LEAD ARTICLE: “Who Supports the Adults in Schools?” NAPCE’s Dr Nicole Cara reflects on this big issue

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“Who Supports the Adults in Schools?” By NAPCE NEC Member Dr Nicole Cara

Schools are full of spaces designed to support children. We have nurture groups, ELSA (Emotional Literacy Support Assistant) interventions, mentoring, counselling, pastoral support, emotional check-ins and trusted adults. We recognise that children need opportunities to talk, reflect, process and make sense of their experiences.

Yet schools are also full of adults carrying significant emotional responsibility.

A Head of Year supporting a distressed young person before first lesson. A SENCo navigating increasingly complex needs with finite resources.

A Designated Safeguarding Lead holding difficult disclosures. A teacher trying to support a child experiencing anxiety whilst also teaching thirty other children.

A Headteacher balancing the needs of children, staff and families whilst making countless decisions throughout the day.

Much of this work is invisible. It happens in corridor conversations, after difficult meetings, in the pause before a phone call home, or in the quiet moments when we wonder whether we said the right thing, made the right decision, or did enough to help.

Working with children is emotional work. Whether we are teaching, leading, safeguarding, supporting SEND, or working pastorally, we are constantly responding to the emotions, experiences and needs of others.

Yet adults are often expected to move from one emotionally demanding interaction to the next with very little opportunity to pause, process or think.

This raises an important question:

Who holds the adults?

Where do staff in your setting currently go when they need space to think?

One possible answer is supervision.

For some readers, the term supervision may feel unfamiliar, clinical or even anxiety-provoking. It is sometimes misunderstood as being about monitoring staff performance, checking up on staff, or “fixing” difficulties.

The word itself can almost feel like a red herring. In reality, psychologically informed supervision is something very different.

At its heart, supervision is a protected reflective space – somewhere staff can slow down, think, process, explore and make sense of the emotionally demanding work they do every day.

Increasingly, schools are working with Educational Psychologists to create reflective spaces for staff. Whilst this may look different across contexts, the aim is often the same: to create opportunities for adults to slow down, think together and make sense of emotionally demanding work.

Why do school staff need spaces to think?

Pastoral work is emotional work. Working with children is emotional work.

Adults in schools routinely absorb and respond to children’s distress, frustration, anxiety, anger and uncertainty. This may include:

• hearing safeguarding disclosures.
• supporting distressed children.
• managing emotionally charged behaviour.
• navigating difficult conversations.
• supporting children experiencing trauma or anxiety.
• and holding responsibility for increasingly complex needs.
• managing the high level of decision-making, plate juggling, competing demands and emotional complexity of school life.

Over time, without opportunities to process these experiences, staff can become emotionally overloaded. This can impact wellbeing, confidence, relationships and the capacity to remain reflective and curious within challenging situations.

Wilfred Bion’s (1962) concept of containment is helpful here. Containment refers to the process by which one person helps another make sense of difficult thoughts, feelings or experiences, so that they feel safer, more manageable and easier to understand.

In schools, we often think about adults containing (holding) children’s emotions — but adults also need spaces where their own thoughts and feelings can be held, understood and processed. We often do this naturally with children without even realising it.

For example, a distressed child may come into school angry, overwhelmed or tearful after a difficult morning. A calm adult helps “hold” that emotion by staying steady, listening, naming feelings and helping the child feel safer and more understood: “I can see things feel really hard right now. Let’s slow things down together”.

Rather than immediately trying to solve the problem, the adult first helps the child feel understood and emotionally safer. Over time, this helps children regulate because the adult is temporarily helping them manage emotions that feel too big to manage alone. Supervision offers adults a similar reflective and emotionally containing space.

Reflective supervision can provide this containing function. Rather than carrying difficult experiences alone, staff have opportunities to think together with others in psychologically safe ways.

This matters because when adults feel calmer, more supported and more able to think, children often experience adults as more emotionally available, predictable and attuned.

What is supervision?

While supervision has long existed within professions such as social work, clinical psychology and psychotherapy, schools are increasingly recognising the value of reflective spaces for staff wellbeing, professional thinking and sustainable pastoral support (Jackson, 2020).

Supervision is not line management, appraisal or performance monitoring. It is not about judging whether someone is “doing a good job”, nor is it therapy. Instead, supervision is a collaborative, psychologically informed space for slowing down, reflection and thoughtful professional thinking. It may involve:

• exploring challenging situations.
• reflecting on emotional responses.
• noticing patterns within systems or relationships.
• developing psychologically informed understanding.
• problem-solving together.
• identifying strengths and next steps.
• helping staff feel less isolated or overwhelmed in emotionally demanding work.

Sometimes, supervision focuses on individual children or situations.

Sometimes it explores wider themes emerging across a school or team. Often, it helps staff reconnect with their own professional values, confidence and capacity to think clearly under pressure.

As Emil Jackson and colleagues have highlighted through their work on reflective supervision, psychologically safe practice and emotionally containing spaces within education (Jackson, 2020), supervision is not about having all the answers. Instead, it creates a space where uncertainty can be explored safely and thoughtfully, rather than reacted to quickly or defensively.

Common misconceptions about supervision

One of the barriers to supervision in schools is misunderstanding what it actually involves. Below are some common misconceptions:

• “Supervision is only for staff who are struggling” – Supervision is most effective when viewed as a normal and valued part of reflective professional practice, not something reserved for crisis situations. Even highly experienced staff benefit from protected opportunities to slow down and think.
• “Supervision is therapy”- Although supervision may involve discussion of emotions, it is not counselling or therapy. The focus remains connected to professional practice, reflection and support within work contexts.
• “Supervision is about being checked up on”- Supervision is not punitive or judgemental. It should feel collaborative, psychologically safe and supportive, rather than evaluative.
• “We don’t have time” Or “it’s taking my EP time from the children” – Ironically, people in schools often feel they are too busy for supervision precisely because the work is emotionally demanding. However, creating reflective spaces may help prevent burnout, reactive decision-making and staff isolation in the longer term.

While it may initially feel difficult to allocate EP time toward staff supervision rather than direct child work, psychologically informed support for adults often has a ripple effect across whole systems.

Supporting the adults around children can strengthen the quality, consistency and sustainability of support experienced by many children across the school day, not just one individual child at a time.

• “Supervision is just talking” – Well, yes. So is teaching. In fact, much of what we do in schools relies on thoughtful conversation and relationships. Thoughtful conversation is powerful. Supervision can help staff develop insight, notice patterns, feel emotionally supported and identify practical ways forward. Sometimes the most important outcome is helping someone feel less alone with a difficult situation.

What might supervision look like in schools?

Supervision can take many forms depending on the needs of the school. Supervisees are encouraged to ‘bring’ anything that’s on their mind to supervision. This might include:

• a child whose behaviour feels increasingly difficult to understand,
• uncertainty around how best to support a young person experiencing anxiety or emotionally based school avoidance,
• tensions within staff or parent relationships,
• feelings of “dreading” interactions with particular pupils or situations,
• worries about safeguarding decisions,
• patterns emerging across a class or year group,
• feeling emotionally overwhelmed by the level of need,
• challenges balancing support and boundaries,
• or reflecting on how school systems and routines may be contributing to difficulties.

Sometimes staff bring practical dilemmas. Sometimes they bring emotional responses. Often, supervision helps make links between the two. Supervision sessions are often characterised by curiosity, reflection and psychological thinking, rather than simply “problem solving”.

Helpful questions might include:

• What ideas have we got to make sense of this?
• What feelings might this situation evoke in adults?
• What patterns are emerging across the system?
• What might the child need from adults right now?
• What support do staff themselves need?

Importantly, supervision is not about “getting it perfect”. It is about creating opportunities to pause and think before reacting.

Types of supervision

1. Individual supervision: This may involve regular meetings between a member of staff and an EP to reflect on complex situations, emotionally demanding work or professional dilemmas.
2. Group supervision: Small groups of staff reflect together on themes, situations or experiences within a facilitated space. This can reduce isolation and promote shared thinking.
3. Team or systemic supervision: Whole teams (e.g., pastoral teams, safeguarding teams or inclusion teams) reflect together on patterns, pressures and relational dynamics across systems.

Who might benefit from supervision?

Many staff working within pastoral and emotionally demanding roles may benefit from supervision, including:

• Headteachers and senior leaders.
• Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSLs).
• SENCos and SEND staff including TAs, LSAs and ELSAs.
• Heads of Year and pastoral teams.

However, supervision is not only relevant for specialist roles. Increasingly, schools are recognising that all staff working relationally with children may benefit from reflective spaces.

Why Educational Psychologists?

Educational Psychologists are uniquely positioned to facilitate supervision within schools because of their training in:

• Child development.
• Psychology.
• Systems thinking.
• Consultation.
• Relational practice.
• Behaviour.
• Emotional wellbeing.
• Organisational dynamics.

EPs are trained not simply to provide “answers”, but to help others think psychologically about children, relationships and systems. This makes supervision a natural extension of preventative and capacity-building EP practice.

Increasingly, schools are developing ongoing supervision models with their linked EP services, recognising the value of psychologically informed reflective spaces for both staff wellbeing and children’s outcomes.

Reflection prompts – what happens in your school?

• Where do staff in your setting currently go when they need space to think?
• Which roles within your school carry the greatest emotional load?
• What opportunities exist for reflective conversations, rather than purely operational ones?
• How might staff wellbeing and children’s wellbeing be interconnected within your setting?
• If children need emotionally available adults, what do adults need in order to remain emotionally available?

Final Thoughts

Schools are built on relationships. Children’s experiences of school are shaped not only by policies, interventions and curriculum, but by everyday interactions with the adults around them.

However, adults’ capacity to remain calm, thoughtful and emotionally available is influenced by whether they themselves feel supported, contained and able to think.

Supervision is not an “extra” or luxury. Increasingly, it may represent an important part of sustainable pastoral systems within schools, creating protected spaces where adults can pause, reflect and make sense of emotionally demanding work together.

If we want children to experience calm, thoughtful and emotionally available adults, we also need to think about what helps adults remain calm, thoughtful and emotionally available.

Perhaps one of the most important questions schools can ask is not simply:

“How do we support children?” but also: “Who holds the adults?”

References

• Bion, W. R. (1962). Learning from experience. Heinemann.
• Gutman, L. M., & Vorhaus, J. (2012). The impact of pupil behaviour and wellbeing on educational outcomes. Department for Education.
• Jackson, E. (2020). Reflective supervision in education: Creating psychologically safe spaces for staff thinking and wellbeing. Debate, 179, 22–25.
• Lemov, D. (2021). Teach like a champion 3.0: 63 techniques that put students on the path to college. Jossey-Bass.
• Miller, A., & Berger, E. (2023). Supporting students in distress: From reactive to reflective practice. Educational & Child Psychology, 40(3), 25–38.
• Osterman, K. F. (2000). Students’ need for belonging in the school community. Review of Educational Research, 70(3), 323–367.

Dr Nicole Cara
NEC Member, NAPCE

BOOK: “NAPCE’s Phil Jones Pens Chapter for Important New SEND Book”

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NAPCE Chair Phil Jones Contributes to New SEND Practitioner Handbook

NAPCE is delighted to share that our Chair, Phil Jones, has contributed a chapter to the important new book The SEN Practitioner: Status, Skills and Support, edited by Tristan Middleton and published by Taylor & Francis/Routledge.

The book was released on 22nd June and has made a significant impact.

How to meet the needs of learners with special educational needs and disabilities is a topic for debate in education and it is unlikely that this will change in the future.

The debate places discussions around supporting learners to achieve their full potential at the heart of policy making and practice in education.

The book includes the chapter ‘Effective Pastoral Care that supports SEND: A support for practitioners’ written by NAPCE National Chair, Phil Jones.

This section highlights the important contribution effective pastoral care structures and systems make in meeting the needs of all learners from different backgrounds and experiences.

Phil’s chapter, Effective Pastoral Care that Supports SEND: A Support for Practitioners, appears as Chapter 13. (routledge.com)

The book brings together leading voices from across the SEND sector to explore the diverse range of professionals who support children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities. It examines the roles, skills, experiences, and professional development needs of practitioners working in mainstream schools, specialist settings, alternative provision, and wider support services. (routledge.com)

Phil’s contribution focuses on the vital relationship between effective pastoral care and SEND provision. As schools continue to develop more inclusive approaches, pastoral care has an increasingly important role in supporting the wellbeing, engagement, belonging, and success of learners with additional needs. His chapter offers practical guidance for practitioners seeking to strengthen the connections between pastoral support, inclusion, and positive outcomes for children and young people with SEND. (routledge.com)

The inclusion of a chapter by NAPCE’s Chair reflects the growing recognition that high-quality pastoral care is fundamental to effective educational practice. It also highlights the important contribution that pastoral leaders make within wider inclusion and SEND strategies.

The book forms part of the nasen Spotlight series and includes contributions from a wide range of experienced practitioners, academics, and educational leaders. Topics covered include the role of the SENCo, nurture practitioners, inclusive classrooms, autistic educators, practitioner supervision, relational practice, and leadership for inclusive school cultures. (routledge.com)

The SEN Practitioner: Status, Skills and Support was released on 22nd June 2026 and will be of interest to SENCos, pastoral leaders, school leaders, MAT professionals, CPD leads, and all those committed to improving outcomes for children and young people with SEND. (routledge.com)

Further details and pre-order information can be found at:

The SEN Practitioner: Status, Skills and Support

NAPCE congratulates Phil on this significant contribution and looks forward to seeing the impact of the book across the education sector.

 The SEN Practitioner: Status, Skills and Support, edited by Tristan Middleton and published by Taylor & Francis/Routledge is available now on Amazon and in all good book shops.

Order here

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National Awards for Pastoral Care in Education 2026 – Finalists Announcement Coming Soon

Thank you to everyone who submitted nominations for the National Awards for Pastoral Care in Education 2026. We have been delighted by the quality and range of entries received from schools, colleges and education professionals across the country.

We know many nominees and organisations are eager to hear whether they have been selected as finalists. We would like to reassure all applicants that the finalists will be announced very soon.

Finalists will be notified in three ways:

• They will receive an email directly from NAPCE.
• The full list of finalists will be published on the News section of the NAPCE website.
• The announcement will also be shared across NAPCE’s social media channels.

We would encourage everyone who submitted a nomination to keep an eye on their inboxes, our website and our social media platforms over the coming days.

Thank you once again for your support of the National Awards for Pastoral Care in Education and for the outstanding work you do to support children and young people.

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The National Awards for Pastoral Care in Education – Sharing Good Practice – Pastoral Team of the Year Award

The National Awards for Pastoral Care in Education 2025 was our biggest event yet, with a huge amount of high quality entries and a sell-out audience, once again.

Every year we share many great examples of excellent practice in pastoral care and we’re proud to offer some of these to you in NAPCE News which may help guide and inspire your own work.

For this final instalment of the latest series, taken from the 2025 Awards, we’re focussing on the “Pastoral Team of the Year” category, which was sponsored by Connect to Purpose.

The National Awards for Pastoral Care in Education, organised by NAPCE, highlights the amazing examples of good practice that is taking place across pastoral care in education.
Pastoral Team of the Year Award Criteria

A team that works in pastoral care and can demonstrate a determination to support young people to achieve their full potential and a positive impact on the young people they work with.

The Winner

The Pastoral team at Holte School, Lozells, Birmingham

The Pastoral Team at Holte School in Lozells, Birmingham fight against the odds every single day. Serving a community blighted by gangs, crime, unemployment and poverty is a daily challenge.

And yet, if you walked around Holte School, you would see calm and happy faces where attendance is well above the national average, where permanent exclusions are an absolute rarity and where parents are delighted with what the school does for their children.

This is on the back of unwavering care from our pastoral team who are vastly experienced and leave no stone unturned in supporting young people and getting them on the right path.

Behaviour at the school is always commented upon positively by visitors and trainee teachers and that is because of the very strong relationships within the school built on mutual respect and trust.

It is the care and attention of the pastoral team that enables miracles to happen. It is no surprise that when pupils return many years later as parents, it is the pastoral staff that they make a beeline for to thank and to praise.

The pastoral team at Holte have constructed an excellent SMSC curriculum that was described as “visionary” by Ofsted in October 2023.

Pupils get a lot of input about healthy relationships, staying safe, about the world around them and we hope we produce good citizens on the back of this work. We are proud of what we do and what we achieve.

The Finalists

LSA Team at East Barnet School, London

The school is proud to shout from the rooftops about the exceptional work our LSAs do every single day. Their responsibilities are vast, and their dedication knows no bounds.

On any given day, they:

• Provide in-class support, one-to-one assistance, and small-group interventions
• Guide students through unstructured times, offering stability and reassurance
• Step in when sudden sight loss occurs, ensuring students continue to access learning
• Offer unwavering support through loss and personal challenges • Adapt lessons in real time—taking notes, scaffolding learning, differentiating, simplifying language, mentoring, listening, encouraging, repeating, and intervening when needed
• Fill in for absent colleagues, assist with invigilation, and respond to the growing number of students requiring support
• Brave the cold to stand in a field while students master the art of tying knots during Equine Therapy
• Deliver interventions in handwriting, fine motor skills, maths, reading, comprehension, and inference, to name just a few
• Run clubs and activities that enrich school life—crochet, yoga, lunchtime clubs, homework support, Lego therapy, and friendship groups

Pastoral Team, Loreto Grammar School, Omagh

The Pastoral Team is the ‘front line’; faced with daily unpredictable challenges, ensuring our students are supported and empowered to remove or at least, manage, barriers to learning and development so our students are ‘happy, learning, succeeding.’

The Pastoral Team are a conduit between the other departments and teams in our school ensuring the wellbeing of the student is at the heart of every decision.

They lead in the effective use of data to raise educational outcomes and wellbeing. Behavioural, assessment and attendance data are analysed weekly by the Pastoral Team. This ensures interventions occur in a timely manner.

The Pastoral Team drives the bespoke ‘Celebration of Success’. Pupil voice is central to pastoral developments, for example a bespoke Pastoral Wellbeing Survey has been launched to elicit pupil feedback and inform future planning in pastoral provision.

The Pastoral Team supports students through a spectrum of issues such as self-harm, bereavement, mental health, wellbeing and identity. Weekly, Form Teachers deliver informative and responsive pastoral lessons, while Heads of Year lead assemblies and facilitate a range of guest speakers/workshops.

We develop our students’ resilience through our Preventative Curriculum including, ‘Developing a Hopeful Mind’, ‘Bloom’, ‘Take 5 Steps to Wellbeing’, ‘Habits of Mind’, and ‘Aware workshops.’

The Personal Development Curriculum includes a comprehensive ‘Life Skills’ programme. The Pastoral Team embrace the constantly evolving nature of education with a ‘can and will do’ attitude.

Gospel Oak School, Tipton

Our pastoral team is at the heart of our commitment to nurturing the wellbeing, resilience, and potential of every student.

Over the past year, they have developed a robust and multifaceted mental health and wellbeing programme that is transforming lives and ensuring no student feels left behind.

We also forged strong partnerships with external organisations to enhance our provision.  Collaboration with the West Bromwich Albion Foundation enables the school to offer targeted interventions including one-to-one support and resilience workshops.

These provide practical coping mechanisms, confidence-building activities, and early intervention for those in need of additional help. The Be Positive programme has had particularly valuable impact, by promoting positive thinking, building self-esteem, and providing students with strategies to manage anxiety and stress.

It’s been well received by students and staff, contributing to a more supportive school culture.

For students facing more specific or entrenched difficulties, the XY2 Intervention programme offers tailored support through therapeutic approaches and group counselling.

This intervention offers structured, targeted support for those experiencing challenges such as anxiety or low mood, allowing them to access care in a setting that suits their needs.

The Envision Project involves year 9 students who have created a ‘safe space’ for students to talk about mental health. Run at break and lunch times, this initiative has already proven very popular and successful.

The Wellbeing Team provides individual and group counselling, crisis intervention, preventative workshops, working closely with staff and families. Their holistic approach ensures students are supported consistently and effectively through personal and academic challenges.

St. John the Baptist’s College, Portadown, Co. Armagh

At St. John the Baptist’s College, pastoral care is not just a policy—it’s the heartbeat of the school. Situated in one of Northern Ireland’s most deprived areas, they serve a resilient and richly diverse community.

Nearly half of the students have English as an Additional Language, including asylum seekers and refugees. A significant number face poverty, trauma, or complex emotional needs. —26% have special educational needs, twelve are in care, and some have experienced up to ten Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). For many, school is the only place where they feel safe, seen, and supported.

The commitment to nurturing the whole child is embedded in every aspect of school life. Relationships are at the core of everything they do. They take time to understand each student’s story, building trust and a sense of belonging.

A restorative approach to behaviour empowers students to reflect, grow, and develop healthier relationships. Every interaction is rooted in care, compassion, and emotional awareness.

School policies reflect the school values—prioritising trauma-informed practice, inclusion, and wellbeing. Pastoral care is a whole-school responsibility. Every staff member—whether teacher, classroom assistant, or dinner supervisor—plays a vital role.

The judging for the 2026 awards is now taking place, and the finalists will be announced in June. The grand presentation event takes place on Friday 9^th October on the same day as the 2026 NAPCE Annual Conference in Worcester. 

AWARDS: Meet the National Awards for Pastoral Care in Education 2026 Judging Team

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Meet the Judges – National Awards for Pastoral Care in Education 2026

The National Awards for Pastoral Care in Education celebrate the individuals, teams and organisations whose commitment to wellbeing, inclusion and personal development transforms the lives of children and young people.

Ensuring that these awards recognise truly outstanding practice requires a judging panel with exceptional expertise, experience and insight.

For 2026, we are proud to welcome a distinguished panel of judges drawn from across education, research, leadership, inclusion, wellbeing and child development.

Collectively, they bring decades of experience spanning schools, universities, charities, policy development, special educational needs, mental health, attachment-informed practice and international education.

Our judges have dedicated their careers to improving outcomes for children and young people.

They have led schools, influenced national policy, advanced research, championed inclusion, supported vulnerable learners and developed innovative approaches to pastoral care.

Their expertise reflects the breadth and depth of pastoral care in modern education, ensuring that every nomination is considered with professionalism, integrity and a deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing schools and educational settings today.

We are delighted to introduce the National Awards for Pastoral Care in Education 2026 judging panel.

Jill Robson

Jill is the current National Secretary for NAPCE. She joined the NAPCE Executive in 1994 and has served the association for more than 30 years, fulfilling the roles of Secretary, Treasurer, Vice Chair and Chair.

During her career in education, Jill worked as a PE teacher, Form Tutor, Head of Year, Head of Careers, Assistant Headteacher, Deputy Headteacher and Acting Headteacher within the secondary sector. She has continued her commitment to supporting young people through her work as a governor of a residential SEMH provision.

Professor Noel Purdy, OBE

Stranmillis University College, Belfast

Professor Noel Purdy is Director of Research and Scholarship and Head of Education Studies at Stranmillis University College. He also serves as Director of CREU (the Centre for Research in Educational Underachievement).

A highly respected educational researcher, Noel is the editor of NAPCE’s academic journal, Pastoral Care in Education: An International Journal of Personal, Social and Emotional Development. His work has made a significant contribution to understanding educational achievement, wellbeing and pastoral support.

Margaret Mulholland

SEND and Inclusion Specialist, ASCL

Margaret joined ASCL’s policy team as SEND and Inclusion Specialist in September 2019.

She is a leading advocate for the role that SEND settings play in advancing inclusive teaching and learning. Margaret sits on the Universities’ Council for the Education of Teachers, advises the UK Government on Initial Teacher Training curriculum development, and works with local authorities as an external adviser for Early Career Teachers, ITT and leadership development. She also writes a regular column on research and inclusivity for the Times Educational Supplement.

Dr Caron Carter

Senior Lecturer, Sheffield Hallam University

Dr Caron Carter is a Senior Lecturer in Childhood and Early Childhood Education at Sheffield Hallam University (BEd, MA, PhD, NPQH).

Her research focuses on children’s friendships, play and wellbeing, and she hosts the podcast series Children’s Friendships Matter. Caron is currently involved in projects designed to improve outcomes for children in key areas including friendship, wellbeing, play and educational transitions.

Anne Emerson

Associate Professor, University of Nottingham

Anne Emerson has worked across special and mainstream education in both the UK and India over the past 30 years. Her extensive experience also includes roles as a Family Services Coordinator for Mencap and supporting adults with disabilities in residential services.

Anne has taught in further and higher education and spent seven years as a psychology lecturer specialising in communication, disability and inclusive education. She continues to work directly with children with special educational needs and delivers training for teachers, teaching assistants, parents and carers.

Andy Wright, OBE

Chair, Attachment Research Community (ARC)

Andy Wright is Chair of the Attachment Research Community (ARC), a Trustee of the West Midlands Virtual School Head Teachers Children in Care Foundation and represents Virtual Schools on the ASCL Council.

With more than 40 years of teaching experience, including over 20 years in senior leadership positions, Andy has served as a Headteacher, Principal and leader of two Virtual Schools across the West Midlands. He is passionate about developing sustainable systems of support that enable all children to become independent and successful adults.

In 2024, Andy was recognised in the King’s Birthday Honours and awarded an OBE for services to children in care, care-experienced young people and the education community.

Linda James, MBE

Founder and CEO, BulliesOut

Linda James MBE is the Founder and CEO of BulliesOut, the charity she established in 2006 following personal experiences of bullying.

Under Linda’s leadership, BulliesOut has grown from a simple web-based support service into a multi-award-winning charity dedicated to preventing bullying behaviour. The organisation provides anti-bullying and wellbeing workshops, peer mentor training, CPD programmes, counselling and mentoring support, helping thousands of young people, families and professionals.

Dr Michael Jones

Chair of the Education Working Group, British Chamber of Commerce in South China

Dr Michael Jones is Chair of the Education Working Group of the British Chamber of Commerce in South China (BritChamSC) and a co-founder of Learning and Wellbeing Support (LAWS), a community of practice dedicated to understanding mental health in education.

Professionally, he serves as Executive Manager of Professional Learning and Development for ISA International Education Group. His work brings an important international perspective to the judging panel, combining expertise in professional development, wellbeing and educational leadership across diverse educational contexts.

AWARDS: Congratulations Chris! Headteacher Lands Prize at National Teaching Awards

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Chris Tooley Lands Silver Accolade at National Teaching Awards

NAPCE is pleased to hear that Chris Tooley, Principal at The Netherhall School in Cambridge, is a Silver Winner for Headteacher of the Year in a Secondary School in the 2026 Pearson National Teaching Awards.

Chris was a finalist for his work in pastoral care in the Raising Awareness about Pastoral Care category at the 2025 National Awards for Pastoral Care in Education, and The Netherhall School was represented as a finalist in many of the other categories.

Chris commented:

“I found out last Thursday that I am a winner of the Headteacher of the Year Award in this year’s National Teaching Awards. There are four winners in the country and one of us will get the Gold Award as part of the Award Ceremony in London in November.

“The nominations were based around the work I’ve led at Netherhall over recent years to shift the school culture from a behaviourist approach to one based on the nurture of relationships above all else. Effectively, elevating the role of Pastoral Education against the tyranny of the accountability measures.”

Phil Jones (NAPCE National Chair) commented:

“That is brilliant news and fully deserved. The award recognises the difference Headteachers make every day for the young people in their care.

“Chris should be very proud that his brave approach to leadership is challenging the focus on percentages and accountability and values the important contribution effective pastoral care and support make to the learning experience and future life chances of learners.”

Chris Tooley is a speaker at the 2026 NAPCE Annual Conference, where he will be sharing ideas and insights about the approach to delivering effective pastoral care at The Netherhall School and the impact this has had on supporting the learning experience of children and young people.

The Conference, Inclusion and Belonging in Education, takes place in Worcester on 9 October.

Tickets are available now at https://NAPCEANNUALCONFERENCE26.eventbrite.co.uk.

The judging process for the 2026 National Awards for Pastoral Care in Education is nearly complete, and the finalists will soon be announced.