The first cadre of Cadets will parade and take part in training exercises under the close scrutiny of Maj-Gen Stickland, their parents, SCWA staff and students and invited guests from sponsors and supporters.
The Marines are coming!
On Thursday 13 September 2018, the newest Royal Marines contingent in the country will be officially opened at Stationers’ Crown Woods Academy by the Commandant General Royal Marines, Maj-Gen C R Stickland OBE.
David Millar, Executive Principal, said: “We are very excited to be only the third school in London with a Royal Marines Contingent and we are very much looking forward to the official opening. Having a CCF unit on site will enhance the opportunities we already offer to help students develop leadership skills, broaden their experiences and enrich their education. The venture has only been made possible through generous sponsorship by both the Stationers’ Company and Royal Naval charity Greenwich Hospital and I would like to thank everyone involved who has worked tirelessly on this project to bring it to fruition.”
The CCF has generated a lot of interest amongst students with 20 cadets already signed up and taking part in the regular Thursday training sessions which have been running for the past six months. Led by Contingent Commander and staff member Jeremy Wilson, the Academy has appointed a part-time School Staff Instructor (SSI) to support administration. All adults received their initial training at the Commando Training Centre at Lympstone, near Exeter in Devon.
All members of the CCF wear their Royal Marines uniform every Thursday. Supported by the Royal Marines Youth Training Team (RMYTT) they follow a basic Royal Marine cadets training syllabus, covering navigation, first aid, fieldcraft and tactics, weapons training and shooting, expeditions and self-reliance, drill, turnout and military knowledge. The annual training cycle divides between military training (60% of the time) and adventurous training (40%), with termly training weekends, an adventurous training camp at Easter and an Annual camp each July.
The CCF is open to all students from SCWA from year 10 upwards, with the main entry points in September each year for years 10 and 12. The first cadre of fifteen cadets has now completed “Foundation Phase” and will be moving on in September to “Individual Skills Phase” for a term before completing a term of “Team and Tactics Phases” at the end of initial training. Twenty new cadets will join in September and the aim is to recruit 20 cadets annually to the unit.
The CCF is sponsored and supported by the Ministry of Defence, under a formal Memorandum of Understanding between them and the Leigh Academies Trust, and also by the Stationers’ Company and Greenwich Hospital.