Refugee support is legacy of Grenfell tragedy

Here in Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster Children’s Services, we have experienced two SEND inspections in relatively short succession. In Westminster our services were inspected just before pandemic lockdown measures were introduced. In Kensington and Chelsea, the inspection came just after.

Many staff hadn’t seen each other between the two events. But it didn’t stop them performing at the top of their profession to support the children in our boroughs.

• Ofsted praises London borough’s 'sensitive' support for refugee children

As with local authorities across London, we have also been required to develop a creative, compassionate and dynamic response to help those fleeing fighting and oppression in Afghanistan and Ukraine. In Kensington and Chelsea, we have welcomed approximately 650 people from Afghanistan, accommodated across three local hotels. We are also welcoming a further 750 people from Ukraine who are supported by 275 sponsors. Approximately 35 per cent of these cohorts have been children, significant numbers having no or limited English.

As soon as we learned that three hotels across Kensington and Chelsea had agreed to welcome evacuees from Afghanistan, we established cross directorate strategic and tactical groups, involving colleagues from health services and the Department for Work and Pensions.

In addition to immigration, immunisation and financial actions, we very quickly organised clothing, sim cards, Oyster cards, leisure and library access, school placements and social support groups. We heard that families wanted to be able to play and visit our excellent parks, so we made this happen with Lords offering cricket outings and schools making sports facilities available during the holidays.

We heard that families wanted access to cooking facilities, rather than eating in the hotel every day, so we made the community kitchens in the libraries available and even employed some of the Afghan residents in the hotel kitchen. Most importantly we offered orientation sessions to welcome the evacuees to Kensington and Chelsea, let them know who we are and what is available in the borough.

When the SEND inspectors arrived in February, they noted that:

• Children and young people arriving from another country receive prompt and compassionate identification and support
• Emotional wellbeing support services are accessed by children and young people who require additional support as a result of the trauma they have experienced
• Sometimes services are delivered within the hotels to ensure children and young people receive the support they need when they need it.

Inspectors commented that there are services available in Kensington and Chelsea that they hadn’t seen elsewhere.

Of course, we haven’t been complacent because it was only a few weeks following the inspection that we learned about our new role in supporting Ukrainians arriving on the Homes for Ukraine Scheme. We are very fortunate to have excellent voluntary and community services operating in Kensington and Chelsea, and very quickly the Ukrainian Social Club was organising and facilitating a host of support activities that we have been able to connect with.

This has included the Ukrainian supplementary school – which, given the increase in families enrolling their children, has been provided with additional premises. Beyond this, we have been continually supporting Ukrainian teachers to become employed by the service as well as providing outreach support to our schools providing placements for the 82 children who have arrived and are currently placed across our primary and secondary schools.

Following the Grenfell tragedy, Kensington and Chelsea Council has accepted the challenge of becoming the best Council for our residents, and this means being the most inclusive. The inspection team noted that “cohesive and collaborative working relationships between education, health and care mean that children and young people’s needs are met holistically. The voices of children, young people and their families is important to leaders when developing services and co-production is well embedded”.

We have built on this way of working in welcoming our new residents – listening to their voices, assisting them to create the support and services that are important to them, and enabling them to take back control over their lives. For us, it’s not so much about what services are available locally; rather it is about how we approach our communities – with respect, compassion and care. This is what will be the legacy of Grenfell.

Sarah Newman is director of children’s services at Kensington and Chelsea Council