School to trial help for forces pupils
Joe Lepper
Monday, January 11, 2010
A primary school near the RAF Halton air base is piloting a specialist support service for children with parents in the armed forces.
Halton Community Combined School in Buckinghamshire has launched the year-long pilot in an attempt to offer emotional and educational support to help families cope with frequent moves and parents being deployed abroad.
The scheme is being funded through a £24,000 Buckinghamshire County Council extended services grant, which will pay for a mobility co-ordinator who will support families at the school and their homes.
The school's chair of governors, Joy O'Neill, said: "Problems encountered by pupils include issues with achievement, changes in curriculum, gaps in knowledge and supporting emotional needs. Over the next year we have a real chance to make a positive impact."
The mobility co-ordinator will work with children at the school three days a week as well as offering outreach support for children of personnel at RAF Halton who attend nearby schools.
O'Neill added: "Some children are with us for only a few weeks while others can be here for as long as two years. Each year around 50 pupils of service personnel leave or join the school."
The service was developed in consultation with the Ministry of Defence agency Service Children's Education, which supports service personnel children abroad and in the UK.
Research by the Royal Navy & Royal Marines Children's Fund has found that the educational difficulties of service children are often overlooked.
