Jae Bray

We have all had years when, for whatever reason, a number of the new intake is unusually difficult, do not settle and will need more resources and support than other year groups.

But what happens when good teaching, behaviour management and intervention support are just not enough? This is the challenge facing one school (and probably several more) this year.

The school is well used to managing students with a variety of behaviour issues and has a strong team of support staff (over and above teaching assistants) with excellent skills and experience to provide for, and work with, students with diverse behavioural, social and emotional needs. They also work closely with the local multi agency groups to access more specialised/higher level interventions when required. Yet all the experience and efforts had not resolved many of the issues. The academic and behaviour monitoring systems and feedback from staff indicated that there remained 10% of the year group (15 students) who were still moderate level disruptors (mlds). These students had still not made the transition from primary to secondary school, were not making progress in line with targets and were also disrupting the learning of too many classes, mainly in middle sets. (Key issues were frequent calling out, not following staff instructions, not bringing equipment to class, constant arguing with staff and peers, lack of concentration and completion of tasks. During social time they often ended up in scrapes or fights and did not seem to know how to use this time appropriately)

Having exhausted all of the usual interventions, senior management decided a more radical approach was required. The plan was to remove the students from normal classes for six weeks and teach them together, providing a timetable that would include as much of the usual curriculum along with additional literacy and numeracy lessons. Additionally, specific classes on learning to learn, behaviour for learning and specialised sessions by Inclusion staff and Learning Mentors to focus on the social and emotional aspects of not only learning, but also how to manage themselves during break and lunch time. The students would also have a very structured break and lunch, not being able to join other students in general social time until they had shown an ability to manage themselves appropriately and, importantly, return to lessons in an appropriate way, ready to learn.

All the students and their parents were seen by the deputy Headteacher. The concerns and specific issues for each student were explained along with the likely outcome if the student was not able to make changes to their behaviour. All parents were keen to support the school and disappointed that their child had to be taken out of normal class. Only two of the students displayed an ambivalent attitude to the programme.

All staff were briefed on the programme and were asked, where possible, to volunteer to take the group for lessons. Lessons were also to be supported by two additional staff, one of the behaviour team plus a TA. Every lesson was to be carefully monitored with a zero tolerance to the mld aspects. In a lesson a student would be given a reminder, then warning in line with the normal school code but then they would be removed from class to the Learning mentors for an immediate discussion about the problem. They would be returned to class next lesson but if they had to be taken out of class a second time that day they would be sent to the ‘on-call’ room for the rest of the day. Misbehaviour in on-call would result in an immediate isolation and further incidents would result in them being sent home, with the parents needing to bring them back to see an SLT member before return to the group.

The Deputy Headteacher was to take the group for registration and many of the breaks and lunch time sessions. Good behaviour would result in a student having additional privileges; being sent to on-call would result in immediate hour detention after school.

This may seem an extreme programme but the school needed to turn around the students’ behaviour before the end of year 7. The SLT felt that if change was not achieved before the start of yr 8, progress for all students in the year group would be severely affected.

Only time will tell if the programme is successful.

How would you deal with this problem?

Perhaps you have had a similar problem, how did you manage the situation?

What are your views on the school’s programme?

Imagine arriving in the UK having travelled two or three thousand miles without your family. Imagine arriving in Birmingham in the back of a lorry, the doors being flung open and told to run as fast as you could and ‘don’t dare say anything about how you got here’. Imagine being separated from your brother on arrival in the United Kingdom and not knowing where he is. Finally, imagine undergoing an intimate medical examination with ‘people asking questions and recording your voice, and some doctor checking my body and saying this time you are fifteen… A social worker said I was lying about my age and I was eighteen’ (Tucker et al, 2011:132).

I have recently been involved in a research project, funded through the European Commission Daphne III programme, exploring the perspectives of children, young people and women who have been the victims of violence, exploitation and human trafficking. As part of that work a member of the research team interviewed a group of Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking young people in Birmingham. Putting on one side here, the harrowing experiences recounted through the interviews (the story featured above is common), the young people involved all commented on the importance of receiving pastorally-focused mentoring support, both inside and outside of school, that is supportive, culturally sensitive and non-judgemental. The words of one young man graphically capture both the immediate and longer term challenges faced by many unaccompanied children:

I needed someone to support me. Someone to help me work out the problems of being here. They are asking problems in English, you know, they say words and they try to explain to me. I don’t know these words. I don’t know how to ask questions. I was asked did I want a mentor. I asked, what is a mentor? And they said someone to talk to… I want to achieve at school but I need this kind of support [mentoring]. Talking over problems and difficulties is so important.

The interview data provided by the young people offers a revealing insight into their complex social and indidividual needs. All face huge challenges that are the direct product of experiences of isolation, dislocation from country of birth, loss of contact with parents and siblings, and abandonment. Public care arrangements seem to generate a sense of bewilderment and loss. Education is valued at one level in terms of it offering hope for the future, and yet at the same time is frequently experienced through a tirade of racial insults, bullying and ostracism. Pastoral support offered via the provision of both community and school-based mentoring seems to provide a vital source of encouragement and hope for the future. Effective mentoring appears to involve a high degree of befriending that is culturally sensitive, individually responsive and genuinely caring. The idea that the young person and their mentor must work together on personal, social and educational needs comes through strongly. One is also struck by the tremendous strength that the young people appear to draw from each another as well as their mentor. To close, I would like to share the words of another young person:

Meeting with other young people [in the same situation] is important. Having something to eat together is good. Someone is cooking food we can all eat. Not like in the home. Someone to listen to like Frank. You can get good advice and you can ask questions like. Read books and tell stories. Would like to volunteer to help other young people.

References

Tucker, S., Martyn, M., Bejenaru, A,. Brotherton, G., Gahleitner., Gunderson, C. and Rusu, H. Violence, Exploitation and Trafficking: Service User Perspectives, funded by Fundamental Rights and Justice Daphne III Programme 2007 – 2013. Birmingham: Children, Young People and Family Research Centre, Newman University College. ISBN 978-0-9568268-0-0

Website access to full report: www.newman.ac.uk/daphne

Stan Tucker
Editor
Pastoral Care in Education
For more details contact: s.a.tucker@newman.ac.uk

Held on Saturday 26th March 2011 at the London Institute of Education

1&2. Attendance and apologies

3. Minutes of 2010 AGM were accepted as a true record.

Proposed J Bray Seconded M Roberts

4. Matters arising

Melissa and Ethel have been looking at the possibilities available to invest £30,000 into a Charity Bond savings Account. There are few on the market at present. They are looking further into one with the Principality Building Society with an interest rate of 2.2%.

5. Resolutions from 2010 AGM

Jill wrote a letter to Michael Gove expressing the Association’s great concern about the probable impact of cuts in Government expenditure on the training and employment of non-teaching staff. In line with the policy of the last ten years, teaching assistants and other ancillary staff have become essential to the delivery of Every Child Matters agenda and it is critical that this is not damaged. Jill received a standard reply letter which was disappointing.

6. Reports:

a) Chair/Secretary Report

The National Executive Committee has met twice and discussion continues to focus on how the Association can best meet the needs of its members. We would be very interested to also have some input about this from members who should send their ideas to the NAPCE administrator via the “Contact Us” section of the website.

The Journal continues to flourish and the Editorial Board is expanding. It has an impressive list of members both from the UK and overseas, including members in Australia, New Zealand, USA and Hong Kong. Ably led by Ron Best as Chair, the Board has oversight of the Journal and regularly reviews the Journal to ensure that high quality is maintained both in terms of articles published and book reviews. We are indeed indebted to the authors and book reviewers who submit articles and to the peer reviewers and editors who help to ensure that submissions are appropriate. After 11 years in post, Colleen McLaughlin has retired as Journal Editor. During this time she managed a change of format and the transfer of the Journal from publishers Blackwell to Routledge. In her last Editorial (Vol 24 Number 4) Colleen writes “I think the Journal has reached adulthood. It has had to grow from a small association journal to an international journal in a highly competitive publishing environment”. We are very grateful to her for the time, effort and energy she has devoted to producing what has become a world class journal. We welcome Stan Tucker as the new Journal Editor and wish him well as he faces the new challenges ahead.

The website continues to evolve and remains an important means of disseminating information and generating debate. We are currently discussing changes which hopefully will be implemented soon. One new development relates to members being able to have online access to past editions of the Journal and discounts on Routledge books.

Mel O’Grady, the NAPCE Administrator, continues to do sterling work in aiding the work of the Association through supporting the work of committees and by liaising with members and publishers.

While cuts in spending are having a great impact of schools and other services, the work of pastoral managers and pastoral support staff has never been so important. With high levels of child poverty in Britain and reports that children in this country are some of the unhappiest in the “worlds rich countries” the role of pastoral care in supporting the education of our young people remains as important today as it was when the association was first formed.

Finally, on a personal note as the outgoing Chair of the association, I would like to take the opportunity to thank the fantastic team who have supported me and the work of NAPCE over the last five years. Margaret Roberts as secretary, Ethel Southern as treasurer and Mel O Grady as Administrator have taken on so much of the day to day work in running the association and their dedication and commitment to the continued success of NAPCE has been second to none. My sincere gratitude and thanks goes to them all.

Jill Robson – Chair Margaret Roberts – Secretary
The report was accepted: Proposed R Best Seconded P Jones

b) Treasurer’s Report

Despite the reduction in members the financial state of NAPCE is quite healthy. Bank interest is minimal and Charity Bond Savings accounts are being looked at for an investment of £30000. There was an Excess of Income over Expenditure of £3306 compared to £1958 in 2009.
It was noted that the accounts did not show anything for Office Equipment/Computers or for depreciation of the same. Melissa has used her own PC since joining Napce in August 2008. It was proposed that the Association contribute the sum of £500 to Melissa towards updating hardware. This was proposed by J Bray and seconded by S Tucker.

The report was accepted: Proposed R Best Seconded A Boyd

c) Journal Editor’s Report

The year was marked by a change of editorial responsibility in December 2010. Stan Tucker took over from Colleen McLaughlin. Colleen’s contribution to the journal was marked by Ron Best in the first edition of 2011. The transition between editors has been smooth not least of all due to the excellent administrative support provided by Lyndsay Upex.

There continues to be interest shown in submitting articles to the journal although few are received from practitioners. The unpredictable flow of articles and turnaround at review stage has resulted in problems in filling more recent editions. This is an issue that has been discussed at Editorial board meetings.

All articles which are submitted are subjected to a Peer Review process and the excellent work of the reviewers needs to be noted. The acceptance percentage is satisfactory and reflects the quality of the work submitted. The majority of articles in Volume 28 (March-December 2010) have a clear connection with classroom practice, management issues, curriculum development etc. It is interesting to note, however, the emergence of more general themes around bullying, bereavement and multi-professional interventions. There is some evidence to suggest that the journal is being targeted by an international audience and it is acknowledged that more work needs to be done in this area. As part of a strategy to increase the international profile of the journal it was decided to invite contributions for the International Associate Editors. The response has been excellent and it is intended to devote a special edition of the journal to their work.

The report was accepted: Proposed J Bray Seconded P Spencer

7. Report on NEC Elections

Phil Jones will take over the role of Chair from Jill Robson. The board are very grateful to Jill for the work she has done for the past 5 years. Jill will remain as a member of the NEC

We currently have 2 vacancies on the board plus 3 Co-opted vacancies.

8. Resolutions from AGM 2011

It was felt that it was too difficult to put a proposal together in light of the changes the government are planning but if and when more information becomes available we will then respond appropriately.

9. AOB

Ron Best and Gerda Hanko are both members of the Caspari Foundation – educational psychotherapy for children & young people who need help to overcome emotional barriers to learning & development. Over the past few months they have been looking for organisations to collaborate with and provide mutual support. Ron thought that this may be an organisation that Napce may be interested in working with.

Action Point: Ron to supply Jill with contact details and further information.

Jill thanked Ethel, Margaret and Melissa for their continued support over the past 5 years whilst she has been in post as Chair.

Phil Jones the New Chair thanked Jill for the last 5 years service and thanked everyone for attending the meeting and bought it to a close.

Dr Mike Calvert, York St John University

In a previous article, I referred to the complexity of describing pastoral care provision at this time. The range of needs, the sophisticated responses that are required and the limited resources (the main one being time) available mean that young people and their needs can be overlooked and some children and their problems are more visible than others.

We are becoming increasingly aware of a hidden workforce in society: the carer. A recent documentary (ITV: Too Young to Care) revealed that there might be over a million children who care for a sick or disabled relative. In other words, according to these statistics, more than one child in twelve has a caring role and we know that some carers are as young as five years old. The 2001 Census (Office of National Statistics) puts the figure at 175, 000 but it is recognised that this figure might well seriously underestimate the position.

The concerns that stem from this are fairly obvious to the pastoral care community. The children may well not be receiving the level of support that they need. They may well be neglecting their studies (and absenting themselves from school) and underperforming as a result. They may not be able to spend their leisure time with their peers ,enjoy holidays and breaks and make the normal friendships that others enjoy and, in short, may find that their childhood is curtailed or, to use more emotive language, has been ‘stolen from them’.

The reasons that they might well want to be discrete about their caring role are complex and manifold. They may well involve the stigma attached to having a parent who exhibits mental health problems or an addiction or may be associated with the fear of the family being broken up.

There are, however, a number of ways in which the young carer can seek help or help themselves. Granted that not all young people have easy internet access, it is heartening that there are organisations that are tuned in to the needs of these young people and can provide them with help, advice and, most importantly possibly, a community that they can be part of and share their experiences. Young carers is one such example. Providing interactive resources, chat facility, newsletters and helpful advice on sensitive issues such as mental health and how to manage your feelings and changing mental state, the resource reaches out to young people in ways that might be problematic in school with all the pressures on staff.

The New Deal for Carers (2007 Ministry of Health) and the attention of Central Government might well have brought this ‘hidden army’ more to the fore but it is difficult to believe that the recession, the cuts and the arrival of the ‘Big Society’ will make serious inroads to meet the needs of this group.

The purpose of this article is not to put forward a blueprint for action in schools. It might well be useful, however, to suggest that the school looks sensitively at the plight of these young carers, provides staff development on the issues (including publicising useful resources) and deals proactively with a group who might well increase in number if the Big Society does not deliver on its promises and the burden of care falls increasingly on families and the community and that would mean more young carers doing even more.

Paula Spencer

Over the past eleven years, policy makers have developed a number of policies that relate to children’s mental health and well being in school; for example – Promoting Children’s Mental Health within Early Years and school Settings (Department for Education and Employment (DFEE 2001), Every Child Matters (DFES 2003) Children and Adolescent Mental Health (CAMHS) Review for young People (Department for Children Schools and Families (DCSF 2008), and Targeted Mental Health in Schools, (DCSF 2008) to name a few.

The aim of these policies is to provide effective services for students who are vulnerable and perceived to be at risk of harm, therefore, putting increasing responsibility on schools to develop and deliver mental health services that target students who display emotional, behavioural and mental health concerns. Schools are expected to work closely with other professional agencies such as CAMHS, Social Services, Adolescent Outreach Teams, Youth Offending and voluntary agencies who provide services to children and their families. Many schools have responded to this by either buying in counselling services from local authorities, external agencies or by directly employing counsellors to meet this need and to fulfil their pastoral role. I am fortunate enough to be in a London borough where school counselling is taken seriously. Most Secondary schools either have full time or part-time counsellors. I am employed full time and I work with a part-time school counsellor and a trainee student counsellor.

As a school counsellor, pastoral care is the foundation of my work, managing a student counselling service and support service in a Secondary school with just over one thousand pupils aged 11-19 who come from a range of different cultural backgrounds , speak different languages and have their own individual needs is not an easy task. The service offers individual and group counselling to students, information to parents and carers and more recently has developed parent – child mediation sessions, where parents and students have the opportunity to discuss conflicts relating to home or school. Other aspects of the work involve:

• Attending case conferences
• Acting as a mediator between teacher and student
• Working with external agencies, ongoing development and evaluation of the service.

The role of a school counsellor is extremely demanding. No two days are ever the same. Sometimes before I reach my office, I feel like I have done a day’s work already, just walking through the school, encountering students who have issues that need to be dealt with immediately. By the time I get to my office, there is often a student waiting for me “because of something that happened at home last night” or “this teacher is annoying me”.

Every October I receive a number of phone calls from college or university students who are doing counselling certificates, diplomas or degrees and are looking for a suitable placement because they require counselling practice hours a part of the criteria for course completion. Many of them have an interest in school counselling as a career, or working with young people generally. I respond to these requests by offering placements to student counsellors for a number of reasons:

• It helps me to reduce the list of students waiting for counselling
• It gives the trainee counsellor an in sight into how schools function, the differing needs of adolescents, how different theoretical approaches can be applied in school settings, and they are able to consider school counselling as a viable career choice.

Over the years I have developed a comprehensive induction training program for trainee counsellors. This is important because the trainee student counsellors have all come from courses that are generic and aimed at working with adults rather than specifically with children and young people and not courses specifically aimed at training school counsellors.

Supporting trainee student counsellors is not just about clinical supervision; I have become a teacher/trainer and developed a comprehensive induction program for student counsellors before they start practising with the students.

The training I have developed covers topics such as:

• Understanding the role of pastoral care in the school system, mental health, government policies and legislation relating to children and young people;
• Child protection policies and procedures, confidentiality and its limitations working with external agencies;
• Professional boundaries;
• Understanding the Education Acts, different schools policies, the role of the school counsellor, and much more.
• The training is adapted to meet the level of counselling of the trainee.

With the introduction of government policies that are putting schools under increasing pressure to deal with students mental and emotional well being and the changes in how schools are expected to provide pastoral care and the increase in demand for counselling in schools, this raises questions about the way forward for the training of school counsellors.

I recommend that colleges, universities and training organisations need to consider the issue of providing a course specifically aimed at counsellors wishing to work within a school setting. School counsellors, who already work in the school system, need accredited specialist courses for their continued professional development.

Academic and training institutions need to recognise the importance of developing degree courses in School Specialist Knowledge and Skills, at post graduate and under graduate level, and incorporate the specialist training for those counsellors wanting to work specifically in a school environment.

I believe this is the way forward as it can only mean that counsellors will develop best working practices aimed specifically at school children and students will get the best help that they can.

Paula Spencer is the Head of Student Counselling & Support at a secondary school in North London.

One morning during a recent visit to a primary 7 class I watched a young teacher go round the classroom correcting mental arithmetic homework. She leaned across to tick Andrew’s work when he tugged her sleeve, looked up into her face and asked “Miss would you know to look at my face that our daddy left us last night?”

The emotional life meets us every day often in ways, at times and in circumstances we least expect (and are least prepared for). But then that is life – spontaneous, unpredictable, emotional – rich in its rewards and punishing in its ‘lessons’.

This illustration demonstrates a seldom-explored dimension of teaching and offers sharp focus of the need to educate the whole child – physically, intellectually, emotionally and spiritually. Few teachers would underestimate the importance of their next words and actions in response to Andrew’s desperate plea to know and be known. But how many teachers have been taught how to manage such situations – let alone manage them in ways that promote personal confidence and resilience? How is a teacher to respond to such a happening, to meet Andrew where ‘he’s at’ and teach him the skills, attitudes and values to come to terms with his life and manage it well?

The literal, or intellectual, response, “No Andrew”, would seem trite, insufficient and invalidating. Reassurance through a human-to-human response that offers validation is what is sought and required. This will frighten many teachers (away from any response) and bring others well out of their comfort zone. It calls upon the teacher to have courage and respond not as a teacher and not from their intellect but from their own emotional dimension – from their own repertoire of feelings and experiences. In short the teacher must be empathic and communicate sensitively with Andrew on a personal level. That is not to say that any personal information needs to be exchanged from the teacher or indeed from Andrew but that Andrew must feel met and understood as a person and derive some sense of validation and perhaps even worthiness from the teacher’s response. Often the offer to listen to his story is sufficient to allow Andrew to feel OK and provide him with the nourishment to face home and potential further crunches to his self-esteem.

Two and two is indisputably four and yet teaching is so much more that conveying mere intellectual knowledge and understanding. An education cannot be “done to” children. Whether through unexpected moments or planned lessons the classroom makes demands of the teacher beyond pure pedagogical skills. However these demands provide opportunities from which self-esteem, personal worth and new knowledge may grow. A new sense of “self” can emerge from deep and meaningful relationships between teachers and pupils. Teachers’ empathic responses to Andrew’s question can provide students with an array of skills, qualities and dispositions with which to deal with life’s events. Opportunities may be easily missed or glossed over but attention to the emotional life of children equips them with the resources to negotiate the challenges of life beyond the classroom and into adulthood. Ultimately this serves to benefit society in the development of confident, enterprising, young people who have courage and resilience.

Paul Hazzard