Refugee Education Support Program

The Refugee Education Support Program (RESP) is a two-year program aimed at assisting schools to identify and implement strategies which have a positive impact on the achievement, engagement, and wellbeing outcomes of students from refugee backgrounds and their families.

RESP works with participating primary and secondary schools in the government and non-government sectors in five defined geographic clusters across Victoria. The program creates a learning community across school clusters to share their practices and ideas to support one another.

RESP uses a Whole School Approach to explore six areas of action: teaching and learning, empowering student voice, families, partnerships with community agencies, school climate and transitions.

RESP is funded by the Department of Education (DE), and implemented in partnership with Foundation House and the Centre for Multicultural Youth (CMY) and delivered in collaboration with Melbourne Archdiocese of Catholic Schools (MACS), Catholic Education Commission Victoria (CECV) and Independent Schools Victoria (ISV).

The Refugee Education Support Program has been designed to complement DET’s Framework for Improving Student Outcomes (FISO 2.0) and Catholic Education Commission Victoria’s School Improvement Framework and supports the Refugee Accountability Statement requirements.

Children and young people from refugee backgrounds are often highly motivated, bringing with them a range of skills and strengths to succeed in their education, but can often face significant challenges in accessing the support they need to remain engaged in, and successfully navigate school. [i]

These educational challenges are often compounded due to learning a new language, navigating a new culture and social system, building peer relationships, negotiating grief and loss associated with separation from significant others and an unfamiliar and different education environment. [ii]

During the Covid-19 pandemic, many of these barriers became more pronounced, and more visible to schools, school staff, education stakeholders and the broader community. Covid-19 has highlighted the importance of targeted interventions and programs which promote equitable access to education and education outcomes. [iii]

In response, RESP provides schools with coordinated support to have a positive impact on the academic, wellbeing and social outcomes of children and young people of refugee backgrounds.

The Refugee Education Support Program has contributed to the following outcomes for participating schools:

• Schools have improved their capacity to understand and respond to the needs of refugee children and families in relation to a whole of school approach.
• Teachers and school staff have increased their knowledge, skills, and confidence in culturally responsive, trauma informed reflective practice.
• Families of students from refugee backgrounds are more confident and engaged with their school, their child’s learning, and community.
• Longer term improved school engagement, achievement and well-being outcomes for children and young people of refugee backgrounds.[iv]

[i] DSS (2013) Settlement Needs Information, p6

[ii] Victorian Foundation for Survivors of Torture Inc. (Foundation House) (2020) School’s In for Refugees, https://sifr.foundationhouse.org.au

[iii] MYAN & VFST (2020), National Education Roundtable: Education and students from refugee backgrounds Briefing Paper. https://myan.org.au/reports-publications/national-education-briefing-paper

[iv] Lirata Consulting (2022), Refugee Education Support Initiatives: Evaluation Report, v3.; NOUS Group (2015) Refugee Education Support Program: Evaluation Report; DET (2017) Refugee Education Support Program: Evaluation Framework 

An action team of staff from your school will be nominated to lead the school’s participation in RESP. They will receive expert support and mentoring from Foundation House and the Centre for Multicultural Youth.

Key elements of the program include:

• Regional cluster-based workshops for your RESP action team organised around the Whole School Approach.
• Completion of a school-wide staff survey and audit process to inform the ongoing work in RESP.
• Consultations with student groups to ensure that school actions are informed by student voice.
• Support to develop a school action plan and implement changes to school policies and practices.
• In-school professional learning to build whole staff capability to work with students and families of refugee backgrounds.
  funding to launch a pilot project in your school to support students and families from refugee backgrounds.
• Assistance to build partnerships with families and local agencies.
• Advice on aligning initiatives that support students and families of refugee backgrounds with your school’s strategic priorities and plans.
• Periodic cluster-based Principal briefings
• Regular opportunities to share practice with other schools in the cluster

Schools who participate in RESP will:

• Nominate a school RESP action team of 4-7 staff members.
• Suggested roles include school leadership, wellbeing staff, EAL and/or leading teachers, MEAs/bicultural roles, staff with curriculum/learning diversity portfolios.
• Enable regular attendance of selected school staff at cluster-based professional learning workshops and Principal briefings.
• Participate in termly RESP action team meetings with both Foundation House and CMY support staff.
• Participate in in-school professional learning.

RESP is funded by the Department of Education and Training (DET) and is free of charge for all participating schools.  RESP is implemented in partnership with Foundation House and the Centre for Multicultural Youth (CMY) and delivered in collaboration with Melbourne Archdiocese of Catholic Schools (MACS) and Independent Schools Victoria (ISV).

The Refugee Education Support Program has contributed to the following outcomes for participating schools:

Kangaroo Flat Primary School 
Bendigo Senior Secondary College 
Cranbourne Primary School
Ruskin Park Primary School