Service Children In State Schools (SCISS)

Service children in state schools (SCISS) was formed as a working group to look into the issues relating to English state schools providing for children whose parents serve in the armed forces. It was convened by CEAS (Children’s Education Advisory Service) in the latter part of 2003. CEAS is a UK wide Ministry of Defence (MOD) service which provides information, guidance and support to service families, schools and local authorities and, since 2010, has been part of the MOD’s Directorate for Children and Young People (DCYP).

SCISS is now an affiliation of more than 1500 state-maintained schools in England which have children of service personnel on roll, led by a National Executive Advisory Committee made up of headteacher and local authority representatives. The group is supported by representatives from the Department for Education (DfE), DCYP, in the forms of Service Children’s Education (SCE, responsible for the provision of education to children of service personnel in a number of locations abroad), CEAS and the Directorate’s Policy Officer. The working group and its two sub-committees, for Strategy and School Improvement respectively, meet at least three times a year to advise government and to develop, through an action plan, strategies which can help schools in England to provide more effectively for the children of service personnel on their rolls. 

Further links for information and support are below:

https://www.gov.uk/topic/defence-armed-forces/support-services-military-defence-personnel-families

https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/defence-children-services-dcs