Asylum seeking kids

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Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/education/3204303.stm

This was posted also in the immigration section of the forum. I apologise to anyone who is sick of looking at it or the issue!

I was wondering as parents, how do you/or would you feel about your children attending school with asylum seeking kids? Has this changed your cultural views as practised in the home? How do you believe they reflect views of immigrants within the United Kingdom in general?

thank you,

Samantha**

Edited to prevent copyright hassles

I am delighted that my kids went to a school with a diverse mix of cultures - which is unusual for our particular part of the country.  I am delighted to see that they mix with all groups irrespective of colour and creed now that they're out of school and at work / at University.

The school concerned was very well equipped to handle English-as-a-second-language and other issues; had resources been pulled away from "mah kids" I question whether I would have been so happy, but that's now a hypothetical point.

My views may NOT be a typical Brit's.  My wife and one of my sons are from the USA, my daughter in law is South African .... and we have friends from all over.  We've been honoured to sit down at homewith a gentleman from Biafra, who was a child there at the time of the Nigerian civil war, and had to go to the feeding centres to get food, and who had to run from his house to avoid the straffing planes.

I, too, feel that our son's exposure to different ethnicities and cultures here at his school is positive and enriching.  We are lucky in that he's at a 2-form school so its smaller than some of the other junior schools in our borough of London.  (2 form means that each year, or grade, has 2 classes- so it keeps the total number of students enrolled down.)  Because its a small school, the amazing staff and headmaster have been able to do a lot to promote school moral and involvement in a very cultrurally diverse student population.

The negatives that we've seen as far as what he's been "exposed to" at his school probably come more from it being in a city of 8 million and has nothing to do with the number of asylum seekers enrolled there.

When we moved here I recall neighbors mentioning that our schools Ofsted reports were low because of the immigrant population.  I believe they were speaking to the obvious ESL problem when it comes to standardized testing and to the problem of immigrants being a migrating population- so kids would be moving in and out of school through out the year and this was a bit disruptive.

So far I do not see any negative impacts on my sons education from him being schooled along with asylum seekers- on the contrary- he's had  a unique opporunity to meet children from Turkey, Kosovo many African countries- something he simply never would have done back in Texas.  

The main thing I would worry about in considering his secondary school is safety- and this has a lot to do with the school's surrounding area- or "catchment" are.  I've been looking into this- as have many of my neighbors- and there are Large differences in exam results and school environments based on the catchment areas- which areas their students are drawn from.  It may be that certain low rent areas have more asylum seekers(placed in council housing) and so- I might not choose a certain school for him and it might have a high asylum seeker population- but it would be for overall safety reasons(avoiding gangs and such)- not simply based on asylum seekers.  clear as mud eh?

anyway- theres my 2 cents!

I think exposure to children from any sort of different background can only enrich my children's understanding of other people and cultures and teach them to be more accepting and tolerant.

We're from Florida, so the kids were used to having lots of different-ethnicity Spanish kids (Cuban, Puerto Rican, Mexican, Guatemalan, etc.) and Caribbean kids (Jamaican, Haitian) in their classes.  I don't think it's too different.  Some of those kids' parents went through a lot to get them into the US as well.

I also feel exposure  to other people's cultures and different backgrounds is one of the best things that we can give to our children!Not only do they learn that their culture is not the only one in this vast world,but also to be understanding and not so quick to judge others.Remember our children are our future leaders.
My child wasnt exposed to other cultures until we lived in the UK the first time.Although I know the bigger citys in the states have more of a diverse culture,I come from a smaller town,and I also wasnt raised around different kinds of cultures.

"The negatives that we've seen as far as what he's been "exposed to" at his school probably come more from it being in a city of 8 million and has nothing to do with the number of asylum seekers enrolled there. "
Iam with you on that Nursemeh,as we also lived in London the first time there.

 I think that Iam very blessed to be able to give to my daughter,what wasnt given to me.The chance to explore the world,and travel to different countries.We plan on taking a holiday to Egypt,once we are settled again,she is very excited about that,since she has studied it in school.
This gives her the chance to be who she like to be,where she like to be.