Defence CommitteeWritten evidence from the Duke of York’s Royal Military School
History and Context
1. In 1801, His Royal Highness Frederick Duke of York laid the foundation stone in Chelsea of what was to become the Duke of York’s Royal Military School. Originally it was an orphanage for children of soldiers killed in battle and was Britain’s first co-educational state funded and state administered school.
2. The first boys and girls entered the school in 1803 and in 1909 it moved to its present location in Dover. In 1980 the school, which had previously only been open to children of non-commissioned soldiers, was opened to all ranks. In 1992 it became a Tri-Service school. Girls were reintroduced in 1994.
3. In September 2010, the school gained Academy status, moving from the control of the MOD to that of the DFE, with the Secretary of State for Defence as sponsor. As an Academy, the school is no longer selective and now has an open admissions policy.
4. The school remains a fully boarding establishment and is the only state funded 100% boarding school offering mainstream provision. There are no day pupils, weekly or flexi-boarders. All pupils experience the same egalitarian and accessible nature of provision for seven days a week during term.
5. The school is committed to maintaining its unique and iconic military links and traditions combining education, military heritage and spiritual provision centred upon the Chapel. The Secretary of State for Defence is the Academy sponsor. The Adjutant General chairs the Trustees and is a Governor, alongside the Chaplain General, representative officers from the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force, a representative from Service Children’s Education and a number of retired senior military personnel of star rank.
6. Currently, 61% of pupils have parents who are serving with over 75% who meet a broader definition of Service Children such as given in point 21 of the Conclusions and Recommendations of the 2006 Defence Committee report Educating Service Children.
7. Before entering the Duke of York’s, on average, pupils will have been to more than four different schools and some have attended ten or more.
8. The school was recognised as “good” in its first full Ofsted inspection as an Academy in November 2012.
Educating Children of Service Personnel
The difficulties facing service families in achieving the same standard of education for their children as they would if they were children in the UK or overseas
9. An understanding of military life is an advantage in a school for the support of service children. A school like the Duke of York’s Royal Military School provides such in depth support and understanding because we are very much part of the military family with the Senior Leadership Team and Governing Body committed to retaining this position. All staff and those pupils who do not come from service families are in sympathy with the role and expectations of the military.
10. Children of service families often talk about the support they give each other. We think this is a powerful ingredient that helps their learning. They relish the chance to establish firm friends, have continuity of teaching staff, and be amongst others of a similar background, none of which can be guaranteed in schools outside the military family.
11. The disjointed nature of service life makes it more difficult for parents who may be absent for extended periods to support education at home. Boarding creates a distinctive and supportive community with particular friendship bonds. The psychological effect of this is important. It provides the stability that may be missing elsewhere in pupils’ lives to which the impact of operational tempo upon family life and a high divorce and separation rate amongst military families are also contributory factors.
12. The greater uncertainty of service life postings and the current threat of redundancy is destabilising to families and to the children in the school.
The provision of education for all service children from pre-school to age 19, including those with special needs
13. There is a £25 million building programme at The Duke of York’s Royal Military School. This will allow the number of pupils on roll to increase from 450 to 722. This expansion should benefit the military. However, we are obliged by the DfE to adhere to the Kent Admissions Procedure which is totally inappropriate for DoYRMS. Our catchment area, as a fully boarding school, is both across the nation and around the world, wherever there are military bases for UK forces. The deadlines involved in admissions are disadvantaging and discriminatory towards military families and children as decisions need to be made early in the academic year. Most frequently, military families have made their decisions much later, by mid to late summer, and this is most often by direct approach to the school rather than through the LEA.
14. With confirmation of postings coming throughout the year, it would be advantageous to military families if we were able to have greater flexibility in admission procedures. Whilst we would wish to meet the terms of the Armed Forces Covenant through offering a place if required part way through an academic year as a consequence of a posting, we are unable to hold such places for those from military families.
15. The school is increasingly attractive to non-military families in view of its ethos and high standards of academic and pastoral provision. Current admissions arrangements mean that places may have to be allocated to non-service families at the expense of those in the military with the concurrent risk that the distinct and supportive atmosphere offered to military families may be watered down.
16. There is a strong case to extend the DoYRMS age range to include Years 5 and 6 with admissions being heavily weighted towards military families. This could help secure the percentage of military families in Year 7 and thereafter, as well as extending the provision being offered to service children. Parents have expressed an interest in such a move.
The transfer of information about pupils between schools in particular pupils with special needs
17. We are no longer a selective school and therefore cater for children of all abilities with an intake that is broadly in line with the national average.
18. Information received about new pupils is not always timely and of good quality. As a result, the school uses the Service Childrens’ Pupil Premium to provide baseline testing and data. All pupils entering the school are also screened for SEN as the fractured educational background of many service children may mean areas of concern have not been fully identified in previous schools. Non-service children with such issues are picked up much earlier in nursery, infant and primary schools and strategies immediately put in place to meet their needs.
19. Before entering the Duke of York’s, on average, pupils will have been to more than four different schools and some have attended ten or more. This has a huge effect on the teaching process and prior attainment data is often almost non-existent in such cases. The lack of continuity of education makes data which is provided an unreliable guide to the true performance and potential of these children.
20. We do find that in our environment, those with SEN make rapid progress and, overall, perform at a level above national averages for such groups at GCSE.
21. The safeguarding and social needs of children from service backgrounds are not always well documented because of their mobility though support from Welfare Officers is readily forthcoming when requested.
The effectiveness of the various financial support schemes for all service families
22. We welcome the Pupil Premium for service children which we have used effectively for assessment and intervention with such pupils and, in particular, to help establish baseline performance and identify SEN requirements for those with fractured educational backgrounds.
23. We have noticed an increase in the amount of approaches to external agencies (eg, SSAFA, ABF, RBL—women’s section) for additional financial support to meet boarding fees where MOD support is no longer available.
24. The extension of compulsory education to 18 years old, with the accompanying need for continuous support, entails a greater level of provision for service children.
25. We are mindful of the Nepalese community within the services and the accessibility of support they receive. We are appreciative of Regimental Welfare Officers that help provide such access through, for example, assistance with the completion of forms.
26. Looking at the proportion of children helped by CEA and the associated eligibility criteria, the question, “is the covenant being fully met?” arises.
The adequacy of oversight and monitoring of service children’s education
27. We welcome the requirements to publish details of the use of the Pupil Premium for service children and the scrutiny of this which comes through Ofsted monitoring and inspection.
28. We would welcome greater scrutiny of the achievement of service children through distinct analysis of their performance as against school and national averages within DfE and Ofsted RAISE online reports.
29. We would be pleased to assist or sponsor other schools which have a high percentage of service children.
January 2013