Pencoed Comprehensive School receives award for support offered to Armed Forces children

Supporting Service Children in Education in Wales (SSCE Cymru) has furnished Pencoed Comprehensive School with the coveted Bronze Armed Forces Friendly Schools Award for the valuable support offered to Service children at the school.

The SSCE Cymru works with schools to embed good practice for supporting Service children; create a positive environment for them to share experiences, as well as encourage educational settings to become more engaged with the Armed Forces community.  The organisation offers three levels of awards for schools to work towards, namely bronze, silver and gold, with a criterion for each.

Pencoed Comprehensive School has adopted a multi-faceted approach in helping their Service learners, including a fortnightly SSCE group meeting to provide learners with the opportunity to discuss any concerns or experiences, especially when a parent/loved one is deployed.  Pupils share positive coping strategies, as well as participate in team building sessions and classroom-based activities, helping to develop leadership skills and offering the opportunity for Armed Forces students to flourish.

Headteacher, Edward Jones, and SSCE lead, Mrs Etta Bishop, both have personal experience steeped in military life, allowing them to support the learners from a unique, empathetic standpoint. 

An Armed Forces child and later a military wife, Mrs Bishop, who has been running the SSCE group for five years, not only understands the experiences of the Service children, but also relates to the circumstances of the parents, allowing valuable relationships with families to develop.

Mr. Edward Jones said: “Being a forces child myself, my dad was a Warrant Officer (WO1) in the REME (Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers), I remember how hard it was to move school back from Scotland to Wales in the 1970s.  As a school, we recognise the importance of quality support to ensure that Forces children are welcomed effectively, helping them to integrate into our school community quickly, as well as ensuring we meet their wellbeing and academic needs.”

A Year 9 member of the SSCE group said: “It’s nice being part of a group where people are going through the same thing - it makes it easier to relate to them, unlike some other friends who might not really understand what it’s like to have a dad away in the forces."

Another Service learner added: “I like being part of the Forces group because it gives people a bit of extra support from school and helps them to learn how to support their families who might also be struggling emotionally."

Recently, Pencoed Comprehensive School received further recognition of its efforts having been selected to attend the Annual SSCE Alliance Conference in Cardiff, where learners were asked to discuss their personal experiences as a Service child.