The Service Pupil Premium (SPP)

Kingdown School is proud of its close links to the service community and recognises some of the unique challenges faced by children whose parents are in the military. The SPP is provided to allow the school to give pastoral support to service children during challenging times and mitigate the negative impact of any family mobility or parental deployment.

Service pupil premium (SPP) is extra funding for schools to support children and young people with parents in the armed forces.

Students attract the SPP if they meet one of the following criteria:

One of their parents is serving in the regular armed forces (including pupils with a parent who is on full commitment as part of the full time reserve)
One of their parents died whilst serving in the armed forces and the pupil receives a pension under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme or the War Pensions Scheme
They have been registered as a ‘service child’ on the January school census at any point since 2016.

Examples of how we use the Service Pupil Premium are:

To facilitate links and activities with the Army, when these are offered to us, such as Work Experience weeks and days and team building activities
To support our work as a Hub School with the army Festival of Friends programme – please contact Chantell Knight for details cxk@kingdown.wilts.sch.uk
To support careers advice for our Service Children
To support our Breakfast and Homework Clubs, to which Service Children are invited and welcome to attend
To support with counselling, when needed – please contact your child’s Head of House for a referral
To offer support with uniform if needed - please contact your child’s Head of House
To offer support purchasing GCSE revision guides - please contact your child’s Head of House
To offer support with trips if needed – please contact your child’s Head of House.

From September, we will also use the premium to:

Identify service students as a SPIG (Special Interest Group)
Teachers will pay particular attention to any additional needs that students may need within the classroom
Report on the progress of SSP students in Curriculum meetings and plan for approaches to maximise their achievements
Discuss the progress of SSP students in Senior Leadership meetings and identify additional needs / approaches to support their progress.

Any questions, please contact Deputy Head Mr Dudley dd@kingdown.wilts.sch.uk

Deployment Support

It is normal for children and young people from Armed Forces families to experience changes in behaviour and become unsettled at school when one of their parents goes away for any length of time.

If your child’s school is aware that a parent is absent and what changes to look out for, we will be better able to support the child if they are unsettled.

Schools are busy places, and although you can convey this information verbally to teachers/school offices, your child is much more likely to receive the support they deserve if you provide us with this information in writing.

Please click the link below for our deployment form.

Notification of Parental Deployment Form – Fill out form

Resources

Recommend Reading List

Please find below a recommended reading list that some students may find useful when exploring topics on deployment and separation. These books are available in the School Library.

Kingdown School Recommended Reads.docx

Service Children Meetings

Once a term, we hold service children meetings specifically for children of Armed Forces families. These meetings take place after registration line-up and are an opportunity for service children to have a voice in the school community and access bespoke pastoral support. It’s also a dedicated time for children of Armed Forces families to meet other service children within the school environment. These are informal and relaxed sessions where students can raise any questions and access support.

Kingdown School Dandelion Emblem

At Kingdown School, a number of staff members have connections to the Armed Forces. This includes staff who have served in the Armed Forces, have experienced being a military child, or have an understanding of military life through being a spouse/partner to a member serving in the Armed Forces. Although any member of staff in the school environment can support an Armed Forces child, it’s sometimes helpful for them to know which staff members in the school environment have experience. Any staff member at Kingdown School with Armed Forces connections will display our dandelion emblem on their lanyard. Your child will be made aware of our staff members and their specific Armed Forces connections through the service children meetings. We hope this knowledge reassures Armed Forces children and enables them to feel comfortable accessing support and discussing any issues that could be affecting them.

Armed Forces Families

We are always looking for new initiatives to support our Armed Forces families. If you have any suggestions or would like further information about our service pupil offer please email cxk@kingdown.wilts.sch.uk