Welcoming Schools for Students from Refugee Backgrounds Workshop

Welcoming Schools for Students from Refugee Backgrounds: A Trauma Informed Culturally Responsive Approach to Education for Hamilton Schools

Friday 16^th  September 9.30-3.00pm

Settlement Centre Waikato, Hamilton Multicultural Services Trust, 46G Boundary Road, Claudelands, Hamilton 3214

The Refugees as Survivors NZ (RASNZ) Welcoming Schools for Students from Refugee Backgrounds Workshop is being offered to Primary, Intermediate and Secondary Schools in Hamilton.  RASNZ (Refugees as Survivors NZ) is a specialist mental health and wellbeing service for people from refugee backgrounds living in Aotearoa/New Zealand. The workshop which is run in partnership with Hamilton City Council is free of charge.

RASNZ is a specialist mental health and wellbeing service for people from refugee backgrounds. The Cross-cultural Trauma Informed training approach acknowledges the contribution of schools to the processes of recovery, resettlement, and integration for young people and parents from refugee backgrounds.

The workshop will explore the following areas:

• The refugee journey and resettlement in New Zealand
• How trauma impacts children and young people’s brain, body, memory, emotions, relationships, behaviour and capacity to learn
• Responses to traumatised children and young people within health and educational settings
• Exploration of activities and strategies that can help heal the impacts of trauma to enable improved behavioural and cognitive capacity
• Case scenarios
• Services and supports for schools/agencies

The aim of the programme  is to support school teams, learning support services and Ministry of Education staff by:

• Informing a whole of school cross-cultural trauma informed care approach to supporting students from refugee backgrounds.
• Raising schools’ awareness of the impact of the refugee journey and refugee resettlement, and of resources to support students from a refugee background.
• Supporting young people and families from refugee backgrounds to achieve educational aims and to maintain mental health and well-being.

The workshop is for teaching and non-teaching support staff including health and social service providers working in schools.

For further information, please contact: RASNZ Training and Research Manager, Dr Annette Mortensen phone: 021 838 351, email:

To register please complete the attached registration form and email to

Registration Form- RASNZ Welcoming Schools for Students from Refugee Backgrounds 2022- Hamilton