Wednesday 25^th September 2019

Bexley’s Mayor, Cllr Geraldine Lucia-Henis attended a special Assembly at Northwood today to formally present our School of Sanctuary award.

We were very pleased to welcome the Mayor and her Consort, along with her driver Paul to our special Assembly.  The Mayor congratulated everyone on our commitment  to ensuring Northwood is a place of welcome to all, and for becoming the first school in London to have been recognised for the award.

As a Unicef Gold Rights Respecting School, we were thrilled to announce that in May 2019 we were awarded School of Sanctuary status.  Our School of Sanctuary journey began with our commitment to being a place of welcome.  Northwood is proud to be a place of safety and inclusion to all; we believe that everyone should feel safe, secure and valued.

How we became a School of Sanctuary:

• Rights Respecting Pupil Ambassadors lead weekly whole school assemblies
• Governors, Teaching staff and pupils are fully committed and supportive of the work we do
• Involvement of parents/carers at our Stay and Learn sessions focusing on refugees and asylum seekers.  Feedback gained from parents/carers on these sessions
• Philosophy sessions focusing on Unicef articles

Our plan to move our work forward:

• Invite a refugee visitor to speak to our pupils and staff
• Ensure that children suffering from trauma continue to receive additional support
• Engaging with the local community, via the community website.
• Newsletter to residents and notices posted on local notice boards
• Continue to encourage overseas parents to participate in wider school events
• Achieve and embed all recommendations from the appraisal committee
• Continue to build our bank of resources: EAL/bilingual books.  Books based on child refugees’ life experiences

All of our pupils are valued as individuals and are equal to one another.  Our school is proud to be helping our pupils, staff and the wider community to understand what it means to be seeking sanctuary.