Creative Journeys
Creative Journeys – Therapeutic Art Workshops
for Asylum Seeker & Refugee Children
Creative Journeys is a successful partnership project between
the Asylum Seeker Support Team within Nottingham City’s Education
Department and City Primary Schools, funded by the Children’s
Fund.The project has 6 specific aims:
- To create an environment within which to begin to address the
emotional and psychological needs of children.
- To raise the self esteem of asylum seeker/ refugee
children.
- To equip teachers with skills, ideas & techniques to create
a ‘welcoming setting’.
- To encourage & support opportunities for parents to engage
creatively with their children.
- To improve the English language skills of ‘Beginners to
English’.
- To enable children to acquire creative skills.
Creative Journeys is an out-of-hours, arts based project for
Asylum Seeker & Refugee Children aged 3 – 11 years, held in
Primary schools within NASS dispersal areas of the city with larger
numbers of Asylum Seeker & Refugee children on their roll. The
programme consists of creative, non-analytical, ‘therapeutic’ art
sessions offering children a creative channel to express their
feelings & share experiences, & take part in a diverse
range of 2D, 3D arts & craft based activities coordinated
especially for them. All activities have a strong visual arts bias
as this emphasis avoids language becoming a barrier to
participation & access to the provision.
The Creative Journeys project has developed as a means of
supporting asylum seeker & refugee children after concerns were
expressed regarding the apparent difficulties that some children
displayed. The root causes have been identified as the effects of
stress & trauma. These factors do not enable them to access
support or to express themselves or achieve their potential
academically. With the support of the project & the ongoing
development of networks these needs are starting to be addressed
appropriately.
Children who display signs of emotional disturbance or distress
are being identified quickly, encouraging a process of
communication within the school leading to their receiving further
support through ‘in-school provision’ or referral to external
agencies.
Parents are invited to join in the sessions, helping to breaking
down barriers & create a setting where families have fun
together. This supports schools to liaise with parents in order to
better understand the circumstances surrounding their children.
However, for a variety of reason parents are reluctant to talk
about their experiences, the project offers staff an opportunity to
listen to the parents about their issues and concerns, talk &
work together.
Throughout the Creative Journeys project successes have been
in:
- Encouraging Children to develop their own positive
relationships with both other children facing similar circumstances
and supportive adults
- Creating a setting where the children can express themselves
freely whilst celebrating their own language & cultures of
origin and practicing their English skills
- Enabling schools strengthened relationships with parents
- Strengthening school links with the wider refugee
community
- Enabling the children to explore their own creativity outside
of the national curriculum
- Creating a trained professional staff team - supporting the
children in an environment where they can relax and grow in
confidence & learn new skills.