Pastoral Care, A Reminder

I am sure that parents will appreciate that the pastoral side of life at Bowbrook House School is taken very seriously and indeed is one of our strengths. Knowing pupils as individuals and communicating early with parents can prevent issues from becoming major problems. The first line of our pastoral care is the Form Tutor or Class Teacher and in the first instance and in most cases that should be the Parents first ‘port of call’. But what if an issue requires more attention or time than the Form tutor can give? What if parents want to talk to a particular teacher and that teacher is busy with their class? Parents should have another rung on the ladder. Our pastoral care in the secondary phase of the school, Years 7 – 11 we have Mrs Lewis as Pastoral Co-ordinator. Her remit is to communicate with parents when children require that bit more time and attention and she will liaise very closely with the Form teachers, she will also be available at the beginning and end of each day. Early dialogue and clear communication is often the key to dissipating potential problems. So at present our ‘pastoral team’ looks as follows:

• The Form Teachers or Class Teacher.
• At Key Stage 1, Nurs – Year 2 the Infant’s Pastoral Co-ordinator is Miss Hayward.
• At Key Stage 2, Years 3 – 6 the Junior’s Pastoral Co-ordinator is Mr Auden.
• At Key Stages 3 and 4, Years 7 – 11 the Secondary Phase Co-ordinator is Mrs Lewis.
• Mrs Pugh as Special Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO) is involved in the welfare and provision for pupils with additional learning needs.
• Mrs Harfield as Deputy Head is fully involved in pastoral care and finally…
• Mr Allen as Headmaster!

Even in a small school such as ours where the family atmosphere pervades, some children will require more time or a little extra attention at certain times in their school careers. I hope parents will view the above structure as a means in which to provide that for our pupils.