A NEATH PORT TALBOT primary school which has created a positive and welcoming environment for “Little Troopers” – the children of armed forces personnel – has received a prestigious Silver Award.
Last November, Baglan Primary School became one of the first schools in Neath Port Talbot to gain a SSCE Cymru (Supporting Service Children in Education Wales) Armed Forces Friendly Schools Bronze Status award.
Now, the school has gone a step further to become one of only two schools in Wales to pick up the SSCE Cymru Armed Forces Friendly Silver Award status.
The award was presented to the school on Thursday, February 8th, 2024, at a “Little Troopers Assembly” where the guest of honour was Neath Port Talbot’s Kath Morris – Kath will be 100 in March and served at Bletchley Park which was the headquarters of Britain’s top secret World War Two codebreaking operation.
Other guests at the celebration included the Mayor of Neath Port Talbot, Cllr Chris Williams, Deputy Lord Lieutenant of West Glamorgan Capt Huw Williams and Finola Pickwell, Neath Port Talbot Council’s Regional Armed Forces Liaison Officer (AFLO).
To win the prestigious award, pupils and staff met the following criteria:
- Liaising with the SSCE Cymru Participation Lead Officer to explore options for listening to service children.
- Organising for the Armed Forces Engagement Team to deliver a session with the Service Children and their peers.
- Completing the SciP Alliance Thriving Lives Toolkit, providing a self-assessment of the school’s support for Service children in all seven principles and committing to an annual review.
Also at the ceremony were the Regional Schools Liaison Officer (RSLO) for Baglan Primary School, Emma Reeves, SSCE Cymru Participation Lead Officer (PLO) and the school’s Service Children School Champion, Eve Wilson.
