Son starting at Collingwood in march 2021

[Navymum2020]

My son is due to start at Collingwood on 23/03/21. I have so many questions so I apologise in advance.
The notes he received state that the base is closed on holidays so I assume that they'll be closed over Easter but it doesn't say how long or dates so we can book flights to bring him home. We're over 8 hours away by train.
When is the passing out parade likely to be for this start date?
When should he expect to receive confirmation of how he is due to travel to Collingwood and is he expected to book this himself and be refunded or will he receive pre-booked tickets?
And a much less important one, any tips on the items on the kit list? What type of watch for example?
I know nervous mother

 

[Branch-Hopper]

Phase One at Collingwood is a whole new thing, all Covid related. I have four bits of advice:

a) Relax, its still five months away
b) All his joining instructions will follow in good time. I would suggest that, if you have not heard from the RN by the new year, then come back to us
c) Have a look at the parents & guardians thread: https://www.navy-net.co.uk/community/threads/joining-up-a-thread-for-parents-guardians.167551/
d) Wait for one of the posters who knows more than I to come on! @crash_evans

 

[Navymum2020]

I only ask re the Easter break as the earlier the fights are booked the cheaper they'll be.
I looked for over an hour on the parents thread and there was little or nothing regarding Collingwood. I realise it's four months away however that's not a long time really and depending on the current situation with covid-19 being organised makes the most sense as a lockdown could happen at any point which will make kit items more difficult to purchase.

 

[dart16]

Just to point out, for phase one, travel is organised and paid for by the the navy, during Easter break.

 

[crash_evans]

Just to confirm [mention]Navymum2020 [/mention] will your son be joining Phase 1 in Mar 2021? How old is he?


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[Navymum2020]

He's doing basic training so I assume phase 1? He will be 17 as he turns 18 during training.

 

[crash_evans]

Perfect, thanks for getting back to me. I’ve read that you are a bit of a way from Pompey (Portsmouth), so I presume it either Scotland or NI? The local AFCO will sort his travel to his Phase 1 establishment. The RN, due to continuing to recruit during the pandemic has a lot of sailors and limited capacity at Raleigh to train them. One early option was to trial this at BRNC Dartmouth (usually reserved for Officer trining).

In Jan 21, the RN is standing up a Phase 1 enclave within HMS Collingwood. The theory being that those completing Phase 2 training there (Warfare and WE), would be able to then move across and have easier access to Phase 2 training. This would also increase the amount of sailors we can recruit at any one time.

With regards to travel, when he joins Collingwood, he will receive numerous joining interviews to find out his personal situation. You can read any Raleigh posts and this will be completely transferable. As a former Phase 2 DO, we would contact Under 18 trainees to give the NOK a ‘warm and fuzzy’ feeling that as their in loco parentis they are being looked after and letting them know in good time when to book travel in good time. I’ve dealt with a lot of families that needed to fly home/train home, some included U18 to Spain.

If you have any other questions feel free to message back or private message me.


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[Navymum2020]

Perfect, thanks for getting back to me. I’ve read that you are a bit of a way from Pompey (Portsmouth), so I presume it either Scotland or NI? The local AFCO will sort his travel to his Phase 1 establishment. The RN, due to continuing to recruit during the pandemic has a lot of sailors and limited capacity at Raleigh to train them. One early option was to trial this at BRNC Dartmouth (usually reserved for Officer trining).

In Jan 21, the RN is standing up a Phase 1 enclave within HMS Collingwood. The theory being that those completing Phase 2 training there (Warfare and WE), would be able to then move across and have easier access to Phase 2 training. This would also increase the amount of sailors we can recruit at any one time.

With regards to travel, when he joins Collingwood, he will receive numerous joining interviews to find out his personal situation. You can read any Raleigh posts and this will be completely transferable. As a former Phase 2 DO, we would contact Under 18 trainees to give the NOK a ‘warm and fuzzy’ feeling that as their in loco parentis they are being looked after and letting them know in good time when to book travel in good time. I’ve dealt with a lot of families that needed to fly home/train home, some included U18 to Spain.

If you have any other questions feel free to message back or private message me.


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Thank you for confirming the current situation. We're in Scotland so yeah a fare way to travel. A previous comment says travel is paid for by RN even during holidays so I'm less worried about getting flights organised now though no one has confirmed how long the holiday is.

 

[Zoidberg]

Thank you for confirming the current situation. We're in Scotland so yeah a fare way to travel. A previous comment says travel is paid for by RN even during holidays so I'm less worried about getting flights organised now though no one has confirmed how long the holiday is.

Easter leave is usually around 2 weeks (Or at least it was when I did Phase1, which was definitely not recently), though I wouldn't like to confirm that will be the case in 2021 with COVID.

 

[Navymum2020]

Easter leave is usually around 2 weeks (Or at least it was when I did Phase1, which was definitely not recently), though I wouldn't like to confirm that will be the case in 2021 with COVID.

Thanks, just thought it seemed daft to have two weeks off after they'd only been there two weeks ‍♀️, I had assumed it would just be the long weekend.

 

[Zoidberg]

It's just the way it falls. The navy tend to do block leave at easter, summer and xmas in line with half term holidays etc.

I think i was at Raleigh 3 weeks then had 2 weeks off.

 

[NavalTrader]

My son is due to start at Collingwood on 23/03/21. I have so many questions so I apologise in advance.
The notes he received state that the base is closed on holidays so I assume that they'll be closed over Easter but it doesn't say how long or dates so we can book flights to bring him home. We're over 8 hours away by train.
When is the passing out parade likely to be for this start date?
When should he expect to receive confirmation of how he is due to travel to Collingwood and is he expected to book this himself and be refunded or will he receive pre-booked tickets?
And a much less important one, any tips on the items on the kit list? What type of watch for example?
I know nervous mother

Are you sure he is starting 23rd of March and not the 22nd? Because as far as I'm aware, the dates for Collingwood are from 22/03/21, leading to a Pass out Parade on the 11/06/21.

Easter leave for 2021 is from 2nd April - 19th April.

 

[Navymum2020]

Are you sure he is starting 23rd of March and not the 22nd? Because as far as I'm aware, the dates for Collingwood are from 22/03/21, leading to a Pass out Parade on the 11/06/21.

Easter leave for 2021 is from 2nd April - 19th April.

It's 22nd was a mistype in the original post. Thank you

 

[Heyo91]

My son is due to start at Collingwood on 23/03/21. I have so many questions so I apologise in advance.
The notes he received state that the base is closed on holidays so I assume that they'll be closed over Easter but it doesn't say how long or dates so we can book flights to bring him home. We're over 8 hours away by train.
When is the passing out parade likely to be for this start date?
When should he expect to receive confirmation of how he is due to travel to Collingwood and is he expected to book this himself and be refunded or will he receive pre-booked tickets?
And a much less important one, any tips on the items on the kit list? What type of watch for example?
I know nervous mother

Hey there, great question. My experience stems from the Royal Air Force as a cadet so may differ however they only offered assistance with travel via Rail. Travelling via air was out of the question although this was from Swanwick (one stop away from Collingwood) to Cosford so is certainly a shorter trip than your son's.

My best advice, as stated above would be to await the joining instructions for the training which will detail travel arrangements and should also include dates of holidays. This year the Easter leave was Friday 3rd April - Sunday 19th April, which means that Easter Sunday was dead in the middle.

 

[Navymum2020]

Hey there, great question. My experience stems from the Royal Air Force as a cadet so may differ however they only offered assistance with travel via Rail. Travelling via air was out of the question although this was from Swanwick (one stop away from Collingwood) to Cosford so is certainly a shorter trip than your son's.

My best advice, as stated above would be to await the joining instructions for the training which will detail travel arrangements and should also include dates of holidays. This year the Easter leave was Friday 3rd April - Sunday 19th April, which means that Easter Sunday was dead in the middle.

Thank you. He received joining instructions with kit list and stuff but I guess I'll just have to wait on further info. As it's so far I was planning on paying for him coming home at Easter if it was a few days, but if it's already covered via train and is a two week period that's not so bad. Seemed pointless to spend 16 hours on a train to come home for a few days so would have booked him a flight x

 

[NavalTrader]

Thank you. He received joining instructions with kit list and stuff but I guess I'll just have to wait on further info. As it's so far I was planning on paying for him coming home at Easter if it was a few days, but if it's already covered via train and is a two week period that's not so bad. Seemed pointless to spend 16 hours on a train to come home for a few days so would have booked him a flight x

I'm heading to HMS Collingwood early 2021 also (different dates), and my train journey is about 8 hours end to end so i looked at flying and you can usually get a cheap one-way flight for around £100-£150. Obviously dates and times will cause fluctuations but even from Scotland to Southampton airport is less than this price.

But yeah I agree that if they are going to have 2 weeks off then there is no rush in getting home. And I suppose a bit of time to reflect on the journey back home could do some good... (Obviously after their phone battery dies haha)

 

[Reiver87]

Just to put my two pence worth in, I'm joining the 29th of march and my AFCO informed me il be there perhaps a week or two then back home for Easter break. So il be travelling via train also upto as far as Newcastle, way I see it let him travel by train he'll be on with others like himself who he can bond with during that time and save the money of the flight for something else.

 

[Zoidberg]

When I went through Raleigh there was a boy from way north. He flew to Glasgow, got put up overnight then the rest of the way on the train. There's literally no point speculating and it's better to either call the AFCO or just wait out for the travel warrant to be issued.