Defence CommitteeArmy Families Federation supplementary evidence following oral evidence session on 30 January 2013

Q10 Sandra Osborne: Does the stress and worry of having a parent deployed impact on the children’s education?

AFF’s comment: We disagree and would say that as children grow older they deal with each deployment differently which could be better or worse but either way—different.—

Q12 Sandra Osborne: How much support is available and is there more that could be done?

AFF’s comment: SCE have information available for schools to access online and the AFF has a useful deployment tab on its website.

Q19 Sir Bob Russell:

AFF’s comment: The Schools Admissions Code within The Education Act has been changed to specifically help Service families and we welcome that.—

Q27 Sir Bob Russell: Chair, the reason I ask that is because it has been suggested to me that the primary provision is fine, but the secondary level is not so good. Families are therefore putting their children into boarding schools. We have questions on boarding schools later, but I wonder whether you have heard anything.

AFF’s comments: Whilst key stages one and two teaching standards are excellent, there’s a very real need for new premises for the tiny school. The single option for senior schooling locally means that many families with older children select a boarding school in the UK for their child’s education, and this brings with it its own difficulties, especially in terms of travel for holidays In this age of electronic communications, the cost of telephone and internet from the island’s single supplier is prohibitive. Averaging £130 per month for limited data download.

The Falkland Islands Community School opened in 1992. It offers 18 subjects at GCSE level in Stanley. There is hostel accommodation for the students.

Those students who achieve appropriate grades are funded for A level courses at Peter Symonds’ Sixth Form College, Winchester or to attend Chichester College to acquire National Diplomas or NVQs. The Government also offers grants to attend Higher Education courses, mainly in the UK.

Q30 Mr Brazier:

AFF’s comment: Infant classes (those where the majority of children will reach the age of 5, 6 or 7 during the school year) must not contain more than 30 pupils with a single school teacher. Additional children may be admitted under limited exceptional circumstances. These children will remain an “excepted pupil” for the time they are in an infant class or until the class numbers fall back to the current infant class size limit. The excepted children are:

(a)Children admitted outside the normal admissions round with statements of special educational needs specifying a school;

(b)Looked after children and previously looked after children admitted outside the normal admissions round;

(c)Children admitted, after initial allocation of places, because of a procedural error made by the admission authority or local authority in the original application process;

(d)Children admitted after an independent appeals panel upholds an appeal;

(e)Children who move into the area outside the normal admissions round for whom there is no other available school within reasonable distance;

(f)Children of UK Service personnel admitted outside the normal admissions round;

(g)Children whose twin or sibling from a multiple birth is admitted otherwise than as an excepted pupil;

(h)Children with special educational needs who are normally taught in a special educational needs unit attached to the school, or registered at a special school, who attend some infant classes within the mainstream school.

Since 1997, it has been unlawful for infant aged classes to contain more than 30 children with one qualified teacher, with a tiny number of permitted exceptions. The purpose of this legislation was to try to give young children starting school the best possible chances of success by limiting class sizes. However, mobile Service families with children needing Key Stage 1 (infant) places in schools have often found the inflexibility of this legislation difficult to live with.

In the light of the Covenant and representations made by the MOD’s Directorate for Children and Young People (DCYP) to the Department for Education (DfE), the Code has been amended to try to strike a balance between the original intentions of the infant class size legislation and the needs of mobile Service families with children requiring Key Stage 1 school places when they move to a new area.

It is important to note that admission authorities are not required to treat all Service children in Key Stage 1 as “excepted pupils”; they are empowered to do so in respect of only those who are the subjects of in-year applications. In other words, they can but they do not have to. Where a number of Service children require in year admission to a Key Stage 1 class at the same time, for example, it is inevitable that some admission authorities will be reluctant to see significant increases to infant class sizes over and above the legal limit.

Q42 Mr Brazier: One of the points of that new configuration, however stable it may be in theory, is that the staff jobs are still all in south-east England, whereas most of the regimental jobs are not . My last question is, has the recent tightening of the rules on eligibility for CEA had a significant impact on the forces and the way they see the allowance?

AFF comment: This is not an accurate reflection of the Army: Staff jobs are in Herford, Catterick, Abbeywood etc.

Q58 Sir Bob Russell: If we go back to the all-singing, all-dancing Armed Forces Covenant that is now enshrined in law, what should this Committee be recommending that the Government of the day put into practice in terms of what the Armed Forces Covenant has led people to believe will happen?

AFF comment: The Armed Forces Covenant needs to correlate with the new SEN code of practice currently being reviewed.

Q59 Sir Bob Russell: Do you have experience of a social services department providing equipment for a child with special needs?

The term Special Needs is only now used for Special Education Needs and the term used should really be Additional Needs otherwise it can offend people and be confusing.

Social Services do loan equipment but this involves an OT assessment and could take some time because patients are prioritised due to their condition. The patients with highest priority can on average wait for 3 months for assessment, although those with terminal illness can often be rushed through.

Some equipment is not provided by the Social Service such as special medical beds which are provided by the PCT usually the community nursing staff. Social Services do provide beds such as an up and down bed if it is purely for accessibility and transfer needs.

If a family move to another LA/PCT they can take equipment with them but it depends on what it is and the LA/PCT. If it is a special bed this probably wouldn’t be feasible because some equipment requires specialist assembling for health and safety requirements. However the PCT/LA can make an arrangement to buy the equipment if need be.

Some equipment can be kept such as portable grab rails and such as equipment that would cost more to clean than to replace.

I hope this answers this question fully enough. I did have an enquiry yesterday about this very matter so we do have some evidence that supports this and the family are considering buying some equipment themselves because at the moment they are struggling.

Q63 Sandra Osborne: So there is a problem there?

AFF comment: No! These are two different issues. The SEN pupil could have local support without being mobile and if this was not available then the LA would provide it privately. The SEN child would be able to apply to stay in the quarter because of their needs. The issue for these families is the 26 weeks statement process and starting it in the first place. It has to be instigated by the LA.

February 2013