What I wish Schools Knew!

Since the founding of my Mission Employable UK podcast, I have been incredibly fortunate to meet a number of different people, all with an important story to tell. My recent podcast recording with Amy Kennedy, What I Wish Schools Knew About Military Children shines a spotlight on the realities of growing up in an Armed Forces family and why understanding the unique experiences of military connected children is so important in school settings.

From school transitions, missed SEND and parental deployments to belonging, wellbeing and unlocking potential, this conversation explores how education can make a lasting difference with greater awareness, a better allocation of funds and inclusive practice.

But it also asks the wider question of our educators, are you aware of your statutory responsibilities when educating service children? Are you doing enough to support our Armed Forces Children? Are you identifying SEND needs early enough and putting the right support in place before they move on? Are you differentiating how you spend your Service Pupil Premium?

We need to ensure military connected children feel seen, supported and able to thrive. The Government spends billions annually on education, schools are crying out for more funding. So what's the solution?

My view is to set up a small Defence Pupil Support department, run out of Government with an annual pot of £0.5bn (taken from the £1.5bn already allocated to CICs supporting service families). Schools can apply directly for funding to identify and then support Service pupils with SEND needs. Schools complete an annual return detailing how they spent the funding with strict sanctions in place for schools failing to spend it properly. Data can then be gathered on where the pinch points of need are around the UK. The Government can then track and measure the outcomes of service pupils, anticipate the need and implement a solution before more forces children join the NEETS figures. Currently, no tracking beyond the age of 16 exists, one has to wonder just how many of the million NEETS are from Service families, I found 2 on our Achieve Your Potential project from a cohort of 80!