School of Sanctuary

St. Columba’s are proud to be recognised as a School of Sanctuary, with our award reaccredited in June 2026.

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Schools of Sanctuary are part of the City of Sanctuary UK movement, a charity working to make the UK a welcoming place for people seeking safety. These schools actively foster empathy, inclusion, and understanding for refugee and asylum‑seeking students.

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Our School of Sanctuary Pledge:

We support the ‘City of Sanctuary’ vision that the UK will be a welcoming place of safety for all and proud to offer sanctuary to people fleeing violence and persecution.

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​We endorse the City of Sanctuary Charter, and agree to act in accordance with City of Sanctuary values and apply the network principles within our work (as far as our specific context enables us to).

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We recognise the contribution of people seeking sanctuary. Sanctuary seekers are welcomed, included and supported within our context. We expect our branches or local group to support their local City of Sanctuary group if one exists, and will facilitate contact between them and their local City of Sanctuary group.

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Our pupils’ have pledged to:

All pupils at St Columba’s Catholic Primary School pledge our support to refugee children and their families. We aim to: 

• Give you a big smile!

• Make you feel welcome in our classroom

• Introduce you to other children

• Involve you in all of the sporting activities we do

• Show you all the interesting parts of our school like the computers, dinner hall, toilets, playground, fields and the office

• Explain how our classroom environment works with books, pens, equipment and resources

• Find out your interests and what games you like to play

• Support you if anyone is unkind to you

• Help you to learn our language and learn some of yours

• Be gentle about your past experiences

• Be respectful about your beliefs and culture

• Be there for you when you are upset, homesick or under the weather

• Get to know you and help you through this journey

• Make you feel at home

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For more information about Schools of Sanctuary please go to: https://schools.cityofsanctuary.org/

For more information about Walking With, our partnership in Wallsend, please go to: https://www.walkingwith.co.uk/