‘How can we support refugees in our community?’ and ‘How would you feel if you lived in a country where you were treated unfairly every day?’ Children’s responses formed part of 'Welcome' display in school..

National Poetry Day

Children shared and explored poems written by local refugees (from ‘Stories with Clipped Wings’).

They also wrote their own in a similar style, imagining they were refugees.