Month of the Military Child

April/Ebrill | #MotMCCymru

April is designated as the Month of the Military Child, which highlights the important role Service children play in the Armed Forces community. It is a time to applaud Armed Forces families and their children for the daily sacrifices they make and the challenges they overcome.

Why Purple?

Purple was chosen because it symbolizes all branches of the military, a combination of Army Green, Air Force Blue, Coast Guard Blue, Marine Red and Navy Blue.

SSCE Cymru would like to encourage education settings to carry out activities during this month to celebrate and raise awareness of the unique experiences this group of children and young people have and become a more Armed Forces-friendly environment.

'Purple Up' Day

Wednesday 30th of April is the day to 'Purple up' for Month of the Military Child in Wales!

How can you get involved?
- Wear purple (consider raising money for an Armed Forces charity)
- Create purple artwork and displays
- Take photos of what you get up to
- Share your photo/s on social media (tag @SSCECyrmu on X and Facebook) using the hashtag #MotMCCymru – with a message to Service children, thanking them for their important role in the Armed Forces community
- Send your photos to SSCECymru@wlga.gov.uk

Events

See the SSCE Cymru events page for details of events taking place in April, as part of Month of the Military Child.

UNCRC

Article 8: I have the right to an identity.

UNCRC

Article 31: I have a right to rest, relax and play.

Month of the Military Child 2025 activities

Llanfair Primary School celebrate Purple Up Day!

Llanfair Primary School (Vale of Glanmorgan) enjoyed celebrating Purple Up Day this year by holding a special assembly where Service children bravely stood up in front of their peers are shared their experiences of life as part of an Armed Forces family. During the Month of the Military Child, the school were also visited by Sian Woodland from Woody's Lodge who explained how Woody's Lodge support veterans and emergency service workers. Alyson Jones, the MOD LSA at the school shared "All our pupils wore purple and our MOD school ambassadors were brilliant leading the assembly." Diolch/ Thank you Llanfair Primary school for sharing your Month of the Military Child celebrations with us! 

Month of the Military child activities and crafts at Pencoed Primary School

Pencoed Primary School (Bridgend) have been very busy getting crafty throughout the month of April to celebrate Month of the Military Child.  The school held a purple craft workshop where Service children and their peers made purple bunting, paper chains and posters to 'Purple Up' the school! The Service children also enjoyed making bracelets out of loom bands and pony beads, Month of Military Child keyrings and lots of chalking and drawing and colouring dandelions on the yard around the school.  The school were also visited by Never Such Innocence for one of their 'Memoir' Month of the Military Child songwriting workshops. The year 5/6 pupils thoroughly enjoyed this experience! What a busy month at Pencoed Primary School! Diolch/ Thank you for sharing these lovely photos with us!

'Purple Up' display at Prestatyn High School

Prestatyn High School (Denbighshire) enjoyed getting together in the well-being room with their Service children School Champion to celebrate 'Purple Up' day. They got crafty and created a purple handprint poster which is now proudly displayed on the Service children/ young people board. They also had a great time completing World War 1 and 2 wordsearches and enjoyed a few treats together. Some of the young people shared: "I enjoy meeting up with other Service children in school, I have got to make more friends from different years." "I look forward to celebrating /meeting up and doing art activities as I love art." Diolch/ Thank you for sharing these lovely photos with us Prestatyn High School!

Previous Month of the Military Child Activities

Service Children Quotes

Case Studies

Service children’s quotes

"Being a military child is hard, but it also gets you a lot of new experiences that I wouldn't have experienced otherwise".

Esme-Jane

"For military children they [Mount Street Junior School] do a club called Little Troopers, they've done a Remembrance service, purple up day. We celebrate Holi and Dawali".

Arushi

"My Mum is my parent that is in the Armed Forces. She is a reservist. So when I was younger it was a lot worse, she travelled around a lot. I've lived in the same house my whole life, but she has moved around me. I was in a constant cycle of saying goodbye".

Emma

"My Dad, he's in the Army and he works in the Engineers and he goes away on week days and comes back on weekends"

Emily

"Dad often goes away. It is a bit worrying not knowing where your Dad is going. It does worry me and my sister. Yeah, you just never know when he's coming home". 

Joe

"In June or July, my Dad is going away quite far. He's in the Army, he's a chef. Having your Dad gone is so sad."

Josie

"I've lived in many places. So, I was born in Cyprus, after that I've been to Germany, then I went to this place called Stafford. Then another place which is Wales."

Dominic

"I've moved seven times in fourteen years." 

Lilia

"Now we've got a forever home. I never have to worry about leaving or how long until I am leaving. I feel like I belong here a lot more, that's always great."

Oliver

"As soon as we get used to a house, you get moved - I’ve been to four schools and moved six times."

Aiden

"I lived in Nepal, then we went to Brunei, then Malaysia."

Ashim

"In my eyes, you have hundreds of friends in different places."

Chloe

"I’m used to moving now and mixing with the children... I’ve done it so many times, it’s just a normal thing now."

Chloe

"It's ok talking over skype and that, but sometimes you just want a hug when Dad is away."

Georgia

"He signed off last week, so he will be done by the end of this year. He’s done 24 years. I find that better because he will be around a lot. He likes watching us playing rugby, so he will get to see us more."

Lewis

"I’ve enjoyed going around to lots of places around the world, it's adventurous and exciting."

Harry

"In my eyes, you have hundreds of friends in different places."

Ieuan

"My mum got a chalk board and it says how many sleeps on it with chalk, every minute it’s getting closer for him coming home."

Mia

"I don’t want him to get promoted... I want him to get promoted but I don’t want to leave."

Oliver

"I might be going to boarding school so that I don’t change schools every few years."

Ryan

"I've been to seven different schools; I’ve not stayed put in one school long enough."

Shana

"He has been away for six months and he is back for two weeks, then he goes away again."

Sianed

"My parents were in the Army. My mum is a like a nurse and my dad went to the war in Afghanistan. I actually didn’t really know what he was doing so I was like, ‘Cool Dad, go there,’ but then I found out and thought, 'Thank God he came back alive.'"

Sanjog

"I’m going to a new place entirely. They don’t know anything about me and that’s a big restart and that’s really good for me."

Piaras

"I moved to Wales because my dad was posted in the Army. I thought I would get bullied and I was shy when you meet new people, but I made some friends."

Dan

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