Charity Forces Children Scotland has produced a report for the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland which explores the experiences and impact being from a Forces family can have on a child, and what supports need to be in place to ensure their rights to education are met.
Children whose parents or carers work in the Armed Forces are not receiving the support they need in education, especially around assessments and exams, according to a new report.
Charity Forces Children Scotland has produced a report for the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland which explores the experiences and impact being from a Forces family can have on a child, and what supports need to be in place to ensure their rights to education are met.
The publication – Camouflaged in the education system: The experiences of children and young people from Armed Forces families – follows Commissioner Nicola Killean’s wide-ranging report into education last year. The Commissioner warned that the whole education system needs changed to make it work for all children. She made a series of recommendations to the Scottish Government and education authorities, including to fully implement the Hayward Review of exams and qualifications.
There are around 13,000 Forces children in Scotland and the report includes their views which were shared in a series of workshops. The children who helped inform the report said they felt high-pressure exams did not take into account Forces life – impacts like changing schools, missing out on school work, or anxiety about parents’ safety affecting concentration when sitting exams.
Some of the new report’s recommendations mirror what the Commissioner has long called for, such as children being meaningfully involved in decisions that affect them, reform of exams and assessments, and a greater understanding of children’s life experiences.
But it also focused on issues specific to Forces children, like multiple school changes and worry about parents being deployed to warzones, an issue in sharp focus with the conflict in the Middle East.