SCHOOL OF SANCTUARY

At Chandos, we are extremely proud to have been awards the School of Sanctuary award in 2019 and had this renewed in 2024. Being a school of sanctuary means we support young people and their families who are seeking safety in the UK. 

We pride ourselves on being a welcoming and inclusive school for all children that fosters a culture of safety for people to seek sanctuary, including asylum seeking and refugee families. We will support our families in any way that we can. 

As a school, we have tailored our curriculum to allow the whole school community to be educated about the experiences and realities people who have been forced to leave their countries face and to show empathy and understanding to these people. We aim to raise awareness of the challenging circumstances refugees face and challenge any misconceptions. 

We want to actively support families who join us to make connections with local refugee organisations, collaborate with one and other and to raise awareness and advocate for a kind approach towards those seeking safety. 

Being a school of sanctuary is part of our Chandos identity as it embeds all of our Chandos values. 

As part of our work to raise awareness, each year Chandos takes part in 'Refugee Week' as a whole school. 

Children have assemblies, they read stories and poetry about refugees and share their own experiences where relevant. The children then complete activities based around the theme including, art and writing. We follow the theme set out by refugeeweek.org.uk. 

This year the theme was 'community as a superpower'. 

In 2022, we took part in 'Walk With Amal' project and the whole school worked together to walk the distance from Syria to Chandos throughout the week. 

We even sent our Chandos Champions to meet Amal in the city centre!