Seren of the Month

Lois has worked tirelessly over the past few years to embed good practice for supporting the Service children / young people at Llanwern High School in Newport and to champion them and their experiences. She has accessed funding to start a project for the Service pupils to lead, linking in with the local Veteran’s Hub, and to undergo Lego Therapy training to help support the wellbeing of Service pupils.

Additionally, Lois ensures that the Service pupils form Llanwern High School have the opportunity to attend any events linked to celebrating Month of the Military Child and Armed Forces Day.

Lois’ efforts have resulted in Llanwern High School being awarded their Bronze Armed Forces Friendly Schools Cymru Status and becoming not only the first school in Gwent to achieve this.

So much gratitude goes out to Lois for all of her hard work in making Llanwern High a school that not only makes the effort to identify their Service pupils but to ensure their needs are identified and met and give them the opportunities to talk about their experiences of being from a Service family.

Well done and thank you Lois!

Etta works within the Wellbeing Hub at Pencoed Comprehensive School in Bridgend and has collaborated with the SSCE Cymru team to embed support for the Service children and young people at the school.

Etta implemented the Service children group based on her own experiences of being a Service child, sibling and wife, and understands how this can impact on family life. She brings a positive attitude and a personal touch to those she supports and a service that she is
passionate about.

Etta exemplifies all that is good about supporting Service Young People. She runs a weekly group where learners can come together and discuss how they are impacted by having members of family who are in the forces. This allows the young people to open up about their shared experiences and offer support to one another. Etta has patience and kindness, in addition to her dedication, hard work and commitment in supporting these young people. She is proactive in raising money for
them to take part in fun activities and good causes that benefit the group.

Thank you, Etta, for all your hard work and commitment!!

The SSCE Cymru team are lucky enough to work alongside Debbie as our key contact for Service children in Conwy Borough County Council.

It has been fantastic to see the support for Service children grow in Conwy schools over recent years and Debbie has played a big role in this! Debbie works closely with SSCE Cymru and her colleagues within the council to utilise the SSCE Cymru Local Authority (LA) Action Plan template, ensuring that Service children are considered and supported from an LA perspective in Conwy. She acts as an advocate to ensure that good practice is shared with all schools through regular updates in their school bulletin.

Debbie has also recently organised a Month of the Military Child event for schools with Service children within the LA and managed to bring several happy Service children together for a fun filled morning of music sessions and a workshop from the Royal Welch Fusiliers Museum!

Thank you for all that you do for the Service children of Conwy Debbie!!

SSCE Cymru have been lucky enough to work alongside Kelly since she was given responsibility of supporting Service children in Pembrokeshire County Council, around four years ago!

Kelly has been a huge advocate of the SSCE Cymru programme, as the lead contact for the local authority and line manager of the West Wales SSCE Cymru Regional School Liaison Officers (RSLOs). She has always demonstrated a huge amount of support for Service children and improving the provisions available for them in Pembrokeshire.

Kelly has utilised resources such as the Local Authority (LA) Action plan to consider the improvements and changes that could be made to the LA provisions which has embedded good practice, ensuring support for Service children in Pembrokeshire is strong now and in future years. Kelly has always been happy to share her own experiences and knowledge with other LAs across Wales and collaborate where appropriate.

Thank you for all your hard work and support!!!

Ralph and Harry are aged 6 and in Year 1 in Baglan Primary School in Neath Port Talbot.

Their daddy is a Pilot in the Army, and lives on camp during the week. They are super excited when daddy comes home on the weekend, but also find it tough when he is deployed overseas.

Ralph and Harry love school, especially playing with their friends and performing on stage! As most 6-year-old boys, they are very busy, and are involved in kickboxing, football, rugby and swimming. Their favourite things to do with daddy when he is home is playing football in the garden, play mousetrap, go on the beach and wash mummy’s car!

They are both excellent members of Baglan Primary School’s Little Troopers Club. We are so proud that while their Daddy is currently deployed on operational tour they have kept smiling! 

Thank you, Ralph and Harry and your wonderful family!

This month, we are shouting out a big thank you to four Seren’s of the month!!!!

The SSCE Cymru Regional School Liaison Officers (RSLOs) have been instrumental in the growth of the SSCE Cymru programme over the past few years. There personal and professional experiences has brought a wealth of knowledge to the programme, that has enabled us to increase our support package and resources. This means that education settings in Wales now have a much stronger understanding of Service children’s experiences and are well prepared to support this unique group of learners.

Each of you has been an absolute pleasure to work with. You are incredibly hardworking, dedicated, enthusiastic and have all been strong advocates for Service children in Wales.

Thank you, thank you, thank you - good luck with your next steps - we will miss you so very much!

As Deputy Headteacher and ALNCo at Mount Street Junior School, Brecon is a wonderfully knowledgeable and professional member of staff. Mount Street Junior School was the first school in Wales to be awarded our Armed Forces Friendly School (AFFS) Cymru Bronze status in recognition for their work with Service children and the wider Armed Forces community in this area. Having worked in this community for many years, Mrs Waghorn has personally welcomed and assisted many Armed Forces families by helping them to integrate seamlessly into their new environment, often being the friendly 'go to' person at the school, she will always help if she can. And although this is a whole school approach with Mr Hopkins, as Headteacher and all the staff and pupils at this school doing an excellent job of welcoming new Armed Forces families, it’s Mrs Waghorn who has engaged with us on numerous occasions. She has demonstrated how the school ensures that they remain inclusive by continuing to show an appreciation and understanding of the challenges faced by Service children, recognising how difficult it can be for these children to move on. Mrs Waghorn is always there to help those who need extra support to manage new situations better.

Thank you, Mrs Waghorn, for all your efforts, it is much appreciated!

It has been a pleasure working with Reg at Haverfordwest High VC School. As a veteran, Reg has firsthand experience of the Armed Forces lifestyle and as a result, he understands the importance of setting up a Forces Life Club at the school with his colleague Emma Richards. This has given the Service children at the school and within the cluster an opportunity to come together regularly, share their individual experiences and have fun. Reg has worked hard with his team, and this has shown in the achievement of the Gold Armed Forces Friendly School Cymru status. Reg is now using his knowledge of the SCiP Alliance Thriving Lives Toolkit and is sharing this to help other schools within West Wales.

Diolch Reg and the Haverfordwest High VC School Team! Please keep up the good work.