Student Learning

Programs – English as a Second Language

Support for refugees – Settlement support and community links

The information on this page is divided into two sections which cover the cultural background of refugees and settlement support.

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Information about the student's cultural background and links to their communities

Increasing teacher and student awareness and understanding of different cultures and the refugee experience assists in creating a school environment supportive to refugee students.

Find out about the situation in the main countries of origin of current refugee groups through sources such as:

Contact local community organisations for assistance with running information sessions for the school community. These organisations include:

Community language schools - previously referred to as after-hours ethnic schools, provide language study to students in over 50 languages. This allows students to continue building literacy in their first language.

Compile a list of sources for cultural background information sessions.

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Accessing settlement support

Schools must effectively support the settlement needs of refugee students and their families. The key to developing this support is to create mechanisms that facilitate and foster positive and supportive interactions between, and referrals to, the community and service providers.

Welcoming Refugees to Victoria: The Integrated Humanitarian Settlement Strategy (IHSS) (http://www.ames.net.au/settlement) - Adult Multicultural Education Services(AMES) provides support and assistance to people from refugee and humanitarian backgrounds for up to 12 months. It assists new arrivals by providing an integrated settlement service and linkages to appropriate government and non-government services.

Resource Gateway – For teachers working with refugee young people in Victoria (http://www.immi.gov.au/media/publications/settle/resource_gateway_2007.htm) - provides a simple but comprehensive way to access the growing body of research and education strategies for working with young refugee learners. Areas covered in the Resource Gateway are Eligibility and entitlements, Refugee experience, Learning and teaching strategies and Pathways and partnerships.

Migrant Resource Centres (MRCs) offer settlement information, orientation and referral services to recently arrived migrants and refugees.

Find out about settlement services, programs and resources in your area. These include:

Reconnect Young Refugees (http://www.cmyi.net.au/Reconnect) - is a support service run by the Centre for Multicultural Youth Issues (CMYI) which helps newly arrived and refugee young people aged 12–18 who are at risk of becoming homeless. It covers the Cities of Greater Dandenong and Hume. The service supports families to talk about their needs and develop positive strategies to assist young people to feel more connected with their family, school, friends and community.

Victorian Foundation for Survivors of Torture, Victorian Foundation for Survivors of Torture, provides direct care to survivors of torture and trauma in the form of counselling, advocacy, family support, group work and complementary therapies. More information about their services is available at the Victorian Foundation for Survivors of Torture (http://www.survivorsvic.org.au/home.php)