Refugee children in the classroom: "The war does not stop, you can see that in their eyes'

"Many children in our school have relatives in Syria. Then they hear that their family was bombed again and then the next day at school very upset," said Irene Schreuder, founder of The Globe school in Vlaardingen.

The school has 45 pupils and is aimed at newcomers: children from abroad. In the past year the school with a third grown, especially with children from Syria. Together with two colleagues Schreuder looked at the Danish documentary At Home in the World, which at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) premiered. The film about a refugee school is very recognizable.

"The film touched me. Children not dare join other classmates, we also see a lot. If you tie up someone, you can also lose again." Some children are therefore afraid, closed or dreamy, others become aggressive during play. Irene says that many of her students are severely traumatized, quite apart from the fact that a move to another country anyway has an impact on a child.

The war continues
"There is a group that comes straight from the war. They have been in gunfire, their homes are invaded, they have only just escaped death. We have many children who literally have on rubber boats rondgedobberd. You can see that there is going so much behind their eyes. "

Larissa Reijs Meijer, a teacher in the middle years, adds: "The war does not stop it keeps going.." Therefore, children remain uncertain about how to proceed with family and friends, she explains. But they are also insecure about their own situation.

'I want to study'
"How long can I stay here? Do we get a bigger house? There are many families who really live crammed together in small houses. And they just do not know where they are next year. This makes it difficult to find peace."

However, the parents often have high expectations of their children. Eliëtte Weizenbach, which at the Globe teaches at the superstructure, "If you Syrians ask at school, how do you see the future, the children all say:" I hope I can go to a regular Dutch school and can then study ' . And then they want to be a doctor, or do any other university. "

Whether the children succeed, is the question. "It's not impossible, but there must be quite a lot from the child come. Because they have a huge backlog," says Larissa. Irene adds, "The more time we give the children and the more we try to make them laugh, the more they feel at ease and they will come to learning.."

It is therefore important that they learn the language, because that will give them security in their lives here, says Irene. Until then, an interpreter must help the children. But once they speak the language, is occasionally their story out. The teacher then turns the safe person with whom they can turn. "You are so important for them," says Larissa.

Safe in Netherlands
Went on the attacks in Paris is not the last few days. Teachers doubted whether to hold a minute's silence, but they are ultimately not begun. "They've been through so much I guess their parents want to protect them because it's still how close that way they still are thinking:.. Here in the Netherlands we are safe, we want the children continue to feel safe.".

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