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Introducing Stacey Heartford as our Education Consultant for all things Forces and FCDO. We’ve been looking forward to announcing Stacey’s official role with us for some time.
Stacey started her career in the television industry, quickly progressing to the role of senior researcher for the Clear Picture Company and Carlton Television. During her years at Carlton she worked on several documentaries about the military. It was while filming that she met her husband and started on an exciting new journey as an Armed Forces wife. Since joining the amazing Forces Family, Stacey has had a diverse career history following her husband around the globe. She’s worked in a plethora of roles for the MOD civil service, in addition to selling and planning in-house weddings and special events for a corporate hotel chain.
Stacey has since found her niche within the education sector where she began work for MOD schools overseas. She most recently worked in a pupil support role in a UK state school assisting children with special educational needs (SEN). Stacey also has a passion for children’s literature and is a published children’s author.
As a mother of two, Stacey is acutely aware of the struggle faced by Forces families daily. She has lived in 8 locations world-wide and her young children have lived in 3 different countries and changed schools 4 times in the last 5 years. She understands the quirks of military life, postings, detachments and the reality of constantly moving children. She says “this can lead to awful gaps in education and disrupt the harmony of close childhood friendship ties. Taking children away from everything that is comfortable and familiar can be heart-breaking”. Having recently worked in a rights respecting school, Stacey feels passionate about the right of the child to feel settled and happy in an educational environment, believing that education must be child-centred and empowering.
As Panoba’s Forces and FCDO specialist, Stacey is excited to continue her positive impact on children’s lives helping provide them the ability to flourish in a place they feel they belong. In her words, combining her valuable life experiences with her passion, nurturing and educating children. She’s extremely focused on fitting the child to the right educational environment; enabling them to reach their full potential, achieving their aspirations and dreams. She also feels it is extremely important to connect the children with the school that will make them feel most at home whilst their family home keeps on moving. Providing the chance for children of the Forces and FCDO family to have roots to grow and wings to fly.
“I can say with pride that our armed forces children are often described as dandelions. They are hardy and resilient, with strong roots, flying on the wind to new adventures. It is positive traits like these that help military children adapt so well to boarding life, and the reason why so many parents feel that boarding is the logical next step for the family.”
Stacey has hit the ground running since joining the team, and, even though she has moved across the length of the UK with her family, she has still managed to forge ahead with her role at Panoba. She’ll be moving the military arm of Panoba forward with great success we are quite sure.
If you would like any more information about the Forces & FCDO service that Stacey now heads up or would like to arrange an informal chat please don’t hesitate to contact her at stacey@panoba.co.uk or call +44 203 633 3101.
