ACCORDING to government figures, there are more than 75,000 children in UK schools who have parents connected to the military. These children experience life different from their civilian peers, and some might need extra support.

Charity Little Troopers (littletroopers.net) has developed a resource for primary schools to support service children.

The Military Child Wellbeing Course, featuring seven interactive sessions, encourages armed forces children to explore the challenges they face. Topics include how to cope with separation, deployment, house moves and living abroad, as well as the personal themes of belonging, identity and mindfulness. It’s been created by a group of experts, including a cognitive behavioural therapy specialist, creative arts psychotherapist and play therapists, alongside Little Troopers’ founder Louise Fetigan. “Of course, many children thrive and enjoy meeting new friends, travelling around the world and embracing the opportunities that military life can bring,” she said. “But with the highs can come lows. These same children can be faced with other challenges that their civilian classmates are often not familiar with.

“The aim of the course is to acknowledge that service children do sometimes need additional support and to provide a safe space in which to open up conversations and help children navigate these challenges in positive ways.”

The course is designed for small groups of children aged six-to-11. Each school will receive a USB with all materials included so it can be re-used. 

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