In January 2021, the UK opened a new resettlement route for Hong Kong British National (Overseas) citizens (BNOs) and their close family members.
Many families have already arrived from Hong Kong and schools have been welcoming them into their community.
Many children and their families from Hong Kong have relatively good level of English language proficiency, compared to other ethnically diverse children. However, they will still require a well-planned support to help them boost their language skills, which in turn will enable them to take greater advantage of the education opportunities available to them.
As well as the language provision, children would benefit from pastoral support. The Hong Kong Well UK have developed a two-minute guide for teachers to help them to better understand and prepare for children’s arrival.
The Refugee Resettlement team has recently worked with the Kong Konger community to create a workshop about educational differences between Hong Kong and the UK.
EDEAS can support newly arrived children, their families, and schools by assisting with induction meetings, providing bilingual support and providing specialist advisory consultations, support and training.
To access support, such as bilingual support, advisory consultation or interpreter support, please see our Supporting multilingual children guidance. This guidance also offers a range of recommendations.