Pastoral Support

What is pastoral care in schools?

Pastoral care is the provision a school makes available to support the positive physical and emotional welfare of pupils. It is the essential foundation upon which learning can take place. That said, schools with high standards of pastoral care go far further than a basic commitment to welfare, with pastoral care extending to every aspect of school life in order to foster pupils’ personal development as much as their academic progress. Good quality pastoral care will ensure that pupils barriers to learning are removed so that all students can learn happily and safely

Why is pastoral care important?

All parents want their children to be safe and happy at school. The importance of pastoral care goes well beyond this, however. Education and health are closely linked, and recent studies have shown that pupils with better health and wellbeing are likely to achieve better academically. Good pastoral care in school is also fundamental to the development of character and social skills, which will be of critical importance to pupils in later life. #We wante every student to leave Thomas Bennett happy and feeling like that have been supported through their journey of education.

What staff are the pastoral support team?

At Thomas Bennett our pastoral teams are our year teams which include a head of year, a learning mentor and a tutor. Every student has access to their tutor every day and through them they can access more specialist care as seen on this website. We care about every student who attends Thomas Bennett and everyone in our community matters to us. Our Pastoral Care system ensures that everyone gets the right support at the right time.

Pastoral support:

Students assigned a tutor to take a special interest in them
Strong pastoral system to support students’ welfare
Close liaison with parents/carers
An established ethos of encouraging students to speak to staff about problems either their own or their friends’
Student Support Worker to support students with emotional needs
Clinical Psychologist time purchased by the school to support students’ good mental health
Programmes to support identified students’ emotional well-being e.g. managing emotions, building positive relationships, managing pressure
Referrals made to outside agencies if support is needed beyond the expertise available in school