Support for Service Children

Introduction

Here at Folly View Primary School we welcome our Service Children and are incredibly proud of what they represent and the contribution they make to our school. We value the wide variety of different experiences, of life in and outside of school, both before their time with us and whilst they are at Folly View Primary School 

Service Pupil Pastoral Team

We support our Service Children through our Pastoral Team.  We can offer individualised support plans for our students particularly at times of transition and deployment. 

Mrs Spence our Pastoral Lead and Mrs Cox our Assistant Headteacher work very closely with our service pupils.

Service Pupil Community Link Workers

Mandy Milburn and Suzie Davies are the Service Pupil Community Link Workers for all Faringdon Learning Trust (FLT) schools.   These posts are funded through the Armed Forces Covenant fund Trust (AFCFT).

Our aim is to provide you with direct pastoral and welfare support.

Suzie Davies and Mandy Milburn

Service Pupil Premium (SPP)

The aim of SPP is to enable schools to offer pastoral and emotional support during challenging times and to help mitigate the negative impact on Service Children of family mobility or parental deployment. Some of the support needed by Service Children doesn’t require dedicated resource, but sensitivity, awareness and thoughtfulness on the part of staff.

More information regarding the Service Pupil Premium can be found at the following link:

Service Pupil Premium: what you need to know - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

On this page you will find details of our school’s Service Pupil Premium for grant allocation for this academic year and how we intend to spend this pupil premium

*Service Personnel with children (Reception to Y11) in State Schools in England should notify schools of their Children’s Service status to ensure they are recorded prior to the next Autumn Census (First Thursday in October) in order qualify for Service Pupil Premium.

Deployment Support

Deployment can cause disruption to family life and can be especially hard for children.  Our Pastoral Team will ensure that we make it as smooth and comfortable for the student as is possible and support their resilience during times of change.

The RAF Families Federation (RAFFF) together with Service Children in State Schools (SCISS) have created a downloadable Deployment Support flyer for families and schools.  In it you will find useful links and signposting to key resources and organisations offering support to help children from an Armed Forces background.

20230719-RAFFF-SCISS-deployment-resource.pdf (raf-ff.org.uk)

We support service pupils by regularly running a service pupils club, we also recognise particular times of the year when being a military child holds a particular significance e.g. Remembrance, April, which is the month of the military child as well as other times across the year. This also includes during periods of deployment.

In order for us to best support your child/children during times of deployment, whether this be an operational tour of duty for several months, or a training course or exercise for a few weeks we ask that you complete this Deployment Form.

Use the QR code to take you to the form on our website.

Transition

Service Children face unique challenges during transitions due to their mobile lifestyle.  Challenges include gaps in learning, differences in curriculum, adapting to new environments and the potential stresses on the family associated with moving.  Furthermore, Service Children often transition at irregular times throughout the school year, adding stressors like learning new school layouts and assimilating into established social groups.

At Folly View Primary School we understand the needs of our Service Children and strive to ensure every pupil has a positive transition experience through providing academic and emotional support.

For more information on our transition plan and the ways we help your children, please contact Mrs Cox.

Veterans with dogs.

Artie the Service dog comes into school to work alongside our service pupils. He is highly trained and is able to make choices, play a game and even read stories with his owner Sarah.

He is helping the children to learn to be calm and quiet as well as thoughtful and considerate.

Mindfulness 

In Service pupil club we discuss what our grown ups do in the forces, we noticed that some of us have grown ups that are away at the moment.

We talked about how we feel sometimes and how our body feels when we are calm and when we are anxious.

We played  a game with balloons that made our heart beat faster and then we were able to make our body feel calm again by watching Bubble Bounce! This can also improve our focus.

Calling Parents - follow the link below to have a go at Bubble Bounce and notice how you feel after. 

Little Troopers Treasures

Helping to keep British Armed Forces families connected through the magic of stories while away from home.

Little Troopers and Harper Collins Children’s Books have partnered to bring lots of carefully chosen children’s books to military families to enable you to make easy, quick recordings on your tablet devices

Click the link below to find out more:

https://www.littletroopers.net/treasures/?mc_cid=6fd021f430&mc_eid=9b5959a99e 

Summer Holidays for Little troopers

With weeks of summer holidays to fill the Little troopers website have lots to help;  click on the link below to access the website and find over 50 activities for children to do aswel as a * SAVE THE DATE * Summer online show of Robin hood on the 22nd August at 4pm
 

https://www.littletroopers.net/little-troopers-at-home/crafty-little-troopers/

Little Troopers road show for the KS1 children