Schools of Sanctuary - Print version

Schools of Sanctuary

We all have a part to play in building a welcoming and inclusive society

City of Sanctuary UK leads a movement across the UK to create welcoming communities for people seeking sanctuary - and for everyone.  City of Sanctuary UK coordinates, supports and grows these networks of welcome. Their Sanctuary Awards [https://cityofsanctuary.org/awards/] recognise and celebrate the organisations who go above and beyond to welcome people seeking sanctuary.

Schools are the heart of our communities and are central to building a better, fairer and kinder society – for everyone.

Schools of Sanctuary is an initiative to celebrate the good practice of schools who foster a culture of welcome and belonging for all, especially asylum seeking and refugee families. Developed and overseen by City of Sanctuary UK, they are a small refugee sector charity that works to build a movement of welcome in the UK, standing in solidarity with people seeking sanctuary.

A School of Sanctuary is a school committed to be a safe and welcoming space for all. It is a school demonstrating a whole-school approach to support and understand those who may be seeking sanctuary. A School of Sanctuary is a school helping its students, staff and wider community understand what it means to be seeking sanctuary and to extend a welcome to everyone as equal, valued members of the school community. It is a school that is proud to be a place of safety and inclusion for all.

The Schools of Sanctuary programme aims to achieve this by:

1. working with schools to raise awareness of the experiences of people seeking sanctuary and challenge misconceptions with school pupils, staff, governors, parent/carers and wider communities to build empathy;
2. helping schools to build up staff expertise in supporting new arrivals and adopt effective practice and provision to ensure children seeking sanctuary feel safe, a sense of belonging and are able to thrive in school;
3. and encouraging schools to connect and collaborate with local charities, organisations and institutions, and community groups to grow and strengthen our shared movement of welcome and solidarity with people seeking safety.

Becoming a School of Sanctuary

The Core Processes: Learn, Embed & Share

A school can attain an award if they can provide evidence that they have integrated the three core processes:

• Learn: growing understanding across the school about the experiences of people seeking sanctuary to challenge misconceptions, build empathy and solidarity, and to help you know best how to support and welcome them.
• Embed: taking positive action to embed concepts of welcome, safety and success within the school to ensure everyday culture and practice fosters a sense of belonging and empowerment where everyone can thrive, but particularly students seeking sanctuary. To take steps to ensure this progress remains sustainable, long beyond the initial award.
• Share: playing your part in building a culture of welcome more widely – by loudly and proudly sharing their values and efforts and by working collaboratively in the local area and within our movement of welcome.

Cutting across all these efforts we expect to see ‘co-production’ with people seeking sanctuary. This is about working meaningfully with new arrivals in your school and community (your students, parent/carers and local refugee organisations) to identify your school’s strengths and areas for development and using their thoughts, experiences and feedback to make your action plan.

EMAS are local leads for Schools of Sanctuary in Coventry and can support your school to engage with the award process and help you to think about and shape your efforts to build sanctuary in school and beyond, bringing about a positive impact for staff, students and the wider community.

Our programme of free Schools of Sanctuary activities are outlined in our local offer. [https://www.coventry.gov.uk/downloads/file/45225/school-of-sanctuary-offer-2025-26]

The Schools of Sanctuary Website [https://schools.cityofsanctuary.org/] and Schools of Sanctuary Resource Pack [https://cityofsanctuary.org/2021/11/16/new-schools-resource-pack/] have all the information you need and plenty of practical suggestions, resources and ideas to make your school a place of welcome and awareness. We have also started a Coventry Padlet [https://padlet.com/michelleandrews7/coventry-schools-of-sanctuary-llb6ck2q60xtg5nv] to share resources and share ideas.

Contact EMAS Teacher Team emasteachers@coventry.gov.uk [mailto:emasteachers@coventry.gov.uk] for more information and guidance or to sign up to join our sessions. We look forward to hearing from you!