Secondary School Great Big Live Assembly: World Refugee Day 2025 – By Sanctuary Foundation

SAVE THE DATE:

We are delighted to invite all schools around the UK to join the Great Big Live Assembly to celebrate World Refugee Day.

On Friday June 20th 2025 at 08.40am, a free, live broadcast for schools all across the country will be hosted by Sanctuary Foundation – a charity advocating for the needs of refugees.

This fast-paced, child-centred, interactive broadcast will feature:- a celebration of the inclusion of refugee families in our schools and communities- art and poetry from some of the shortlisted entrants to our national schools Art and Poetry competition– a short inspirational and interactive presentation of the issues facing refugees- voices of refugees- celebrity appearance. If you have never joined a Great Big Live Assembly before, then please be assured that we have had excellent feedback from children and teachers.

The assembly is 10-minutes long and streamed live on YouTube with simple joining instructions.

Only one ticket is needed per school as the link can then be shared with other class teachers. The assembly is suitable for all secondary aged children.

We do hope you will join us for this special event.

We will release more information closer to the event and let you know who our other fantastic guests will be soon.

Yours,

Dr Krish Kandiah OBE

HOST Dr Krish Kandiah OBE

Dr Krish Kandiah is a social entrepreneur with a vision to help solve some of society’s seemingly intractable problems through building partnerships across civil society, faith communities, government and philanthropy. He led the Afghan Welcome and UKHK initiatives which have worked with government and civil society to welcome newcomers from Afghanistan and Hong Kong to the UK. He is the director of Sanctuary Foundation, a foster carer, a host in the Homes for Ukraine scheme and sits on the government’s Core Delivery Group. He is the author of over 15 books, including two welcome books for resettled Hong Kong and Ukrainian children.

Co-Host: Sofia

Sofia was born in Ukraine but was forced to flee her country because of the war. She has settled into school here very well. Sofia is an ambassador for the Children’s Commissioner where she represents the voices of children across England, both refugees and those born here and is also part of the youth council for Sanctuary Foundation. Sofia is passionate about helping refugees especially kids and young people and has visited 10 Downing Street to petition on behalf of refugees from Ukraine and Sudan.

Michael Rosen is the best-known figures in the children’s book world, he is renowned for his work as a poet, performer, broadcaster and scriptwriter. As an author and by selecting other writers’ works for anthologies he has been involved with over 140 books. He lectures and teaches in universities on children’s literature, reading and writing. Michael is a familiar voice to BBC listeners and is currently presenting Word of Mouth, the magazine programme that looks at the English language and the way we use it. He visits schools with his one-man show to enthuse children with his passion for books and poetry. He was one of the first poets to make visits to schools throughout the UK and has also visited schools throughout the world. He was the Children’s Laureate between 2007-2009.

Sita Brahmachari is an internationally award-winning Children’s and YA author. From her early career in theatre Sita’s writing has been grounded in human rights, working in communities with refugee families and young people. Sita co-created and scripted a celebrated theatre production inspired by Shaun Tan’s graphic novel The Arrival (2013). She has been Writer in Residence at Islington Centre for Refugees and Migrants for over a decade. Since her Waterstones Award Winning debut novelArtichoke Hearts (2011) refugee children seeking sanctuary, empathy and their journeys to thriving has been at the core of Sita’s writing including: Tender Earth (2017) Red Leaves (2014) Where The River Runs Gold (2019) When Secrets Set Sail (2020) and Carnegie shortlisted When Shadows Fall (2023). Sita has been Book Trust Writer in Residence, is Associate Lecturer in Children’s and YA Literature at Goldsmiths University and a Royal Literary Fellow at The British Library.