Queen Ethelburga’s Collegiate has made its connection and commitment to Armed Forces personnel official this week, as it signed the Armed Forces Covenant. The Collegiate has signed up to the official pledge of committing to honour the Covenant and support the Armed Forces Community, recognising the value that all serving personnel, veterans and military families contribute to the country.
The Armed Forces Covenant is an agreement between the armed forces community, the nation and the government. It is a promise by the nation ensuring that those who serve or who have served in the armed forces, and their families, are treated fairly. The covenant focusses on helping members of the armed forces community have the same access to government and commercial services and products as any other citizen.
QE has a long-standing relationship with the British Forces, welcoming students from Forces Military families for over 100 years. As the preferred school for Forces families in the UK, it currently has over 390 Forces students boarding on site. QE is CEA accredited and in recognition of its commitment to the British Forces, offers a significant reduction in fees.
Across the Collegiate there is an understanding of the importance of providing a secure and supportive home from home for students whose parents may need to travel or live abroad for work. Staff strive to create the right learning and living environment in which every one of the students at QE can thrive. QE also has two specialist Forces Liaison Officers, a keeping in touch club for students and support clinics. In these sessions, staff help students to contact parents who may be deployed abroad, chat about issues that are important to them and anything else that they might need help and support with. The school also runs a ‘buddy’ system between students and have Peer Mentors in the Sixth Form, who are very happy to chat to younger students and offer their support.
All students have access to an excellent pastoral team who run the THRIVE@QE programme, ensuring that student’s mental health and resilience is a priority. The team is available for students at any time of day or night. There is a dedicated area in the school where THRIVE activities take place and students can go for help and support.
QE also has its own Combined Cadet Force (CCF), bringing together an Army Section (Yorkshire Regiment) and an RAF section. The CCF offers students the chance to develop real life skills that will help them achieve success in life and in the workplace. Students learn leadership skills, how to handle responsibility, self-reliance, resourcefulness, endurance and discipline through military-themed activities. Students can volunteer to join the CCF from Year 9. Following recruit training, cadets will be given the opportunity to choose whether to join the Army Section or the RAF Section.
Dewi Lewis, Business Manager at Queen Ethelburga’s Collegiate, said:
We are delighted to sign the Covenant and show our continued support for the Armed Forces. At Queen Ethelburga’s Collegiate we have a long and proud tradition of providing excellent educational opportunities to the children of serving Forces families. With the signing of the Covenant, we hope to further our commitment to families, particularly by offering the possibility of employment opportunities to veterans from all branches of the Armed Forces, to whom we all owe a great debt.
Major Steve Emerson, of the QE Combined Cadet Force, said:
The Combined Cadet Force (CCF) at Queen Ethelburga’s Collegiate, which consists of an Army and RAF Section, has been in existence for nearly two decades and over that period has become an integral part of the Collegiate.
Major Steve Emerson, of the QE Combined Cadet Force, said:
The Contingent aims to aid the personal development of cadets by offering opportunities which complement their academic education. The CCF provides training in real life skills which will be beneficial to cadets in their chosen career path. Being a member of the CCF gives cadets a good understanding of the Armed Forces, one that nurtures a positive understanding of what the military is all about including its values and standards.
We are very proud to now be part of the Armed Forces Covenant.”
