State schools in Brighton and Hove have offered dozens of places to children fleeing the Ukraine conflict.
At least 67 Ukrainian pupils have been offered school places in Brighton and Hove state schools as of Friday 27 May, according to the most recent figures from the Department for Education (DfE).
A further 13 pupils were still waiting for an outcome to their application but may since have been granted a place.
The figures also show that six offers have been given to pupils settled from Afghanistan and 14 to children from Hong Kong.
In addition, Brighton College said: “Continuing our close work with local refugee organisations, we have offered 20 scholarships to children from Ukraine whose families are relocated to Brighton and Hove and Sussex.
“These children and their families are being hosted by Brighton College parents as the school works with community partners to provide them with support in the ways that are most needed.”
Roedean has also received an unspecified number of applications for children who have arrived in Britain or who are due here under the Homes for Ukraine scheme.
The government currently operates resettlement schemes for refugees and migrants leaving Ukraine, Afghanistan and Hong Kong – many of whom are families with children.
It estimated that 11,400 applications have been made for Ukrainian child refugees nationally up to Friday 27 May, with almost 10,000 given offers, including about 2,200 in the south east.
And about 5,400 Afghan children and 8,000 Hong Kong pupils have been offered places in English schools, according to estimates.
The figures were compiled through a survey sent to councils, with 77 per cent responding.
Separate data from the Home Office and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities suggested that 457 refugees had been given visas in Brighton and Hove under the Homes for Ukraine Scheme as of last Tuesday (5 July). Of those, 360 had arrived in Britain.
This is up from 418 offers four weeks ago when 291 refugees had reached the UK.
The DfE said that some children may not yet have school places in Britain but said that this could be because pupils were learning remotely from Ukraine – or parents may not have realised that the academic year finishes later here than in Ukraine.
It added that it was working to ensure that all Ukrainian pupils could have a place in a British school, asking families to apply now rather than wait for the new academic year in September.
The Association of School and College Leaders, which represents school heads, said that while refugee pupils have been warmly welcomed by schools, more work was needed to support them.
General secretary Geoff Barton said: “The main challenges are the language barrier and supporting the children with the trauma they have experienced.
“We are concerned about the availability of wider specialist support for their mental health and wellbeing which schools can draw upon.
“Our impression is that this is patchy and that schools are largely doing this on their own without any additional resources.”
Save the Children also said that more help was needed for Ukrainian pupils – and one of the children’s charity’s senior officials, Dan Paskins, said: “We are calling for more skilled caseworkers to speed up applications to come to the UK and to help if placements break down and for more specialist mental health support for children and families.”
The charity said that it wanted a similar sponsorship approach to be extended to refugees from other countries.
Read about a Brighton businessman’s mission with his wife to deliver vital supplies to her home town in Ukraine near the Russian frontline.
