In search of safety:
teaching about Europe's refugee crisis
This free teaching resource allows you to explore the refugee and migrant crisis with children and young people at school.
The comprehensive pack can be particularly helpful if you are planning something in your school to mark #WorldRefugeeDay on or around the 20th June.
Who is the pack for?
The education pack is aimed at teachers and contains learning activities that can help children in primary and secondary schools (from 7 years old upwards) make sense of the refugee crisis, with a focus on children and their rights.
What does the teaching pack contain?
- More than 20 activities to help children explore and understand the crisis. Tailored for primary and secondary classes (ages 7 to 18), they range from short one-off lessons to longer projects and whole-school ideas.
- Children’s stories, infographics and videos bring the issues to life.
- Historical context and background information on the crisis to give teachers a good knowledge of the subject, including the reasons why so many people Syrian refugees are fleeing their country and coming to Europe. A glossary with a range of definitions including what is a refugee, asylum seeker and migrant.
- Guidance to help teachers prepare for potential discussions on complex and sensitive issues.
Additional materials
In addition to the full education pack, we have also created a number of accompanying resources.
Learning about the refugee crises’ impact on children and their rights
We are in the midst of a refugee and migrant crisis in Europe. Children are affected directly and indirectly. This resource seeks to help you explore this important and complex subject with children and young people within a children’s rights framework.
If you school is involved in the Rights Respecting Schools Award you will find this resource particularly useful. With a focus on children and their rights, using this resource can help you in your efforts to meet the three RRSA Strands.
Mark World Refugee Day at your school
World Refugee Day is observed each year on 20 June. You can raise awareness of the situation of refugees throughout the world and show solidarity with those fleeing persecution by marking the day in your school. Our teaching pack can help to plan a special moment for this important day.
Your feedback on the resource
This pack was developed with the help of a number of Rights Respecting Schools (thank you!) but we’d love to know what you think of it. Please complete our short evaluation form to help us improve other resources we develop in the future.
Campaign with us
Add your voice to Unicef UK’s campaign to help reunite families, calling on the UK Government to speed up the process for reuniting unaccompanied children in Europe with their families in the UK, and widen immigration laws to allow children to be with extended family members who can care for them.