Doing our bit for the Community

Doing our bit for the Community

Doing our bit for the Community
with Chris Potter
It all started with a simple email from Paul Sutcliffe, a keen Flames Of War player, who is also Lead Social Worker at an Academy School in the North of England. Pivot Academy provide education and support for pupils and their families who have been let down by the mainstream education system.

Paul emailed to say that he was running some projects and learning objectives, with the pupils at the Academy around Armed Conflict. Tying in study time in class and combining it with the national interest in the Centenary of the end of the First World War, events up and down the country, and inevitably leading into research to armed conflict in the Second World War.

The main thread of his email was to say thanks to us for producing Flames Of War. As part of the background and source material for their projects, the pupils had used some of Paul’s extensive collection of Army Books from V3 to V4.

Doing our bit for the Community

Doing our bit for the Community

One by one, the pupils all noticed not only the information in the books, but the painted models in the books too. Paul brought a few models in from home, and before long, everyone was asking to play a game. 10-15 pupils started to learn the rules, and Paul was scratch building terrain out of PVA, cardboard, and anything else he could find. He signed off by asking if there was anything Battlefront could do to help support this burgeoning interest from the pupils in wargaming.

Only too happy to oblige, I spent a very happy lunchtime raiding Gareth’s (our intrepid Warehouse Supervisor) broken shelf/bits box looking for anything valuable I could send to the pupils and Paul. And boy did Gareth deliver. I managed to send them a care package chock full of tank sprues, paints, brushes, terrain, modelling supplies and even a couple of battlemats to fight over. I also managed to scare up some Mid War rulebooks and army books for playing with and a few out of production V3 army books for some historical reading toward their curriculum.

Paul received his care package and the pupils took great delight in discovering its contents, planning army lists and also sent us some pictures.

Doing our bit for the Community

Doing our bit for the Community

The plan going forward is for Paul to treat (himself) and the pupils to some infantry and artillery to take their games forward, all in the name of learning about some key points of History. In the coming months, the PIVOT Academy are planning to build themselves some demo tables around the Somme, Normandy, Dunkirk, and there is a plan in the works to organise a day trip to the Battlefront UK Gaming Centre in Nottingham for a mini-bootcamp where some of the UK team take the pupils through the basics of building, modelling, painting, and gaming with their forces. Then (because it’s all about the education as well as fun) the year 11 pupils will return to class and their Gaming Club and teach their skills to others.

I want to thank Paul for bringing to our attention just what a positive impact Flames Of War is having on his pupils and the benefits that what is, fundamentally, a social wargaming hobby can actually bring in communication, skills building, and learning. Maths and English as well as History are all covered!

I look forward to sharing with you an update in the future of the bootcamp and how the pupils are getting on building themselves armies.
~Chris

Doing our bit for the Community

Doing our bit for the Community
Doing our bit for the Community Doing our bit for the Community
Doing our bit for the Community Doing our bit for the Community