The Multicultural education procedures define students from refugee backgrounds as students who are refugees, have refugee backgrounds or have had refugee-like experiences or are students seeking asylum. They may or may not hold a refugee visa.

Students from refugee backgrounds are supported through:

• New Arrivals Program support (for eligible newly arrived students who are in the early stages of their English language proficiency)

• Refugee student support (for those students who have been enrolled in an Australian school for less than 3 years)

• English language proficiency equity loading to address the additional learning needs of EAL/D learners at all 4 phases of English language learning.
  

• New Arrivals Program supports eligible newly arrived students in primary schools and rural and regional high schools who require intensive support to develop their English language proficiency.

• Intensive English Centres and the Intensive English High School support secondary students in Metropolitan Sydney, Wollongong and Armidale.

• Intensive English Outreach supports some newly arrived secondary students in rural and regional high schools. Participation in this program is by invitation only.

• STARTTS School Liaison Program a school-based support program providing targeted trauma support services to students from refugee backgrounds and their families. The support provided includes individual and trauma-informed group-work interventions, professional learning and personalised consultation for school staff, and development and implementation of whole school approaches to supporting students from refugee backgrounds.

• As part of the broader department’s counselling service team, the Refugee Student Counselling Support Team provide advice and consultation, targeted counselling in complex cases, and assistance in connecting students from refugee backgrounds and their families with other support services.
  

• The Refugee Student Support team – comprising the Refugee Student Programs Advisor and the Refugee Student Programs Officer are available to provide expert advice and guidance to schools on supporting the wellbeing and settlement need of students from refugee backgrounds.

• Refugee Student Counselling Support Team provide tailored professional learning, targeted counselling in complex cases and additional support to school counsellors to build the capacity of school staff to support the unique wellbeing and settlement needs of students from refugee backgrounds.

• STARTTS School Liaison Officers work with educators to build school staff capacity to support the learning, wellbeing and settlement of students from refugee backgrounds.

• The EAL/D Education team – comprising Leader, Coordinator, EAL/D Intensive English Programs, and New Arrivals Program Advisors are available to provide expert advice and guidance to schools on supporting the language and learning needs of students from refugee backgrounds.
  

• EAL/D Education Leaders (PDF 127KB) provide professional support to schools on creating learning environments that enable EAL/D learners, including students from refugee backgrounds to learn, grow, and belong.

• The department’s Multicultural Education Supporting refugee students webpages are a useful source of information and guidance.

• Planning for Refugee Week webpage provides guidance on how schools can celebrate Refugee Week in ways that are culturally and trauma responsive.

• Henry Parkes Equity Resource Centre provides access to a wide range of teaching and learning resources including multi-media classroom resources and professional development materials.

• Classrooms of Possibility webpages provides professional learning resources to support primary and high school teachers who are working in mainstream classes with newly arrived EAL/D learners, including those from refugee backgrounds. The resources include videos demonstrating different elements of EAL/D pedagogy in the classroom with accompanying discussion questions, suggestions for professional learning activities and further professional readings.
  

• S.T.A.R.S. in schools

• Teaching students from refugee backgrounds

• Classrooms of Possibility

• Roads to Refuge

• The Refugee student support channel on the EAL/D NSW statewide staffroom provides a trusted online space for teachers of students from refugee backgrounds to connect, share ideas and resources and ask questions.

• Refugee Education Networks facilitate professional and collegial support to primary and secondary school staff to seek advice, develop strategies, share ideas and resources as community of schools supporting the learning, wellbeing and settlement of students from refugee backgrounds.