Highland Council
The 3SCOTS base at Fort George and the Service Family Accommodation in Inverness fall within the jurisdiction of The Highland Council.
Highland Council has a long tradition and history of welcoming and supporting children and young people from the tri-Service Armed Forces community, Regulars, Reserves and Veterans/Ex-Service personnel. It gained the Gold Award for the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme due to its support and commitment to the Armed Forces community in Highland.
Highland Council has a dedicated partnership for Armed Forces families, The Military Liaison Group (Education), often referred to as ‘The MLG’. This multi-agency/third sector partnership provides support, information, resources and training to promote, within an educational context, the equity and equality of children and young people from Armed Forces families. MLG has a dedicated ‘one-stop’ website Armed Forces Families Highland for families, practitioners, children and young people.
Process for registering a child from an Armed Forces family in school
All the information for Enrolment/Admissions process can be found here.
You may also find this document helpful, Education Transition to Highland: Quick Access to Direct Information and Key Contacts. During the enrolment process there is an option within the registration form where you can indicate that your child is part of an Armed Forces family (Regular, Reserve or Veteran). Scottish Local Authorities do not receive funding for children from Armed Forces families. We encourage identification so we can get the right targeted support to your child or young person at the right time, if and when needed. A helpful document to support a smoother school move in Highland is Checklists and Guidance for moving School or Early Years setting. We encourage early engagement, so the local authority can be ready for your child or young person.
Additional Support Needs (ASN)
The Highland area follows the Highland Practice Model, in line with current legislation and takes a child-centred approach to assessment and planning for children with any level of additional support need. It works within a holistic framework known as GIRFEC (Getting it right for every child).
It is always helpful to have information about your child’s needs before moving to the area, to be prepared in advance. Contact can be made with the Area ASN Manager in the relevant office in Highland Council, if appropriate, so planning can be started early for your move. If other professionals are involved with your child, having access to copies of specialist reports and letters is also very helpful in this process.
Once you move, people who will be partners to your child’s plan will meet with you to create a plan that reflects their situation in Highland and to agree what actions and interventions will be necessary to take to ensure their needs are met.
There are very few special schools in Highland and most of the area’s children and young people are educated in their local mainstream school. If your child has attended a special school or special unit elsewhere, it is helpful to know this, but it won’t necessarily be the case that they will transfer into a special school within the Highland context. For further information about the Highland Practice Model, click here.
School holidays and term dates
For information on the current regional term dates for schools within the Highland Council area, click here.
Further information and contact details
Highland Council is geographically Scotland’s largest council, covering a third of Scotland’s landmass. It has four operational areas North, Mid, West and South. Highland has Ministry of Defence (MoD) families dispersed throughout the Highlands, though most are based in the South area, mainly attending Raigmore Primary and Millburn Academy in Inverness. Further information and key contacts, including a link to the Additional Support Needs Area teams, can be found here. Alternatively, to contact Highland Council’s Military Liaison Group (Education) Lead click here.
Access school handbooks on the council website and find out more information on the Armed Forces Families Highland website.
