Pastoral care

Pastoral care is essential in all schools to ensure that the children grow up happily in a secure and positive environment. Children have many fears and many difficulties along the road between early childhood and adulthood, and the society in which we live today imposes some enormous difficulties and pressures on some children. It is thus, hardly surprising that some children find growing up a difficult business.

They do need our help in this, and to help them effectively, they must have confidence in us and trust us. This confidence and trust comes from our concern for each individual so that they do feel valued by us, and the consistent behaviour and values that we demonstrate to them. It follows then, that we are all involved all the time that we are with children, in pastoral care. It is though, the form teacher who is the font line of the Pastoral Care system.

Form teachers

Form teachers play an important role in overseeing the pastoral care of the pupils within their form. The Head of Infants, Head of Juniors and Deputy Head monitor the standard of pastoral care and the welfare of each pupil within their area of the school and liaise with the Head Teacher, who has overall responsibility for the pastoral care of all the pupils in the school.

It is the Form Teacher who will see the child every day, who will be in contact with the parent, and who will be co-ordinating the information coming in about the child from other members of staff, or from other children. Normally, it will be the Form Teacher to whom a child needing help will first turn.

This is normally enough to solve most problems that will occur from day to day. When there are more difficult cases, the Form Teacher should not hesitate to call in others who may be able to help, be it another member of staff, the Head of Juniors, Middle Years or Seniors, or the Deputy Head or the Head Teacher. The School Nurse and the Learning Support staff also provide valuable pastoral support. Where there are problems beyond the routine, the Head Teacher and the Deputy Head must be kept informed.