Forces Children's Education

Forces Children’s Education is dedicated to helping Armed Forces families every day of the year, providing clear and accurate information and resources.

Every April we celebrate Month of the Military Child – a time to reflect and celebrate the important role Armed Forces families, children and young people make in their schools and communities.

During this time, community groups, schools, workplaces and individuals across the country take part in a range of activities, ranging from art and poetry competitions to events at military bases and local community centres.

Discover how to get involved

We have collated some of the activities and events you can join in independently, with a group or with your family and friends.

• Poetry, Art and Best School Display Competition – the charity Never Such Innocence is hosting its annual competition from 1 April until 2 May. All participants will receive a personalised certificate of commendation. Each winner will receive a gift voucher, donated by the Armed Forces Education Trust, and a goodie bag. 
• Home Baking, Arts and Crafts – Little Troopers, a charity supporting Military children who have parents serving in the British Armed Forces, has a series of activity sheets for at home or in community centres and schools.
• Devon Science Online – a free one-hour digital workshop will take place on Saturday 5 April 11:00-12:00. Discover everything you need to take part in this Little Troopers session.
• Purple Up! Day – Friday 25 April is Purple Up! Day, a chance for everyone to dress to impress in a purple outfit of choice to show their support.

Forces Children’s Education’s digital guide

Ahead of this year’s campaign, we compiled a short informative guide to help educators and families discover ways to engage children and young people in the classroom, at home and in the wider community.

The free guide¹ is on Forces Children’s Education.

Carolyn MacLeod MBE, National Education and Transitions Officer (NETO), is the driving force for the support Forces Children’s Education provides to Armed Forces children and young people across Scotland.

Carolyn explained: “It’s an honour to be responsible for children and young people of Armed Forces families across Scotland and at Forces Children’s Education we are delighted we can share some of our many resources in this digital guide.”

As always, please ensure that you tailor events, information and discussions within the classroom, home and community sessions to the age, skillset and setting of the children and young people. 

Supporting schools

Lots of work is being done in Scotland to help schools support Armed Forces children.

As a family, it is really important to tell schools that you are an Armed Forces family. Don’t assume that they know. 

Share your child’s journey with them – where they’ve been before and what they’ve learnt. If you do it will help the school do the very best they can for your child. And show them Forces Children’s Education, our website has an ever-growing collection of guides, tips and articles to support education professionals and families.

Be part of the community

Join in this year’s MotMC campaign and let us know what you are doing to celebrate Armed Forces families. Tag Forces Children’s Education across our social media channels – Facebook, X and LinkedIn. 

While Month of the Military Child is only for four weeks, it’s important to recognise the challenges our Armed Forces families face daily.

That’s why we also provide an ever-expanding range of resources and authoritative information to support the learning journey of children and young people from Armed Forces families. 

Our resources include documents, guides and links to local authorities and partnership groups available, available to families and educators.If you would like more information on Forces Children’s Education, email us at info@forceschildrenseducation.org.uk

 Footnotes

1. The information included in the guide https://forceschildrenseducation.org.uk/a-guide-for-month-of-the-military-child has been provided in good faith and may be subject to later revision. Where links are provided to external content, Forces Children’s Education and ADES cannot accept any responsibility for content or accuracy.