Service Families and Service Pupil Premium

Since its Roman foundation, York has been a city of soldiers and we are proud to welcome and support the children of service families, and ex-service families, to our school. We have formed a friendly and supportive working relationship with the School Family Liaison Officer, Becky Dixon and the Unit Welfare Officers at Imphal and Strensall Barracks. The named coordinator for support for service pupils is Sarah McKinley, Deputy Head/SENCO.

At the Danesgate Community we use the Service Pupil Premium (SPP) to support pastoral care, therapeutic intervention and also for the curriculum. In order for us to access that funding (£320 per year), we need you to inform us that you are a service family or ex-service family in order to benefit from the offer below. This can be done on admission.

Within school, our provision for mental health and wellbeing is available to all pupils who require it; however, for service families, we offer an enhanced level of understanding and responsiveness. In essence, if the need arises for support, school will be able to respond quickly to put that in place. This could be at times of transition, in and out of school to new postings or at times of mobility and deployment. The provision includes: Zones of Regulation, Equine therapy, Art therapy, Autism Angels, Choose2, Forest Schools and the
Thrive Approach. Whilst Zones is a whole-school provision, the others are generally accessed by referral apart from Forest schools and Thrive where we can react quickly and with a guaranteed response for pupils in the military cohort. The trained and certificated Thrive Practitioner is employed by Danesgate and can respond dynamically and quickly.

They also can incorporate the Forest Education experience on site in our conservation area.

Extra pastoral support can be easily organised when required. We have resources to use to aid transitions and are understanding of the two-year cycle of postings and its effect on pupils.

If a bespoke tuition package is required in times of crisis, we will work with families to identify what is required and to co-produce a plan.

Please note, the SPP is not linked to an individual child and payment would not be given to a family in lieu of any support that was not taken up.