WATERY LANE
MERTON PARK, LONDON SW20 9AD /
Tel:
Mobile: / 020 8542 5881
07872 139772 / E:
W:
Dear Parent/Carer
As membership of the CCF requires consent of any student’s parent / carer, I have provided this letter to give you some information on the CCF, its aims and how it works.
The Aims Of The CCF
The Combined Cadet Force is a tri-service military cadet organisation, which, as per its charter, has the following aims:
“To provide a disciplined organisation in a school so that its members may develop:
- Self-discipline
- Responsibility
- Self-reliance
- Endurance
- Resourcefulness
- Perseverance
- Leadership
- To encourage a positive attitude to service to the community
- To impart an understanding of why this country’s Defence Forces are needed and how they carry out their functions”.
Membership of the CCF is restricted to pupils in year 8 or above from within the School.
The CCF has existed at Rutlish, in one form or another, since 1921. It has a proud tradition and is staffed by Old Rutlishians, teaching staff and others. Officers hold Army Reserve or RAFVolunteer Reserve (Training) Commissions.
The official status of the CCF
The Combined Cadet Force is a voluntary part-time youth organisation, organised in schools and colleges.
At Rutlish School the Contingent consists of two Service Sections, representing the Army and Royal Air Force.
The CCF is part of the national youth movement in the United Kingdom and is administered by the Ministry of Defence. However, the CCF is not part of the Armed Forces and its members are not liable for service or compulsory training in the Armed Forces. Its members are neither encouraged nor dissuaded from military service upon leaving school but can be provided, through membership. with advice, guidance and experience for those wishing to do so. The Headteacher has overall responsibility for the contingent but the day-to-day running and organisation is delegated to the Contingent Commander.
The value of the CCF
The CCF has flourished for many years in schools and colleges and continues to do so at Rutlish. This encouraging state of affairs was given wider prominence in the unequivocal conclusions of the Hume Report which, in outline, described the CCF as:
“An immensely worthwhile organisation and it definitely plays its part in complementing the academic aims of a school in preparing young boys and girls for adult life”... “The CCF provides a means to help youngsters to know themselves; it teaches leadership, team spirit and the qualities of good citizenship. It provides adventure and challenge where often a pupil who may not be the greatest success in the classroom or on the playing field achieves success in the Corps in one aspect or another” Hume Report.
The report then sums up the work of the CCF as:
'Good for the cadet, good for the school, good for the various Services, and good for the nation.’
Commitment & Training
Membership of the CCF at Rutlish is voluntary. Cadets are expected to parade every Wednesday afternoon during term time between 3.30pm and 6pm. Those who are unable to attend must request, in advance, to be excused. Two camps are held annually, one a Central Camp with other Contingents, usually during the penultimate week of the summer term. The other, Contingent run Adventurous Training Camp, is during the Easter holiday. A number of weekend training camps are held, as well as “field” days to Air Experience Flights at RAF stations and other units. Whilst we encourage as many cadets as possible to attend all of the activities offered, numbers are sometimes limited. Two activites are regarded as compulsory – the annual Remembrance Sunday Parade & Services and the Biennial General Inspection.
The Army section is affiliated to the Rifles Regiment. Training is provided by regular army personnel, Contingent staff and senior cadets. Shooting is an integral part of our syllabus and considerable emphasis is placed on safe weapon handling.
Flying and gliding are available to RAF section cadets over the age of 13 years and 3 months who will, in part, follow a three-part RAF educational syllabus.
Promotion is encouraged and achieved by a combination of examination and practical assessment of leadership & instructional abilities. Cadets who demonstrate particular attributes may be recommended for flying or gliding scholarships and/or national cadet leadership courses. The opportunity for specialist training also exists in fields such as cookery, radio signalling, sailing, powerboating and scuba diving.
Costs
An initial joining fee of £10.00 is payable upon submission of The “Westminster” Enrolment Form, which is a parent / carer’s authority for a cadet to join and train). A monthly subscription of £5.00 is payable, by bank standing order. The standing order mandate should be downloaded from the Rutlish CCF website ( and printed. The completed mandate should be submitted with the completed Westminster Enrolment Form. It is the account holder’s responsibility to cancel any standing order made, upon the cadet’s cessation ofservice. Overpayments or payments made after a cadet has left the CCF cannot be refunded. Charges and deposits payable are subject to periodic review.
Unit funds are otherwise raised by charges for weekend camps (around £20.00), week-long summer camps (around £70.00) and week- long challenging pursuits camps (around £170.00). We receive no financial support from the school.
A uniform and kit deposit of £50.00 is payable on joining. Only once the deposit has been paid is a cadet eligible to be issued with uniform, the scale of which is dependent on their chosen service section. If paying by cheque, the uniform deposit should be separate from the joining fee, as this is paid into a different account. All cheques are payable to ‘Rutlish School CCF’ and the name of the cadet should always be written on the reverse.
Uniform
All army section cadets will receive a basic issue of CS95 or multicam disruptive pattern uniform. Where available, RAF section cadets will also receive a basic issue but this is not guaranteed. An individual RAF uniform demand form is available on the website for those cadets wishing to join the RAF section. Please refer to the rear page of this form for instructions for completion and scale of issue. Cadets are expected to wear their service section uniform with pride and conduct themselves in a creditable manner when doing so. Their appearance is expected to be neat and tidy when in uniform, which is to be brought to school with them on a Wednesday. Cadets are expected to wear full uniform, including headdress, or none at all. Uniform and other kit issued remains the property of the MOD. The deposit is repayable on return of all items issued when the cadet ceases service with the Contingent, provided that they are in good condition (taking into account fair wear & tear) and laundered. In the event that not all items issued are returned, they are damaged or are unlaundered, the whole deposit, or part thereof, may be forfeited. Additional Charges may be raised against a parent / carer for any items not returned, if the value exceeds the deposit paid.
Cadets are not issued with boots, which must be purchased privately. Links are provided via our website to several companies who supply boots and other cadet equipment. Other uniform and kit is issued, subject to availability. We do sometimes experience problems in providing uniform items for smaller cadets.
Communication
The majority of notifications and other communication between Officers and Cadets are carried out by e-mail and via the Contingent web-site so it is important that prospective cadets have access to the internet and an e-mail account. E-mail communication to cadets will be copied to parents / carers. .For this reason it is essential that a parental e-mail address is also provided on the enrolment form. Cadets will be given passworded access to the members’ area of our website where information about forthcoming events can be found.We also have a Twitter account and would invite parents / carers and cadets to follow us on this or view our latest Tweets on our website homepage.Staff are generally only available in person at the Benton Building (cadet hut) on a Wednesday afternoon after 14:00 hrs. The telephone number for the Contingent is at the top of this letter.
Medical
Some medical conditions may preclude someone from CCF membership. Currently, severe asthma and nut allergy are two such conditions. All known long-term medical conditions should be declared on the application form. If any doubt exists about a particular condition parents / carers may be asked to obtain a letter from the applicant’s GP stating that they are medically fit to undertake CCF activities, some of which are of a strenuous nature.
Expectations
It is important that both parents and prospective cadets understand what to expect and what is expected of them. CCF life is not always “laugh a minute” and all members will, from time to time, be challenged and asked to do things that they have not done before and may not always immediately want to do. This is part of what the CCF is about. A syllabus has to be followed in order to progress and cadets are therefore expected to attend regularly. In return for their commitment cadets will be given the opportunity to engage in some of the most memorable experiences of their young lives and will have the opportunity to make friends for life, through shared experiences. If they enjoy themselves I invite them to tell their friends. If they don’t, I invite them to tell me.
General
Hopefully the above has provided you with sufficient information for you and your son / ward to decide collectively whether the CCF is something that he would like to be part of. You may have other questions, the answers to which you may find on the Contingent website and the Cadet Training Centre (Frimley Park) Website.
Alternatively, please feel free to e-mail or telephone the unit.
Ryan Sammons
Captain
Contingent Commander
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