Two new schools for refugee children to open in new year

Some families are living temporarily in hotels in the Belfast area

The Education Authority (EA) is to set up two temporary schools for more than 60 refugee and asylum seeker children currently living in hotels.

The plan is for the The Welcome Club to be up and running in early 2022, BBC News NI has been told.

Of the 75 children and young people currently living temporarily in hotels, only 14 are attending schools.

That is because families may want to wait until they are in a more permanent home before enrolling them in a school.

Almost 2,000 Syrian refugees have been resettled in Northern Ireland since 2016 through a UK government scheme.

But refugees and asylum seekers from other countries experiencing conflict have also arrived in Northern Ireland, although a resettlement scheme for Afghan refugees has yet to begin.

Some families, including school-aged children and young people, are living temporarily in seven hotels in the Belfast area, according to the EA.

But those families may eventually be moved to other accommodation across Northern Ireland.

Nearly 2,000 Syrian refugees have been resettled in Northern Ireland since 2016

The EA's Intercultural Educational Service (IES) has responsibility for supporting refugee and asylum seeker children and young people living in temporary hotel accommodation.

"Challenges can arise when children enrolled in schools are moved out of temporary accommodation to other areas across the region," said an EA spokesperson.

"As of the week beginning 6 December, 75 children and young people of school age are housed in temporary hotel accommodation.

"Fourteen of these have been enrolled in schools by families," they added.

"At times families may wish to wait until they have permanent accommodation before enrolling their child in school."

Some teachers had been visiting children living in hotels to provide some educational activities since mid-November, said the EA, but it was now setting up two schools.

It would provide transport from the hotels to these venues - one primary site and one post-primary - to deliver what it called a "bespoke, evidence-based provision on a daily basis", it added.

"IES have recruited additional teaching staff, to help with planning and delivering this provision, now named The Welcome Club.

"These teachers have been provided with additional training to ensure an appropriate level of awareness around the needs of asylum-experienced children."

• The refugee students making Northern Ireland home

• Fleeing the Syrian war for Belfast

The Welcome Club would start "in the New Year" and would provide structure and routine for the children as well as support for their parents, the authority told BBC News NI.

The curriculum will include English language lessons as well as play and other activities.

The EA also said that children would join and leave the new schools depending on their accommodation status, and would eventually move on to mainstream schools.

A recent study from Stranmillis University College found many refugee pupils from Syria had been made to feel welcome and had settled well in Northern Ireland's schools.

But concerns have been raised that many older teenagers who arrive here as refugees or asylum seekers may get little or no education or help with language learning.