Noadswood 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 Noadswood 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 Noadswood 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
We also pledge the following: • Promoting the Armed Forces: Welcoming guest speakers to educate students on the military and military careers.
• Communications, engagement and outreach: Supporting Armed Forces events such as D-Day and Remembrance Day. Signposting members of the Armed Community to available support and services in the area through emails and our termly Military Mag: a newsletter created with our Military Students. To continue to appoint a military lead in school to act as a focal point for our military community. Supporting our military students to take part in the community/community activities, raising awareness of our military community. Continue to engage with our local Armed Forces presence through Military Welfare. Supporting military students to create links within the military community for example, continuing to visit the local Veterans Coffee Morning.
• Housing: Continue to provide a voice for our students regarding their experience of military housing by maintaining our link with VIVO.
• Education: To continue to use the Thriving Lives Toolkit. To continue using the Service Pupil Premium in ways that provide pastoral support and remove barriers to learning for military students. To continue running our monthly Military group and Military Youth Forum to offer support and recognising the difficulties and barriers to learning they might face, giving them a voice within the school environment. Continuing to create links and offering support between Noadswood School and our Military Community. Providing opportunities for our military students by creating links with outside services such as Winchester University Creative Forces Day.
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.