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5 Soldiers: The Body is the Frontline.

11/05/2016

Lauren Bryden & Poppy Kohner explore the implications of Rosie Kay’s production of 5 Soldiers: The Body Is The Frontline, a dance piece exploring the ‘physicality’ of war and its effect on soldiers’ bodies.  While captivating and enlightening, does placing the body at the centre of the narrative of war obscure political comment on what these bodies do and, crucially, why they do it? The support of the production by the British Army and their presence at the event raises important questions about the role of the military in public arts spaces.

Military-style academies?

30/03/2016

The Labour Party and the National Union of Teachers oppose the Conservatives’ plans to make all schools academies. In 2014, ForcesWatch published a briefing outlining the extent to which the Coalition Government’s hopes to create ‘military’ academies and free schools had been realised. We revealed that numerous academies were adopting elements of the Government’s ‘Military … Read more

Scottish voices on armed forces visits to schools

23/03/2016

Before the closing date of our petition to the Scottish Parliament on military visits to state schools in Scotland, the ForcesWatch team went on the road to spread the word and raise awareness of the issue.

ForcesWatch written evidence to the Education Committee’s inquiry on the Purpose and quality of education in England

14/03/2016

This submission presents concerns around the growing influence of military interests in the UK education system which raises a number of concerns around critical thinking about the military, armed forces careers, and issues of peace and conflict resolution. These pro-military messages are not balanced by the inclusion of a structured framework for peace education within the curriculum, and the UK government is failing to implement recommendations from the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child as a result.

Scotland petition about armed forces in schools is launched amid cadets row

26/02/2016

Good news – after months of hard work ForcesWatch and Quakers in Scotland have now formally submitted our petition to the Scottish Parliament calling for an inquiry into armed forces visits to schools. We are urging MSPs to strike a ‘new deal’ on armed forces visits to schools, ensuring greater scrutiny, transparency and guidance over visits.

There’s already been a hugely positive response to the petition, with more than four hundred signatories in the first four days. You too can sign it, whether you live in Scotland or not. You’ll find it here and it’s live until the 20^th March.

Three Days on the Western Front: A student’s experience of a school trip to the First World War battlefields

23/02/2016

An account of a school trip in 2015 to the First World War battlefields by Joe Brydon, who was in Year 13 at the time, which raises various important questions about some of the ways that school students are being encouraged to remember war.

‘Commonsense and Understanding’: Recommendations from the Defence Committee’s Duty of Care report that are still outstanding 10 years on

16/02/2016

This report highlights seven recommendations from the Defence Committee’s report Duty of Care: Third Report of Session 2004-05 which have not been partially or fully implemented, and around which substantial concerns remain.

This report then discusses the concept of ‘in loco parentis’ and ‘moral obligation’ with regard to the army’s duty of care towards young recruits, noting that the Defence Committee were concerned in 2005 that the MoD distinguished too rigidly between legal and moral obligations, with the latter as less important.

In 2005, the Defence Committee discussed the lack of balance beween training needs and considerations for operational effectiveness, and thus made its recommendations. Ten years on, it is apparent that operational arguments, and current difficulties meeting recruiting targets, continue to prevent the armed forces from reviewing both their position on enlisting under-18s, and their recruitment practices and materials.

Troops to Teachers scheme misses target

01/02/2016

A controversial scheme to turn former military personnel into teachers has trained just a sixth of its target number of veterans during the first two years.

Wider military influence in schools in Scotland

27/01/2016

The UK military’s influence in schools in Scotland is not limited to visits by armed forces personnel. Other initiatives, which mostly take place during school hours, include: a wide range of school Cadet programmes; lesson resources produced by the armed forces; visits to military bases and museums; military-oriented alternative provision; and armed forces scholarships for those in S6 or Further Education colleges. The two main reasons the military ‘engages’ with young people, and with schools in particular, which drive all but the last of the initiatives explored below, are armed forces recruitment and positive awareness-raising.

Cadets in schools

Overview

Armed forces visits to schools in Scotland: A lack of transparency and insufficient consultation

Neither the armed forces, nor the MoD, nor schools, nor councils, automatically publish data on armed forces visits to schools in Scotland. The data has to be obtained by members of the public, and usually has to be reorganised substantially before it can be analysed. Poor record-keeping on the part of the armed forces and other bodies has added to this lack of transparency. In addition, there is insufficient consultation with parents and guardians as to whether they are content with their children/guardees taking part in armed forces activities, and there is evidence to suggest that schools do not always initiate the visits, contrary to the claims of the MoD and the armed forces.

Lack of balance during armed forces visits to schools in Scotland

School students in Scotland should encounter a balance of opposing views on the armed forces during their visits. However, a considerable body of evidence shows that this does not always happen.

The recruitment agenda behind armed forces visits to schools in Scotland

Evidence of the recruitment agenda behind armed forces visits to schools in Scotland.

Level and distribution of armed forces visits to schools in Scotland

The available data shows that the armed forces make a disproportionate number of visits to schools and colleges in Scotland compared to England, but also that the visits within Scotland are unevenly distributed, both by area, type of school, and armed force, with some areas and schools receiving a far greater proportion and/or frequency of visits. The armed forces also make far more visits to schools in Scotland than the emergency services, despite claims to the contrary.

Action taken to resolve issues of concern before submitting the petition

Overview

Our research has revealed that there is considerable concern in Scotland among teachers, students, parents/guardians, and others regarding the nature of armed forces visits to schools. However, we have also found that various other important stakeholder organisations are unaware of the concerns about of the visits, or who is responsible for overseeing them. This indicates a real need for a thorough investigation into the situation.

Identifying existing concern

Research by ForcesWatch and Quakers in Scotland identified the following existing concern about armed forces visits to schools in Scotland: