Welcoming Schools for Students from Refugee Backgrounds

Welcoming Schools is a professional development opportunity for schools in the Auckland region with high numbers of students from refugee backgrounds being offered by Refugees as Survivors NZ (RASNZ) in 2021.

The programme is free of charge.

Refugees as Survivors NZ is a specialist mental health agency based at the Mangere Refugee Resettlement Centre. RASNZ provides professional development opportunities for professionals across a range of disciplines, including health, mental health, social service and  education sectors.  This workshop is designed to support your work with children and young people from refugee backgrounds. 

This practical workshop aims to support effective practice based on the principles relevant to trauma responsiveness in schools for students from refugee backgrounds.  We will offer information about the services and supports available to students and families in the Auckland region.

This workshop will explore the following  areas of:

• The refugee journey and resettlement in New Zealand
• Working with collective cultures
• How trauma impacts children and young people’s brain, body, memory, emotions, relationships, behaviour and capacity to learn
• Responses to traumatised children and young people within education settings
• Exploration of activities and strategies that can help heal the impacts of trauma to enable improved behavioural and cognitive capacity
• Case scenarios
• Services and supports for schools/agencies. 

The aim is to support school teams, learning support services and Ministry of Education staff by:

• Informing a whole of school cross-cultural trauma informed care approach to supporting students from refugee backgrounds.
• Raising schools' awareness of the impact of the refugee journey and refugee resettlement, and of resources to support students from a refugee background.
• Supporting young people and families from refugee backgrounds to achieve educational aims and to maintain mental health and wellbeing.

For further information, please contact: RASNZ Training and Research Manager, Dr Annette Mortensen; ph (021) 838 351; email: annette@rasnz.co.nz