Up to 9,000 Service children will be affected when troops return from Germany to the UK as part of rebasing. If you’re one of those families, finding and securing places in the right school in the UK for your children will be one of your biggest concerns…
The Children’s Education Advisory Service (CEAS) offers information and advice on schooling to tri-Service families throughout the world.
Sue Wright is a Parent Support Officer who works with CEAS. She explains how she was able to help a family with three children, who had recently been posted from Germany to the South West of England. ‘The Local Authority was unable to offer places in the same school for all the children. For a while their mum walked each of them to their schools, all located in different directions. Understandably, this made life very difficult. It caused problems for the children as they became tired and irritable and were not happy in school. When their mother approached us we advised her to appeal to get all three children in the same school.’
Sue went through the appeal process with the family, providing guidance and support throughout. All three children now attend the same school. There’s no denying this process can seem daunting but worth the effort, particularly when there is a successful outcome – as in this case.
If you’re an Army family returning to the UK get in touch with CEAS for expert, up-to-date, accurate information and advice. Call their Helpline on 044 (0)1980 678244.