This post is written by members of the Portsmouth Youth Cabinet

On Thursday 16 February 2023, a vigil was held for Brianna Ghey. Portsmouth Cathedral was filled with hundreds of people from all walks of life, gathering to remember the 16-year-old girl who was murdered in a public park on Saturday afternoon.

People were invited to light candles and lay flowers. The vigil began with a prayer, and people were invited to speak.

“It’s wonderful we’ve been given this space for our voices to be heard,” said the first speaker. She talked about Brianna as an inspiration for trans youth, with her following on TikTok showing how far the impact of one’s life can extend, and how much she would have been an inspiration for many young people struggling for the right to live as who they are.

Several moving poems were recited, including ‘The life that I have’ by Leo Marks, ‘Stop the Clocks’ by W.H Auden and an original piece by someone who attended.

Many of those present didn’t know Brianna, but her death had an impact far beyond personal connection. “You might not have known her, but it’s personal, isn’t it?” said Councillor Chris Attwell, Cabinet Member for Communities and Central Services.

In reference to the teenagers charged with the crime, a speaker emphasised that “they were led there, and we need to find out how they got there.”

“People act on hate,” he continued, “but as a society, we are not responsible – we do not create the hate – but we are responsible for ensuring this doesn’t happen again.” He went on to say that politicians dehumanising trans people and using the trans “debate” as a divisive political tool has fuelled a rise of hatred and misunderstanding. This violent behaviour is an inevitable consequence. In the words of the next speaker, “This is not the first time someone has died because of their identity, but it has to be the last.”

He finished by saying, “I don’t want to light candles, and pray and wait for next time.”

By this point, the candelabra at the front of the cathedral had overflowed; the Canon laid out tinfoil to provide extra space and the light continued to grow as the night went on.

The final speaker concluded, “For all trans people in this city, you are not alone – we are a family.”

Resources

• The government has published advice and guidance on their Education Blog.
• Newsround has child-friendly advice for anyone feeling anxious about the news.
• British Red Cross resources are helpful for looking at the situation regarding refugees and asylum-seekers.
• Schools of Sanctuary have provided helpful guidance and resources for parents, carers and teachers on speaking with children about the war in Ukraine.
• First News and the Association of Citizenship Teaching (ACT) have provided fact sheets relating to this conflict.
• Early years education expert, Tamsin Grimmer, has created a leaflet to help us understand and have the confidence to deal with the subject of war with young children.
• YoungMinds have a guide for parents and carers on trauma and mental health. There are also top tips for talking to your young person about the events in Ukraine.
• Kent County Council have collated resources for teachers and parents to support them to teach and talk with children about Ukraine.
• The Phoenix Group have produced a welcome booklet in Ukrainian plus general advice for talking to children about war.
• Oxfordshire EP Service have shared information about welcoming refugee children into your school.
• Joanna Ceremuga has collated a list of Ukrainian educational and language resources, books and audiobooks, based on information shared on social media.
• English With Ukrainians is a YouTube channel featuring translated lessons discussing linguistic/cultural differences. There are also activities that are suitable for host families to do with Ukrainian guests.
• My Languages has a range of free lessons on Ukrainian grammar and vocabulary.
• Twinkl have published free Ukrainian dual language resources to support new arrivals from Ukraine. There is a variety of handy worksheets, activities and more, which you can use to support your children’s transition to learning in a different language to Ukrainian.
• Mama Lisa’s World has a range of Ukrainian children’s songs and rhymes.
• Carel have produced a set of 25 free posters with the Ukrainian words for different library departments.

Update from the Ethnic Minority Achievement Service, April 2022

As you probably know, there are no new arrivals in the city from Ukraine at the moment. There were only a handful of families here before the Russian invasion, so it is unlikely that we’ll see many people arrive in the first ‘wave’.

However, as the government’s scheme to sponsor a Ukrainian family fleeing the war progresses, we will start to see more new arrivals. Portsmouth City Council as a whole is working hard to get preparations in place and there is funding from central government for councils for this plus an additional amount for schools (similar to that available for pupils arriving from Afghanistan in ‘Operation Warm Welcome’); the amount is still currently unspecified, I believe.

However, guidance was recently released to local authorities around the expectation of their role. This information has been reviewed and impacts upon different areas of the council identified. Currently the volume and rate of arrivals is still unclear although PCC hope to have more information about that in due course. The support needed for each sponsor/guest pairing is expected to be significant and wide ranging. The challenge is the pace of delivery. Once more information becomes available, and we get a picture of the scale and complexity of the work, more details can be provided.

We at EMAS are monitoring the situation carefully and are about to start the process of employing a Ukrainian BLA. There will necessarily be a delay for recruitment processes but, by waiting a little, there will be a larger pool of applicants from which to choose and we will also know the scale of the need. In the meantime, we have our existing Russian BLA, Olga Barker, who can support any Russian-speaking pupils and parents – although we will obviously be sensitive in her deployment. She is already doing important work with children across the city, several of whom have parents from both Ukraine and Russia and who are obviously finding the current situation especially challenging. There are over 100 Russian-speaking pupils in our schools but there are reports from neighbouring authorities that the numbers are rising, with families wanting to leave Russia.

In the city, there are also children whose families come from countries bordering either Ukraine or Russia itself and who may also be feeling particularly vulnerable, picking up on any stress that adults in their families might well be experiencing at the moment. We have almost 700 Polish-speaking pupils in Portsmouth, more than 400 Romanians, 100 Hungarian-speakers and over 150 other pupils from other neighbouring countries such as Slovakia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Finland. The ongoing conflict will be especially ‘close’ for them.

EMAS are able to provide support and advice to subscribing schools. If you do not currently subscribe and would like to do so please visit the traded services website.

Organisations across Portsmouth have been praised for their support for children who need mental health support as well as those suffering from abuse, neglect and exploitation. In December 2019, Ofsted, the Care Quality Commission (CQC), HMI Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) and HMI Probation (HMI Prob) carried out a Joint Targeted Area Inspection (JTAI) of the agencies involved in providing support to children in Portsmouth.

Schools, the NHS, the police, the council and voluntary organisations are particularly commended for working closely together in a strong partnership, for their learning culture and for their innovation and creativity, helping to ensure that children in Portsmouth are receiving the emotional well-being and mental health services they need. The quality and flexibility of the specialist mental health service, Children and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS), is highlighted, as is the effective response to children presenting to the A&E department at the QA Hospital. Hampshire Police were commended for their commitment and understanding of children’s needs and for responding in an appropriate way. It was noted that public resources were being used efficiently through good joint commissioning of services.

Derek Benson, chair of Portsmouth Children’s Safeguarding Partnership, said: “Overall we are very pleased with the outcome of the recent inspection of the effectiveness of the city’s approach to children who need mental health support. The report praises the support provided to children from a strong partnership across schools, the NHS, the police, the council and the voluntary sector. This is a testament to the way different organisations supporting children and young people in Portsmouth, including our strong local CAMHS service, work together to make a difference every day. The inspection highlighted areas where we need to improve and we know we must n never be complacent. We will continue to work closely with children and their families to improve services further to ensure they get the support they need.”

The report identifies ways in which services could be further improved, including a consistent focus during planning and assessment of services on how they impact on children at the point of delivery.

The full report can be found here.