Pastoral Care

There are two aspects of the Pastoral Dimension:

a)    the general focus with all staff, teaching and non-teaching, committed to and responsible for working together to care for, guide and advise pupils so that the pastoral dimension is fully integrated into everything that happens in school.

b)     the specialised focus where the class teacher has a detailed knowledge of the needs, aspirations, interests and progress of each pupil in his/her class. Such knowledge will enable the teacher to plan teaching and learning in such a way as to best support the child and to liaise with parents and where appropriate {with the permission of the Principal} with outside agencies. Information generated from {a} will be reported to the class teacher.

When significant concerns are raised these should be discussed with the Head of Key Stage preferably before arranging a parental interview. The Head of Key Stage will decide whether the matter should be dealt with by the teacher alone, by the teacher and a member of the SMT or be referred to the Principal.

IN MATTERS RELATING TO CHILD PROTECTION AND/OR BULLYING THE PRINCIPAL OR V.P. SHOULD BE CONSULTED DIRECTLY {SEE RELEVANT POLICIES FOR DETAILS}.

COMMUNICATION:

pupil                                pupil

teacher                            pupil

teacher                            teacher {inc. senior staff}

teacher                            parent

other adults                      pupil + teacher

teacher                            principal                  outside bodies

It is essential that relevant information be recorded and passed on to the next teacher. Forms of recording:

Formal          e.g. emergency form, parental responsibility form, induction information, baseline assessment notes on internal reports re. parental observations, incident report forms.

Informal         e.g. a card index system where objective comments can be noted. This should be passed on and retained throughout the child’s school career at Ben Madigan. Such a system could include information re. e.g. family history of learning difficulties if reported, parental separation/divorce, behaviour/bullying problems.