Exploring the deployment-related wellbeing of pre-school children from UK Naval, Army and Air Force backgrounds

The three- to five-year-old age group makes up a significant proportion of our overall numbers of service children, yet they are often overlooked in terms of UK policy and research. Building on the two researchers' doctoral studies, this UK-focused research is one of the first to explore the impact of deployment on young children from all three branches of the Armed Forces. Better understanding their experiences will help to shape developments in policies and practices for this group of children. The research aims to illuminate the impact of deployment on young children in terms of their wellbeing and educational development. It also aims to highlight the deep expertise and supportive practices that have been developed in early years settings working with service children across the UK so that these can be shared on a wider level. 

To understand the impact of military-related parental deployment on three to five year old children from Naval, Army and Air Force backgrounds across the UK to better inform policy and practices for these children. 

This is a qualitative study, employing semi-structured interviews with educational professionals working alongside pre-school children who are currently experiencing, or have recently experienced, a military-related parental separation. The research is affording an understanding of the deep expertise that early years professionals have of children's deployment-related experiences and the methods they have developed to support such children. Non-serving parents are being invited to participate in interviews to share their perspectives. The children themselves are also invited to take part via participatory research methods, such as drawing and talking alongside a known and trusted adult. This research approach affords a triangulation of perspectives so that the impact of deployment on young children can be understood from a range of viewpoints. 

This study seeks to address the following research questions: 

1. How are different domains of children's wellbeing impacted by a military related parental separation?
2. What is the impact of military-related parental separation on children's progress against the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum? 
3. What are the similarities and differences in young children's experiences of parental deployment across the three branches of the UK Armed Forces?

Ten early years settings with large numbers of service children from Naval, Army and Air Force backgrounds have taken part in the research.