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Welcoming Overseas Visitors

 

 Leeds City Academy Welcomes Overseas Visitors

On Wednesday 27th June Leeds City Academy hosted 12 visitors from Migration North, The International Organisation for Migration and The Refugee Council. The visitors along with staff, were able to look at the Academy’s good practice and depth of experience in welcoming refugee and asylum seeking students and their families.

Hosted by Suhad Al Dulaimy and Lucy Sutton, EAL Student Support Workers, the group were first greeted by the Principal, Jackie Rose.

They then went on to enjoy a tour of the school, a presentation about the academy’s EAL provision and were able to talk with staff and recently arrived students.

Silvia Terren at The Refugee Coucil, who had coordinated the visit told us, “Your school gave a great example of the type of support that should be in place in school.”

She explained that the visitors from counties including Turkey, Syria and Iraq had told her that of all the organisations the group had visited that day - “This has been the best and most constructive visit of the day.”

Sylvia also mentioned “The induction you deliver to students when they first arrive is particularly useful.”

The afternoon’s highlight was when visitors and students shared their experiences at the end of the sessions. The visitors had come from five different Arab countries and could speak in their first language with students allowing them to express themselves fully.

Students Hamoud and Ahmed,  Y10,  who are recently arrived Leeds City Academy,  said that they were pleased to have had the opportunity to talk to the visitors. The students were able to explain their experience of starting at LCA in the hope it would help new students in the future at whatever school they might attend.  The students explained that at LCA “they help us a lot!“