Gemma works each week with the children who have a parent in the Armed Forces. The children have chosen their own names for their group. Our Reception and Nursery children are the Jazzy Jets and the Year 1 and 2 children are the Red Arrows! The groups meet every week and have a time to chat, socialise and have fun together. Support is offered to the children and the parents.

In November we have a St Faith's Forces Family Gathering for the Armed Forces parents. At this gathering we will be offering support to parents and finding out ways that we can offer further and possibly more tailored support to the children. 

Children who have a parent serving in one of the Armed Forces can have additional challenges that other children may not experience. They may have already had frequent home and school moves, each time being the new child in the class again. This means that they have to make new friends and develop relationships with the teachers at school. Depending on the individual child's resilience and their confidence, it can have a significant impact upon their emotional wellbeing and thus impacting on their progress and attainment.

They may have a parent who is in the Armed Forces who is away from home for long periods of time. This results in the remaining parent being the sole carer. Occasionally this may mean that the child ends up being a young carer for part of the time depending on their family's circumstances. Not only may they be experiencing understandable feelings of loss in relation to the absent parent, their may be additional emotional stress caused by fear and anxiety if the absent parent is in a dangerous environment. 

If you have any further questions, please ask. If you have a family member in the Armed Forces but you haven't alerted the school, please do. Thank you.