School of Sanctuary 2024
We are very proud to say that KSS has been recognised in June 2024 as a School of Sanctuary.
A school of Sanctuary is a place of welcome for all; it educates about why people are forcibly displaced; it recognises that the UK is enriched by new arrivals and it supports pupils from all backgrounds to feel seen, supported and included.
Over the years we have taught the children about migration and why people are forcibly displaced, in order to understand both their local communities and the wider world better. We have also done some fundraising during refugee week, made food collections for refugee organisations at Harvest time and the children have drawn welcome pictures for newly arrived people seeking asylum. We plan to continue this good work looking for ways we can further support refugees at a local and national level.
We appreciate your support and all you do in helping make St. Stephen’s a warm and welcoming community.
School of Sanctuary Awards
We are delighted that we received our school of Sanctuary award in June. A few members of global club went to Leeds Civic hall to recieve the award from the Lord Mayor. Our school was one of 2 primary schools and 4 secondary schools who received the award. Nhyi in year 6 has written a report to say what happened:
On 27th June some of the members of global club went to the Leeds Civic Hall for the School of Sanctuary Awards Ceremony. When we arrived we met lots of new people and had our photo taken. When all the schools (both primary and secondary) arrived we started the event. The MC introduced herself and welcomed everyone including parents, schools, the Lord Mayor and Councillor Venner. We moved onto the presentations and ours was very successful. After the presentation the awards were handed out. The Lord Mayor made a speech about everyone being the same and how we all need to support each other. She made us clap for the adults and also made the adults clap for us. At the end of the event we were told to go and meet and greet other people we didn't know. We have really enjoyed being part of global club and getting the awards because it shows that all our hard work has paid off!
Take a look at the photos below!
Christmas Presents for refugee families
Thank you so much for your amazing response to our appeal for Christmas presents for families who are refugees and living in Leeds. Take a look at the photos - it was lovely to hear what a difference your generosity had made.
We were pleased to welcom Katherine Hogg from the School of Sanctuary movement in Leeds to lead our collective worship. She told us what it means to be a School of Sanctuary and showed us the symbol which we then made by joining hands with our neighbours. Katherine brought Wan from Malaysia with her. She taughrt us how to count to 10 in Malay and gave us suggestions on how we might make children from other cultures feel welcome,
Thank you for all the amazing migration stories that the children have brought in - it shows how diverse and interesting we are as a school community! Please check out the display in the hall.
Global Club
Global club have learnt a lot about asylum seekers and refugees this half-term. They played a simulation game pretending to be families forced to leave their homes - they were so sensible and empathetic whilst they were playing. They have made more welcome posters for asylum seekers arriving in Leeds.
We were very pleased to welcome into school Mohammad from Yemen, Fathelratman from Sudan and Yeserah from Eritrea, all asylum seekers currently living in Leeds. They spoke to the children in years one, two and five. Fathelratman shared a video message from his little sister, aged 7, who has fled Sudan and is currently living in Egypt. He hasn't seen her for over a year. The children asked some great questions about the weather in their countries, the journeys they made to get here and whether they had felt welcomed. Year one asked to learn to count to 10 in their languages! Our visitors loved coming to meet the children, Fathelratman said "This has been a wonderful experience, my best day since coming to the UK".
Some members of global club visited St. Peter's school in Burmantofts where many of the children have come to the UK from different countries. Global club were very impressed by their English, the number of other languages they speak, the way the children had settled into the UK so well and how confident they were in talking with them. We got some good ideas from them as to how to make our school even more welcoming.
Leeds Global Learning Awards
We are also pleased to announce that we received the top prize for the Global Justice Learning Award 2024 run by Leeds Development Education Centre. These awards also took place at the Leeds Civic Hall on June 21st and were presented by local MP Hillary Benn and the Lord Mayor. We received our award in recognition for all the work we have done in working towards our school becoming a School of Sanctuary. More photos below of global club at the event and receiving the award.
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