Important information
New recruits join the CCF in the November of Year 8.
Students may remain in the CCF throughout their time at the Vyne / Everest and at the Sixth Form College and
must leave at the end of the academic year in which they turn 18.
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Sorry, this is the wordy page - but it is important stuff.
Sorry, this is the wordy page - but it is important stuff.
Dear Parents,
If your son or daughter is considering joining the CCF, please read the following notes. If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact us; we will be only too pleased to help.
WHY?
Why should you let your son or daughter join the CCF?
The CCF is about developing the important, but often neglected, non-academic skills of your child; developing life skills, building confidence and helping them to be the best that they can be.
There is academic research that shows membership of cadets is beneficial in many ways, including:
enhancing young people’s communication skills, confidence, resilience, leadership, and respect for diversity.
improving the health and wellbeing of cadets, producing an annual return on investment in the region of £95 million.
increasing young people’s educational performance through increased attendance and improved behaviour.
Some of what is on offer is also designed to reinforce subjects at school. The services offer STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) camps to encourage students in the real-world applications of these subjects. The CybeFirst courses teach them more about the digital age we live in.
Adventurous Training gives the opportunity to try a wide range of activities supported by well qualified instructors.
We will be doing our usual parents evening for the CCF on January 31 2025 to showcase our activities and allow you to ask us questions face to face. Please come along and meet the team.
COMMITMENT & STANDARDS
The first 3 weeks are run as "taster sessions" where your child will be introduced to a range of cadet activities. There is no commitment at this stage and they can leave at any time.
At the end of the third week we will issue joining forms and uniform sizing sheets. If they decide to join the CCF then commitment is required as a cadet and I ask for your assistance in meeting this by giving your son or daughter every encouragement, both now and throughout their membership. Joining is a commitment; we expect regular attendance and enthusiasm from our members. In return we will give them an exciting and worthwhile hobby.
Cadets should attend every session appropriately dressed in their issued uniform, which should be clean and pressed. Cadets must comply with military standards of turnout and hair must be worn to a length so that it is off the ears and collar – but this does not mean they need a crew-cut. A bun net may be worn to achieve this. Boys are also expected to shave as required. Cadets who fail to meet our standards will initially be given warnings leading to disciplinary action and then, if no improvement is made, may be asked to leave the CCF.
EQUIPMENT & UNIFORM CARE
Cadets are issued with the uniform they require free on loan, apart from boots, which is only to be worn on Cadet activities. Other equipment may be issued as required. Each cadet is expected to care for the equipment that is loaned to him/her and any equipment or uniform that is lost must be paid for. By signing the joining form you are agreeing to comply with this. See our information on uniform care.
OFF-SITE TRAINING
There will be occasions where a later finish on a Friday is unavoidable because we are training off site. We will always give advance notice to cadets of these dates and ask you to confirm their attendance.
EVENTS, TRIPS & CAMPS
The full benefit of CCF membership is only obtained if cadets take part in camps, including those at weekends. All these camps represent tremendous value for money and I recommend that cadets attend as many as possible to get the most benefit from the opportunities offered by the CCF. Please could you ensure that when dates are launched you mark them in your diaries.
We will publish a forecast of future events on the CCF notice board so that cadets have plenty of time to see when such trips will take place.
Please note that some camps/trips are available and are specific to particular teams and age groups.
In addition to the forthcoming events, once they have passed their Weapon Handling test, they will be able to attend Friday evening visits to the Dismounted Close Combat Trainer (DCCT), a military video training range at Winchester. Super training value that only costs £3.
We use Google Forms by email, wherever possible, to request places on trips, but please see the communications section below.
MEMBERSHIP AND ACTIVITY COSTS
As those parents who have had cadets go away on weekend or week-long trips will confirm, the CCF is excellent value for money as you can see on the costs sheet linked at the top of this page.
We pride ourselves in running a dynamic programme for Cadets on the school site as well as away on exercises and we are keen that this should continue. To fund the basic activities (including staff administration, equipment, the provision of First Aid training, Combined Cadet Force Association Accident Insurance etc) there is an initial charge of £35.00. Other activities are charged individually. We endeavour to keep all activity costs as low as we can and some have not increased in over 10 years.
If you feel that any of the costs involved are prohibitive, please do contact me in strictest confidence and I will see if there is any funding available to assist you.
PAYMENTS
Our preferred method of payment for events is by Bank Transfer to THE VYNE SCHOOL CCF Santander bank account: Sort Code 09-01-53 Account number 22465486 using your child's initial and last name along with the reason for the payment or name of the event as the reference.
Cheques should have your child’s name on the back along with the reason for the payment or name of the event.
We are also happy to take cash. Please put cash in an envelope with your child’s name on the back along with the reason for the payment or name of the event.
JOINING and CONSENT FORM
Please take care to fill in the required forms accurately and return them to the CCF Office as soon as possible.
We need a parent’s email address so that we can advise you of event dates and you can then use an electronic form to confirm event attendance. We need the student’s school email address so that we can enrol them into any on-line training.
What does giving your consent mean when you sign their joining form?
It allows your son or daughter to be included in all the training activities of the Contingent.
We use electronic forms to request places on individual activities but need a physically signed consent to train.
It consents to your son or daughter flying in service aircraft.
You will normally be asked to consent to this separately as the occasion arises, but there may be short notice opportunities to fly where this is not possible.
It consents to your son or daughter receiving medical treatment if necessary.
While all training is carried out to the highest safety standards, accidents do occasionally occur, or your child may be taken ill while away.
This allows Contingent staff to sign any consent forms required to ensure speedy treatment.
The joining form will be your consent for your child to engage in CCF trips and training for the duration of their membership for the MOD and the school. However, some activities, for instance flying, require additional consent forms that will be provided for each event. We use electronic forms by email wherever possible, but on the joining form we require a printed copy with a real signature
If any medical or contact details should change during the year, the updates should be made on the activity forms or emailed to us.
Information from this form accompanies staff on trips and is kept at School to enable us to make contact in the event of an accident or emergency so it is vital that these details are written clearly.
These details are also required by the Ministry of Defence cadet database, which is used to record qualifications, attendance and for medical emergencies on military camps (such as Central camp) and courses. This cadet database is secured to MoD standards and is not passed on to third parties.
COMMUNICATIONS
Our normal means of communication is by email (ccf@vyne.hants.sch.uk).
For most activities, we use Google Forms to allow you to request a place and they will appear from our email address. There have been some problems with forms being blocked for. @btinternet.com email addresses. Please add our email address to your list of safe senders to ensure this blocking does not happen.
Each activity will also have an emergency contact phone number on the form.
WHAT TO DO NOW
Encourage your child to attend for the three weeks of taster sessions.
If they wish to join at that point, then you can complete the Joining form and the uniform sizing linked at the top of the page. If you do not have access to a printer, hard copies of the form will be available from the school. The form should be returned to the CCF office with a payment of £35. Please also take a passport style picture on your mobile phone and email it to the CCF email address with your child’s name in the email.
In the meantime, if you would like any further information, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Kind regards,
Lt. Col. G Lock
Contingent Commander
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