September already!!!! I really hoped to be writing a blog post about launching the Little Troopers at School project but yet again service children are overlooked, a niche group that is just too small in the grand scheme of things to support, apparently.
...............But our children are resilient and MUST be used to it by now so surely they will just chug along just fine....
I don't believe they will and I truly believe in the Little Troopers at School Project, I am passionate that if service children in schools got more tailored and specific support they would experience consistency which would be a huge benefit. Not just in one school that has a large number of military children and who has a good practise in place but at EVERY school they go to so they can expect the same level of support no matter where they live.
So the Service Pupil Premium exists but is grossly misunderstood because there is no guidance, yes the government created that pot of money, in fact David Cameron himself told me face to face he was very proud of the fact it was his idea to create the fund....but there it stops. The fund isn't enforced, schools are not accountable on how it should be spent and there is no guidance.
Many Little Troopers transitioning through many schools, different countries, different counties, different systems yet there is no uniform transition process to make this a smooth experience for military families. There should be. Our Little Trooper Transition Passport would combat this problem.
The Department of Education and Little Troopers were working closely after meeting Nicky Morgan former Secretary of State for Education....then Brexit happened and everyone and everything within government changed and so did the priorities...service children are no longer on the agenda.
And just like that the project comes to a halt.
Little Troopers still wants the project to come to fruition and will do all it can to gain funding to enable this to happen and to ensure children of military personnel are not failed and do not face disadvantage because the move around frequently or because of their parents chosen career.
Today no one will accept responsibility and make this project happen...not the MOD and not the Government so WE WILL! I will work tirelessly until this project is launched, because I do believe our Little Troopers need this support.
I'll keep you posted!
Louise xxx
