Service Children at Haynes Lower School

With MOD JITG (Chicksands) only a short distance from our school, some of our pupils are from Service families.

As a school we have have become increasingly aware of particular pressures that may affect children from Service families due to postings and deployments. In order to help children and their families cope with these additional pressures, we have put certain measures in place partly funded by the additional Service Family Pupil Premium the school currently receives.

Mrs Natalie Tillet (Learning Mentor) is a very experienced member of staff who has trained and has1st hand experience in supporting children with emotional well-being needs. On a weekly basis, Mrs Tillett runs a ‘Talk Time’ session for any child who has been identified as likely to benefit from this support. A child can be identified by parents or by school staff.  Mrs Tillett also supports the school's emotional well being curriculum through her involvement with 'The Mind Map' charity, focusing on resilience and 'it's good to talk' and to recognise our emotions.  For more information about 'The Mind Map' follow: https://mindmapcharity.co.uk/about/about

Children are free to talk about whatever they want; many like to speak to someone who understands their situation, but is not directly involved. From feedback to date, both children and parents find ‘Talk Time’ to be very helpful, particularly whilst a parent is deployed.

Please contact the School Office if you feel your child would benefit from this service: School Office: Tel - 01234 381225

Informing the School

Please let your child’s class teacher know if a parent is to be deployed. Some children cope very well when a parent is away; others do not. This may depend on a child’s personality or age. If a teacher knows that a child might be feeling upset because of circumstances at home, it is much easier than trying to work out why a child is upset or not concentrating well.

Holidays in Term Time

Taking holidays in term time is not authorised by the Head Teacher unless there are exceptional circumstances.

Exceptional circumstances would include absences from school for Service Family children relating to R & R or a short holiday during post-operational leave (normally a maximum of a week after a 6 month tour) if these fall outside normal school holidays. Such circumstances need to be confirmed in writing from the parents Senior Officer.

With school holidays for all pupils totalling 14 weeks per year, it is to be hoped that much post-operational leave will coincide with some school holidays.

Special Educational Needs

If your child has special educational needs, it is advisable that you register with CEAS (Children’s Educational Advisory Service) in order to access current SEN advice for Service Family children.  CEAS contact details: Tel: 01980 618244 e-mail: enquiries@ceas.detsa.co.uk

Welfare Office (JITG)

Mr Alan Hatton, Welfare Officer at JITG, is available to offer confidential support, advice and guidance to all military personnel and their families. He has access to a large number of welfare agencies both military and civilian that he can signpost military families to if appropriate.

Mr. Hatton’s contact details: Tel: 01462 752175 e-mail: alan.hatton115@mod.gov.uk

Service Family Pupil Premium

Schools currently receive ‘Pupil Premium’ in the School Budget to help support Service Family children in school, with a particular emphasis on emotional support.

The amount of funding for each year is calculated by the number of identified Service Family children on roll on the day of the previous January School Census. Although the number of Service Family pupils in school may change, sometimes considerably, throughout the year, the Census Day numbers give an indication for funding purposes.

Service Family Pupil Premium is not the same as Pupil Premium received for pupils on Free School Meals or ‘Looked After’ Children.