Headteachers, council leaders and the military came together for an international conference to share ideas and best practice for achieving the best education for service children in Wiltshire.

The Wiltshire Council-run event was attended by more than 20 local schools alongside representatives from Germany and Cyprus schools, the Ministry of Defence, educational providers and other local authorities.

The event comes as Wiltshire prepares to welcome 4,300 service personnel and their families (approximately 3,300 dependents) to the county by 2019.

A head and deputy from a school in Cyprus, rated outstanding by Ofsted, shared their expertise in working with pupils from military backgrounds and what can be done to best support them while they are at school.

The event included input from schools, local authorities and support agencies with a wealth of knowledge and skills supporting service pupils. There were workshops on bereavement counselling, support funding, maths intervention projects, Fischer Family Trust information to help schools evaluate how well children are progressing, and army rebasing plans.

Laura Mayes, cabinet member for children services at Wiltshire Council said: “Preparations are well in hand to welcome these service personnel into our communities and one of the most important aspects will be ensuring our new young residents have access to the best education and settle well into our schools.

“This was an insightful day with plenty of networking and sharing ideas. Working closely together like this is going to be a key part of our preparations and I’m pleased this day was a success.”

Headteacher Claire Beazley of Clarendon Infants School said: “I felt the conference gave me a good opportunity to stop and think specifically about the ways we work in school to ensure the provision for service children is as effective as it can be. There was opportunity to reflect on what we are doing well and to learn from the practice of others.

"The ideas generated by the sharing of practice, the learning achieved through the workshops offered and the MOD update means at our school we will be able to re-focus on what next steps we will be taking to ensure we are achieving the best outcomes we can for the children and families we serve.”

Brigadier Piers Hankinson, Commander 43 Wessex Brigade, said: “The main theme from my perspective as the Regional Brigade Commander is understanding and anticipating the increase in the numbers of military families to the Salisbury Plain area and their schooling requirements.

"It was really encouraging that there were over 100 people who attended from a variety of organisations, those from schools, providers of education, educational experts and also Army representation. To Wiltshire Council primarily who ran the day – my thanks to them.”

Lieutenant Colonel Matt White from the Directorate of Children and Young People said: “We have worked really closely with Wiltshire Council, both ourselves here at the DYCP and alongside the Army Basing Team to share good practice and help the council in their planning for the future of service children.

"During the forum, we talked about the impact of re-basing in respect to timescales and what it means in real terms to the education of service children in Wiltshire.