Agenda item

The Commander of the CCF to be heard.

The Headmaster introduced Major Stephen Jones, the School’s Commander of the CCF.

Major Jones gave a presentation on the School’s increasingly popular Combined Cadet Force (CCF). During his presentation, he covered the following areas:

·        The different elements of the CCF (Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force);

·        The co-ordination of the Duke of Edinburgh scheme – available to all pupils and participation rates have recently improved;

·        The CCF Band;

·        The command structure of the School’s CCF;

·        Monday Parade Activities;

·        CLS ‘Barrack Dress’;

·        ‘Best Cadet’ certificates;

·        The School’s continuing partnership with St Thomas the Apostle College, Nunhead in the Army section of the CCF;

·        CCF Activities – camps, trips and excursions including overseas trips and expeditions;

·        CCF Ethos

Major Jones explained that the CCF was voluntary but that those who joined had to commit to this for at least 5 terms although many chose to stay on beyond this period. He was keen to underline that the CCF was not in any way a ‘recruiting tool’ but was something that provided pupils with a disciplined environment and taught them many important life skills such as team work and leadership.

In response to a question, Major Jones confirmed that, at present, all 30 pupils from St. Thomas the Apostle College were part of the Army section. He added that staff had, however, discussed the possibility of the boys joining other sections of the CCF in the future if there was sufficient appetite for this.

In response to further questions, Major Jones stated that, in the past, staff had been reluctant to get involved with some of the uniformed, military activities and were perhaps more keen to assist with the Duke of Edinburgh expeditions. He stated that it was important to play to the strengths of individual staff in order to fully engage them.

Major Jones reported that the boys were permitted to and did make use of proper army bases and military training areas. In terms of the Old Citizens who assisted with some of the School’s CCF activities, Major Jones reported that some were adult instructors and commissioned/non-commissioned Officers and one had a military background and was still in the Royal Air Force.

Governors commended the School for its continued work with the St. Thomas the Apostle College in this area.

The Chairman thanked Major Jones for an extremely interesting and informative presentation.