SCSN

Sharing Best Practice tosupport Service Children

Summer 2011

Service Children Support Network

In this issue….

May Seminar - The Professor William Yule PresentationThe Army Children’s ArchiveCoping with Deployment at RAF Benson PrimarySSAFA Forces Help - Committed to helping Service Families

Welcome to the Summer Edition of the SCSNNewsletter, we hope you will find it interesting andinformative. I thought it would be useful to kick offthis issue with a quick overview of how SCSN hasdeveloped over the last few months. Those of youwho have been with us from the start in 2008 willremember our informal beginnings whichdeveloped into the ‘Bucks and Oxon SCISS Group’ in2009. In 2010, steadily increasing numbers ofenquiries from other areas of the UK prompted usto take stock of our position and re-assess how weshould move forward in the future . Firstly,recognising that our efforts were no longerrestricted to the local Bucks and Oxon area and thatthe use of the County names in the title mighttherefore be misleading, we undertook to changethe name of the group. Members were canvassedand the ‘Service Children Support Network’ wasofficially born in January 2011.

It was always my intent that the group would aim toprovide advice and genuinely practical assistance toprofessionals who worked with Service Children,backed up by specialist training support whererequired, rather than just being yet another ‘talkingshop’ like so many others. I believed it wasessential that our efforts should always be directedby evidence gained from, and underpinned by,genuine and credible academic research. Whereresearch had yet to be conducted, we wouldendeavour to undertake it ourselves whilst alsoserving as a central point for other researchers topublish their findings. Where new initiatives wereproposed we would evaluate them and if they werefound to be effective we would seek to share themwith other professionals as examples of ‘bestpractice.’ In support of that aim, SCSN willundertake the provision of high-quality bespoketraining, delivered by professionals, toprofessionals, who work with Service Children.However, the provision of training costs money interms of travel expenses etc and SCSN cannotexpect the training team members to carry thatfinancial burden themselves. Personally, I hadalways envisaged the group maturing to become a

‘Social Enterprise’ i.e. "a business with primarilysocial objectives whose financial surpluses arereinvested specifically for that purpose, rather thanbeing driven by the need to maximise profit forshareholders.” Any excess monies raised throughthe course of future SCSN activities would be putstraight back into ensuring that training and supportcould be delivered (on a subsidised basis ifnecessary) to the people that actually need it. I cannow announce that subsequently, and as a legalnecessity, SCSN has been formally registered withCompanies House as a Social Enterprise althoughthe majority of members will see absolutely nochange at all. We will still meet regularly, on acompletely free basis, to discuss ongoing issues justas we always have.

However, I am extremely pleased that our effortsand ethos has continued to attract members ofhigh professional standing in their specialist fieldsand that we now have a formalised structure inplace to meet the challenges of the future.Voluntary Executive Directors have been appointedto deal with administrative and PR tasks, financialmanagement and oversight. Voluntary SpecialistAdvisors have been appointed to lead on issues suchas academia and research, health, welfare,education, and to facilitate wider engagement withthe Military community. Our training team is inplace and a number of bespoke training packagesare under development as we speak. We continueto forge effective links with an ever-increasingnumber of relevant organisations across the UKincluding many local authorities and over 700schools (that have Service Children) across the UKand overseas. We have now set up our website andyou should visit it regularly if you want to keep up todate with progress or see what events are comingup. Talking of which, by the time you read this theSCSN Seminar with Professor William Yule will havetaken place at The Defence Academy, Shrivenham,and you will find an article describing the event laterin this issue. The SCSN National Art Competition2011 ‘Through the Eyes of a Service Child’ will bejudged on 7 June and you will be able see thewinning entries on the website thereafter and in theAutumn issue of this newsletter. From the (over350) entries I have seen so far, it is clear that ServiceChildren have some interesting views on the lifethey lead! So to conclude... I hope that you are allas pleased as I am that we continue to push aheadwith our central aim of ‘Sharing best practice tosupport Service Children’. Enjoy the Newsletter!

Joy O’Neill - Founder and Chair, SCSN

SCSN Update

The Army Children Archivecontains many fascinatingpictures including this oneof Bulford Camp in 1910

A writer and editor by profession, I am also a third-generation (one-time) army child, and it was whileresearching military families for an article for afamily-history magazine that I realized just how littleinformation is available to researchers concernedwith the lives and times of army children. So Iestablished The Army Children Archive (TACA) in2007 to collect, record, preserve and share details ofthe unique aspects of growing up as the child of asoldier serving in the British Army from theseventeenth century to date.

To ensure its universal accessibility, TACA wasdesigned to be a virtual archive – a website – towhich visitors are encouraged to contributeinformation, images, and, in the case of former armychildren, their own stories and observations abouttheir unusual upbringing. These make particularlyinteresting reading.

For example:

It is not the most sensible life for a child,constantly being made to move to new townsand always being the new girl at school. Whileyou cope with it at the time, it doesimmeasurable damage, which doesn't reallysurface until one's teens and twenties.

(‘Personal story: My army life, and theconsequences of my peripatetic upbringing’)

I am so glad that I had the childhood – to theage of sixteen – that I had. I experiencedwonderful situations, places and people, andam adaptable, resilient, independent and free-spirited, with an openness to new experiencesthat always amazes others.

(‘Personal story: ‘I'm just so glad I was an armykid’’)

Areas covered within TACA include: army children’slives and times; modes of travel between postings,and between boarding school and home; the realityof life on arrival at postings within the UK andabroad; accommodation and married quarters;healthcare and hospitals; schooling; army children’smemories; famous army children; tips onresearching army children for family historians; linksto related websites; recommendations for furtherreading; book reviews; and more besides.

TACA, which is regularly updated, has alreadybecome a useful online resource for social historiansand other researchers. It doesn’t only look to thepast, however, for it aims to support current army-child-focused research by providing a platform fromwhich help can be sought, initiatives publicized andfindings made known.

TACA also tries to raise awareness of the challengesthat the military lifestyle requires today’s generationof army children to face, and in so doing increasinglyincludes within its scope the children of parentsserving in the Royal Navy, Royal Marines and RoyalAir Force. So if you think that TACA could assist youin your work with forces children, or if you’d like toadd to the archive, do get in touch (there’s a contactform on the website).

Clare GibsonFounder, The Army Children Archive (TACA).www.archhistory.co.uk

The Army Children Archive - Chronicling Army Children’s History

SCSN Profile

Name:

The RAF Families Federation

So what’s your job?

Acting as a barometer of family morale, telling it like it is, and representing ordinary families’views, knowing that the only voices that matter are those of the family members werepresent. The RAF Families Federation represents the views and concerns of RAF personneland their family members on the issues that affect them as an RAF family.  Whether they arein uniform or a spouse, a partner, a parent, a child or a sibling of a member of the RAF, theRAF FF will act on their behalf.

The Federation is an independent organisation, it operates entirely outside the RAF chain ofcommand and is not aligned with any other organisation so it can always promise anindependent and confidential service. The Federation is not a charity, it is publicly funded. Itis parented by the RAF Association but receives no monies from this source and pays for anyservices provided by the charity.

What does that entail?

By gathering evidence the Federation team puts RAF family views and concerns in front ofthe people who can make a difference, such as senior RAF and MOD staffs and Ministers.Influencing change, where it is needed, for the better.

What does that mean day to day?

Those who contact the Federation, attend one of our evidence gathering sessions orcomplete our on-line surveys are all contributing views on life as part of a RAF family. It maybe about Housing, Schooling, Health, Financial issues, Childcare or be about personnel issues,for example a posting.

What other agencies do you work with?

If there is a specific issue rather than just a viewpoint beingexpressed the Federation will signpost the individual on to therelevant organisation that can help. If it is a personnel issue wemight put it to the RAF Unit concerned or to the relevant RAFpolicy staffs. If there is a policy issue that is deemed to beunfair or a situation where a RAF family is being disadvantagedin some way then we will flag it to the appropriate governmentdepartment. For example in the case of child maintenance wewould look to the Department of Work and Pensions.

The Mums and Dads of most of our children are servinghere at RAF Benson and, sadly, many of them have tospend a lot of time away from their home. We use thismap to show the children where their Mum or Dad isstaying, and how it relates to the geography of the world.The children’s names are placed at the end of each stringso that they can identify on the map where their Mum orDad is currently staying, and shows them that they arenot alone in having one of their parents being away fromhome.

We always encourage our children to express theirfeelings and some of our children wrote poems aboutdeployment which we would like to share.

Daddy

As upset as mum,As worried as me,As lonely as the sea,As tearful as he,As cold as iceas I wait for you to come home,Love you Dad.

My father comes, my father goes.

My father comes, my father goesMy father packs up ready to goInto the car and starts it upAnd never forgets to take his cupAnd my father comes, my father goes.

My father comes, my father goesI start to get bored after he goesBut when he is gone I get sadBut I think about the fun we’ve hadAnd my father comes, my father goes.

My father comes, my father goesI hear him stomp right past the back doorHe starts to give me some presentsAnd tells us he saw some rare pheasantsAnd My father comes, my father goes.

When my Dad comes back.

Woke up so scared,Because my Dad had come back,From Afghanistan.

When my Dad came back,We were all very frightened,My heart is pumping!

Dad don’t go, come back.Don’t leave me alone, come back.Sorry to scare you!

Dad’s Haiku.

Dad has gone away,It makes me upset to thinkThat he is lied dead.

Coping with Deployment at RAF Benson Primary School

Life for a child with a parent in the ArmedForces can mean many things, namely frequentrelocation and the unique pressures of parentaloperational deployment. Many children willbenefit from the more positive aspects ofmoving home, such as the opportunity to live innew places and make new friends, plusexperience different cultures if living abroad.However, having to move to new and unfamiliarenvironments every two or three years, alongwith having to cope with long periods of a parentbeing absent whilst deployed on operations, canalso be traumatic for a child. This unique set ofcircumstances means increased pressure for achild and for the whole family.

SSAFA Forces Help recognises the extrademands placed on Service Families and iscommitted to providing support to those whoserve, those who used to serve and the familiesof both. Every year, the Association helps inexcess of 50,000 people worldwide through awide range of services from a ConfidentialSupport Line, to short stay accommodation forfamilies of injured personnel (the NortonHomes), to holidays for children with anadditional need or disability. SSAFA ForcesHelp is even a registered adoption agency,available to all those in the Service Community.

Across the world, a team of carefully selectedand trained volunteers provide a broad base ofpractical and emotional support to individualsand families. Community Volunteers befriendthose going through periods of isolation andloneliness, perhaps due to illness, depression orbereavement. They can help with the ordinarythings that can be tough to deal with whencombined with the demands of Service life,particularly when posted far away from family

and friends. It could be something as simple asproviding transport, helping out with childcare,helping a family to settle in to their newenvironment or simply being there to listen.

Volunteers can also provide support to adoptivefamilies and families that have one or moremembers with an additional need or disability.They will typically spend one or two hours aweek with a child, either in the home or on anouting. This ensures individual attention for thechild and gives the other members of the familya break from their normal routine. A couple ofhours a week might not sound a lot but it canmean the difference between a family coping orfalling apart. For an adoptive family, the supportof a volunteer can provide much-neededreassurance to family members adjusting to newdynamics in the home and, for a family livingwith somebody with additional needs, regularsupport provides essential respite care.Volunteers remain linked with the family for aslong as the family and the volunteer wish andthe time spent together is agreed mutually.

Committed to helpingService Families

SSAFA Volunteer Karen with Tilly

Volunteer Karen has been spending time withTilly, aged 5, once a week for the past year.Tilly has been diagnosed autistic but the familyis still waiting for the official paperwork to beprocessed before she receives additionalsupport at school. The family is currently livingin Germany, far away from extended family, sothe two hours that Tilly and Karen, whom Tillyaffectionately calls “my lady”, spend together atthe playground gives the rest of the family amuch-needed break. As elder sibling Dominic,aged 12, said; “we had time to play a boardgame out in the sun”. Mum Claire added,“We’re able to relax knowing that Karen is fullytrained and knows how to deal with Tilly, andthat Tilly is safe”. Tilly’s elder brother and sisteralso enjoyed the charity’s annual Children’sHoliday last summer.

SSAFA Forces Help funds Children’s Holidayswhich cater for children with a disability or anadditional need, their siblings and those withyoung carer responsibilities. The fun-packed,week-long breaks include climbing, swimming,kayaking and horse-riding. It can be a life-changing experience for the children, many ofwhom will have spent the night away from home

for the first time. They also provide parents witha much-needed break, safe in the knowledgethat their child is well cared for. Volunteers aretrained and specially assigned to work one-to-one with their young person for the duration ofthe holiday. All SSAFA Forces Help Volunteersare carefully selected before attending acomprehensive training package coveringissues such as confidentiality and boundaries.Volunteers can also receive enhanced andspecialist training on change and transition,bereavement and loss and additional needs anddisabilities.

SSAFA Forces Help is endorsed by the chain ofCommand and often works alongside other coreagencies offering support, such as the AWS orRELATE, but its services are completelyconfidential and individuals or families can askfor support directly. For more information on theservices offered, please call +44 (0) 20 74038783 or email info@ssafa.org.uk. Moreinformation can also be found on the websitewww.ssafa.org.uk.

Alison Crowe, Publicity Officer Western Europe.

SSAFA Volunteer Allan McMillan and Dominic doing some archery together

during a recent Children with Additional Needs holiday.

The Royal Navy and Royal Marine Children’s Fundprovides help to children of serving and ex-servingpersonnel when they are in need, hardship ordistress. We currently have over 1000 active casesand spend around £1.3m annually.

Our charter allows us to help children from birth upto the age of 25. The latter limit is unusual, butdoes permit us to help children with special needsto integrate as far as possible into society after theyleave the education system. The hope is that in thelong term they can live relatively independently,without being a burden on state resources or othercharities.

A high proportion of our beneficiaries have specialneeds and their development has been thwarted byregular family moves, which prevent the vitalstability that children need. Add to that thecomplexity of moving from the English to Scottish orto foreign educational, social services and healthsystems on a regular basis, and many poor families,especially those without an extended family, justcannot cope. We provide assistance for specialeducational needs, which ought to be provided bylocal authorities but all too often isn’t. In the past,we would provide for the enhancements or servicesthat could not legitimately be met by the statutoryauthorities, such as a piece of equipment toimprove a child’s quality of life. However, we nowfind ourselves paying for very basic care andeducation – no longer the icing on the cake, but thecake itself.

At a time when the local authorities are expectingvoluntary organisations and charities to take on aneven greater role in providing assistance in thecommunity, it is important that our role isacknowledged and that we work as collaborativelyas possible.

Monique Bateman

Director RN and RM Children’s Fund

Please remember that Jane Melbourne, HMI, iscoming to RAF Halton to discuss her findings fromthe Ofsted Report ‘Children in Service Families’ withSCSN members on 14 June 11. The Report raisedsome very interesting observations and madeseveral significant recommendations that haveattracted attention from across the professionalcommunity and the national media. Thepresentation will take place from 1000 to 1200 inthe Nuffield Pavilion at RAF Halton. To book a placeplease contact Joy O’Neill at SCSN ASAP!

The next routine meeting of SCSN will take place atRAF Brize Norton from 1300 to 1500 on 28 Sep 11.

The main agenda items will be:

- How to support ‘Hard-to-reach families.

- The Role of Unit Welfare Officers and Community Development Officers.

More details will be posted on the SCSN websitewww.servicechildrensupportnetwork.com in duecourse.

Forthcoming Events

On 24 May 11 SCSN were very pleased to welcomeProfessor William Yule who spoke about PTSD andmental health issues for Service families. Theaudience of over 120 interested professionals fromacross the education, welfare and health fields,together with members of the Service community,gathered in the lecture Theatre and Joy O’Neillopened the event with a quick overview of SCSN.Alix Anson then went on to describe the ‘Ten forTen’ campaign, a major event being run to mark the10th anniversary of UK Forces serving inAfghanistan. She was followed by Rob Beadel, theSenior Educational Psychologist from Bucks CountryCouncil, who explained about ‘The TransitionPassport’ an initiative designed to support high-mobility pupils.

Then Joy welcomed Professor Yule to the stage andhe opened his talk with a very interestingdescription of his previous work in support of thevictims of the Herald of Free Enterprise and theJupiter disasters, with UNICEF in Bosnia, and how hecame to be appointed as the Civilian Advisor inClinical Psychology to the British Army. He went onto detail and discuss the nature of stress reactions inchildren including sleep disturbances, difficultieswith separation and concentration, irritability andproblems communicating with parents and friendsetc. Where issues were arising from exposure to, orinvolvement in a traumatic incident, children mayalso exhibit a heightened alertness to danger and apremature awareness of mortality.

He talked about how effective treatments for stressdisorders had been developed over timepunctuating his story with real-life cases and backingup his views with evidence from research that hadbeen conducted in this field. He stressed the valueof early and effective intervention and how

important it is for schools and other organizations tohave very clear plans in place beforehand to dealwith the immediate aftermath of traumatic events.He made sure to point out that he wasn’t just talkingabout incidents in a military context, but there havebeen a number of events over the years wherechildren on school trips had been involved in veryserious accidents and the school had struggled tocope thereafter.

Moving onto PTSD he described a number ofaccepted signs and symptoms such as intrusiverecollections, nightmares and ‘flashbacks’ and howPTSD can impact on the sufferer’s family. He spokein far greater detail that I can possibly reproducehere and we hope that Professor Yule will allow usto make his full presentation available on ourwebsite in due course for those that are interested.The presentation concluding with a question andanswer session followed by a quick presentationfrom Sharon Pexton in which she described herongoing research project exploring how Servicechildren are affected by military deployments. All inall it was a very successful seminar and SCSN wish tooffer sincere thanks to all those who made itpossible.

The Professor William Yule Seminar- PTSD and mental health issues for Service Families.

Professor Yule brought outsome very interestingpoints during hispresentation to SCSN on24 May 11.

Professor Yulein full flowduring hispresentation.

contactsFor more information please contact

SCSN

By telephone on: 01296 625779

By e-mail at:

contact@servicechildrensupportnetwork.com

Or visit our website:

www.servicechildrensupportnetwork.com

The Autumn Issue will be publishedin September 2011.

An Appeal from the Editor. Thesenewsletters will only be asinformative and interesting as thearticles it contains so pleaseconsider submitting something forpublication. It doesn’t have to be amasterpiece of prose, just be ofinterest to your fellow members! Itmight describe a particular event youhave organised or attended, it mightdescribe work that you have carriedout or an issue that you wish to bringto wider attention. We are alsopleased to receive examples of workfrom the Service children in yourarea, a drawing or piece of poetryrelated to their lives perhaps. Pleasesubmit articles in word format(together with any pictures you wantto use) to The Chair.

Editorial Note:

The views expressed by thecontributors to this newsletter are notnecessarily those of the Editor,SCSN, the MOD or any otherorganisation. All precautions aretaken to ensure accuracy.

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