The Month of the Military Child, which is recognised in April each year, emphasises the important role that military children play in the armed forces community.

Sponsored by the Department of Defense Military Community and Family Policy, the Month is a time to applaud military families and their children for the daily sacrifices they make and the challenges they overcome.

Pupils at Mount Street Nursery and Infant School in Brecon played their part in marking the important month when they welcomed members of the military last week.

The schoolchildren took part in a variety of outdoor military-themed activities with the help of the visiting 160 Brigade from Brecon.

Some of the activities included learning about camouflage with face paints and shelter building, as well as exploring the world of military food.

Warrant Officer Class 2 (WO2) Benjamin Brookman, who led the activites, said: “We’re delivering a round robin of different stands to engage with the children.

“For the past six months we’ve been giving bespoke virtual lessons in schools. We send out equipment, for example the parts needed to build a car, and then deliver the session via video link.

“We’re still running those virtual sessions but it’s great to get back to this stage where we can visit schools and really engage with the children - normalisation is so important.”

Many children in and around Brecon and the surrounding areas come from military backgrounds. 32% of the children at Mount Street Nursery and Infant school are from military families.

Following an ESTYN report on the school in 2020, the inspectorate noted that its “support for children of service families is outstanding” and made special mention of the “exemplary” support provided for children from military families.

The Month Of The Military Child is often celebrated “internally” with military communities and military association planning contests, parades, fairs, seminars, and special events centered around the message of the month. It is also celebrated “externally” by many communities, schools and organizations.

These efforts and special events are designed to show the importance of providing children with quality services and support to help them succeed in the mobile military lifestyle.

The regional engagement team in Brecon deliver the service to children all across Wales.

They offer a variety of activity packages across all ages, including team building exercises and STEM-based (science, technology, engineering and maths) tasks.

WO2 Brookman added: “We’re very proud of what we do and we consider it extremely important.

“We represent the triservice - army, navy and air force - but we’re not recruiters and we’re not here to promote the army. We’re here to engage with the children.”

The team who gave the sessions last Friday included a mixture of cap badges including the Royal Welsh, the Royal Logistic Corps and the Queens’s Dragoon Guards.

Among those was Private Begum, who has recently joined the team after training as a teaching assistant

She said: “The children love the activities and getting involved with the guessing games. We get a great level of interaction from all the kids and I personally love using the inflatable courses to really getting them all moving.

“I’m looking to go back into teaching at some stage. This is fantastic experience and I can already see how beneficial it is to the children.”