At Wallingford School we are proud to be so close geographically to the military base of RAF Benson. The base is a support helicopter main operating base working within the Joint Helicopter Command.

As a result of being so close we are pleased to have 37 Service students who have at least one parent serving currently in our armed forces. Our Service Champion at Wallingford School is Mr Lyons; this means that our service children and families have a specific point of contact for all concerns service related.

We are part of the Oxfordshire services Hub and attend the annual SCIP alliance national meeting to see how best to support our service children. We have also teamed up with study higher in order to give students of service families a personalized insight into University life and how to break down possible barriers to reaching this stage in Education.

We appreciate there are times when lives for service families can become very challenging or difficult and through the support of school, the Families Federation, Services Pupil Premium and many other charities and agencies we aim to offer individual care for all our service families.

Should a family member have a deployment imminent please use this form to advise Mr Lyons of dates and information so that we can assist in any way during this period. 

RAF Benson is home to two front-line Puma HC2 helicopter squadrons and one Operational Conversion Unit. It is also home to the civilian National Police Air Service and the Thames Valley Air Ambulance, which operates 24 hours a day.

We are pleased to have supported the Thames Valley Air Ambulance in 2021 with our Annual sponsored walk. As a school community we raised an incredible £21,384.20.

We plan to continue to develop our links with the base to enhance our relationship and also offer a greater insight to all of our students into what service life entails for service families.

If you have any further questions about our support for service pupils or a place in the school for students with a serving parent please contact Mr Lyons directly at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.