Pastoral support

At Bidbury Junior School, we recognise that there may be times in a child’s life when they may experience events and periods in time that can impact on their emotional wellbeing. We want everyone involved with our school to feel well supported. Good pastoral support focuses on nurturing the individual needs of each child. To achieve this, we aim to build trusting and empathic relationships with all our pupils and their families.

Pastoral care underpins personal development and we know from experience that with outstanding pastoral care, pupils feel they belong and their self-esteem is able to flourish because they feel valued and cared for. We pride ourselves on knowing the children well and, as a whole school staff, we aim to develop positive relationships with them and you, their families. As a school, we respond as quickly as possible to any issues and ensure that difficulties are discussed and resolved in the best possible way to remove any barriers to learning.

Our ethos is that every adult in our school is responsible for the pastoral care and welfare of our children. We provide additional specialist support through our Pastoral Support Team: 

• Mrs Smith - Consultant SENCO
• Mrs Copper - Behaviour Lead and Senior Attendance Champion
• Miss Farthing - Emotional Literacy Support Assistant (ELSA)
• Mrs Hunter - Pastoral Support Worker 

   

At Bidbury, pastoral support for a child may include Emotional Literacy Support from our school ELSA; group support sessions with children with similar needs; support for children with anxieties; providing a key adult mentor; and/or providing guidance and advice for parents and carers.

The role of the Pastoral Support Team:

• To support and work alongside parents in addressing pastoral concerns impacting on their child’s learning and development.
• To work with staff in ensuring good pupil support and build upon the caring and respectful relationships that exist between staff, pupils and families.
• To provide specialist counselling to support individual children; listening and talking to children who may need support in a variety of pastoral issues, for example, self-esteem and confidence, bereavement, managing feelings, anxieties/worries, separation and developing social and friendships skills.
• Responding to situations as they arise within school.
• Meeting with parents/carers to discuss issues relating to their child.
• To ‘signpost’ families to outside services for appropriate provision and support.

If you would like some advice on how to get support, please do get in touch. Our staff are available to meet in school or to talk over the phone. Please contact the school office who can either arrange an appointment or ask for a member of staff to contact you.