Winner of the BSA Best Community Work award

Research estimates that refugee and asylumseeking children in England are 17.3 months behind other children in their GCSE subjects. The College’s response is to provide academic support as well as to help ameliorate some of the contextual problems that negatively affect refugee children’s ability to thrive in education. We are thrilled that these activities have been recognised this year by the Boarding Schools’ Association.

A weekly programme at the College supplements the education and experiences of the children of local refugee families who are here in Berkshire. Each Wednesday, Wellington teachers and pupils provide academic tutoring, information on the UK education and careers systems and - most importantly - fun and friendship to children who have been forced to leave Syria, Afghanistan and Ukraine.

We back this up with financial commitment. We have established a £40,000 fund managed by our local education authority to help pay for items that are otherwise unaffordable for refugee children here, such as school uniforms, school trips and holiday clubs, and travel to and from school. In addition, one of our Prince Albert Foundation scholars is a pupil whose family sought refuge in the UK following conflict.

With a view to longer term change, pupils of the Wellington College Peace and Conflict Institute learn about the complex drivers of global migration, international legal obligations, the challenges of seeking refuge and of integrating into a new country. This includes three days’ volunteering in northern France, working directly with stranded refugees to hear their stories and build an empathy which can help change how society views and educates asylum seekers.