The Royal Caledonian Education Trust - Est1815

News

07 October 2015

RCET Practitioners Conference outcomes

Over 100 education and military professionals came together to hear from a wide range of speakers

Air Vice-Marshal Ross Paterson, Air Officer Scotland

• New employment model which dealt with terms of service, future accommodation, training and education.
• RAF full base in Scotland, 3 Naval bases, 5 Army bases.

Matt Blyton, North Yorkshire County Council

• Anxieties of parents who have never lived in the UK.
• Multi-disciplinary response to meeting the needs of Armed Forces children.
• Value of the drama production in providing a forum for exploring and discussing these challenges.
• Problems in England with funding based on a Census date.

Keynote speaker: John Carnochan

• Whole life effect of adverse childhood experiences.
• Drivers: societal, community, relationships, individual.
• Absent fathers are a critical issue for children’s wellbeing.
• Imperative: those affected by actions must be involved in the process.

Dr Alasdair Allan MSP, Minister for Learning, Science and Scotland’s Languages

• Provided his response to the Government’s education strategy for children from Armed Forces families.
• Gave his response on the role of parents and families in helping to close the attainment gap for youngsters of Armed Forces families.
• How the Scottish Government will ensure that youngsters from Armed Forces families will not be disadvantaged if they move to Scotland at the start of the school year.
• Recognised and applauded the collaborations in the Armed Forces community in Scotland and the work of the RCET.

The Cadets

• The value of the cadet experience.
• The importance of achievement in its widest sense and equipping youngsters with skills for life.

The Very Rev. John Chalmers

• The importance of partnerships and networking - lots of good work taking place but how we join up thinking.
• The growing importance of the Reserves and the implications for families.

Moira Leslie, Education Manager, RCET

• Consolidating partnership working - no one partner can do this on their own - we need to work together.
• We owe it to children and young people to listen to their voices, to train staff and get appropriate support in place.
• We are a listening charity – come and talk to us.

Evelyn Cook, RCET PHD Researcher, Stirling University

• We embarked on this research to fill the research gap and to respond to the needs of educational establishments across Scotland in respect to strategies and interventions.
• Using innovative research methods to listen to and gather children’s voices: notions of being an armed forces pupil; different methods different perspectives; suite of qualitative methods; involving pupils; question how aspects of being an armed forces pupil emerge and transform across different experiences.
• Findings due : 2017

Col. Clive Knightley, MOD DCYP

• Maintaining & strengthening partnerships.
• Achieving more with less.

James MacBain, Chief Executive, RCET
Given the move of the Trust’s London office to Edinburgh by April 2016, the future work of the Trust in Scotland will include:

• Increasing geographic spread of the Education Programme within Scotland addressing educational needs of Regulars, Reserves and Veterans children
• Sharing of experience and RCET resources developed in Scotland with other education systems in the UK
• Developing engagement in policy matters regarding the education of Armed Forces children at school in Scotland
• Greater focus on relevant research in support of the education of Armed Forces children at school in Scotland
• A fundamental review of and refocus in the way the Trust makes educational grants to qualifying offspring of current and former Scottish Armed Forces personnel.

Matthew Middler