Healing Classrooms
Want to make lasting change across your school? Here's how to become a Healing Classrooms Champion...
To ensure Healing Classrooms can really become embedded in schools across the UK and help teachers and students work in trauma-informed ways with refugee students, IRC UK is launching its 2024 Cohort of Healing Classrooms Champions.
What is a Healing Classrooms Champion?
We are looking for 15-20 past participants to join us on our mission to create Healing Classrooms across the UK. HC Champions are teachers, LSAs, SENDCOs, SLT members and other key staff within schools who are willing to lead training for their peers. They will also act as a point of contact between staff and the IRC and help instill HC techniques and knowledge across each classroom and learning space in their school.
Actor and IRC ambassador Romola Garai visits the teachers at Bishop Luffa School in Chichester which has adopted the Healing Classrooms approach.
Photo: Scott Ramsey for the International Rescue Committee
What will the initiative look like?
The initiative will include the launch of our new training of trainers programme, where you will attend a two-hour workshop learning how to lead effective training in your context. Following this workshop you will be expected to lead Healing Classrooms training for your colleagues. To support you in this we will provide a package of materials including access to our PowerPoints, free printed handbooks, a digital trainer’s manual and more!
We also run quarterly meetings with the cohort to discuss key issues, showcase brilliant projects and plan upcoming events. Our first meeting will take place in April where we will get to know each other, discuss key issues being faced and addressed and more excitingly… help each other to plan Refugee Week celebrations for June 2024 in each of your schools.
Susie Cooke is an Additional Language (EAL) Coordinator at Bishop Luffa which has adopted Healing Classrooms to help staff support refugee children.
Photo: Scott Ramsey for the International Rescue Committee
What will be expected of me?
- Have completed HC Basics or CPD Course by March 2024
- Join four quarterly meet ups with IRC Education Officers and other HC Champions online
- Complete the trainer’s workshop (2 hours long) and review the trainer’s manual in your own time
- Lead HC Basics training for your colleagues, gaining staff feedback after each session to send to IRC
- Optional – work with our communications and digital team to share your story to be turned into newspaper articles, social media posts or online IRC articles and help support our advocacy work
- Optional – join us in the IRC office in London for events and meeting to help us evaluate our programming to ensure HC is as useful and sustainable as possible for UK educators
- Optional – ongoing 1-1 support from IRC on Teams, Zoom or via email
How do I sign up?
If you’re willing to commit to the above expectations and have checked with school leadership about allocating staff meeting time to lead HC sessions, please click here to register your interest. Please note we only allow one staff member per school.
