All about ASL:
Armed Forces
Families
Here, we explore what being in an Armed Forces family means, how it can affect your school life and and what support is available.
What is an Armed Forces Family?
An Armed Forces family is a family where a parent or carer works in the Armed Forces (including the Army, Royal Navy, or Royal Air Force) or is a Veteran (who used to be in the Armed Forces).
If your parent or carer is in the Armed Forces, your family might:
- spend time apart when a parent is deployed (working away)
- move house or school more often
- live in different places around the UK or the world.
Over 13,000 children and young people across Scotland are part of Armed Forces families. However, every family’s experience is different.
Armed Forces families and learning
Moving schools or having a parent away can sometimes make learning harder.
For example, you might:
- start a new school part way through the year
- have to make new friends
- feel worried, sad or distracted if a parent is away
- need time to catch up with learning after moving
- feel stressed about changes at home.
If things like this affect your learning, then your school should help you.
How can my school help?
If you are part of an Armed Forces family, then your school can support you in lots of ways. This is called Additional Support for Learning (ASL).
Additional Support for Learning (ASL) is provided for children and young people who need extra support to help them learn.
This can include pupils from Armed Forces families. ASL is there to help remove barriers so that you can learn and feel included at school.
Your support could include (but is not limited to!):
- helping you settle in if you’re new to a school
- giving you extra help catching up with work
- making sure your teachers understand your situation
- having someone to talk to if you’re feeling worried
- helping you to connect with friends and take part in activities.
Sometimes your school might also chat with your family to make sure you’re getting the support you need.
If you think you need help, you could speak to:
- a teacher
- a guidance teacher or pupil support teacher
- another adult that you trust.
who else can help?
There are organisations that can support young people from Armed Forces families.
In Scotland, Forces Children Scotland are a charity that provide youth forums and residential experiences where you can meet other people from armed forces families, mental health support and financial help. They also support children and young people from armed forces families to be heard and stand up for their rights.
You can find out more and contact Forces Children Scotland by visiting their website:
FIND OUT MORE
Want to find out more from children who are part of Armed Forces families? Check out the video below 🙂
And if you’d like to find out more and Forces Children Scotland’s Deployment Rollercoaster, than have a look at our news piece:
The Deployment Rollercoaster can help if you are part of an armed forces family and experiencing a family member being deployed.