Speaking at the SciP Alliance conference in November, Minister for Veterans and People Louise Sandher-Jones reminded attendees that “Service is rarely an individual act. It’s a collective commitment shared and shouldered by a wide network of people who themselves have to develop the same qualities of strength and resilience that we ask of those family members serving in the military.”
But how does this translate to our youngest service children aged 0-5 years?
In the latest round of the Armed Forces Families Fund: Early Years programme, The Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust (the Trust) has awarded 11 projects a share of just over £600,000 to tackle this challenge.
From SEND support and sensory spaces that build emotional wellbeing, to creating stimulating outdoor spaces that extend the learning environment for young service children at childcare settings. The Fund has once again shown the breadth of work taking place to ensure service children get the best start, despite the challenges of being part of a military family.
Getting out and active
Supporting service families at various sites across the country including RAF Valley, RAF Honington and RAF Shawbury, RAFAKidz is the largest provider of early years childcare to the RAF. They’ve received three awards in this latest round of funding to transform the outdoor learning environment at their settings - something they have recently received a National NMT Nursery Award for their Medmenham site in High Wycombe.
Josie Mapes, Executive Director of RAFAKidz, said: “We’re incredibly grateful to the AFCFT and the MOD for awarding us these generous grants. We’re dedicated to creating environments where the children we care for can grow, play and thrive, and this funding will help us do that. We know from our other settings that having access to outdoor spaces is vital for children’s development and for teaching them about the natural world. RAFAKidz Valley and Shawbury are relatively new to the RAFAKidz family, so we’re thrilled to have the opportunity to enhance the outdoor spaces at these settings, giving our children space to enjoy outdoor play.”
Supporting military families ‘needs
In Wiltshire The Haig Day Nursery is also improving outdoor play for their under 2s. The nursery is nestled within the barracks on Salisbury Plain, in the heart of the garrison area, with many of the children coming from dual serving families - this means early drop offs and late pick up, often both in the dark during the winter months and leaving no time for outdoor play at home.
This new funding will allow for improvements to the current concrete space - not ideal for little crawlers and new walkers! Plus, new stimulating and exciting resources for the children will help to develop them in new way.
Trudi Murphy, Manager at the Haig Nursery said: “We are all very thrilled about getting the reward from the Early Years programme. The impact this funding will have on the nursery is truly wonderful. Children aged from 6 months to 2 years will have access to an outdoor area specially designed for their age and stage of development. The new play area will allow staff to offer more opportunities for exciting physical play.”
Training boost for Early Years staff
The Fund offered the chance for local authorities to apply for funding to provide specific training to early childhood education and childcare providers supporting service children, providing a shared resource working across multiple settings.
Both Plymouth and North Yorkshire councils took on the challenge and have received funding to work with a range of settings in their area. In Plymouth, home to HMNB Devonport, the largest naval base in western Europe, they are bringing professionals together to meet the unique needs of service families early on. They will focus on continuity of care and strengthening family engagement with appropriate staff training to create inclusive and resilient early years settings that meet the unique needs of military children.
Councillor Sally Cresswell, Cabinet Member for Education, Skills and Apprenticeships at Plymouth City Council said: “Every child deserves the best start in life, and that includes those from armed forces families.This project will help young children from armed forces families feel secure and supported, by improving emotional wellbeing and providing learning opportunities, inclusive early years settings and strong family engagement.”
Find out more.
You can read the full list of the Early Years awards on the Trust website.