Register your children for school

One important obligation of the host is to support getting any children in the guest family into school. This is something the host should organise, not wait for the Council to start (as they will not!).

We strongly recommend contacting the chosen local school(s) as soon as a visa application has been made. This gives the schools more time to understand and plan their resources to support the children on arrival.

The school will want to know dates of birth of the children, so that they can identify the year group for the child(ren).

Many schools start from “we are full and have no space”. We have been told by one County Council that a Central Government instruction is en route instructing state schools that they are required to take children of Ukrainian refugees. Most councils and schools are not yet aware of this, so if at first your chosen school pushes back, then persist and do not be put off!

Clearly, the Ukrainian family will have no information about which local school is best. It is worth discussing with the parents if there are any special requirements, and once the family arrives, to have a tour of the school. But also do remember, as a host you have more local knowledge than they do, and are better placed to guide the decision on school selection.