AQW 9065/22-27

Ms Kellie Armstrong
Alliance Party
Strangford

Tabled Date: 15/03/2024
Answered On Date: 27/03/2024
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Education what support his Department provides in school to children who are living in temporary accommodation.

Answer:

The Department of Education works alongside the Education Authority’s (EA) Intercultural Education Service (IES) to provide funding and support to Asylum Seeker and Refugee (ASR) children residing in temporary contingency and dispersal accommodation in Northern Ireland.

IES staff visit ASR contingency hotels on a regular basis to meet with families and discuss educational provision and requirements. This includes ensuring children with Special Educational Needs, who need the support of a specialist placement, can access the statutory assessment process. IES also provide support for these children through their ‘Schools Trauma Advisory and Referral Service’ (STARS); trauma training and other emotional wellbeing advice that support children who have experienced trauma to help ensure they are supported in the continuation of their education.

Further to this, in 2022/23 the Department provided £460k funding for the provision of 60 Welcome Club places (30 primary; 30 post-primary) at two schools (Malvern Primary School (PS) and Integrated College Glengormley (ICG)) in the Greater Belfast area, in response to ASR children being accommodated in contingency hotels. Whilst the post-primary provision has now ended with places having been found in mainstream provision both in ICG and other post-primary schools closer to the young peoples’ accommodation, welcome provision continues to support ASR pupils attending Malvern PS.

During the 2023/24 financial year, the Department provided £795,000 to the EA and Schools from TEO’s ASR Dispersal Fund and a further £40k from the UK Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) to cover additional costs associated with the provision of education for children from the ASR community. Funding was directed toward welcome provision, language skills, transport, IT equipment, uniform assistance, and other costs in removing barriers to education for these children.