London private schools plan to teach Ukrainian refugee children who have fled the war

Schools want to pay for maths and English lessons for child refugees
Alleyn’s School
Alleyn's School

A group of private London schools are planning to run English and maths lessons for Ukrainian refugee children.

The £22,000-a-year Alleyn’s school in Dulwich is leading the initiative and headmistress Jane Lunnon is working with two other London schools over the Easter holidays to come up with a “bespoke” education offer.

She said: “We are totally determined to help, we are just working out what the most useful way is. We want to pool our resources and find the most effective way of helping the most number of students.”

The schools want to run English and maths lessons tailored to Ukrainian children on site during the school day or in after school clubs.

Mrs Lunnon said: “We are aware that many of them won’t be able to speak English. Our view is that simply shadowing children who are accessing a full curriculum in English may not be the most useful thing for them initially.”

The classes would be free to refugees and paid for from school funds.

A number of children from Ukraine have started in London schools in recent weeks including the £15,000 a year Colfe’s in Greenwich, Cumberland Community School in Newham and Ruttlish and St Matthew’s schools in Merton.

London Councils said boroughs are working hard to find places for Ukrainian refugees and the numbers are at the moment “in the dozens.”

Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi has told councils they should ensure Ukrainian children can attend school as soon as possible and schools should be flexible when it comes to class size limits.

Pupils and staff at Alleyn’s have raised more than £36,000 for Ukraine.

All pupils took part in a sponsored walk over a combined distance of 2656 miles – the equivalent of walking from Alleyn’s to Kyiv and back.

Every student has written a letter to a Ukrainian refugee and teachers have run classes about asylum seekers and refugees.

Mrs Lunnon, who has signed up to accommodate a refugee family in her own home, said: “From the moment we heard the news about Ukraine the desire to do something was incredibly strong in our whole community.”

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