«Many parents welcome the fact that our school accepted Ukrainian children so quickly»
Mr Minder, when did the first Ukrainian children arrive in Eschlikon?
That was in the first week of the war. Three children stayed with relatives in our village. They are between the ages of 5 and 12. They don't speak German. Meanwhile, another child is attending lessons at our primary school. Four more are waiting for their class allocation and are expected to start school with us next Monday, 21 March 2022.
Why do the children come to school so «quickly»?
It is important that the children arrive in a certain normality as quickly as possible. In their (host) family, they are often confronted with the bad news from home. At school they experience something different, the focus is on learning the German language. Gradually, they understand the other children, can participate and play. That does them good.
(Image: Anne Gabriel-Jürgens / 13 Photo)
How did the other children react to their new classmates?
The classmates are very open. Many wanted to get involved as godparents. Two of the children are now more involved and take the new buddy with them to recess. How the contact is established in their free time still has to develop.
Normally, refugee children are first taught in the asylum centre. Is it different for Ukrainian children now?
Many Ukrainian children do not come to a reception centre because they can enter Switzerland without any problems. A large number of them stay with relatives and friends. This is different from the situation with refugees from other crisis regions.
Compulsory schooling for refugee children
The website of the Canton of Zurich lists very helpful information for the admission of Ukrainian refugees to public schools, also in Ukrainian and Russian: www.zh.ch
The Zurich University of Teacher Education has compiled a concrete checklist with tips for school principals for the integration of Ukrainian refugees: blog.phzh.ch
https://blog.phzh.ch/schulfuehrung/2022/03/14/krieg-in-der-ukraine/
We read about the risk of re-traumatising other refugee children from other countries who have already been here for some time. Is that an issue for you?
We have had children from other crisis areas in the past, but they are no longer with us or their integration is very far behind. I'm generally more concerned with the warmth with which people from Ukraine are welcomed - which I'm very pleased about - and the fear of contact we have with refugees from other crisis areas. In our society, we find it difficult to deal with people from other cultures. An immigrant once told me that the Swiss are very polite. She was always greeted in a very friendly manner, but nobody spoke to her. I would like to see more of the Greek point of view, where the term xenos is used. It stands for the other, the foreigner, but also means guest.
What services are available to support traumatised children?
We don't have any special offers in relation to trauma. There is still a lack of therapists who speak Ukrainian and/or Russian. Many people may not realise that some of the refugees are native Russian speakers, which is widely spoken in Ukraine. We will try to connect the families with each other. We know from the field of trauma-sensitive teaching that it is important for children to be able to speak their mother tongue outside of the family in order to process any difficult experiences in dialogue.
What particular challenges are school management and teachers facing now?
We will have to be very careful to recognise any traumatisation, which is not so easy due to the language difficulties.
How many children can you accept «unbureaucratically» in your school? When is a limit reached or what is needed if many more children should arrive soon?
That's not so easy to answer. We have year groups that are already very well «filled». If we get even more growth there, this will certainly challenge us in terms of space planning. Recruiting staff could be even more difficult. It is currently not easy to find enough teachers.
How are the parents of the other pupils informed about the Ukrainian refugee children?
We do this as calmly as possible, just as we do with other newcomers. For example, in the style of «From next Monday we have a new member in our class... We look forward to...».
What feedback was received from parents?
We have received a lot of encouragement from random contacts with parents. They welcomed the fact that our school took in the children so unbureaucratically and with such humanity.
A few weeks ago, war broke out between Ukraine and Russia. This is causing fear and uncertainty in many families. Yvonne Müller from Elternnotruf supports parents in providing children with a secure basis and provides concrete discussion ideas on how to talk to children and young people about the war. Read the full text here: How do you talk to children about the war?
What experiences can you pass on to other schools that would also like to integrate refugee children?
It is important for children to socialise outside of their own family in a timely manner. This usually has a positive effect on the children's souls. It should be enough to establish contact with other Ukrainian families. If this is not possible in your own village, contact with the school in a neighbouring community will certainly help.
It also seems very important to me that children of Russian nationality are not exposed and marginalised. They also deserve special attention. There is talk of «Russophobia» in the media here and there. At this point, I appeal that we treat all our fellow human beings with respect. I even believe that people who are convinced by the arguments of the Putin administration should not be excluded. War and violence are clearly to be condemned. But we should not marginalise people who think differently, especially not at school. We should set a good example and allow a respectful discourse in order to facilitate the integration of all pupils.
