Service Children's Education (SCE) was an organisation of the United Kingdom government responsible for the education of the children of

British Armed Forces The British Armed Forces are the unified military, military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its British Overseas Territories, Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests ...

families and Ministry of Defence (MoD) personnel serving outside of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. They provided

school A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the Educational architecture, building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most co ...

s and educational support services from Foundation Stage through to

sixth form In the education systems of Barbados, England, Jamaica, Northern Ireland, Trinidad and Tobago, Wales, and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepa ...

. They are headquartered at Trenchard Lines, Upavon,

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

.SERVICE CHILDREN'S EDUCATION ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS 2012-2013

Archive
. Service Children's Education. PDF p. 3/62. Retrieved on 28 February 2015. "Any enquiries regarding this publication should be sent to us at Headquarters Service Children's Education, Trenchard Lines, Upavon, Wiltshire" It was previously an

executive agency An executive agency is a part of a government department that is treated as managerially and budgetarily separate, to carry out some part of the executive functions of the United Kingdom government, Scottish Government, Welsh Government or No ...

of the MoD, but this status was removed on 31 March 2013 following the reduction of service personnel based abroad. However, it continued to operate under the SCE name as part of the MoD's Directorate Children and Young People (DCYP). At one point the organization's mission was taken over by DCYP, which was created in 2010. In 2021 DCYP was separated into two organisations: Defence Children Services (DCS) and Armed Forces Families and Safeguarding (AFFS).

History

During the 1980s, the British Families Education Service (BFES) was renamed Service Children's School (SCS). In 1997 it took its current name Service Children's Education (SCE). Despite the various changes to the name and administration, it continues the mission of its predecessors: providing education for the children of

personnel. Former teachers who taught in SCE schools or under its previous incarnations the BFES and SCS may join the BFES/SCE Association. In 2001 the records of the British Families Education Service / Service Children's Education Association were deposited at the Institute of Education,

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

. The papers chart the establishment and development of the BFES. Since then numerous additions have been made to the collection and material is continuously being acquired.

Management

Headquarters and offices

SCE are headquartered at Trenchard Lines, Upavon,

. The business support office are co-located with that of the Children's Education and Advisory Service since August 2012.SERVICE CHILDREN'S EDUCATION ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS 2012-2013

Archive
. Service Children's Education. p. 7 (PDF p. 8/62). Retrieved on 28 February 2015. SCE was headquartered in the Wegberg Military Complex in Wegberg,

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, until 2012. It briefly moved to JHQ Rheindahlen, until that base closed, too, in 2013. In addition SCE had offices in

Bielefeld Bielefeld () is a city in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Region in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population of 341,755, it is also the most populous city in the administrative region () of Detmold (region), Detmold and the L ...

and Episkopi Cantonment,

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

Curriculum

Schools follow the English National Curriculum, administer national assessments and public examinations, and are inspected by His Majesty's Inspectorate, via

Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a non-ministerial department of His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament. Ofsted's role is to make sure that organisations providing education, training ...

. Teachers have recognised UK professional qualifications and the majority are recruited specially from the United Kingdom through the

Civil Service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

Schools

The agency operates primary and secondary schools in Europe and Asia and also provides educational facilities in territories such as the Falklands and

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

where there is a significant British military presence. The schools are typically grouped by garrison (including its outlying bases). Schools are: ; Belgium * SHAPE Primary School (British section), Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe,

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

; Brunei * Treetops Early Years Setting and Hornbill Primary School ( Seria) ; Cyprus * King Richard Secondary School, Dhekelia * St. John's Secondary School, Episkopi *Akrotiri Early Years Setting and Akrotiri Primary School, RAF Akrotiri *Ayios Nikolaos Early Years Setting and Ayios Nikolaos Primary School, Ayios Nikolaos Station *Dhekelia Early Years Setting and Dhekelia Primary School *Episkopi Early Years Setting and Episkopi Primary School ; Falkland Islands *Mount Pleasant Primary School, RAF Mount Pleasant, Falklands ; Germany * Attenborough Early Years and Attenborough Primary School ( Sennelager) * St David’s Primary School ( Ramstein) ; Gibraltar * Sunflowers Early Years Setting and St Christopher’s Early Years Foundation Stage ; Italy *BFS

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

Primary School ,

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

; Netherlands * AFNORTH Primary School ( Brunssum)

Former Schools

Germany

;Secondary schools *Cornwall School, Dortmund *Edinburgh School, Münster * Gloucester School, Hohne (closed July 2015) * Havel School, RAF Gatow,

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. Closed 1994. Was also the primary school until the building of Gatow First school in 1977 * Kent School, Hostert, near Schwalmtal (boarding school) (closed 1993) * King Alfred School, Plön (closed 1959) * King's School, Gütersloh (closed 2019) * Prince Rupert School, Rinteln (closed July 2014) * Windsor Boys' School, Hamm (boarding school) (closed 1983) * Windsor Girls' School, Hamm (boarding school) * Windsor School, formerly Queen's School, Rheindahlen (closed July 2013)
Virtual Tour of the Windsor School / Windsor Boys School Hamm, Germany
;Primary/middle schools *Alanbrooke Primary, Dortmund, BFPO20 *Andrew Humphrey School, WWildenrath (closed 2012) *Ark Primary School, JHQ Rheindahlen (closed July 2013) *Attenborough First School, Sennelager *Attenborough Primary School, Sennelager *Ayrshire Barracks Primary School, Mönchengladbach *Bad Salzuflen School, Bad Salzuflen *Bader First School, RAF Brüggen *BFES Germany RAF Borgentreich * Bielefeld School,

* Bishopspark First School, Paderborn * Blankenhagen School, Gütersloh *Brüggen School, Elmpt, formerly RAF Bruggen (closed July 2015) *Buckeburg Primary School, Buckeburg (now Immanuel Schule Schaumburg) Bünde Primary School *Cambridge Infant School,

Münster Münster (; ) is an independent city#Germany, independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a ...

*Cheshire Middle School, RAF Bruggen *

Charlottenburg Charlottenburg () is a Boroughs and localities of Berlin, locality of Berlin within the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Established as a German town law, town in 1705 and named after Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, Queen consort of Kingdom ...

First School (closed 1990s) – Its facilities was taken over by the newly founded Berlin British School in 1994. *Churchill School (with annex in Kiel), Verden. Closed 1993 * Dalton Middle School, Düsseldorf *Derby School, Osnabrück (closed 2008) *Fleming Primary School, Enger *Gatow First School Berlin, Headmaster John Hancock (1977-1994), (school closed on 4 November 1994) *Griffon School, RAF Wildenrath (became Andrew Humphrey School in c1992) * Haig Primary School, Gütersloh *Hakedahl Primary School, Detmold *Hameln School,

Hameln Hameln ( ; ) is a town on the river Weser in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Hameln-Pyrmont and has a population of roughly 57,000. Hamelin is best known for the tale of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. History Hameln st ...

*Hampshire School, Monchengladbach. Closed 2001 *Hamm Primary *Hannover Primary School *Hastenbeck Primary School, Hastenbeck *Heide School, Fallingbostel * Hemer Primary School *Herford Primary School, Herford (split into Lister and Fleming) Hildesheim Primary School *Hobart Primary School, Detmold *

Iserlohn Iserlohn (; Westphalian language, Westphalian: ''Iserlaun'') is a city in the Märkischer Kreis district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the largest city by population and area within the district and the Sauerland region. Geogr ...

Primary School *Jerboa Primary School, Soltau *John Buchan Middle School, Sennelager *John Buchan School, Sennelager (closed 2019) *

Krefeld Krefeld ( , ; ), also spelled Crefeld until 1925 (though the spelling was still being used in British papers throughout the Second World War), is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany. It is located northwest of Düsseldorf, its c ...

Primary School (closed in 2002) – It is now the site o
Franz-Stollwerck-Schule
*Lancaster School,

Minden Minden () is a middle-sized town in the very north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, the largest town in population between Bielefeld and Hanover. It is the capital of the district () of Minden-Lübbecke, situated in the cultural region ...

*Lippstadt Primary School, Lippstadt *Lister Primary School, Herford (closed in July 2015) *Maas First school, RAF Laarbruch *Marlborough School, Osnabrück *Merlin School, RAF Wildenrath (closed in 1991) *Möhne Primary School, Soest *Montgomery School, Hohne * Mountbatten Primary School, Celle *Oxford Primary School, Münster (closed in 2013) *Pegasus Primary School, RAF Wildenrath *Rhine Middle School, RAF Laarbruch * Robert Browning School, Paderborn *Scott School Fallingbostel *Shackleton School, Fallingbostel *Sir John Mogg Primary School, Detmold (closed July 2014) *Slim School,

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

*Spandau Primary School, Berlin *St Andrew's Primary School, Rheindahlen *St Barbara's Primary School, Wulfen *St Christopher's Primary School, Rheindahlen *St Clements Primary School, Wickrath *St David's Junior School, Rheindahlen * St David's Primary School, Ramstein *St George's Primary School, Rheindahlen *St Patrick's Primary School, Rheindahlen *St. Peter's Primary School, Lübbecke *Suffolk School,

*Talavera Primary School, Werl *Tower School, Dülmen *Trenchard School, Gütersloh *Victoria School, Dortmund *Wavell Primary School, Bergen *Wellington First School, Osnabrück *Wetter Primary School, Wetter (Ruhr) *Wildenrath Primary, Wildenrath * William Wordsworth First School, Sennelager *York Junior School, Münster

Gilbraltar

*St. Christopher's Middle School,

Hong Kong

* Gun Club Hill Primary School, Hong Kong *Minden Row Junior School, Kowloon, Hong Kong *Sek Kong Primary School, New Territories, Hong Kong * St. Andrew's Primary School, Kowloon, Hong Kong *Stanley Fort Primary School, Hong Kong * St George's School (closed 1996) – The Australian International School Hong Kong uses some of its former facilities., *Victoria Junior School, Victoria Barracks, Hong Kong

Singapore

;Secondary schools *Alexandra Grammar School. Later merged into Bourne School, it is now the site of ISS International School Preston campus. *Bourne School *Alexandra/Gillman Secondary Modern School – later merged into Bourne School, the former compound (including Gillman Barracks) is now occupied by an art gallery, the NTU Contemporary Art Singapore (NTU CCA), and other small businesses. *St John's School. In 1971, the United World College of South East Asia, then known as the Singapore International School, was established at St John's former campus; it adopted its present name in 1975. ;Primary schools *Alexandra Junior School * Changi Junior School *Nee Soon Primary School *Pasir Panjang Junior School * Seletar Junior School * Tengah Junior School

= Infants schools

= *Tanglin Infants School, Tanglin Barracks, Dempsey Road *Alexandra Infant School Pasir Panjang Infant School

Malta

;Infants schools *Army Children's School St Andrew's Pembroke *Royal Naval School Verdala (now the Liceo Guzeppi Despott Junior Boys Lyceum) * RAF Luqa *RAF School for Infants Safi *St David's Mtarfa *Army Children's School Tigne ;Secondary schools *Royal Naval School Tal Handaq (now the Liceo Vassalli Junior Lyceum)

Other countries

; Colony of Aden (now in

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

) *Khormaksar School, RAF Khormaksar ;Belgium *Emblem Primary School, Antwerp ;

Belize Belize is a country on the north-eastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a maritime boundary with Honduras to the southeast. P ...

*Toucan School, BATSUB (closed 2011) ;Brunei *BSCS Berakas *BSCS Muara ;Malaysia * Bourne School,

Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...

*Slim School, Cameron Highlands (1951–64, re-opened in Malacca in 1965 at Terendak Camp) *The Army School, Johore Bahru, MalaysiaMy father was Headmaster in 1969 ;Norway *St George's School, Bekkestua, Oslo ;Nepal *Dharan school, Dharan camp

References

External links

Official websiteBFES/SCEA Association
– association for former BFES, SCEA, SCS and SCE teachers and alumni
SCE Schools
(Archive)
SCE connected Learning community
(SCEcLc)
Records of the British Families Education Service / Service Children's Education Association
at

* *
Recollections & Photographs of former SCE schools
{{Authority control Aftermath of war Defunct executive agencies of the United Kingdom government Education in the United Kingdom Defence agencies of the United Kingdom Organizations for children affected by war Organisations based in Wiltshire