COUNSELLING will be offered to refugee school children who have recently arrived in Oxford to help them overcome past traumas.

Specially trained therapists will run weekly sessions for young refugees and asylum seekers at Oxford Spires Academy in East Oxford.

The school is one of the most diverse in the county, with more than 40 native languages spoken by students.

Some young people at the school have come from war-torn countries such as Syria, Afghanistan and Eritrea.

Charity Refugee Resource ran pilot sessions to trial the new counselling service in December last year and has now secured a £30,000 grant from the Oxfordshire Community Foundation (OCF) to continue it for the current academic year.

Carolynn Low, the partnership development manager at the charity, said: "Young people arriving in new countries face very real challenges.

"They mostly come from difficult backgrounds and have experienced trauma in their home country.

"These things have a serious impact on a young person and they have a high level of need for support in addition to all the normal issues young people face."

Students who have already taken part reported improvements in sleep and said they felt safer.

Having regular sessions one-on-one with a therapist also boosted their concentration and ability to learn and make friends.

Ms Low said: "This service provides private, confidential support, allowing the pupils to work through some of the things they may find it hard to talk about with friends and family.

"It's a safe, familiar environment which helps to remove any stigma they may feel."

As well as working with young people who have arrived in the UK with family, the service will seek to help the many who have travelled here alone and are now looked after by social services – known as unaccompanied asylum seeking children.

Oxfordshire has as many as 100 of these types of asylum seekers – among the highest of any local authority in England and Wales.

As part of the project, the staff team at Oxford Spires will also be given training on how to identify and support students who may be dealing with mental health problems.

Melanie Tuck, head of English as an additional language at the school said: “Over the past eight months Refugee Resource’s therapist has provided much needed mental and emotional support for young people and we have seen how it has led to improvements in behaviour and engagement at school."

OCF is also funding Refugee Resource to conduct research into the need for similar counselling services in other schools in Oxford.

Jayne Woodley, OCF's chief executive, said: “OCF is delighted to support this work, which will have an important effect on the mental health and wellbeing of some of the most vulnerable young people being welcomed into Oxfordshire.”