Understanding the needs of Service children in a primary school setting: Teachers’ perspectives

There is a lack of recent and rigorous literature within the UK focusing on teachers' perspectives, the aim of this Pilot Study is to identify teachers’ current knowledge, confidence and understanding in supporting the needs of Service children within a primary school setting. 

This study aims to identify teachers’ current knowledge, confidence and understanding of the needs of Service children in a primary school setting using semi-structured interviews. 

Semi-structured interviews will be used to interview teachers of Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 Service children within primary schools. Questions will focus on teachers’ current knowledge and understanding of the needs of Service children, training and CPD, resources used and the impact this is having. Data will be analysed using thematic analysis so key categories and themes in relation to teachers’ perspectives can be identified. The intention with the results of the Pilot Study, is that the data collected and analysed will help to indicate a more focused direction of study for the final thesis, as the initial information gathering will offer a deeper insight into the research requirements.

• Are there any gaps in teachers’ knowledge and understanding of the needs of Service children?
• What do teachers understand as the benefits/challenges of being a Service child?
• What resources/support is in place for Service children and what impact is this having?
• Are teachers confident in supporting Service children in their setting?
• Have teachers had any training/CPD on supporting Service children whilst training through to the current day?

10 Primary School Teachers.