Teentalk conferences benefit hundreds of thousands in Scotland

The project, which is being funded by monies from the Armed Forces Covenant Fund, will involve secondary school pupils from Army, Navy/Marine, RAF and veteran families.

A unique charity-run initiative engaging school pupils from Armed Forces and Veteran families is being launched in Scotland this month.

Scotland’s Armed Forces children’s charity, the Royal Caledonian Education Trust (RCET), is organising three ‘Teen Talk Conferences’ in Edinburgh (20 September 17 at the St Mary’s Conference Centre), Helensburgh (27 September 17 at the Helensburgh Tower) and Highlands/Morayshire (3 October 2017 at Fort George) to give school pupils the chance to speak out about the highs and lows of growing up in an Armed Forces family.

The project, which is being funded by monies from the Armed Forces Covenant Fund, will involve secondary school pupils from Army, Navy/Marine, RAF and veteran families.

RCET wants to empower young people to speak out and improve understanding between civilian and military communities, to improve their confidence and help reduce feelings of isolation. Feedback and views expressed at the Conferences will help influence the development of RCET materials and online resources designed to support education staff and others to better understand the issues these young people face.

This initiative could have far reaching benefits for secondary school pupils and education staff across Scotland says RCET Education Programme Manager, Moira Leslie. “The events will be interactive, creative spaces for the young people to share their experiences and tell us what they need and what needs to be done to improve integration between civilian and military communities.

Pupil feedback may be translated into videos, vox pops and online learning tutorials that will be incorporated in the training we deliver and will be available digitally so that the maximum number of pupils and staff can access them, across and outside of Scotland.

Ms Leslie added “The outcomes of the project will be shared with an influential audience of educationalists, local authority representatives and armed forces community leaders attending the RCET Practitioners Conference in November. In overall terms, we believe the learning we gain from this project could greatly inform the future direction of work we do in support of this cohort of young people.”

Over the last five years, RCET’s education programme has delivered vital resources and support to in excess of 15,000 pupils, and more than 100 schools in Scotland, as well as CPD training to education practitioners around topics such as Dealing with Separation, Developing an Emotionally Literate School, Moving Schools, and Living in a Veteran Family.

In recent years RCET has awarded over £1million in grants to help veteran and serving families experiencing poverty, ill health, and disability, pay for essential school clothing, after school clubs and activities so youngsters can develop their confidence as well as establish interests and friendships outside of the home or school environment.