Educating children from the Ukraine

New Ukrainian Government Website for Schools Educating Ukrainian Children

ISC has been made aware of a new Ukrainian government resource for schools and teachers educating Ukrainian children forced abroad due to the Russian invasion. This could be extremely useful for any schools currently educating (or assisting in the community) Ukrainian children.

The website is English language, and gives information on the Ukrainian school system, its organisation and reform. Most importantly for schools and teachers, there is a full overview of the Ukrainian school curriculum – including access to English language PDFs of the specifications by subject/grade, and links to Ukrainian language textbooks and resources (which could be sent to parents). There is also a Ukrainian section of the website with Q&A for parents of displaced children about their child’s education.

Members will recall the letter from the Secretary of State for Education published in early May 2022.

In it, he makes several points about Ukrainian pupils in UK schools (remembering that they are entitled to a state school place, the same as a UK family):

• “Pupils arriving from Ukraine will be offered a broad and balanced curriculum, which promotes spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils”
• “Schools are also responsible for ensuring that all their pupils – including refugees and migrants who have a first language other than English – develop the English language skills they need in order to access the curriculum”
• “Whilst … resources could be used to complement pupils’ education, for example, for use at home or in supplementary schools, they should not be used to substitute for schools’ usual curriculum.”

This letter also provided links to further resources schools might find valuable – but makes it clear that these are supplementary to the school’s curriculum, and Ukrainian pupils have the same curriculum entitlement as any other child on roll. Schools should use all these linked resources to support their teaching of Ukrainian pupils, not as a replacement for the curriculum.

Schools with issues supporting Ukrainian children are encouraged to contact Matthew Dent at the ISC directly (matthew.dent@isc.co.uk) and he can help get answers from the DfE.

Source: ISC