As our children return to school, we wanted to share the resources we have to support teachers, pupils and parents.  Our Little Troopers at School project has grown over the last few years to help Primary and Secondary children.

With most military families moving every two years, a military child could attend 6-7 schools in their school life. These moves along with long periods of separation from a serving parent can affect children in many ways. Our Little Troopers at School project has bought together children, education specialists and wellbeing practitioners to produce a variety of resources. 

Louise, Founder of the charity said “School is a big part of our children’s lives. Moving around can produce many challenges for our little troopers, their parents and schools. They all need practical support as well as emotional help. Over the last few years, we have created a wealth of resources to save everyone some time and ensure targeted support is delivered where needed.”

Our Little Troopers at School website is divided into Primary and Secondary sections to make navigation easier. On there you will find:

For Teachers

• Wellbeing courses – We have developed two resource packs one for primary schools and a secondary school version. The comprehensive packs features all the resources needed for the child-friendly, interactive course. The courses cover specific age-related subjects along with sessions on belonging, identity and mindfulness. The courses have been designed to be delivered to small groups. Everything you need is ready to access now; teachers notes, course materials and worksheets for the children. You can access the Primary school wellbeing course The Secondary school course is here.

Primary school

• Primary Resource Pack – Everything within this pack has been carefully planned, created and illustrated to explain more about military children within schools and give you lots of practical ways to support and ensure the military are represented in your education setting. There is a comprehensive information booklet, stories, circle time plans, lesson plans, resources for display boards and role play activities. The pack comes with a USB loaded with resources so that they can be printed as needed.
• Virtual workshop for primary school children – Over the last year we have supported 7,000 military children through two online workshops. The workshops used some of the Little Troopers at Schools resources to bring together military children and their teachers. Over two hours they used craft, role play and quizzes to explore some of the challenges of military life. The first workshop is online along with downloads for all the resources teachers will need to run the session. The second workshop, which focused on mental health and wellbeing will be added to the website in the Autumn.

Secondary School

• Secondary School Resource Hub – A toolbox of free school resources available for you to browse, download and utilise. Lesson plans, activity templates and other resources packed with practical ideas to get you talking about military life in your setting. 
• Forces Life Club – Over the years we have seen the benefit in bringing military children together. This is particularly useful for teenagers who tend to hide behind their phones. We have developed 16 sessions and an introductory video to help schools set up a Forces Life Club. The sessions use guided discussion and taking action activities to help the children feel empowered, supported and comforted.
• SQUAD – Our podcast series features lots of military teenagers talking about their experiences of growing up in the military community. Across eight episodes we are speaking to 15 teens who all have a different story to tell. Each episode is presented by TV & radio broadcaster and mental health ambassador, Katie Thistleton and Little Troopers Ambassador rugby star, Thom Smith. Thom’s Dad still serves in the Royal Air Force. The podcast series is the first of its kind to hand over the microphone to military teens who share their stories about Armed Forces life. Each episode comes with an activity sheet created by an educational psychologist to help teachers use the podcasts in school.

For Parents

There is lots you can do to help your child and school, here are a few resources to help:

• Take a look at our handy moving school checklist. All the questions you need the answers for, in one place.
• Ensure that your new school knows about our Little Trooper at School project.
• We also have an x-ray of feelings picture about starting a new school. Use the activity sheet to talk through your child’s feelings about their new school.
• Our Transition chit can be completed and given to your child’s new teacher to help them in the first few days.
• There are more schools resources in our Parent School information sheets section, just click here.

Teachers who want to keep up to date with our Little Troopers at School work can sign up for our schools newsletter here. Parents it would be great if you could pass on this link and our website link to your child’s teacher.