Joanna Follett, our UNHCR Co-ordinator at the Secondary Campus, gives us the lowdown on the important partnerships the school nurtures with local UNHCR-registered schools and the many opportunities for our whole community to get involved.
Our partnership with local UNHCR schools is at the heart of our community involvement. It is something that truly shapes our values and purpose and encapsulates every aspect of our Community Promise: to be kind, purposeful, and safe.
You may well be aware of our hugely successful annual Christmas Giftbox appeal across both campuses, and we are incredibly grateful to all those families who prepare gift boxes for children at local refugee schools every year. But our work with refugee communities goes far beyond this annual event and provides a wide range of opportunities for the Alice Smith community to make a real difference in the lives of others and inspire a better future. One such event is the annual TeachMeet.
TeachMeet: 2025
On Saturday, 11th October, the Primary campus was a truly engaging, purposeful and inspiring place to be! Teachers from 8 refugee schools in Kuala Lumpur attended a teacher-training event tailored to their contexts.
Alice Smith educators from both campuses volunteered to run a huge range of workshops focused on areas that refugee teachers from last year's event identified as important for their teaching. The topics covered were incredibly varied and are a testament to the wide-ranging experience and expertise that we have within our own staff. While some workshops focused on pedagogy, such as teaching engaging maths games, reading and writing skills, and learning through play, others focused on pastoral concerns, such as developing positive relationships, how to approach student wellbeing, and safeguarding. We were also honoured to have a teacher from a refugee school, Ailie from Siamsin Learning Centre, leading a workshop on supporting students with additional learning needs.
As the organisers, Katherine Clark (Primary Campus) and Joanna Follett (Secondary Campus), emphasised in their opening welcome address, the aim of the day was not only for teachers to develop new skills and expertise for their classrooms but also to provide opportunities to share good practice, discuss experiences and learn about teachers' different contexts, making connections that can be built on throughout the year. Those discussions were clearly evident in every workshop and even during our break and lunch! At the end of the workshops, the teachers were invited to select from a range of resources to help them put many of the strategies and skills they had learnt into practice.
Feedback from participants was incredibly positive. They found the day highly valuable and relevant, with the workshops being directly applicable to multilingual and resource-limited settings. They also mentioned the smooth coordination and warm, welcoming atmosphere.
It was very practical and helpful - I can’t wait to use what I’ve learned and share it with other teachers.
I feel more confident and supported knowing we are not alone in facing challenges.
Overall, TeachMeet 2025 was an overwhelming success, achieving its aim of sharing expertise, building community, and empowering refugee educators.
The workshops were very inspiring - I’ve already used some of the ideas with my students.
We were incredibly grateful not only to the Alice Smith educators for giving up their Saturday, but also to our administrative, facilities and maintenance staff, Petite Cafe for providing all the catering, including an impressive lunch spread, and of course our security guards, for so warmly welcoming the participants.
We were also ably supported by some of our Year 12 and 13 students who welcomed and registered participants, guided them to their workshops, and took photos throughout the day. Lastly, we are grateful to The Alice Smith School Foundation for their kind donation that made the day happen!
The TeachMeet event works to complement the work we already do with refugee schools. To date, thanks to The Alice Smith School Foundation, we have provided the funding for 5 teachers at UNHCR school, Grace Education Center, to gain their level 3 TEFL certificate, an internationally recognised teaching qualification. These teachers are themselves refugees from The Chin Province of Myanmar. Not only will this directly benefit the students they teach, but it will also allow them to help develop the skills of other teachers in their school and community. To enhance their training, these teachers have also participated in shadowing days at our Secondary Campus, providing additional opportunities to develop their skills and share their experiences.
In addition, our Secondary students are very much involved in this community partnership. The UNHCR EPA, run by UNHCR Co-ordinator Joanna Follett, sees Year 12 and 13 students organise and run a variety of sports and well-being activities every week for students from the UNHCR school Grace Education Center and The Kachin School. Activities range from arts and crafts and science experiments to sports such as dodgeball, athletics, and even tug of war! As a student-led EPA it requires commitment, creativity and skilled teamwork, all of which are crucial for our A Level students as they plan for their future lives beyond Alice Smith! Meanwhile, our Year 9 Student Sports Leaders, supported by the PE Department, have the opportunity to plan and lead a sports day twice a year for children from the Kachin Refugee School. This is a real highlight of the year for both schools!
How can you get involved?
There are so many ways you can take part in our partnership with Refugee schools.
- Support our annual Giftbox Appeal by putting together a box (or boxes!) of gifts as Christmas presents for refugee children. Watch out for a separate communication coming soon.
- Donate to The Alice Smith School Foundation, which helps to fund some of our initiatives with the focus on transforming lives through education, such as training teachers and educators at refugee schools. For more information, go to this link.
- Encourage your Year 12 or 13 children to take part in the UNHCR EPA, which takes place during Seasons 1, 3 and 4.
- Consider volunteering at one of our partner Refugee Schools. Please contact Katherine Clark (Primary Campus) or Joanna Follett (Secondary Campus) for more information about the schools we work with. And if you are already volunteering at a refugee school, we invite you to attend our next annual TeachMeet, which takes place every October at our Primary Campus.