Cadets ‘just what pupils need now’

CHILDREN should embrace the opportunity of joining the Combined Cadet Force after a difficult year of lockdown, it was claimed yesterday.

Some 400 state schools have already taken advantage of the Cadet Expansion Programme, a scheme launched by Prime Minister Gordon Brown and then extended widely by David Cameron.

As children leave behind months of isolation, with sports restarting in England last week, there is now a real need for structured activities, a teacher said yesterday. And the Government should focus on expanding the scheme further.

“The benefits of joining a structured organisation with other pupils – which seeks to expand horizons and install key life skills while having fun – can’t be overestimated,” said Neil Mackintosh, geography teacher at Tile Cross Academy, Birmingham.

The 600-pupil school, which serves one of Birmingham’s most deprived communities, won the prestigious National Social Mobility Award at the end of last year.

While once under special measures, the adoption of a cadet force has helped transform the school and instilled a new ethos in its pupils.

“We serve one of Birmingham’s most disadvantaged communities. One of our cadets walked all the way from Afghanistan to the Sangatte camp in Calais. Others are from Morocco, Italy, Romania,” said former Army officer Mr Mackintosh, who heads the school’s Sea Cadet division. “Discipline is not the issue it was. Instead, we’re seeing how tangibly cadets help pupils develop skills and attributes which help them to succeed in life.”

Research by Northampton University showed joining the cadets particularly benefits children who receive free school meals, improves attendance and boosts salary prospects, stating: “Cadet detachments enable people to overcome disadvantages in a way school does not.”

Sir Anthony Seldon, former head of Wellington College, said: “It is unfair that overwhelmingly joining the cadets is an option only for those at independent schools.”

‘Discipline not the issue it was’