A STUDENT from The Wellington Academy in Tidworth has been chosen to grace the front cover of a national magazine for Service families.

The latest edition of Army&You magazine, which drops through the letterboxes of around 35,000 families with links to the Army, features a story about how The Wellington Academy has appointed a dedicated Military Service Pupil Premium Coordinator.

The story tells of how Andrea Bailey, a former science teacher who is part of a Service family herself, has taken up the role to look after the academic transition and pastoral needs of the school’s Service children.

At least 65 per cent of pupils at The Wellington Academy come from Service families, and the support is a crucial part of their time at school. One of Andrea’s first tasks was to create a communications hub to enable pupils to stay in touch with family members who are posted abroad and may only be able to speak to each other during the school day.

As part of the feature, several students from military families were photographed at the Tidworth-based school, getting on with a typical school day. The editor of Army&You, Lisa Youd, said her team felt the school’s initiative is inspiring, and were delighted to feature student Margaret on the front cover.

“It’s been a pleasure to feature Wellington Academy in the pages of Army&You magazine,” said Lisa.

“It’s great to see a school going that extra mile to support its Service pupils, especially as it has such a large percentage of children from military families. We hope the article inspires other schools to follow suit.”

The Wellington Academy headteacher Steven Paddock said he is proud that Andrea Bailey and students from military families have literally hit the headlines.

He said: “Life for children from military families can bring additional stresses and demands that children from civilian backgrounds don’t necessarily face.

“We are delighted that Army&You have given us the opportunity to showcase what we have done at The Wellington Academy, and hope that it will shine a light on how schools can play a part in offering such students valuable additional support.”