Mendip Studio School
We, the undersigned, commit to honour the Armed Forces Covenant and support the Armed Forces Community. We recognise the value Serving Personnel, both Regular and Reservists, Veterans and military families contribute to our business and our country.
The Armed Forces Covenant
An enduring covenant between the people of the United Kingdom, Her Majesty’s Government and all those who serve or have served in the Armed Forces of the Crown and their families
The first duty of Government is the defence of the realm. Our Armed Forces fulfil that responsibility on behalf of the Government, sacrificing some civilian freedoms, facing danger and, sometimes, suffering serious injury or death as a result of their duty. Families also play a vital role in supporting the operational effectiveness of our Armed Forces. In return, the whole nation has a moral obligation to the members of the Naval Service, the Army and the Royal Air Force, together with their families. They deserve our respect and support, and fair treatment.
Those who serve in the Armed Forces, whether Regular or Reserve, those who have served in the past, and their families, should face no disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public and commercial services. Special consideration is appropriate in some cases, especially for those who have given most such as the injured and the bereaved.
This obligation involves the whole of society: it includes voluntary and charitable bodies, private organisations, and the actions of individuals in supporting the Armed Forces. Recognising those who have performed military duty unites the country and demonstrates the value of their contribution. This has no greater expression than in upholding this Covenant.
Section 1: Principles of the Armed Forces Corporate Covenant
1.1 We Mendip Studio School will endeavour in our business dealings to uphold the key principles of the Armed Forces Covenant, which are:
- no member of the Armed Forces Community should face disadvantage in the provision of public and commercial services compared to any other citizen;
- and in some circumstances that special treatment may be appropriate especially for the injured or bereaved.
Section 2: Demonstrating our commitment
2.1 Mendip Studio School recognises the value serving personnel, reservists, veterans and military families bring to our business. We will seek to uphold the principles of the Armed Forces Covenant, by pledging to the following:
- Armed Forces Friendly
- UK Service Veterans And Leavers
- UK Service Spouses And Partners
- Flexible Leave For Spouses
- UK Reservists
- UK Cadets
- Armed Forces Day
- Armed Forces Charities
We also pledge the following:
Promoting the fact that we are an armed forces-friendly organisation; - through the display of the CC logo on web and print media Seeking to support the employment of veterans young and old; - working with and advertising vacancies through the Career Transition Partnership (CTP) www.ctp.org.uk as well as advertising widely in the Armed Forces Community, to ensure employment opportunities are made available to veterans - recognising military skills and qualifications in our recruitment and selection process - supporting wounded, injured and sick through partnering with Recovery Career Services with the provision of work placements - participating in transition work fairs, where held locally, to raise awareness of the opportunities for employment in Mendip Studio School and the wider education sector Striving to support the employment of Service spouses ad partners; - advertising vacancies widely in the Armed Forces Community - welcoming applications from spouses/partners and offering interviews to those who meet the criteria in job specifications - committing to assist in finding alternative employment across the education sector if an employee is required to move due to their partner’s Armed Forces posting Endeavouring to offer a degree of flexibility in granting leave for Service spouses and partners before, during and after a partner’s deployment; - sympathetically review requests for holiday where they impact on family life surrounding deployment - consider special leave for employees who are bereaved or whose partner is injured Seeking to support our employees who choose to be members of the Reserve forces, including by accommodating their training and deployment where possible; - staff are actively encouraged to become Reservists through work place information events provided by the Services - up to 2 weeks of special paid leave is available to attend annual training camps - accommodation of Reserve training commitments wherever possible - fully supporting and accommodating mobilised deployment of Reservist employees if required - work with the RFCA to find out more about the mutual benefits of employing Reservists and become a publically supportive employer - in return we expect Reservists to declare themselves as such Offering support to our local cadet units, either in our local community or in local schools, where possible; - engaging with DfE and RFCA to investigate the opening of a Menddip Studio School Cadet Force Expansion CCF Unit or MSCC Sea Cadet detachment. - engaging with DfE and RFCA by running a successful CCF Unit at Mendip Studio School - offering support to Cadet Force Expansion CCF Units by way of partnerships and mentoring into independent units if required. - staff are actively encouraged to become helpers or instructors in the Cadet Forces - offer support or sponsorship in kind to local Cadet activities - making facilities or premises available for use of Cadets where appropriate - working with Wessex RFCA to gain understanding of the Cadet Forces and opportunities to assist Aiming to actively participate in Armed Forces Day; - becoming an Armed Forces Day partner, using the logo and flying the flag - following Armed Forces Day on social media and posting messages of support - linking to the Armed Forces Day website - encouraging employees to take part in Reserve Forces Day, Uniform to Work Day and any Flag Raising Ceremonies; gathering case studies and stories and working with the press - publishing stories on the web, social media, through our own membership and other networks as well as working with the press - offering concessions to the Armed Forces Community during Armed Forces week and other military themed events around Aiming to support Armed Forces Charities by taking pat in local and national Charity campaigns; - assisting the Royal British Legion to sell poppy’s at Mendip Studio School or as members of the Cadet or local youth organisations. - encouraging students and staff to raise money for Armed Forces Charities.
2.2 We will publicise these commitments through our literature and/or on our website, setting out how we will seek to honour them and inviting feedback from the Service community and our customers on how we are doing.