National Refugee Week on Teachers TV runs from Monday 18 June to Sunday 24 June. The programmes featured explore issues facing refugees and asylum seekers both in the UK and abroad and look at how the education system can cater to their particular needs in schools.

Programmes will include:

School Matters: Refugees in Schools
Highlighting the problems facing refugee schoolchildren in Britain, this programme looks at how schools in Birmingham have been working with parent partnerships to help children settle into school.

The relationship between Parent Partnership co-ordinators who provide a vital link between the families and the school is explored, following a co-ordinator on a home visit. Interviews with parents give insight into the culture of families, which is vital for teachers working with the children.

Managing Inclusion Secondary: Including Refugee Children
Little Ilford School in east London works hard to include students with English as an additional language and mid-phase arrivals from the moment they arrive. This programme looks at examples of their approach, including how ethnic minority achievement staff create entry points in the curriculum to make it accessible, challenging and interesting. The programme features an English lesson where pupils explore ideas of exclusion and alienation through the story of Dr Frankenstein's monster while dramatising the text.

Secondary TAs: EAL 2
George Dixon is an inner-city school three miles from the centre of Birmingham. Of its 1,200 pupils, 560 are currently on the EAL (English as an Additional Language) register and 144 are refugees or asylum seekers. This programme looks at how Teaching Assistants (TAs) assist the school to meet the needs of refugees and asylum seekers and their families.

Headteacher Sir Robert Dowling gives his unequivocal views on Refugee and EAL policy and relates how TAs perform a vital role in realising a school's EAL vision. Student Support Services Manager Muriel Cunningham discusses how she uses her TA team. An Induction Mentor, an Educational Social Worker and a learning mentor explain how they see their work, whilst Steve, a sixth-form student and refugee success story, reveals his experiences.

Inspirations: A West African Story
'Women of Liberia, do not weep' cries a small boy in a play about the use of boy soldiers in his homeland. Against a backdrop of civil war, brutalised children, poverty and displacement, this pupil and his peers have found refuge in the Carolyne Miller primary school in their refugee camp in Ghana. And for all the school's struggles � hungry pupils, unpaid staff, no electricity or resources � this remarkable school has high ambitions for its pupils.

It's both familiar and remarkably different to our own schools. In amongst the day-to-day business of staff meetings, PTAs, discipline discussions and lesson planning are moving scenes of orphaned children, over-crowded classes, PE lessons in the dust, and a drama teacher who believes his pupils are the future leaders of Liberia.

A Safe Place
This pupil-focused programme uses professional footballers to combat myths and stereotypes about asylum seekers and refugees and promote informed debate among young people.

Footballing heroes such as Thierry Henry, David James and Ashley Cole know the difficulties of adapting to a different culture. They speak up for asylum seekers, asking us to understand the physical brutality refugees have suffered in their own countries and pointing out that we can learn from people of different cultures. Young asylum-seekers and refugees talk about their experience and explain why they were forced to flee their homes.

Other programmes on this subject are on air during this week. For full programme listings and information visit the Teachers TV guide. Programmes and support materials can be accessed completely free.

Teachers TV is available on Sky Guide 880, Virgin TV 240, Freeview 88 (from 11am � 1pm) and Tiscali TV 845. For more information, including programme times and free support material, go to www.teachers.tv.