The SSCE Cymru team are passionate about pupil voice. We love to listen to Service children/young people! Listening to you helps us to understand more and ensures that we involve you in any activities we organise and the resources we produce. Your voice is important! We actively encourage educators in Wales to recognise how listening can help us all change things for the better.
Jo Wolfe is the SSCE Cymru Participation Lead Officer (PLO) who is responsible for all things Service children pupil voice
The SSCE Cymru team promise to continue with our mission to make sure that every school that we know with Service children/young people on role, has a dedicated member of staff that you can talk to and feel heard. We know that Service children/young people may share some similar stories, however every journey is different, and you will all learn, grow and feel differently too. We ask schools to remember this and consider how they can help support you.
You have told us that you would like schools to help with the following things:
Article 12 – I have the right to be listened to and be taken seriously.
Experiences that had a positive impact on Service child’s (children’s) wellbeing and educational experience: 60% said making friends.
In my eyes you have hundreds of friends in different places.
SSCE Cymru enjoy collaborating with schools and our network to support Service children/young people in education in Wales. By working together we signpost school staff to a wealth of resources to provide them with everything they need to establish a club for you to make new friends and have fun!
See the information below about some of the clubs already here in Wales. There might already be one at your new school!
Mr Hill is currently the Service Children School Champion for the Service children club at Prendergast CP Primary School. Their club was formed in September 2023 and currently has 50 members!
Ms Alyson Jones is the Service Children School Champion for the Service children's club at Llanfair Primary School. The club has been running since 2021 and currently has 14 members.
Mrs Sarah Hayward, is the Service Children School Champion at Ysgol Pen-y-Bryn.
Ms. Katie Parker is the current Service Children School Champion at St Athan Primary School. The schools club started regular sessions from 2022 and has 15 members.
Ms. Rhiannon Pugh is the Service Children School Champion at New Inn Primary School. This school has a wonderful Service children club, with 8 members from across all year groups.
The Service children's club at Ysgol Y Ddraig was first established in 2021. Mrs Karen Bale, the ALNCo and the Service Children School Champion, is supported by Mrs Cox to run regular 'meet up' sessions with their 25 club members.
Mrs Eve Wilson, the Service Children School Champion, oversees the Service children's club which was formed in set in 2023 and currently has 11 members.
Mrs Etta Bishop leads on the Service children/young people club at Pencoed Comprehensive School. This club has been established since 2020 and currently has 14 members from across all year groups.
Mr Reg White and Ms Emma Richards, are the 'go to' Service Children School Champions for the 30-40 young people who are members of this schools club.
Ms. Jessica Pritchard is the 'go to' person for the members of the club at Ysgol Glan Clwyd. Ms. Pritchard established the club in early 2023, they currently have 9 members.
Mrs Virginia Dobbins is Prestatyn High School's Service Children School Champion. This high school currently has 12 young people, who regularly meet in a 'club' setting.
If your school has an established club, SSCE Cymru encourages its members to consider volunteering as an ambassador. As an ambassador, you will represent your school’s club and be added to a growing network of Service Children Ambassadors. You may be invited to share your experiences of growing up in an Armed Forces family with our team and the SSCE Cymru network, giving you an important voice for other Service children and young people in Wales.
Being an ambassador provides valuable experience working with educators, organisations, charities, and policy makers. When relevant opportunities arise, and your experiences align with specific needs, our team may contact the school’s Service Children School Champion to invite you to participate in various activities. These could include:
Any involvement in these activities will be arranged through the school, with the necessary consent in place beforehand.
Here is one of our ambassadors to tell you more about how they have worked with us…
“Hi and welcome to Wales! My name is Riley, and my dad served 22 years in the Royal Corp of Signals. I was first introduced to SSCE Cymru after I won the BBC young reporter competition where I got to make a report on the life of a Service child and the challenges one might face. SSCE Cymru got me together with other Service children in my area who I got to interview to help with my BBC report, this helped show what Service children go through in their daily lives. Later SSCE Cymru put me forward for a Service children's ambassador award. I was humbled by this opportunity and even more humbled when I won the Service children's ambassador award, but also the Service children's Champion award which was the highest award possible! If it wasn't for SSCE Cymru I would have never heard of this award let alone win!
SSCE Cymru continued to allow me to spread the knowledge of the struggles of being a child of a Service person. They gave me the opportunity to attend the Young Wales Festival where I got to learn about the Welsh youth parliament. I was able to talk to the Children's Commissioner for Wales and chat with her about a lot of issues and bring to her knowledge of the struggles of Service children. All the opportunities given to me by SSCE Cymru make an impact on Service children and I hope it helps them use their voice to make other Service children's lives better."
The SSCE Cymru team are delighted to share that Riley has been elected as the Welsh Youth Parliament member for Preseli Pembrokeshire!!!
The key issues that Riley will be focusing on in the Senedd are:
- Service children's education
- Equal educational funding
- ALN waiting lists
If you would like to share your experiences with our team and Riley or raise any issues affecting you as a Service child/young person, then please do contact the SSCE Cymru Participation Lead Officer, Jo Wolfe at joanna.wolfe@wlga.gov.uk
Any child or young person who:
Speak to your Service Children School Champion (SCSC) and ask them to contact the SSCE Cymru Participation Lead Officer, who will add you to our network and be in touch through your school contact to discuss activities that you might like to get involved in.
"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
"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
"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
"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
"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
"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
"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
Welsh Local Government Association
One Canal Parade
Dumballs Road
Cardiff
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