At Benson C of E Primary School, Mrs Evans is on hand to offer pastoral support to your child, and you as a family, with the effects of moving school and location, as well as deployments and ‘weekending’, where the serving personnel lives away from home during the week. 

Postings - We understand that postings can be stressful and that moving your child to a new school can be difficult. We will ensure to make this transition, either to or from our school, as smooth as possible.

If moving away from our school, please let the office know as soon as possible. This enables us to collate the necessary documentation to be sent to the new school and support your child, preparing them for the imminent move.

Deployment and Weekending - We know that periods of separation are difficult for all service family members, and that they can often cause a barrier to learning for children. Mrs Evans runs a weekly group, Spitfires, which is specifically for children with a parent away.

Please let us know if a serving personnel is deployed or weekending. You can do this by contacting the office, informing your child's class teacher or by speaking to Mrs Evans directly.

Spitfires - When parents are deployed, or working away from home this can often be a distressing time for children. To help them cope with this time Mrs Evans runs a weekly group called Spitfires. At Spitfires, the children take part in lots of different activities and crafts as well as the group providing opportunities for the children to talk through any emotions they are feeling whilst a loved one is away. The club also gives the children a chance to get to know others who are going through similar experiences.

What our children say about Spitfires:

“When dad is away I can feel lonely and sad, and I miss him. Spitfires helps because we do fun things and it takes my mind off”  Polly

“Spitfires helps me with my feelings because I’m surrounded by my friends. We do art things and make Lego planes. I was also able to go to Camo Day which was great fun” Jacob

Military Links - We have a good relationship with our nearby base, RAF Benson, and its school . We have attended special events organised by the station and school, e.g. Camo Day, which is a highlight in the children’s school year. We also engage with the station to participate in their STEM activities, which run throughout the year.