Horris Hill School pledges to support the armed forces community

Horris Hill School has pledged to support the armed forces by being one of the first independent schools to offer extra financial support to service personnel.

Forfar Education, the education group Horris Hill is a part of, signed the Armed Forces Covenant to support serving personnel, service leavers, veterans, and their families.

John Forsyth, CEO and founder of Forfar Education, served as an officer in the British Army between 2000 and 2007.

He said signing the Armed Forces Covenant was a simple and impactful way of supporting ex-service personnel as they navigate reintegration into civilian life, as well as aiding current and former members of the military at Forfar schools.

He said: “The government provides the military with a school allowance for a small section of the serving population. Previously called the Boarding School Allowance, it is now referred to as Continuity of Education Allowance (CEA).”

“This is to enable those who move frequently as a result of their service in the military to have a stable place for their children to be educated.

“However, this allocation only goes to a very small percentage of serving military and does not rise at the pace school fees rise.

“It is the CEA that most independent schools support with an additional bursary to cover some of the top-up amount required by military parents.

“The vast majority of independent schools make no provision for those who do not have CEA.

“Our aim at Forfar is to support not just those with CEA, but open that support to all those with young families currently serving – as they have chosen a life of service and we believe that this support is justified and owed as a result.”

Forfar is the first independent schools group to offer this support to veterans and serving members of the armed forces without CEA in the hope that this becomes standard across the independent school sector, especially for the larger schools and school groups.

Mr Forsyth also said: “Schools such as Horris Hill located next to the many military barracks of the south with extensive grounds and excellent boarding facilities can tailor-make packages of support for military families, not just financial but also pastorally.

“Our goal is to establish ourselves both as an employer known for its open-door, welcoming policies in regard to those seeking work after leaving the forces and also to be a company that supports where we can, all our serving military and veterans, and we wish to lead the way here so that support of our Armed Forces personnel and veterans becomes normalised across the independent school sector.”