Ethos
Pastoral Care is the core upon which this school is founded.
Our belief is that a ‘Happy Child’ is one who can fulfil everything they are capable of in whichever form that takes; whether that is Academic/Sport/Music/Drama etc. The job of the tutors and the Pastoral Care Coordinator is to harness that talent and let the pupils develop it.
All tutors work hard to ensure that they get to know not only the children but also the parents. All Pastoral Care issues are dealt with in the first instance by the tutor. Any communication regarding a child’s personal development is directed through the Tutor in order to maintain a ‘one point of contact’ approach.
A tutor will be responsible for a group of approximately 18 children. They will also undertake the twice-daily registration and ensure that day to day routine is adhered to and that children are organised and ready for the day ahead.
We have a homework diary designed to meet our specific requirements, and this is used to record the effort stars that are awarded to children by subject as well as for manners and kindness. These are collected each Friday, collated, and totalled up in Houses. Competition between the Houses is strong, and regular House meetings take place to develop this House spirit ( see link to ‘House System’ for more information.
Bronze, Silver and Gold certificates are awarded in Assembly when children achieve a certain milestone eg 50,100,150 stars. These are termly goals.
Our behaviour management system is based on the Golden Time Model. Friday, period 10 is allocated as Golden Time across Years 3-8, a similar system operates in the pre-prep. If, during the week, a child (having received a warning) continues to undertake the same poor behaviour/make poor choices, they will have minutes removed from this time. The severity of the misdemeanour will dictate the number of minutes off ( see link ‘What happens when you get it wrong’)
This information is then recorded and monitored to identify patterns of behaviour or persistent offenders. If such a pattern occurs the Tutor in consultation with the Pastoral Care Coordinator will devise a programme designed to help the pupil make better choices in the future. Should a child become a regular loser of minutes then parents are involved in finding a way forward with a united front. All Tutors are encouraged to be proactive in their dealings with parents. We like to think that we will be telling a parent about a problem before they realise there is one.
Our dealings with children are based on the principle that we trust before we mistrust. We believe that children choose how they behave and should that choice be incorrect we will ‘direct’ them through a loss of minutes so that the next time the situation occurs they will hopefully make a better choice.
These approaches have been introduced in the last three years and through a series of insets we have ensured all staff feel ownership of the approach. The process is under constant review and evolves into a better system year on year.
We pride ourselves on the level of Pastoral Care we offer and all staff are good at going that extra mile for pupils and parents to ensure that we have in school, children who feel valued, respected and above all are Happy.
Charlie Lee
Pastoral Care-Coordinator
