Appointed As Station Commander’s Cadet 2
014 will be an extraordinary year for Peterborough based air cadet Jessica Danells. Jessica has
been appointed the very first Station Commander’s cadet and will accompany the Station Commander of RAF Wittering, Gp Capt Damian Alexander, on a series of official engagements.
Cadet Flt Sgt Danells was selected from over 2400 cadets in the South and
East Midlands and Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire areas and will, over the next twelve months be given a unique insight into the RAF and life at RAF Wittering.
17-year-old Jessica is a lower sixth-form student, and is studying Sports Science, Psychology and English Language. She has been a member of 115 (Peterborough) Sqn Air Training Corps for four years.
Speaking of her experiences in the Air Cadets, she said: “Cadets has opened up a whole new world for me. I have been able to make new friends all over the UK and had experiences I wouldn’t have thought possible before joining.”
Good Station Commander’s Cadets hand their homework in on time and fully participate in their education, so Jessica’s duties will be scheduled around her school curriculum.
SO UNDERSTANDING Alex O’Brien
M 22
y husband, Stuart, is a serving RAF SNCO and is now stationed at RAF Brize Norton and we live
in private accommodation in Swindon. My husband was deployed to the Falkland Islands last June from LATCC Swanwick, missing the birth of our son Flynn and my daughter’s first two months in Reception at Haydonleigh Primary School in Swindon.
The school was extremely supportive of my daughter’s transition to primary school, she is also a July baby and therefore one of the youngest in the intake and were very mindful of our particular situation as a service family.
The school ensured that my husband and I were able to meet with the Head Teacher, Mrs Frances Billinge, and have a lengthy tour of the school at short notice just before his deployment. In addition, the Head Teacher was happy to authorise a request for a holiday during term-time because of my husband’s
Envoy Spring 2014
deployment fell in the school holidays and has indicated that she would be supportive of term-time holiday requests in the future.
I am aware, unfortunately, both as a service wife and a primary school teacher myself, that this attitude does not represent the norm.
We are one of a number of service families whose children attend Haydonleigh because it falls within easy commuting distance of both RAF Brize Norton and 29 Regt, Duke of Gloucester Barracks. We consider ourselves to be so fortunate to have found a state school for our daughter with a head who is so understanding of our particular circumstances.
Note from the Federation: This situation is a very happy one and one that does happen for many in the service. We are however, hearing of more and more cases where families are not being given authorised leave to take their children out of school and many families have been fined.
Before the rules changed in September, Armed Forces families were given dispensation under the ‘exceptional circumstances’ to take children out of school during a periods of Post Operational Deployment Leave (PODL). We are now putting a case together to argue that this should still be in place.
If you have experience of these circumstances, we would like to hear from you. On the homepage of our website
www.raf-ff.org. uk (please scroll down) we have a quick survey asking just six questions. Responses are anonymous and will be used to build our case. With many thanks.
www.raf-ff.org.uk
RAF Wittering Station Commander, Group Captain Damian Alexander said: “Jess should be extremely proud. She is an outstanding cadet and has succeeded against some very tough competition. This opportunity will come only once for Jess, so it’s our intention that her tenure as Station Commander’s Cadet should be as interesting and as educative as possible.”
Jessica is clearly delighted with her appointment and said: “I feel very accomplished in getting the title of Stn Commander’s Cadet and determined to fulfil this role to the best of my ability”.
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