Service Children Support Network - RAF Benevolent Fund

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News from the Tidworth Cluster Tidworth Garrison is home to 2 Brigades, 14 major units and many smaller independent units and probably has the largest number of deployable soldiers in one place in the UK. Consequently, at any one time, a high proportion of children across the local schools in this area have parents on operations. There is evidence in local schools, and from a recent Ofsted report on Children in Service Families, which identifies that family mobility and parental deployment affects service children’s behaviour in a number of ways. Non-service children are also exposed to these behaviours within such a close community, and also have to deal with student cohorts changing on a regular basis. The emotional and social well-being state is often altered not only when a parent is deployed but often in the lead up to it and when the parent returns (including periods of R&R) and frequently has a detrimental affect resulting in deteriorating behaviour. This project, funded through the MOD Support Fund for Schools with Service Children, has emerged through consultation and on-going work across the Tidworth Cluster of schools with the Army Welfare Service. Joint working between Extended Services and Bath Spa University (the Centre of Education Policy in Practice, schools of Education) has supported a collaborative approach to this project, which in essence wants both service and non-service children living in the Armed Service Community to benefit in a number of ways: • Children’s Agencies and quality of life will be enhanced by equipping them with knowledge, skills and opportunities to influence local decisions that impact on their lives. Such activities will also contribute to developing their emotional and social resilience enabling them to better voice their needs and for these to be met. • Raising awareness and developing skills within school staff on issues relating to Children’s Rights, agency and participation methodologies can impact positively on school activities and, in doing so, provide opportunities for children to influence decisions that impact on their education. • In working collaboratively across the cluster of local primary schools, the children and staff will benefit from a broad range of peer-support and peer-to-peer learning opportunities. This will also strengthen joint working and hence further access to agency resources e.g. counselling. • Local, regional and national agencies working with children and their families will have access to improved intelligence to ensure that their services are equipped to meet the specific needs of children living in Armed Services Communities.
We chose the Learning to Lead Programme as the concept is a very deliberate and specific approach to support student leadership. Its rationale rests on the belief that when schools take on characteristics of communities, they enable all community members to exercise human agency – that capacity can be purposeful and influence their own environment. The initial focus has been with the Year 5 pupils in our primary schools, supported by staff who received the Learning to Lead training, and who meet as a local network to explore how this programme can be fully utilised. Within each school pupils have formed teams to identify aspects which they feel would benefit from their input, and opportunities they wish to get involved in. Year 5 teachers have used the Learning to Lead tools to facilitate this participation which has prompted a range of ideas and input ranging from: • Pupils organising and coordinating the management of the classroom. • Pupils re organising the layout of classrooms and how they work together has seen a change in behaviours. • Setting up interest clubs i.e. art, sports, decoration (seasonal decorations for the classroom). • Leading warm up sessions for PE . • Fund raising for a range of resources from a sofa for their book corner to equipment for Golden Time. • Developing Wet Play and Wet Play Monitors. • Developing a School Newspaper. • Year 4 pupils now being involved in a Toilet team to resolve any issues around their use. As pupils, staff and schools work together to develop skills, experience and commitment to support the ‘Learning to Lead’ approach within the school environment, the longer-term aim is to extend potential impact to the wider Tidworth Community. Specifically to develop child-friendly environments and practices in the out-of-school setting, enabling pupils to collaborate with for e.g. The Tidworth Community Area Board to influence local decision making on a range of issues affecting children living in the Tidworth Garrison including those related to the specific impact of deployment and mobility. For more information on Learning to Lead please see www.learningtolead.org.uk
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Service Children Support Network - RAF Benevolent Fund

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