By Evie Owen, Trustee & Schools Liaison Lead
As many of you know, Sanctuary has spent the past two years building a wonderful team of Volunteer Teachers (VTs) who provide extra language and integration support to beneficiary children in Chichester and Bognor. Our aim is simple: to help these young people feel valued, settle into their new environment, grow in confidence, and gain the education they need to thrive.
We currently have around 15 VTs – mostly qualified teachers, some retired and some still working part-time – supporting more than 50 children each week. Demand keeps rising, and although we continue to recruit, we are close to capacity for now.
Our work with local schools has strengthened considerably. Chichester High School, which receives most of the new arrivals, remains our biggest challenge. Each week brings new faces from China, Tunisia, Turkey, Afghanistan and beyond, students in Years 7 to 11 with very different levels of English and education. Our VTs give them a much-needed space away from a demanding curriculum to focus on the basics and to settle. Progress is steady, and the work is ongoing.
SEND: We now have two experienced Special Educational Needs specialists. They are currently reviewing the profiles of two children referred by one of our partner schools, with all safeguarding handled through the school. Without this support, both children would be facing a very long wait for help.
Post-GCSE Support: We are also welcoming a volunteer who specialises in guiding Year 11 students into sixth form, college or apprenticeships. Many of our young people struggle through GCSEs only to find themselves lost in the much larger setting of Chichester College. Sixth form entry criteria can be out of reach. This is a vital area for development as it feeds into our Pathways to Independence programme.
Assemblies: This term we delivered one assembly at Chichester Free School, exploring what it is like to arrive as a refugee or asylum seeker and the challenges involved in settling here. With the help of a beneficiary willing to share their story, we ask students to imagine arriving in Chichester from places such as Helmand Province or Khartoum. Pupils are increasingly aware of immigration issues and ask some very challenging questions, but we always end on a positive note, often involving discussion on some form of sport.
The work continues to grow. Our education network is expanding, and we are being invited to take part in a growing number of opportunities, from Goodwood Art Foundation visits to Cobnor Activities.
To all our fellow volunteers, if you have any questions or thoughts, we would love to hear from you. We may not know how to do something, but we may well know someone who does.