Examination of Witnesses (Questions 40-59)
AMBER MARTIN,
KELLY SAUNDERS,
SHEREE HART,
CHRIS HORSEMAN,
LUCY FAWCETT
AND DAVID
PYM
24 APRIL 2006
Q40 Chairman: What does that mean?
Do you get bored?
Kelly Saunders: Yes, quite bored.
Q41 Chairman: Do you spend a lot
of time catching up with stuff that you have not done that they
have done already?
Kelly Saunders: Yes.
Q42 Chairman: How does that work?
Do you get any special help from teachers?
Kelly Saunders: Yes. There are
a few teachers in different classes from other schools who do
help you catch up with all the work that other students have done
and that helps.
Q43 Chairman: We are talking here
about you moving schools but there is another issue about Service
education which is what is happening to your parents at the same
time as you are in the school. How many of you have a mother or
a father who is in Iraq or in Afghanistan or is just about to
go? David, how about you?
David Pym: My dad cannot go to
Iraq at all. He got—I cannot remember what it was now—something
to do with his muscles in Iraq the last time he went about two
years ago, so he is not being posted out there any more for any
duration.
Q44 Mr Crausby: Are you glad about
that?
David Pym: Yes. It is good to
have him around all the time now because he used to go out quite
a bit to Oman and Bosnia. He did not do anything particularly
dangerous, it was only logistics. It is good to have him around
most of the time.
Q45 Chairman: It is probably quite
dangerous to be there.
David Pym: Yes.
Lucy Fawcett: My dad is in Afghanistan
at the moment. He went out about three weeks ago and he is not
coming back until November. He will get two weeks' R&R in
July. He was out in Iraq for seven months. When I was born he
went out to Ireland so he missed my birth as well.
Q46 Mr Crausby: How do you get on
with him again when he comes back? Is it just the same or does
it take a while?
Lucy Fawcett: It is hard because
when you get used to the fact that he is gone he is back. Sometimes
it is scary because he does not seem to be the same person he
was when he left because he has got to get over what he has been
through out there and obviously we have changed an awful lot in
the seven months he has been out there. It does get a bit hard.
Q47 Chairman: Does he keep measuring
your height?
Lucy Fawcett: I just grow all
the time. It is hard. It is something you have to overcome, there
is no set thing you can do to deal with it. You just have to spend
a lot of time with them when you get the chance. When we find
out he is going away we do not leave his side and the minute he
is back we do not leave his side either, so we get back to terms
with it.
Mr Crausby: I know how it feels because
I went to Bosnia and when I came back my wife said I was really
grumpy for about a month, even grumpier than normal, so it had
to be pretty bad.
Q48 Mr Jenkins: I think when you
come back the kids are waiting for their pocket money, they have
a few months' of pocket money. Do you email?
Lucy Fawcett: Yes, we do 3-blueys.
He has got a temporary email address as well but he is not allowed
to phone us until June because there is not a phone line set up
yet, which is really horrible.
Q49 Mr Crausby: Can I ask about that
because that is quite an important issue. Is that the case with
everybody, that it is not easy to set up emails? If you move however
many times, I cannot remember how many times Amber said she had
moved, 13 houses, setting up broadband in 13 houses is difficult.
Does it often take quite a while?
Lucy Fawcett: Yes. We have got
to wait up to two months. We once waited up to two months to get
a proper TV and internet which can also be annoying for schoolwork
because when you have got homework to do on the internet and you
do not know your way around the area to find an internet cafe
it is difficult.
Q50 Mr Crausby: Are there any alternative
access points you can use at school?
Lucy Fawcett: At some schools
you can. I know you can at this school.
Q51 Mr Crausby: But not everywhere?
Lucy Fawcett: Not at every school,
no.
Q52 Chairman: How about you, Amber,
is your father deployed to Afghanistan or Iraq?
Amber Martin: In mid-July he is
supposed to be going to Iraq but he is coming back next February,
I think, and he will miss most of our birthdays, except for one,
and Christmas.
Q53 Chairman: So big presents?
Amber Martin: Yes.
Q54 Chairman: Sheree?
Sheree Hart: Before I was born
my dad went to the Gulf War. When I was about seven my dad used
to go away for four days but he has never been away since.
Kelly Saunders: My dad is out
in Iraq now, he went about two weeks ago. He has got his two weeks'
R&R in August so we can go on a holiday which will be really
good so we know what he has been up to out there and everything.
Then he is going back until November and he misses my birthday
and his, so it is quite upsetting.
Q55 Chairman: How do you feel when
he is away?
Kelly Saunders: It is upsetting
but you have to get used to it. It is a bit strange because my
dad phones my mum every week day on her phone at work and phones
us every weekend. I can only talk to him on the phone so I get
really upset because I cannot talk to him in person. You do get
used to it and it is strange when they come back because you are
used to only having a certain amount of people in the family when
they leave.
Q56 Chairman: Do you think it affects
your schoolwork?
Kelly Saunders: It affected mine
for a few weeks, probably for the first week that he went, but
after a while you get used to it and you are on track again.
Chris Horseman: My dad has not
gone to Afghanistan or Iraq. The last time he went away was probably
to Bosnia or Ireland. My mum was going to go out to build IT and
stuff out there and paperwork but she did not, so my mum and dad
both stay here.
Q57 Mr Jenkins: One of the things
I would have needed and wanted was somebody to talk to if my mum
or dad was away. In the school is there any system set up where
you have got a named person you can go and sit and talk to to
talk things out, to sort your own head out when your father is
away? David, do you have someone you can talk to?
David Pym: Yes. There was a guy
I saw once, I cannot remember what his name was. You just chat
with him and sit back and relax and talk about things.
Q58 Mr Jenkins: In this school?
David Pym: Yes, in this school.
I think most schools have them.
Lucy Fawcett: The only thing I
know of is you have to go through head of year to get appointments
with people but personally I do not like talking to people I do
not know about the way I am feeling. If I am going to talk about
my family I prefer to talk to my family.
Q59 Mr Jenkins: If you knew them
in school, a member of staff, you would not want to talk to them
anyway?
Lucy Fawcett: Probably not because
when it comes to my dad and things like that I get really emotional.
I cannot even talk to my grandma and granddad about it. I prefer
to talk to people who understand where I am coming from. If they
do not understand and act like they do, it frustrates me when
they do not, if that makes sense.
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