Service children are not a standardised group and will have different experiences.  At Carterton Primary School we recognise all children as individuals.

Service children may move home frequently, with all the disruption to education, friendships and social networks that this can imply. Leaving behind old friends and making new friends is one of the biggest challenges service children say they face. Educationally, they can miss key parts of the curriculum and unwittingly re-do other parts. At Carterton Primary School we have a transition programme for every child and our role is to help children settle in quickly, ensuring they make friends and feel happy.

We are very proud of our links with RAF Brize Norton and the support we offer their children and families.

Approximately a third of pupils at Carterton Community Primary School are children of Service parents, whose mobility is higher than other mainstream schools. It is therefore vital that these and all other children are given the opportunity to quickly settle into the school so as to minimise the effects of mobility on their education and progress.

The school and staff aim to:
a. Ensure that a consistent approach is always taken to the induction of children into school.
b. Ensure that minimum disruption occurs within classes and individual pupils as a result of inductions.
c. Ensure that the children quickly learn school routines, rules and expectations.
d. Ensure that children are encouraged and enabled to make new friends and
feel secure.
e. Establish good relationships with parents and provide them with all relevant
information regarding the school.
f. Ensure that all relevant records and documents are transferred to (and from)
the school within 10 working days, bearing in mind that pupils are inducted
from overseas, Northern Ireland, Welsh and Scottish schools where different
procedures and legislation exists.

New children and their parents are always given the opportunity to look round the school, to meet the child’s class teacher and other relevant adults and to ask questions prior to their first day.

New children are assessed within the first few weeks of arriving at school, because we wish to get a quick and accurate assessment of where the child is, ensuring there is no dip in learning and a smooth transition takes place.

Children of Service parents are often moved between schools when their parents are posted away from CPS, which can happen at any point of the educational year. We ask parents to advise the school of the impending withdrawal of their child from school by completing a ‘leaver form’, at which point the school will start to raise the transfer documents for the next school in accordance with the Local Authority and National guidelines.