Guidance

Resources to help support children and young people arriving from Ukraine

Updated 28 September 2022

Applies to England

This information is provided solely for reference to help schools and colleges. Resources included are not endorsed, promoted, recommended or connected to the Department for Education in any legally binding way.

Explaining the education system

The Bell Foundation provides explanation of how the education system works in England. It is available in both English (PDF, 1.2MB) and Ukrainian (PDF, 918KB). It covers a lot of topics including:

• how to find a school place for your child
• when exams and tests happen
• what happens on a day to day basis
• which subjects are taught
• what children need in schools
• how you can support your child

Further information on how to welcome refugee learners is also available from The Bell Foundation.

Achieving for Children (providing children’s services for Kingston upon Thames and Richmond local authorities) has developed 10 key points for a whole-school approach and ethos to welcoming new arrivals to the UK into schools.

Phoenix provide resources to help welcome children new to the country and help them integrate into school.

Learning English as an additional language

There are a range of English language learning options and resources available to children, young people and adults arriving from Ukraine.

English language learning resources include:

• Collaborative learning have various free resources and activities that help promote language practice and conversational skills for all learners including new arrivals
• Flash Academy
• Oxford University Press produce Project books from level 1 to 5, with workbooks and interactive resources
• Racing to English
• The Bell Foundation EAL Framework
• Languagenut English offers free language learning resources for supporting Ukrainian refugees to learn English at school or independently (covers proficiency levels CEFR A1 to B2)

The following resources are also suitable for older students at colleges and further education (FE) establishments as well as pupils in schools:

• British Council (PDF, 1MB)
• Oak National Academy has auto-translated all of its courses into Ukrainian so children and young people can access learning in their language

• Oxford International Education Group offers 2 free English language courses to displaced people and those fleeing the war in Ukraine - you need to register for each course which is taught through the OI Digital Institute:

  • English for culture
  • English for business
• Open University - OpenLearn platform can be adapted to offer tailored, free support, and there is a dedicated hub aimed at refugees
• ILT Education Polylino’s HelpUkraine campaign gives families with children who arrive in the UK seeking refuge an opportunity to access their multilingual book platform for free
• English as an additional language (EAL) MESHGuides support teachers and learning support assistants working with English language learners in any educational setting, at any stage of proficiency
• Babbel is an online language learning platform offering native Ukrainian speakers the opportunity to learn German, Polish or English via free self-study lessons
• The Duolingo English Test is a CEFR-aligned test of English proficiency and is recognised by some universities and educational settings who can get this test for free for their Ukrainian students -t hey provide information about how to access free Duolingo English Test coupons
• NALDIC has free publications and professional learning groups that have been designed to help teachers who are supporting pupils learning EAL in schools - email to access the EAL journal or to join the special interest groups or regional interest group

Ukrainian people aged 19 and older can access adult education, including English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL). Contact your local authority or further education college directly as they will be able to confirm what courses are available and when they happen. A list of ESOL contacts by local authority is available on request by contacting the Department for Education.

Supporting wellbeing

Special needs

The National Deaf Children’s Society provide information, advice and support for young people and have produced resources for new arrivals.

Using creativity

To help young people reflect on war and conflict in all forms, the charity Never Such Innocence offers in-person creative workshops lasting 1.5 to 2 hours to schools and other education providers in the UK. Poetry, speech and song writing workshops are available for students aged 9 to 18, subject to availability. ​To request a workshop, email [email protected].​

​Young people from around the world are also encouraged to share their creative responses, expressing their thoughts, fears and hopes. To find out more or submit work, visit their website.

Supporting pianists

The Pianoman charity offers scholarships to young Ukrainian people fleeing the war so they can continue playing the piano in the UK. It provides free piano tuition with world-class concert pianists, travel expenses (within the UK) and further assistance. Applicants must be aged between 11 and 17, and be at a level of grade 5 or higher.

Encouraging reading

Badger Learning is publishing 6 eBooks in a dual-language format, with English and Ukrainian text side by side and a phrasebook of commonly used words at the back. Books are all suitable for children in key stages 2 and 3. Badger Learning is offering these as free resources to schools to support the learning and integration of Ukrainian refugee children in the UK. The books are available as a free download for use in school or to print out and give to children to read at home.

ILT provides Polylino, a multilingual digital book service for young children. Ukrainian families arriving in the UK can use these books for free, including books that can be listened to in Ukrainian. Some assistance to sign up with ‘username’ and ‘password’ may be required.

One Thought Changes All (1TCA) and One Koala are dual language picture books and activity workbooks to support early years. They are available as free download resource from 1TCA in English, Ukrainian and soon Russian.

Buddying and befriending

Ukrainian Buddy Box is a free educational resource which is designed to be an icebreaker, supporting Ukrainian children, their teachers and peers in a fun and educational way.

Supporting mental health

Schools usually have mental health leads who are equipped to support pupils and signpost them to the right resources. We’ve produced guidance to help mental health leads recognise when pupils need help, but it’s important to understand that teachers are not mental health professionals. Ukrainian children and young people, and their families, may need ongoing support from specialist NHS and community services. Our mental health and behaviour guidance advises how education staff can identify children and young people in need of extra mental health support.

We encourage you to refer to and work with external agencies. We have published guidance that directs you to external sources of mental health and wellbeing support for teachers, school staff and school leaders to help you support children and young people who might need additional mental health support.

Psychological first aid e-learning training is available for parents, carers, front-line workers and volunteers supporting children and young people in emergency or crisis situations.

Barnardos offers help for anyone fleeing the Ukrainian conflict, or any child, young person or family affected by migration because of other conflicts. Therapy, advice and practical support are available by phone or online in other languages.

Senior mental health lead training grants for schools and colleges equip senior mental health leads with the knowledge and skills to implement effective processes for identifying students or specific groups who need additional mental health support.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Inter-Agency Standing Committee coordinates mental health and psychosocial support. They also support the translation into various languages and dissemination of relevant materials including key resources such as ‘Doing What Matters in Times of Stress’ and ‘Psychological First Aid for Children’.

Thrive LDN and partners have put together a short guide for supporting the mental health and wellbeing of displaced Ukrainians arriving to the UK. Their ‘help with your concerns or worries guide’ for displaced people outlines tools and ideas to support good mental health and wellbeing. It is available in Ukrainian (PDF, 579KB) as well as English (PDF, 495KB).

Training resources to support refugees

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) has a Healing Classrooms educator training programme that helps teachers promote social-emotional learning and academic proficiency while also addressing the demands of new teaching in the digital age. Training is led by IRC education specialists with extensive experience in the English education system and of working with refugees in Britain and abroad. Training sessions are delivered online to schools and teachers across the UK, as well as in-person in the south east of England.

The Including Children Affected by Migration (ICAM) programme has developed guidance, resource packs and coaching workshops for primary and secondary schools across Europe to help them welcome and include Ukrainian children and begin to repair the social and emotional disruption they have suffered. The ICAM programme works through the professional development of school leaders, who then help their school staff to restore learning relationships.

Save the Children has tips about how to talk to children about war.

The Red Cross has created a teacher resource to help young people explore the impacts that conflict and crisis have on people, including in Ukraine.

Widget has produced a translated Refugee Support Pack that contains a range of translated and symbol-supported communication charts and other useful resources that can be used by anyone of any age to help refugees convey information, health and urgent needs and requirements.

Avoiding misinformation

We have provided information on dealing with misinformation on our Education Blog, Help for teachers and families to talk to pupils about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine​

More information on how to spot false posts from Ukraine is available on the BBC News website.