The Service Children In State School (SCISS) National Executive Advisory Committe (NEAC) commissioned Tiller Research Ltd to undertake a consultation with schools who have Service children on roll. The purpose of the consultation was to ensure that the group’s forthcoming action plan truly reflects the areas of most importance for schools. The key lines of enquiry were: • To identify current areas of successful school-based practice, and effective external resources, in relation to support for Service children; • To identify current challenges faced by schools in relation to support for Service children; • To identify key priorities/messages for stakeholders (e.g. government departments and local authorities), with a focus on developing policy and services that optimise the quality of support that schools can provide to Service children. This report presents the findings of the consultation, based on over 500 responses from headteachers and school leads for supporting Service children.
Abstract: This research set out to investigate the experiences of ‘grown up’ children from armed forces families, to gather their reflections on childhood and education, and to seek their advice to inform the current armed forces community, policy-makers and practitioners. The Service Children’s Progression Alliance (SCiP) defines a child from an armed forces family as “a person whose parent or carer serves in the Regular Armed Forces, or as a Reservist, or has done at any point during the first 25 years of that person’s life” (SCiP, 2017: para 2) and the Office for Students refers to this definition in their documentation relating to student characteristics (OfS n.d. para 8, see also OfS, 2020: para 11). In this research we use the term ‘grown up’ to indicate individuals over the age of 18 recognised to have reached the legal age of adulthood in the UK. This group of individuals are currently overlooked in research, policy and practice as the focus continues to be on serving members of the armed forces, veterans, and families, including school-aged children.