Guidance on funding support for Ukrainian refugee children in schools.
School applications for Ukrainian refugee children
Applications for these children should be made in the normal way. Guidance from the Department for Education (DfE) states that these applications should be treated in the same way as for any other child moving schools. There is no guarantee that your application will be successful but if unsuccessful, parents or hosts will be offered the right of appeal in accordance with the requirements of the School Admissions Code.
Further guidance for school applications is available under the school admissions area of SchoolsNet.
When a Ukrainian pupil starts mid-year at a Derbyshire school
The government has set out the funding tariffs for those arriving on the “Homes for Ukraine” scheme.
The funding will be on a per-pupil basis for the 3 phases of education at the following annual rates:
- Early years (ages 2 to 4) - £3,000
- Primary (ages 5 -11) - £6,580
- Secondary (ages 11-18) - £8,755
The DfE is currently working to develop the methodology and mechanism for the allocation of this education funding for children and young people and will inform local authorities once this work is completed. We will provide further advice to schools as soon as we have received more information.
Will Ukrainian pupils qualify for the Pupil Premium?
The Department for Work and Pensions has laid emergency regulations so those arriving in the UK from Ukraine as a result of the Russian invasion can claim Universal Credit and access jobs support immediately. Families should therefore claim for free school meals in the usual way under the usual eligibility criteria.
Local authorities are able to access the Department’s Eligibility Checking System (ECS) to determine a household’s eligibility for free school meals. If the family is not able to provide a National Insurance Number, or if a parent feels that the result returned by the ECS is inaccurate, they may provide the equivalent paper-based evidence to their local authority or school to check.
It is not a requirement to have a National Insurance Number when first applying for Universal Credit. However, one will be allocated during the new claim process, which families will then be able to provide as part of their application for free school meals.
If a school needs to buy in a translation service, and how Ukrainian children can be supported to integrate into English schools
Schools are responsible for ensuring that all of their pupils – including refugee and migrant pupils who have a first language other than English – develop the English language they need in order to access the curriculum and achieve their potential. Schools have the flexibility to use their overall budgets to help support the English language development needs of their pupils.
To support schools’ efforts, Oak National Academy have rolled out an auto-translate function across all 10,000 of its online lessons, meaning Ukrainian children can access education in their native language. Oak National Academy lessons are available in other languages.
The Virtual School for Children in Care will not be able to provide support to individual schools unless the young person is an unaccompanied asylum seeker (UASC) child. Schools should continue to prioritise delivering their usual curriculum but may also wish to share Ukrainian resources via the National Oak Academy or via the All-Ukrainian Online School.
These resources could be used to complement pupils' education, for example, for use at home or in supplementary schools, rather than to substitute for schools' usual curriculum.
The Secretary of State for Education published a letter for schools on 4 May 2022. This letter is available from the GOV.UK website.
Sometimes a school may decide that it needs a translation service available to support a conversation with a family. Often other families may be available to help, but schools could also consider buying in a translation service such as Language Line or DA Languages.
How can my school cater for dietary needs for Ukrainian children?
If your school buys in Derbyshire School Catering Services, then please contact your area manager if your school has not already received the spring summer 2022 primary menu which has been translated into Ukrainian. If a school has a child from Ukraine who has a medical dietary requirement, then please contact your school's catering service directly for further information.
My school is also working with the host families. Is there anywhere that they can access support and help?
Yes, there is a lot of information and help already available for host families and this covers issues such as health services, finances and benefits, connecting with the local community etc. Please access the council's Support for Ukraine webpages for more information.
In addition, the Barnardo's free helpline: 0800 148 8586 is staffed by English, Ukrainian and Russian speakers, to offer support to children and families arriving in the UK from Ukraine.