Towards best practice in educating and supporting separated children in Scotland
Summary of the Project
Towards Best Practice in Educating Separated Children (16-18) was a project led by Scottish Refugee Council, Aberlour Childcare Trust and Glasgow Clyde College with Stirling University as academic partner. For over a decade, Glasgow Clyde College has developed and delivered a language and education course, the “16+ESOL” programme, to separated children aged 16-18 arriving in Scotland alone. During this time, lecturers have worked closely with staff from the Scottish Guardianship Service, a long-standing partnership between Scotland’s refugee charity and Scotland’s children’s charity, to support the welfare and well-being needs of these young people. The aims of the project were to reflect on and document the teaching practice, curriculum and resources of the “16+ESOL” programme and to research the educational and well-being needs of separated children, considering how these needs are being met inside and outside the classroom as well as considering the “16+ESOL” programme against international practice.
Here are more ways to learn about the project
Lucas S.E., Grant M. and Burns A. (2019) Towards best practice in educating and supporting separated children in Scotland. Glasgow: Scottish Refugee Council.
Lucas S.E., Grant M. and Burns A. (2019) Summary: Towards best practice in educating and supporting separated children in Scotland. Glasgow: Scottish Refugee Council.
Grant, M., Burns, A., & Lucas, S. E. (2024). Learning in and beyond the classroom: Communities of practice in education support for separated children. Children & Society, 38(1), 32-47.
The project team were Gary Christie, Head of Policy at the Scottish Refugee Council; Catriona MacSween, Service Manager, Aberlour Childcare Trust; Lyn Ma, Senior Lecturer; and Mercedes Richardson, Lecturer at Glasgow Clyde College.
The research team at Stirling University commissioned by Scottish Refugee Council were Dr Siân Lucas, Dr Maggie Grant and Andrew Burns.
The project was funded by Glasgow Clyde Education Foundation and the Paul Hamlyn Foundation. The project team are indebted to them for their support.
The project team are deeply grateful for the insight and advice of members of the project advisory group (Peter Broomfield, Eric Brownlee, Mirren Kelly, Sally Ann Kelly, Ravi Kohli, Chantelle Lalli, Catriona McSween, Robert Sharples, Maria Walker, Mandy Watts, Janet Wiseman, Carolyn Younie, and former ESOL 16+ students Christine, Hamid, Mahado and Mohamed).