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For those children who are not academic and are at risk of being alienated by school, an army-backed programme of outdoor pursuits and life skills is offering an alternative route to inclusion. Alex Dobson reports.

Finding ways of motivating teenagers who feel that school has nothing to offer is a major challenge for parents, teachers and the government. Among education secretary Charles Clarke’s answers is to invite army officers into school to work with disruptive pupils.

The scheme, known as SkillForce, first began two years ago when it was piloted in schools in Newcastle and West Norfolk. It was considered such a success that it has now been extended to 13 local authorities across the UK. It is part of an attempt to make school life more exciting and meaningful for young people who find many academic subjects unappealing.

Independent research has shown that the project has been beneficial for those taking part and is particularly useful in helping to encourage pupils to attend school. Exclusions were reduced by an impressive 70 per cent and non-attendance by 90 per cent.

Schools taking part in the pilot schemes found that as well as falling truancy rates, juvenile crime was also reduced as children had been more willing to stay in school during the day. Another observation was that the strategy seems to be particularly effective for boys who find their army tutors to be attractive role models.

Because of its success so far it is likely it will be used more widely across the UK. It is already operating in parts of Scotland and Wales as well as in several English inner city areas.

So how does the scheme work in practice and does it really make a difference to the lives of young people?

One area where SkillForce has been running successfully is Knowsley in Liverpool. Here, Simon Salt is team leader and, with three ex-army colleagues, he works with schools to offer pupils the chance to learn a range of vocational skills. Salt himself spent seven years as an officer with the 1st Battalion, The Queen’s Lancashire Regiment, leaving as a captain before becoming a SkillForce team leader.

Typically, he says, the young people attending SkillForce sessions will have dropped two GSCE subjects which gives them the time to take part in the programme.

Although there are regional variations, the young people who have been identified by their schools as likely to benefit will usually spend two sessions per week with their army tutors. The SkillForce teams work with a link teacher in the school, either a head of year or a staff member who runs the alternative curriculum programme. Where there are discipline problems, army tutors seek advice from professionals, says Salt.

"In school we work with groups of around 20 teenagers for one morning and one afternoon each week. They will work toward key skills, such as communicating better and solving problems through written assignments and library research. But they will also come equipped for sports sessions or outdoor activities. There is an in-built flexibility that means we can combine work, say, on an environmental project or learning something such as first aid, with sessions on the sports field, working on team games," he says.

The children get out of school throughout the year to learn navigation, canoeing and climbing. Because there are always two instructors to each group, there is an opportunity for those who need it to have one-to-one tuition, he says.

One of the highlights of the year is the five-day summer camp. Salt says this is where many of the lessons learned throughout the year are put into practice.

The group will be working toward gaining their expedition qualification for the Duke of Edinburgh bronze award. But much more importantly they will be called upon to use the communication and practical skills they have been taught.

"For 24 hours during the camp they are expected to be totally self-reliant. They take part in an 18-mile trek across hill country carrying all their kit and they will sleep in an overnight camp in groups of four or six. Carrying their own ration packs they are expected to move through a series of checkpoints that are supervised by instructors and reach a campsite where they cook themselves a meal," he says.

"Sometimes they find it gruelling, sometimes they get themselves lost, and they can be cold, wet, hungry and tired but they work together and this builds their self-esteem because they solve the problems they are faced with. They find that they really need to communicate and support one another," he adds.

Although the instructors all have military backgrounds, Salt is keen to emphasise that all the tutors are sensitive to the needs of the children taking part.

"There is absolutely no question that we are operating some form of boot camp with people turning out in uniform and expecting children to take part in drills and military exercises. We dress informally and the young people are never coerced into taking part, but we do draw on the experience of army life including the leadership and motivation skills that can work to bring disillusioned teenagers back into school", he said.

One such teenager is 15-year-old John Williams who had an attendance record of only around 5 per cent in year nine. While taking part in the programme the following year his attendance increased to 95 per cent.

Defence secretary Geoff Hoon has acknowledged that the scheme could indirectly boost recruitment to the armed forces, but Salt insists that in Knowsley the scheme is not being used as a military recruitment campaign.

Whatever its impact on soldier numbers, SkillForce clearly is playing a positive role for some young people. But as Pam Hibbert, principal policy officer with Barnardo’s warns, such a scheme can only ever hope to be one small piece of the jigsaw of support needed by the most disadvantaged children in society.

"Clearly, because there is such an emphasis on academic achievement and league tables and targets, it has become increasingly difficult for schools to give individual attention to children who are having difficulties and so programmes that offer this kind of attention are welcome," she says.

"There are also issues about male role models in schools because teaching tends to be dominated by women, so having more men in school is also positive. But there are concerns over who decides what is being delivered and there is certainly an emphasis here on what appear to be male-orientated, competitive military-type activities," she adds.

Meanwhile, SkillForce marches on and it seems to be making a difference simply by offering young people the chance to develop competence and confidence in practical skills which the traditional school curriculum cannot provide.

About SkillForce

The scheme is a joint initiative between the Department for Education and Skills and the Ministry of Defence. It is based on a model used in independent schools for combined cadet forces, and aims to further young people’s employment opportunities by improving their attitude and reduce truancy, crime and disaffection.

SkillForce currently targets young people between 14 and 16 years of age but there are plans to introduce the scheme into primary schools in a bid to re-engage pupils who are already beginning to lose interest in school life.