Education case studies: Identifying Service children

***This Covenant case study database is still being built. If you have any case studies about identifying Service children, suitable for adding to the database, please submit a case study.***

Asking families

• Highland Council has a dedicated group, the Military Liaison Group (Education), which is a partnership of local Armed Forces representatives and specialist providers and experts, who have built a strong, proactive and committed relationship, and work to an Action Improvement Plan. The Group has made changes to Enrolment Forms, Guidance to Head Teachers, and School Handbooks, to encourage identification of Service children. Enrolment Forms now prompt families to identify whether they are part of the Armed Forces, which Service they are from, and whether Serving, Reservist or veteran, with a link (or hardcopy) to a leaflet ‘Why do we want to know?’. This data helps to ensure that the right targeted support can be given to the child or young person at the right time. Identification is gradually increasing, creating a wider understanding of need.

Conducting research

• In 2015, the SSCE Cymru project commissioned a study into the numbers of Service children in each local authority in Wales, based on 2011 census data. The study also included a survey of schools to capture information on the schools’ awareness of the issues and current practice in supporting Service children. In a subsequent data collection exercise, SSCE Cymru worked with the local authorities and independent schools in Wales to provide a snapshot of the number of schools with Service children, and the number of Service children, in each local authority in Wales as of March 2021.