On average 20% of our children come from service families  and this means  that we understand and respond to the needs of these families and in particular the needs of the children .

• The well-being and attainment of service family children is seen as of paramount importance and we have high aspirations and high expectations.
• All staff know who their service family children are

 We receive Service Pupil Premium ( SPP) from the government to support our Service families and children. This  is not connected to disadvantage rather it is used for pastoral support for children with family members serving in the Armed Forces.

Primarily it is used by us  in the following ways

• High staffing ratios  increase the level of pastoral care and support that can be put in place for individual children and their specific needs which may change during the year. 
• We hold regular  drop in sessions where we enable children from Reception to Year Two to take part in a range of activities including playing, making and talking together. We call this group Forces Friends. It is very popular and each week different children attend. Across the year all children choose to attend at least some sessions. This group enables children to broaden their friendships and support network across the school. We ‘mix up’ children from different classes and different year groups and think about how our lives are similar to each other; maybe our parents are away Monday to Friday, or on a long deployment or we may have moved or be moving
• We also organise our own occasional visits related to our Forces Friends group. 
• When a parent is on deployment  we have special books with our Forces Friends logo  available. Children can use these to put down their thoughts or to record special events or special things to them so that when their parents return home they can share with their child what their child has been doing.  Sometimes the parent has one of the books too so that they can write to their child. We also share resources and ideas from support organisations
• We aim to hold a  family event each year (previously there has been  a picnic and a tea party) to build the sense of community for our families and children
• We hold a Remembrance Service in School each year and invite special guests to join us and this includes inviting all the parents who are or have served in the Armed Services
• We take a very active role in the local community and attend council and Royal British Legion events. We are affiliated to the Royal British Legion.  
• We have a named member of the senior leadership team, Mrs Stephanie Lock , who works with children, parents and staff to promote the well being of children from our Service Families.  She acts as a point of contact for staff and parents alike and who works closely with the head teacher to ensure that the needs of children from Service families are met across the school.
• We have a whole school focus on emotional health and wellbeing.This includes universal provision and also individual support at times of need.
• We maintain a armed forces family support section on our website

Ofsted 2015 - "The school works very successfully with pupils from Forces families to ensure that they and their families are well supported"

"The school works very hard and is successful in its drive to ensure that all groups of pupils have equality of opportunity and that there is no discrimination. For example, parents who spoke to inspectors are very impressed with the support that the school gives to the pupils and families of those in the Forces. The school readily makes allowances on days when parents leave to go away from home or arrive back from working away from home for long periods of time. The school organises opportunities for Forces families to meet and talk, and gives Forces families new to the area guidance and support. The school also promotes the role of the Forces in pupils’ lives through regular Forces assemblies and a weekly club held for pupils from Forces families to spend time together."