On October 17th, Lt Col Richard Hall MBE spoke to us about the Army Foundation College on Pennypot Lane, where he is the Commanding Officer. In a fascinating talk, he explained how the College takes young people aged 16-17, and trains and develops them to be able to join the field Army at the age of 18. It is as much an educational establishment as a military academy, and provides what is believed to be the most thorough junior soldier training in the world.
With such relatively young students, the College seeks to provide a “Duty of Care” environment that is subject to both Army and civilian assessment and monitoring. This includes review by Ofsted, which recently rated it as “Outstanding”.
Courses last for either 6 or 12 months, depending on the students and their prospective Army career. In every case, the College takes great pride in developing inexperienced and sometimes academically failing young people into confident and competent people with the prospect of a successful career in front of them.
The fascinating and stimulating talk triggered great interest and many questions from a lively and involved audience.