Comment, analysis, news

Scottish voices on armed forces visits to schools

Before the closing date of our petition to the Scottish Parliament on military visits to state schools in Scotland, the ForcesWatch team went on the road to spread the word and raise awareness of the issue.

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Bringing it up to date: 100 years on from the First World War

This article, summarising ForcesWatch work, was first published on the White Feather Diaries website.

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Scotland petition about armed forces in schools is launched amid cadets row

Good news – after months of hard work ForcesWatch and Quakers in Scotland have now formally submitted our petition to the Scottish Parliament calling for an inquiry into armed forces visits to schools. We are urging MSPs to strike a ‘new deal’ on armed forces visits to schools, ensuring greater scrutiny, transparency and guidance over visits. There’s already been a hugely positive response to the petition, with more than four hundred signatories in the first four days. You too can sign it, whether you live in Scotland or not. You’ll find it here and it’s live until the 20^th March.

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Three Days on the Western Front: A student’s experience of a school trip to the First World War battlefields

An account of a school trip in 2015 to the First World War battlefields by Joe Brydon, who was in Year 13 at the time, which raises various important questions about some of the ways that school students are being encouraged to remember war.

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New Deal Needed on Military Visits to Scotland’s Schools

ForcesWatch – which scrutinises the military – and Quakers in Scotland, are today formally launching a petition at Holyrood calling for increased transparency and scrutiny of armed forces visits to schools.

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Troops to Teachers scheme misses target

A controversial scheme to turn former military personnel into teachers has trained just a sixth of its target number of veterans during the first two years.

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After ‘cannon fodder’ outcry … Holyrood urged to investigate military visits to schools

MSPs are being urged to hold an inquiry into the presence of the armed forces in Scotland’s schools after an outcry over plans to set up cadet units aimed at the poorest pupils.

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Holyrood should protect Scottish schools from creep of cadets

ForcesWatch is calling on the Scottish government to resist attempts to introduce Cadet units into the country’s state secondary schools.

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RAF recruitment in schools

The MoD recently acknowledged that the RAF's Science, Technology, Engineering & Maths (STEM) road show in schools - run in partnership with the weapons company BAE Systems - is 'recruitment'.

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Children have no place in the British army

Britain is the only country in Europe to recruit 16-year-olds into its armed forces. The cynical targeting of underprivileged youngsters must end

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