Outside support
However strong our ethos and however positive our school's community, we have to acknowledge that the process required external support. Part of a positive ethos has to be a willingness to collaborate with others for the benefit of all our pupils.

One constant strength, throughout the whole process of parental meetings, pupil enrolment and consequent inclusion into the school and progress into mainstream classes, was the liaison between the City's Asylum Seeker Support Unit and Saint Paul's. For the school, this was breaking new ground. The City, however, had experience in many primary schools and in six other secondary schools. Saint Paul's benefited. Firstly, a vast range of support materials and prepared parental letters, covering every possibility and in all necessary languages, was provided. Secondly, senior staff from the Support Unit were on hand at all times to help and the school took full advantage of the expertise and experience that was offered. In the early days, this normally took the form of the Unit's Education Co-ordinator coming to the school routinely and as often as the school additionally asked. This support was invaluable as it provided confidence to the school in the early stages and placed it in a position increasingly to handle issues on its own. The link continues to be strong and it remains a huge support to know that help and advice is but a telephone call away.

Where are we now?
Initially, 'Asylum Seekers' appeared automatically on Senior Management meeting agendas. Constant monitoring on all aspects of the impact of the new pupils was regarded as essential. Integration occurred so speedily and with so few dilemmas - certainly nothing insurmountable - that the automatic item soon disappeared from the agenda. The new pupils continue to enhance the school on a daily basis. They have winning ways - they attend excellently, behave nearly impeccably, learn quickly and well. Their courtesy has become a school feature, as has their readiness to smile.

Some reports from classes

Maths PT
"I arrived at 8.25am to find six pupils (Asylum Seekers) waiting for me to get help with homework."

French
"The three Asylum Seekers in the class have settled very well and are enjoying French very much. It may seem daunting that no sooner have they grasped the rudiments of English and entered mainstream education than they are required to learn another language. Well quite the opposite is true. It may be because they are more or less at the same level as the rest of the class so that it is one of the few subjects where they are not playing catch-up."

Plato (IT/Literacy/Numeracy Project)
"At the time of this report, our 'Star of the Week' for the best worker has already been awarded to two Asylum Seeker pupils."

Religious Education
"They are a pleasure to teach. Their knowledge of religions other than their own is very good, and their written work is impeccable. They are willing to do everything that is asked of them and more. They have been a valuable addition to my department and to the school."

Work Experience Reports

	Attendance/Timekeeping "Excellent, always early"
	Ability to Carry out Tasks "Dealt with all he was asked to do"
	Ability to Follow Instructions "Would listen carefully, used initiative"
	Appearance "Always clean and smart. Very pleasant and well mannered"

Conclusions
Have there been significant problems in making our school into a truly inclusive one in relation to Asylum Seeker pupils? We think not. There have been a few issues that underline the reality that Asylum Seeker pupils are, in many respects, very normal children and young people. A small number of minor disciplinary warnings have involved, as with any St Paul's pupil, discussions between school staff, family and pupil. We also notice how pupils group at break times into home-language groups. We want to encourage the maintenance of home languages and positive self-identity with their heritages, yet we don't want this to be a barrier to positive social mixing across language and ethnic groupings in leisure as well as in class.

Overall, however, when we return to the challenge outlined earlier, to enable the Asylum Seeker pupils to become 'our' pupils, we feel that we have succeeded. We regret the circumstances that drove our new pupils and their families from their homes but we are glad that they have come to join us. We have all worked very hard, learned so much about each other, and all our lives have been enriched.

We truly are a community.