|
Memorandum from the Army Families Federation (ESC 34)
The Army Families Federation (AFF) is a registered charity which seeks to represent and voice the concerns of Army families: through its network of staff in Great Britain, Northern Ireland, Germany and Cyprus[1] it maintains regular contact with Army families. The issues that are reported to the AFF are recorded and analysed on a quarterly basis. During the six months October 2005 to March 2006, enquiries, issues and problems surrounding education constituted approximately 10% of these enquiries. A number of the issues raised by parents are considered below.
i) Little or short notice of next quarter address, making it difficult to seek a school place, "We were told that the address could have been anywhere between Larkhill, Salisbury, Wilton or a hiring somewhere near Wilton[4] and therefore we had no idea which school's catchment area we would be in. We were dissatisfied with our perceived lack of control, so decided to take matters into our own hands and opt for independent education"[5]. The military housing provider is mandated to give a maximum of four months' notice of a new quarter address, but this cannot always be adhered to and is inadequate if the child is moving between education stages where anything up to 12 months' advance notice can be required for applications.
ii) Difficulties obtaining school places: entry to oversubscribed schools is an issue for all parents; however this can be complicated for Army parents by short notice of a move, a child with special needs or trying to arrange a school place from an overseas posting. Children's Education Advisory Service (CEAS) are able to give assistance with the appeals process but this can be daunting for parents, particularly if it is an experience repeated in subsequent postings or for multiple siblings (or more than one school). Following the advice given in JSP 342[6], "It is in the appellant's interest to attend the (appeal) hearing", is not always possible, particularly for families overseas e.g. in Cyprus where travel back to the UK is expensive and the distance involved can preclude parents from taking an active part in selecting the best school for their child.
b) School transfer
The process of school transfer can be difficult for a child:
i) teaching styles and curricula vary from school to school and gaps in their children's learning have been noted by parents.
ii) short notice can make school transfer more difficult, but with the many web-based resources available children can be encouraged to start their relationship with a new school before their move and continue contact with previous friends afterwards.
iii) It can take a considerable period of time for children to settle into a new school and frequent moves can result in children feeling excluded from a stable peer group and social continuity. Families have commented on the quality of the support given to them by SCE schools during operational deployment: this should be mirrored by a similar level of support available on posting. There is an opportunity for here for CEAS and SCE to deliver best practice to schools with significant numbers of service children in UK.
iv) The difference between the education systems of the devolved governments of the United Kingdom can cause difficulties for service children. In Northern Ireland and Scotland, the age of school entry is different from the rest of the UK. Within Northern IrelandI children born in July or August, can be in classes either a year behind or a year in front of their peers This can have a continuing effect if their next move is back to an SCE school or to a school in England and Wales.
v) Moving during an examination stage can also cause difficulties with coursework or examination syllabus. The family may be able to retain the quarter (less likely overseas), allowing the soldier to serve unaccompanied, but that may not be the best overall option for the family adding to the general experience of family instability.
3) Special circumstances
For some children the prospect of moving school carries additional implications: most particularly children with special needs. If a child has had their particular special need detected and an appropriate intervention determined it may be difficult for that provision to be provided at a new school. Service Children's Education provision compares favourably with most UK LEAs in terms of staffing resources and the scope and flexibility of SCE specialist support services. In practice, the substantial majority of special educational needs are fully supported in SCE schools in accordance with SCE policy on inclusion. However, the viability of an educational placement can sometimes depend on non-educational provision that is outside the responsibility of SCE.
When a new posting overseas is being considered advice is available from CEAS and SCE through their educational psychologists and families are encouraged to register their child's special needs requirements with CEAS. However, families tell us that in practice, there is often insufficient time for families to access this support when a soldier is being asked to make a quick decision by their postings authority[7].
A Statement of Special Educational Needs issued by one LEA is not directly transferable to a new LEA when a family moves, so it is not like a SEN passport. A new authority must have regard to the previous agreement and ensure that appropriate provision is in place but because different authorities vary in the way they organise resources, some may need to prepare a formal written agreement in order to maintain the same level of help, whereas others may not need to do so. Because an SCE statement is prepared in full accordance with the legal regulations prescribed in the 1996 Education Act, most LEAs will pay regard to the information it contains, but this is not legally binding on the receiving LEA. Likewise parents are frustrated when moving from SCE schools overseas that their child's Statement of Special Educational Needs is not recognised in the UK and their child has to go through the assessment procedure again before the school can access the funding and support the child requires. Families have also reported that due to the period of time it can take to have their child's special needs identified and provision determined it can take the duration of more than one posting to obtain a diagnosis even supposing that the provision is available after the next posting.
4) Overseas postings
In addition to determining the level of educational provision available overseas, families also have concerns about the standard of provision in isolated areas (ISODETS) and other overseas postings. Families may have to consider boarding education where it may not have previously been the preferred option in order to establish continuity within the British curriculum, particularly at the secondary stage. Once this decision is taken it is difficult for children to change back to state or local schools after a subsequent move. Families in living in Germany with secondary age children may have to send their children to an SCE boarding school despite not having elected for this option earlier in their child's education from choice.
Many parents report that the opportunity to experience a different educational and social environment is beneficial for their children, but others are concerned that transfer back into the British system might be problematic. This particularly so for those with older children or those with children about to start school as school entry ages may be later overseas.
"The policy for families with young children serving in isolated detachments is unfair as it denies them the chances that children in the UK, BFG and BFC benefit from. The whole business goes against the spirit of TACOS (Terms and Conditions of Service) which states that service personnel should not be disadvantaged by their postings overseas"[8].
5) The impact for schools of having a significant service population
There is no doubt that Army children do benefit from the increased opportunities that the service environment can provide as do the schools in UK that they may attend.
"Children from service families often enrich their school as a result of their wider experience of living in a number of areas"[9].
Although there is little evidence about how Service children perform overall due to them not being identified within schools in the UK.
A mobile population can have a negative effect on a school leading to practical difficulties. There are implications for resources and provision at the entry of an individual child (see paragraph 3 above) and especially if a large number of children move with a new Unit. One school located in a large UK garrison suffered a drop in its nominal roll from 197 in 2004 to 140 in 2005[10] with a significant impact on class sizes and staffing. Such changes can be difficult if not impossible to plan for within the normal LEA budget cycle.
Some schools and LEAS are able to allocate extra funding (for support assistants for example) at times of expected turbulence such as unit moves by use of the free school meals formula whereas others routinely allocate additional funds to schools with a significant number of service children. This could be viewed either as unequal treatment or a justified means of addressing a funding imbalance: either can be difficult to manage within the strict confines of a school budget. Recent discussions between AFF and the Department of Education in Northern Ireland have sought to establish whether the additional funds available there for the education of service children are indeed accountable for that purpose.
Parents have reported that they feel Army children are regarded as the source of problems and as they do not affect the school's league table showing (added value being difficult to establish for Army children over a short period of time) are given less consideration by staff than the children of civilian parents. Military parents often do not feel engaged with their child's school due to the short time they will be there and so lose the feeling of ownership found in many community schools. This may explain why schools, in their turn, do not see service children as a worthwhile investment.
6) Making a choice
The ultimate impact of many of these issues on parents is that they are forced to make a choice between one of three options to enable their child to experience the benefits of continuity of education; i) To serve accompanied as a family but claim the Continuity of Education Allowance (CEA) for the child to go to Boarding School in the UK
ii) The soldier serves unaccompanied apart from his or her family whilst the child/children remain stable at a state school in the UK
iii) The soldier and family move as a unit to reach new posting and accept turbulence for their child's schooling.
Each option has an impact on the child's education and on his or her relationship with their parents or siblings.
7) Conclusion
AFF believes that individual elements of the military education service are good and efforts are continually made to improve current provision through SCE, CEAS and SPPol. The variety and experiences of a mobile Army family life are often appreciated but also cause exceptional circumstances for children in education and resource issues for the schools that they attend.
Service parents could make greater efforts to be involved with their children's schools through the channels already available to them but perceived lack of ownership and choice may be the reason they rarely use this opportunity. In conclusion AFF would contend however, that it is the wider impact of the total 13+ years of a child's education and their movement through a variety of education systems (however provided)that make up their experience of education. AFF would ask the committee to consider some of the concerns and issues raised by parents in the context of examining elements that influence the experience of a service child's education
20 April 2006
[1] As well as overseas volunteers in Canada, Belize, Brunei, Gibraltar, the Falklands, Italy, the USA and Kenya. [2] Col Marian Lauder (SPPol), Airwaves Conference 2005 [3] Over 50% of officers, Continuous Attitude Survey of Serving Personnel (SP9, December 2005) [4] Covering the catchment areas of approximately 32 primary schools. [5] Parent in Shrivenham. [6] Joint Service Publication 342, Education of Service Children, Section 0245. [7] This can also apply to the provision of timely information on the level of general education provision available in overseas theatres outside the SCE area such as the Middle East or the USA. [8] Mother in France whose child was unable to start formal education at the same age as in the UK. [9] Essex LEA report 2000. [10] Kiwi School, Bulford. |