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NAPCE News – September 2024

NAPCE News – September 2024

Making a positive difference to young people through pastoral care

CONFERENCE: Last Chance to Book. NAPCE Annual Conference 2024 – Tickets On Sale Now & Special Offer
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NAPCE Annual National Conference 2024 – Tickets On Sale Now – LAST CHANCE TO BOOK

Annual National Conference

‘Good Practice in Pastoral Care in Education’

October 11th, 2024
In the Graeme Hick Pavilion
Worcestershire County Cricket Club
Worcester

The Conference provides an excellent professional development opportunity for all professionals working in pastoral roles and for anybody who wants to make a difference in the learning experience of children and young people.

Keynote speakers include.

  • Victoria Raynor, Director, Raynor Safeguarding -‘Opening Windows to Opportunities. The Purpose of Pastoral Care in Education’.
  • Dr Caron Carter, Senior Lecturer in Childhood Education at Sheffield Hallam University – ‘Children’s Friendships Matter’.
  • Liz Bates, Independent Advisor, Trainer, and Magistrate – ‘The Role of the Trusted Adult’.

Good practice presentations from previous winners and finalists in the National Awards for Pastoral Care in Education organised by NAPCE include.

  • Raymond Herron, Senior teacher, St Mary’s Christian Brothers Grammar School, Belfast – ‘Restorative justice approach to behaviour management’
  • Oribi Davies, Director of Inclusion Hub, Friern Barnet School, London -‘Alternative provision to enable young people to remain in mainstream provision’.
  • Ellie Costello, Director Team Square Peg, – ‘Working with families to promote good attendance and to support young people in their education’.
  • There will also be a presentation from Jill Robson, NAPCE National Secretary – ‘Interactive Pastoral Care’

The Conference will be Chaired by NAPCE National Chair, Phil Jones.

Follow the link for more information and tickets.https://2024-napce-annual-conference.eventbrite.co.uk

CONFERENCE SPECIAL OFFER

Join NAPCE as an individual member for 2024 for £44.00 (£21.00 retired, NQT, students rate ) and have free entry to the National Annual Conference along with back copies of the academic journal ‘Pastoral Care in Education’ and future hard copies delivered to your address.

Or

Join NAPCE as a group member for 2024 for £66.00 as a school college or university (£43.00 primary and special school rate) and have free entry to the National Annual Conference for 2 people along with 2 back copies of the academic journal ‘Pastoral Care in Education’ and two copies of future hard copies delivered to your address. The named person for a group has all the benefits of individual membership.

Go to www.napce.org.uk and click the link for membership and the online application form.

Once membership is confirmed go to https://2024-napce-annual-conference.eventbrite.co.uk to reserve tickets at the free member’s rate.

LEAD ARTICLE: It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men” Liz Slamer Explores the “Anxiety Crisis” in Children and Young People
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‘It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men’ – Liz Slamer Explores the “Anxiety Crisis” in Children and Young People

‘It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men’ – Frederick Douglass 1818 – 1895
Escaped slave, abolitionist, social reformer, statesman

‘Staggering’ and ‘shocking’ are the terms used by health professionals to describe the huge rise in referrals for anxiety for children and young people.

In 2023/24 there were 204,526 new referrals – more than 500 a day, one every three minutes (see The Guardian 27/8/24) https://www.theguardian.com/society/article/2024/aug/27/nhs-referrals-for-anxiety-in-children-more-than-double-pre-covid-levels-england#:~:text=More%20than%20500%20children%20a%20day%20in%20England%20are%20being,was%20anxiety%2C%20official%20figures%20show

If we consider that there are likely to be many children who do not seek help or are not referred, for many reasons, then we can only begin to imagine what the real numbers of children struggling in this way might be.

Which leads us to the questions “how many children in my setting?” and “what more can I do to support these children?”

The title of this piece is a quote which I believe carries a powerful message and I use it regularly in presentations and trainings. Simply the earlier we start the better.

The current crisis in adult mental health services will continue to be fed by the children who today may not be receiving the help and support they need. And yet most staff in our settings are not mental health practitioners, so what is our role in building strong children?

I am not suggesting that I have the answer to this crisis but I do believe there is value to the strategies and approaches I am going to describe. Approaches that have been tried and tested; strategies that have been recognised and appreciated by professionals in educational settings through to those in clinical mental health roles; and more importantly credited by young people such as the 16-year-old service user who told me “I wish I had known this when I was younger.”  As I said, the sooner the better.

There are many reasons why a child may become anxious. If that anxiety is preventing them from doing the things they want or need to do then the adults around them have a role to help them manage and overcome these, often, paralysing feelings.

Can we pre-empt that feeling of overwhelm by teaching them about anxiety – where it comes from, why it happens and, most importantly, that it happens to everyone, it is okay and a lot of the time we can manage it?

My answer is ‘yes’. Giving children the understanding and the strategies to manage anxiety and to self-regulate or self-calm is to give them a crucial skill set.

We don’t need to be experts in neurology or neuro-science to tell children some basic information, in a child friendly way, about the brain. In particular the bit of the brain that is part of the evolution of anxiety.

Anxiety occurs when our perceived capacity to cope is surpassed by our perceived understanding of what we have to cope with. It is a natural physiological response to threat, uncertainty, fear of failure, harm, humiliation, the unknown, the known.

We all experience anxiety at times, but we experience it differently and about different things.

Some of us hate rollercoasters, some of us love them.

The roots of this are found in the part of the brain called the amygdala. Designed to keep us alive by sending messages to power up our bodies, or shut our bodies down, to react in the face of threat.

We absolutely don’t want this to stop – it is a life-saving response, but there are times when the perceived threat may not be as potentially dangerous as our brains first think.

The better able we are to notice what is happening to our bodies the more able we are to do something to help manage those feelings – be they physiological or psychological.

Anxiety can feel like nausea, heart thumping, hot and sweaty, cold and shivering; feeling alone, the need to find safety, not knowing how I feel.

Anxiety can sound like I’m stupid, I can’t, I give up, I don’t understand.  Anxiety can look like anger, avoidance, everything, nothing. And so much more.

So introducing children to the amygdala is my suggested starting point. We all have one. It does pretty much the same job for everyone. Ergo, anxiety is a ‘normal’ experience. Though you wouldn’t believe the stuff that other people feel anxious about!

Try this activity.

One end of the room to be marked OK with this
Other end of the room marked Not OK with this
Respond to the following situation by standing somewhere on the continuum:
Going on a rollercoaster
Reading aloud in assembly
Taking an exam
Swimming in the deep end
Making a new friend
Stroking a dog
Answering a question in class
…..and anything else you want to add.

And then a remarkable thing happens – I have seen it many times as I use this activity when working with groups of staff – we see, right there in front of us, that we often feel differently about the same thing.

That something that is okay for me may not be okay for someone else; that something that is not okay for me may be okay for someone else. And that is the same for everyone.

I agree, not rocket science, but believe me when I say, we all need reminding of this.

So meet Myg the amygdala.  Myg who has always been there in my brain; Myg that looks out for me; Myg that helps to keep me safe; Myg that powers up my legs to run from a bear in the woods; Myg that sometimes works too hard and turns a school test into a monster; and me with the power to calm Myg down if I need to.

This can be done at any age.  My book ‘My Brilliant Brain: Myg and Me’ and the accompanying guidebook ‘Understanding Anxiety and Implementing Self-Calming’ is aimed at 7-12 year olds but has been used successfully with older and younger children.

Helping children to understand that anxiety is experienced by everyone, is the first step in giving them the skills and the strategies to self-calm.

They are not weird or unusual or weak or stupid to feel anxious.

Ask an astronaut, a Premier League goalie or penalty taker, a fire-fighter, a free climber and they will all have strategies to manage their anxieties, be it breathing, visualisation, self-talk or something else.

The explanations that the sick feeling is because your digestive system is shutting down to prepare for “running from the bear”,  or the thumping heart is your blood being pumped to get more oxygen to your limbs to “fight the bear”, or the shallow breathing is so that “the bear doesn’t notice you” and knowing that Myg is responsible for this is all part of normalising theses feelings and the first step to managing them.

The books contain this and much more with six detailed lesson plans which include a wide range of self-regulation and self-calming techniques and strategies.

My idea is to help children to manage their low level anxieties before they become overwhelmed; to understand what anxiety is and where it comes from; to recognise what is happening to them both in their bodies and in their heads; to give them strategies to use, that work for them, to manage those feelings as soon as possible; to know that they can have control over their feelings and their thoughts.

And for us as adults to know that this is not about protecting them from a real threat but from the feelings, thoughts, physiology and behaviours that come with anxiety. It isn’t about telling a child “there’s nothing to worry about” or “it will be okay”, and please never “calm down”, because you are then denying the child’s experience and, to be blunt, it doesn’t work. Validating, stepping into the child’s shoes, mentalising, imagining what it might be like for them will be far more beneficial.

There will of course be children who do experience a level of anxiety that overwhelms them. For these children other professional help and services will need to be sought. But hopefully what I have presented here, and the greater detail and depth contained in the books will be a starting point for all of the children you work with; will be enough for some of the children you work with and will do no harm for those who may need more help or no help at all.

 

ARTICLE: “From Striving to Thriving:How Functional Fluency can help reduce the stresses and pressures of pastoral care in schools” by Behaviour, Well-Being & Leadership Consultant Steve Russell

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From Striving to Thriving : How Functional Fluency can help reduce the stresses and pressures of pastoral care in schools by Steve Russell of beyondbehaviour.co.uk

The demands associated with providing pastoral care for pupils have increased significantly over the years.

The sheer volume of this work, combined with the seriousness and complexity of the matters staff are expected to attend to can lead to a sense of overwhelm.

I wonder how often you feel like you are ‘spinning plates’, ‘juggling too many balls’ and ‘fire-fighting’? If you are anything like the colleagues I support, I imagine not too infrequently!
 
The Functional Fluency model (1) offers a powerful, reflective framework to step back and consider how effectively we use our energy as humans generally.

When it comes to the specifics of pastoral care, I’ve found it to be invaluable in enabling and empowering colleagues to use their energy in increasingly effective ways by being less reactive and more responsive.

And whilst the term ‘functional fluency’ might not be too familiar, even a cursory glance at the diagram below may well spark thoughts as you reflect upon your pastoral related work.

To make sense of the diagram, notice in the first instance that it’s divided into thirds.

Let’s start with the top third. This is concerned with how we use our energy when fulfilling the role of being in charge of others, and involves two elements:

-Control – or ‘Guiding and Directing’. Communicating reasonable expectations clearly and firmly, and providing appropriate support.

-Care – or ‘Looking After People’. This is about ensuring people feel valued, understood and that their needs are appropriately taken care of.
 
If pastoral care isn’t about these two elements, what is? It’s what you do, day in, day out. 
 
Next, notice how each element is divided into modes of behaviour – namely Dominating and Structuring; and Marshmallowing and Nurturing.

These are also colour coded – Purple denoting ineffective energy and Gold effective energy.

When you are guiding and directing others effectively,you are said to be using the Structuring mode. This is characterised by such behaviours as being well organised, helpful and communicating a belief in the other(s) ‘You can do it’. 
 
Alternatively, you might find yourself mispitching your authority, perhaps getting into some fault-finding, blaming and/or being punitive in order to ‘get them’ to do what you want them to do. This is characteristic of the Dominating mode.
 
Let’s take a look now at the Care element on the right hand side. Nurturing mode behaviours include being available for others, seeking to understand them, showing empathy and compassion for them.

Take another look at the behaviours listed in this part of the diagram. Which of these do you draw upon? Dare you take a little credit for what you bring to your work?
 
The Marshmallowing mode offers some very helpful insights into why staff can all too often find themselves feeling overwhelmed. It is so-called because, in essence, if you are hungry and reach for a bag of marshmallows, it won’t be too long before you feel a bit sick. What’s more, they won’t satisfy your hunger because they lack nutrition.

In the same way, our care for others might be a bit sickly and/or lack substance. A pupil you know is having a particularly difficult time at home behaves in ways that fall short of expectations. However, rather than blend some Nurturing with holding them to account (Structuring mode), staff instead make excuses and become overtolerant of such behaviours. Voila – marshmallowing!
 
Alternatively, you might find you do too much caring for others. Keen to help colleagues, you end up sometimes doing what is actually their responsibility. As a result, your ‘to-do’ list becomes ever longer as you lose sight of what you need and where lines of responsibility begin and end. 
 
It’s important to stress that such Marshmallowing behaviours often come from a ‘good place’ – you want to be available and helpful and they are good qualities to have. It’s all about keeping an eye on not doing too much of the Nurturing behaviours.
 
What is more, whether it’s the Marshmallowing mode or any of the other Purple//ineffective modes, Temple is keen to stress that we all use these modes.

Why? Because we are only human. When tired, stressed, poorly etc, we tend to default to these modes, if only because they are ‘easier’. Rather than asking a colleague what options they face, it’s so much easier to listen and then provide solutions. Easier and quicker – at least in the short term. The question is – ‘And at what cost?’’
 
That said, given Functional Fluency is in part about increasing our ‘response-ability’, there are ways to reduce the likelihood of using the Purples.

Enter the Accounting mode, right in the middle of the diagram! This is when we are ‘with-it’ – taking account as to what is going on around us and within us. Again there are behaviours that characterise this mode, including being alert, aware, gathering information and evaluating it so as to then be intentional in our subsequent response(s).

The more effective our accounting, the more responsive and less reactive we will be. As we increase our ‘response-ability’, we will do less fire-fighting. 
 
Practically, the Accounting mode can be something as simple as responding to a colleague’s request for help with ‘Leave it with me and I will get back to you on that.’; ‘That’s a tricky issue, isn’t it? How about we each have a think about what options there are and we catch up on Friday?’ Notice how here you are blending the Nurturing mode (empathy) with the Structuring mode (by putting a boundary in).
 
Rounding things off, let’s take a look at the bottom third of the model. ‘Relating to Others’ is to do with how we express our Social Self. Whilst pastoral leadership requires significant amounts of Guiding and Directing and Looking After People, the plethora of relationships you are involved in (pupils, colleagues, other leaders, parents/carers, external agencies etc etc) means you are also having to regularly devote energy into this aspect of Functional Fluency.
 
Once again we have choices of modes – namely the Co-operative mode and the Compliant-Resistant mode. Imagine you are walking down the corridor and from behind you comes the headteacher’s voice – “Ah (insert your name) – can I have a quick word please?” She goes on to say “SLT have just had a meeting and we need someone to lead on Social, Emotional and Mental Health. You’re passionate about this area, aren’t you, and we wondered if you would be willing to take this up?’ 
 
There are three main categories of response/reaction you could draw upon here:

i) Feeling you have no choice (this is the headteacher, after all!), you automatically saying ‘Yes’ – and then spend hours wondering how you are going to balance this responsibility with everything else you do. In other words, you use the Compliant aspect of the Compliant-Resistant mode, being submissive and possibly seeking to please the head.

ii) Aware that you already have a full workload, and anxious as to how to manage this request, you mis-step and react with ‘Sorry – you want me to take on yet another responsibility? Haven’t we talked extensively about work-life balance? I’m happy to talk about this – and with my union rep present.’ This would be indicative of the Resistant aspect of the ‘Compliant-Resistant’ mode, whereby you are become defiant.

iii) The final option is to give a far more effective response, tapping into the Co-operative mode. This is characterised by being assertive, considerate and adaptable. “I appreciate being considered for that role. Like everyone else, I’m juggling the whole work-life balance thing. Could we have a chat about what would be involved and see what implications there are for my other responsibilities?” You are taking ownership of your right to not be overstretched, whilst adopting a friendly tone and looking to be adaptable. 
 
Last but not least in the model there is the energy you give over to expressing your Natural Self – your authentic self.

This is about doing your own thing, in your own way.

Those times when perhaps you’ve tapped into a creative way of addressing an issue, thinking outside the box. Or perhaps when you’ve shared something of your authentic self with a parent/carer (“I can relate to the challenges of bringing up a child with additional needs. It’s tough going isn’t it?”).

These are examples of the Spontaneous mode, in contrast to when we might do our own thing, in our own way, with little regard of the impact upon others (the Immature mode).
 
So, what does being a functionally fluent pastoral leader look like? Well, it’s all about the Golds!

Pastoral leadership requires knowledge, yes, but at its root is a need to draw on a wealth of interpersonal skills.

Functional Fluency shines a light on the modes you use, balance and blend, moment by moment, day by day.

Why not use the diagram to take better notice as to what you have done to support pupils, families and indeed colleagues?

And, given this is all about energy, remember – “Self-care is never a selfish act.” (2). It’s your way of replenishing yourself so that you can return to work to give more of the Golds. What’s more you owe it to yourself. You are worthy of such care.

Steve Russell
https://beyondbehaviour.co.uk/

 
References
(1)‘Functional Fluency’ 2002
(2)Parker J Palmer : ‘Let Your Life Speak’ : 1999 : Jossey Bass

ARTICLE: “Effective Pastoral Care in schools. The foundation for achieving success” – NAPCE Chair Phil Jones Draws on Learnings from Good Practice Schools

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“Effective Pastoral Care in schools. The foundation for achieving success” by NAPCE Chair Phil Jones

The new academic year has seen a focus on inclusion and there has been talk of an ‘inclusion revolution’.

The pastoral systems and structures in schools and colleges support inclusion and the socialisation and personal development of learners.

The brains of children and young people are developing while they are at school and effective pastoral care enables them to understand their lives and the world they live in and to make sense of their learning experience.

It provides the foundations for all learners to achieve their full potential from their education and prepares them for the opportunities and challenges in their future lives.

The National Association for Pastoral Care in Education (NAPCE), as an educational charity, has for 42 years been sharing research and ideas about the contribution effective pastoral care and support can make to the learning experience of children and young people.

It has highlighted how the pastoral work of a school or college provides guidance, supports wellbeing and helps to raise achievement in preparation for learners’ future roles in the workplace and in society.

NAPCE, through its academic journal, ‘Pastoral Care in Education’,  its engagement with educationalists, policy makers and practitioners in pastoral roles and in recent years through its organisation of the annual ‘National Awards for Pastoral Care in Education’, has raised awareness about good practice that makes a difference in the academic achievement and personal development of children and young people.

Lessons from Good Practice in Pastoral Care

It is amazing that at a time when there are increasing demands being made on pastoral systems and there is pressure from reduced funding, schools and colleges have found ways with limited resources to make a difference for the children and young people in their care.

Sharing good practice provides inspiration and ideas for how schools can use their pastoral structures and systems to enable learners to achieve success from their learning experience and to prepare them for their future lives.

NAPCE can highlight some of the strategies and actions being taken by schools and colleges to provide the support children and young people need from its contacts and visits to schools and from the nominations for the national awards.

1) Support the Wellbeing of Staff

Schools have implemented initiatives to support the wellbeing of staff in the belief that if you look after the adults, they will be in a better position to provide the support that children and young people need.

Sir John Fisher High School in Wigan provides staff with an opportunity to make anonymous nominations of colleagues to recognise the contribution they make with the opportunity to win a hamper form a prize draw.

Tor Bank Special School in Belfast have a peer-led approach to supporting the well-being of staff. A team of volunteers work together to provide support for their colleagues.

The team organises events and fund raising which helps to raise staff morale. This approach means that staff can approach their peers if they need any support, and the team can inform leadership if staff are feeling pressure or have any concerns. Staff feel valued and supported to face the daily challenges in meeting the needs of the learners.

2) Use Pastoral Initiatives and Strategies that are Appropriate for your School

St Mary’s Christian Brothers School in Belfast has won awards for its restorative approaches to behaviour management.

St Mary’s CBGS is an all-boys Voluntary Grammar School located on the Glen Road in West Belfast. The school found that challenges to authority increased after Covid-19.

The school felt that more was needed than a punitive approach to behaviour management. ‘Difficult conversations’ were introduced to make learners accountable for their actions.

This is not seen as an alternative to a sanction. Sanctions are applied, if necessary, but a difficult conversation can take place afterwards to make the young person responsible for their behaviour.

The focus of the restorative approach is to make young people accountable for their actions with four principles.

  • Accountability

  • Empathy

  • Resolution

  • Prevention

The use of restorative approaches has seen the school move from a ‘blame culture’ to an ‘awareness of harm culture’.

The process involves authority doing things with them rather than to them or for them. The school is now training students to be restorative peer mentors.

St Kevin’s College, Lisnaskea, has introduced a ‘Restorative Room’ which provides opportunities for students to reflect on their behaviour, where relationships are restored, empathy is cultivated, and a sense of justice is fostered.

3) Increase Capacity for Pastoral Care with Peer Support

Schools have found that training pupils to support the pastoral care and well-being of their peers provides additional capacity for the pastoral work of the school.

At Glenlola Collegiate School in Bangor Northern Ireland, pupils are trained to have responsibility in different roles that provide them with the opportunity to support their peers.

Peer support provides a safe opportunity for pupils to share concerns and explore their own solutions to a range of difficulties. It acknowledges that young people often feel easier talking to other young people about issues that affect them.

Pupils are trained as active listeners and provide additional support for the school’s pastoral systems. Peer Supporters are an integral part of school life and visit their form classes on a weekly basis to carry out activities to foster a sense of inclusion within these classes.

In June 2023 the school expanded its peer support through the ‘Pupil Wellness Team’ by appointing ‘Peer Leaders’ to oversee peer support initiatives across different year groups. These students are selected for their exemplary leadership skills and empathy.

4) Be Innovative in Developing Pastoral Interventions

Schools in response to growing demands for meeting the needs of vulnerable children and young people and learners with special needs are being innovative in implementing a range of interventions to meet diverse needs.

This challenge has been highlighted in the media with, for example, The Guardian reporting on 27th August 2024 that more than 500 children are being referred each day to mental health services for anxiety which is more than double the rate before the Global Pandemic began.

Schools are using their pastoral structures and systems to meet the diverse needs of learners and recognising that individual children and young people need different interventions and support to meet their needs. In some cases, schools are fundraising in response to a lack of resources to be able to provide a range of support and interventions that they can use to support individual learners.

Blessed Trinity College in Belfast has an extensive outreach programme to support families which includes hamper deliveries and group support.

The school has developed a garden area to support mental health and well-being.

High Field and Brookham School in Liphook, in September 2023, opened a designated space for pastoral support called the ‘Beehive’.

The Beehive provides a calm and welcoming environment for individual and group support. It serves as a refuge for students to confide in a trusted adult or peer mentor to destress and recharge.

During breaks students can visit the Beehive on their own initiative for support or guidance. Glenlola Collegiate School in Bangor developed a dedicated ‘Wellness Centre’ with facilities that included a relaxation room.

The Wellness Centre has enabled the school to offer a diverse range of well-being initiatives including Pilates sessions and therapeutic visits from trained therapy dogs all aimed at promoting relaxation, stress reduction and emotional wellbeing.

Thornhill Community College, Dewsbury, has introduced a weekly ‘Ladies Group’ in school, targeted at the mums, aunties and grandmas. They use the Ladies Group as a forum to discuss community challenges and address situations that are seen to be too taboo to talk about at home e.g. FGM, women’s rights, gang violence and domestic abuse. This makes the adults feel more informed and confident about providing support for their children and young people.

5) Focus Pastoral Structures and Systems on Developing a Positive Learning Environment

Schools have focused in their pastoral work on providing their learners with a positive learning environment.

Moneynick Primary School in Randalstown implemented an initiative focused on ‘outdoor thinking’.

This develops the ability to learn, communicate, problem solve, explore, observe and appreciate the outside world. This builds the physical, social, emotional creative and imaginative development of learners in their natural environment.

The school opened a green house for planting and created a sensory and fairy garden from derelict ground.

Meanwhile at St John’s Primary School in Swatragh, they involved the children in designing and decorating the ‘Calm Area’. This has become a place the children can go to feel that they are genuinely listened to about their concerns and worries about their daily experiences.

6) Promote Good Mental Health by Supporting the Socialisation of Learners

Schools are adopting a proactive approach to pastoral care based on the belief that all children and young people need guidance and support.

Using pastoral structures and systems in schools to support the socialisation of learners and build their resilience enables learners to be more confident about responding to challenges in the learning experience and lives.

Effective pastoral care supports all individuals with their personal development and enables them to achieve their full potential as learners and human beings.

Claire Kerr, at Royal School Dungannon, has developed several pupil-focused groups including ‘Safe Space’ and ‘The Safer School’.

Safe Space provides a lunch time drop-in where vulnerable pupils are given a space to meet, chat and avail of mentoring when required.

The Safer School team, work alongside Mrs Kerr to raise awareness of mental health and pastoral issues in school, as well as taking regular assemblies to provide effective strategies and coping mechanisms to help pupils manage challenging times.

North London Collegiate School in Jeju in South Korea teaches the key concepts of well-being to enable them to live healthy and fulfilling lives.

The Personal Social and Development programme is implemented to be relevant to the needs of the learners to teach them about the challenges they will face in their lives and how they can respond. They have taken a whole school approach to tracking student well-being and have introduced new software that enables them to give students short surveys every two weeks that enable them to make positive and effective interventions.

7) Develop Personalised Approaches to Pastoral Care and Support that Meet the Needs of Individual Learners

The reality of providing pastoral care and support is that all children and young people are different human beings and have different needs at different times.

Pastoral care is more effective if the pastoral structures and systems are developed to be flexible to respond to different needs with a personalised approach to providing care and support.

Lecturer Mike Spellman at Staffordshire Institute of p
Policing provides one to one support for the student’s training to be police officers, especially for students with neurodiversity.

Recognising the diverse needs of his students, he employs a variety of teaching strategies and accommodations to ensure that all learners can succeed.

The support and guidance provided is tailored to meet the individual needs of students. Understanding the importance of personalised support, he makes himself readily available to students, offering a listening ear, empathetic guidance, and practical advice.

Whether it’s addressing academic concerns, providing emotional support, or offering career guidance, Mick Spellman approaches each interaction with compassion, professionalism, and a genuine desire to help students thrive.

The team at St Teresa’s Nursery in Belfast has pioneered a holistic, trauma-informed approach that removes barriers and empowers even our most vulnerable students to cultivate their fullest potential.

In one of Northern Ireland’s most economically disadvantaged communities where over 60 cent of households rely on food banks and Government assistance, the nursery intentionally designed policies, a curriculum, and an environment around the Trauma-Informed Practice and Nurture Principles frameworks.

This enables the nursery to meet students’ academic and emotional needs in the face of challenges like poverty, adverse childhood experiences, and developmental differences.

8) Make Pastoral Care and Support for Learners Visible

Pastoral care is more effective if it promotes a positive culture where it is available to meet the different needs of individual learners and not as a response to problems.

Developing this culture will encourage learners to see support as being available to them to help them become better human beings and to achieve more from their learning experience.

At Bristnall Hall Academy in Oldbury there are five non-teaching ‘Achievement Co-ordinators’ who provide support and guidance for the 220 learners in each year group.

At the start of the day they are in their playgrounds greeting their year groups and making sure they are ready for the day and at break times they supervise social times and being the champion of their year group.

In lesson time they visit students in classes to support learners who may need some re-direction or additional support.

They contact external agencies and families to co-ordinate any support needed for individual learners. Their visibility and knowledge of individual learners is inspirational, and they are the glue that holds their year groups together.

The pastoral team at Fir Vale School in Sheffield, are the ‘boots on the ground’ every single day which includes community walks to ensure that learners arrive safely.

Their endless list of duties mean that they are always available to students if they need a friendly face or have an issue. The school serves a deprived area and the pastoral team nurture and emotionally support students and provide the academic motivation that students do not always get at home.

Sharing good practice informs decision making about how to develop effective pastoral care in a school or college and inspires ideas about how to support the learning and personal development of learners to enable them to achieve their full potential.

There are many other examples of good practice in pastoral care and support for learning that NAPCE has become aware of through its work with schools and colleges.

More good practice highlighted in the nominations for the National Awards will be shared in future editions of NAPCE News.

Phil Jones
National Chair
The National Association for Pastoral Care in Education (NAPCE)
September 2024

For more information about NAPCE visit https://napce.org.uk

For information and tickets for NAPCE events follow the link https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/national-association-for-pastoral-care-in-education-18669723608   

NAPCE News – August 2024

NAPCE News – August 2024

Making a positive difference to young people through pastoral care

LEAD ARTICLE: Unleashing the Power of Self Development: How Deep Should Educators Dive?” by NAPCE’s Dr Matt Silver
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Unleashing the Power of Self Development: How Deep Should Educators Dive? By Dr Matt Silver

In the ever-evolving landscape within, and more prominently beyond, education, the pursuit of self development isn’t merely a choice; it’s a professional imperative.

As educators and educational leaders, the impact we have on the lives of our students goes beyond textbooks and lesson plans.

It’s about inspiring, shaping, and equipping the next generation for success in an increasingly complex world. Self development isn’t a luxury; it’s a necessity.

But how deep should educators go on this transformative journey, and what are the rewards awaiting those who dare to venture into its depths?

Let’s explore.

At its core, self development is about growth—growth as professionals, as individuals, and of our lifelong learners. It’s not about learning more skills, but applying them, realising the limitations of the constructs that shaped our past version of ‘self’ and expanding our opportunities in the now.

By continually seeking ways to nuance our impact on the lives of others and our wider communities, we engage many more on the journey. It’s a dynamic process that transcends the boundaries of our organisations, existing concepts and contexts, influencing every facet of our existence.

In a world of rapid change and now equipped with AI, we must keep speed with our own capacity to adapt, maintain connection with others, and ensure the sophistication of our thinking and quality of decisions integrate many more insights into our collective evolution. This shines a new light on pastoral care in leadership, not just for learners but for educators.

The Profound Impact on Educators

Leaders are spending so much time on their short term systems, that energy required to develop themselves and their strategy is incredibly limited.

Every session we run we ask the question of what is on your mind and 85 per cent reflect the ‘now’ to do list. Even when they become aware, guilt overshadows the commitment as underlying assumptions of leadership have been so conditioned into their approach.

The Glass House provides a map of adult, team and system development across multiple lines of maturity. We continue to see the same pattern of direct man management and reliance on being directed in our initial diagnostics.

We find that developing a leader’s capacity requires a more conscious use of energy and what to do with it. The alignment of their purpose, values and beliefs allows them to create align and capacity, creating the space to step back and plan into the future, conscious of the qualities in their team and a return on the investment in their growth. The same echoes out on tapping into the true potential of their community.

Educators engaged in self development experience a profound transformation that positively impacts their professional and personal lives. Why? Because they see or experience something that previously they did not know was possible.

In May 2023 details of UK Government research into professional development of teachers was released and highlighted a range of education specific knowledge and skills both sought and received by educators.

Interestingly the most received professional development was all knowledge and student management based.

The presence of soft skills was only alluded to by four per cent of participants in the survey and only through teacher-parent/carer cooperation (Jones, 2023).

Although the survey clearly shows professional development is covering a range of knowledge and skills within teaching, learning and leadership, there is little to no evidence of leader or teacher development on a more personal, human level (in the self or collective sense) beyond the knowledge and skills realm.

Whilst continual professional development is shown to have a positive effect on teacher job satisfaction, we have to ask whether the development being offered is enhancing potential to transform our education system or to meet it’s current metrics (McJames, Parnell, O’Shea, 2023)?

As pastoral educators and educational leaders, the impact we have on the lives of our students goes beyond textbooks and lesson plans.

It’s about connecting, inspiring, and equipping the next generation for success in an increasingly complex world. Equally, the pressure of the role for a whole host of reasons means leaders must also be able to sustain the energy expenditure and the quality of its use, with the dropout rates illustrating the current gap.

Self development isn’t a luxury; it’s a necessity. But how deep should educators go on this transformative journey, and what are the rewards awaiting those who dare to venture into its depths? Let’s explore.

What self-development can do for us:

When we embark on the journey of self development, we’re not just enhancing our own lives; we’re unlocking a profound potential that can ripple into every aspect of our professional careers and community.

Engaging in self development across multiple lines of development can have a profound impact on educators to enhance multiple aspects of our personal and professional journey.

On a personal level self-development of physiology and emotions enhances our resilience and adaptability. Having greater awareness of our values, ego, purpose, strengths, resistances and aspirations we become more equipped to acknowledge growth and move with and/or challenge change for the better and thrive in demanding environments.

We have to be able to consider why and how to use emerging change and the tools accelerating it.

Self development further nurtures effective communication skills, partially stemming from increased awareness, literacy and management of emotions and appreciation of the values and ego stage of others in relation to your own.

It also enhances a deeper listening, exploring where people may be coming from in their own communication and the causes behind it.

This extends not only to interactions with students but also to collaboration with colleagues, parents, and stakeholders. As educators delve deeper into personal growth, they become more emotionally intelligent enabling them to better understand and connect with their students. It promotes compassion, two levels deeper than active listening, and a supportive learning environment.

As you can sense this spills over to impact a multitude of professional practices and competencies including teaching skills, attendance, and outcomes.

Through an increased openness we are more adept to learn innovative strategies, shifting culture, augmenting technologies effectively and stay current with educational trends to better cater for the wide range of student learning needs we encounter and ultimately enhance the learning experience.

It additionally cultivates leadership qualities and enables leaders to inspire and empower their teams’ collective agency.

Are we asking our learners to lead their learning too? What capabilities do they require? Great leaders lead by example, know and do not hide their vulnerabilities. They are transparent that they are continuously improving themselves to catalyse those around them to have courage and innovate – all capacities our learners will require to sustain their own futures.

On a more student specific level, educators who have a deep understanding and connection to themselves serve as powerful role models for their students and foster opportunities for students to also develop further and believe beyond their own childhood boundaries culture has bestowed upon them.

This encourages moving beyond academic achievement to focus on students’ emotional maturity, character development, and applied learning – that all enhance performance.

So how Deep Should You Dive into Self Development?

The depth of your self development journey is a matter of personal choice and goals that are likely to depend on the stage of development you are at.

There’s no one-size-fits-all answer, as every educator’s path is unique and there are several ways to progress on your journey. Some of the key practises and concepts we have found within our work at The Glass House include the following:

Guidance and facilitation:

As education leaders and coaches we have found being asked carefully considered questions from someone removed from your immediate context creates helpful and alternative insights into one’s self-development journey. Having the support of someone within this capacity to hold a safe space can also help to navigate challenges with more than your own perspective, before going out and practising the next step in a low risk environment, building up to situations that originally trigger the need to address it. Committing and maintaining a focus in both long and short term by discovering your original assumption and holding it up in the mirror to your purpose brings real drive to partner with the emotional reset required to change habits. The suggestions below sound simple, but so too does going to the gym. A coach has similar roles to a personal trainer, stretching and prompting us to apply ourselves in order to embody our growth.

Self-reflection:

Through reflecting on strengths, challenges and aspirations, individuals can deepen their insight into what has shaped their development to date as well as moving forward. We then better understand the intent behind decisions and the alternative lens our values shade, reducing emotional responses and objectifying more of what we are actually experiencing. This includes appreciating yourself for all you have achieved and are achieving as well as holding yourself accountable for the progress you seek to make. The discussion with the voices of your ego can be fascinating rather than intimidating.

Embrace Challenges:

Challenges and suffering are what can lead to the greatest growth and self development. It often involves stepping out of your comfort zone. Embracing challenges and view setbacks as opportunities for growth, consider your resistances and where they may come from, what is holding you back here and what small steps can you take to move forward?

Balance Work and Life

While self development is crucial, maintaining a work-life balance is equally important. Burnout hinders growth, but over stretch also hinders quality. Ensuring you allocate time for self-care, relaxation, and personal pursuits outside of your professional role is important, but so is developing the capacity of your physiology and emotions, having more energy to share more wisely. This self-care however needs to be meaningful, routines and commitment to the activities are the structures that create habit change, with people and things you love most are powerful tools to reset, refocus, and build drive.

The Rewards of Deep Self Development

Educators often avoid deep personal development due to various reasons. Fear of change is a significant factor; the unknown can be intimidating. Comfort zones, while limiting, provide a sense of security that change disrupts. Additionally, people may lack awareness of the benefits or believe they’re too busy to invest time in self-improvement. The process can seem overwhelming, requiring commitment and effort. There’s also the misconception that personal development is solely about fixing flaws, rather than enhancing strengths. For some it is financial, unaware of the significant returns of coaching or team journeys. However, embracing personal development is about embracing growth, which provides a greater resilience and potential for a fulfilling life. This is extremely attractive to building a reputation of employer of choice with leaders saying ‘I feel valued because I feel invested in’. Our most recent work has kept 100 per cent of leaders in role or promoted. Overcoming these hurdles opens doors to a world of self-discovery and empowerment that takes you, your team and your learners to the next level of performance. Are you currently aware of what that looks like?

The Depth You Choose

In the end, the depth to which you journey into self development is a deeply personal choice. In 2021 the average school spend on teacher continual professional development was approximately £3,000 per teacher each year (EPI, 2021). We urge you to consider the type of development opportunities on offer and how your teaching expertise can move beyond the traditional skill and knowledge approach to consider self-development on a more holistic and transformational level.

Whether you choose to wade in the shallows or dive into the abyss, remember that every step forward is a step toward your own growth and the betterment of education as a whole. The rewards are boundless, and the impact immeasurable. So, ask yourself, how deep will you and your organisation go?

Dr Matt Silver
CEO of The Glass House Leadership Lab
Vice Chair, NAPCE

The Glass House provides a map of adult development across multiple lines of maturity that builds a deliberately developmental framework that addresses the mental models required for systemic change. We offer the diagnostic tools for both individual and team stages of development, which provides you with a justification for taking the next step and the advantages this will bring, as well as the ability to benchmark progress and impact.

References:

Education Policy Institute (EPI). (2021). The cost of high-quality professional development for teachers in England. [Online]. Available from: https://epi.org.uk/publications-and-research/the-cost-of-high-quality-professional-developmentfor-teachers/

Jones, A. (2023). Teachers’ Professional Development Remains a Work in Progress. [Online]. Available from: https://educationinspection.blog.gov.uk/2023/05/18/teachers-professional-development-remains-a-work-in-progress/
McJames, N., Parnell, A. & O’Shea, A. (2023). Factors affecting teacher job satisfaction: a causal inference machine learning approach using data from TALIS 2018). [Online]. Available from: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00131911.2023.2200594 

GOOD PRACTICE: NAPCE Team Visit Schools in Northern Ireland that had Success in Awards
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NAPCE Visit Schools in Northern Ireland

NAPCE was pleased to be invited to visit schools in Northern Ireland in June.

Although it was not possible to accept the invitations from all the schools NAPCE, represented by Phil Jones (National Chair), Noel Purdy (Editor of the journal ‘Pastoral Care in Education), Eileen Donnelly (National Executive Member) and Anne Jones (NAPCE Admin team) visited three schools on one day to see the good practice taking place in pastoral care and support for children and young people.

All the schools visited had been nominated for Awards in the National Awards for Pastoral Care in Education, organised by NAPCE.

The first school visited was Tor Bank School. This is a special school in Dundonald.

The day starts with a car park full of buses bringing the children and young people into the care of the staff.

Tor Bank is a supportive and empathetic community in which parents, teachers, classroom assistants, therapists, nursing staff and other interested parties share and work in collaboration to design and implement programmes to meet the holistic needs of the individual pupil with complex learning preferences.

There was an opportunity for the NAPCE guests to meet different members of staff and to hear about the good practice taking place.

There was a clear commitment from the staff to meet the individual needs of all the learners in their care.

They shared information about their plan to foster the well child with four different areas to focus on.

Knowing myself
Sharing my interests
Learning new skills
Regulating myself

The school provides an amazing programme of interventions to meet the individual needs of its learners.

These include aromatherapy, music therapy counselling, travel training, art therapy and the opportunity to contribute to Tor Bank Radio.

There is a clear focus on the well-being of staff at the school with a clear understanding that if you look after the staff, they are going to be more effective in looking after the children and young people in their care.

The school has a peer-led approach to staff well-being with a team of volunteer staff working together to support the well-being of colleagues.

This means that staff can approach their peers if they need any support, and the team of volunteers can raise any ideas or concerns with management.

The team organise events and fundraising with the aim of boosting staff morale. One idea to make staff feel valued and appreciated is an opportunity to nominate colleagues for their positive contribution to the work of the school with prizes in a draw including hampers.

The NAPCE team then travelled to Glenlola Collegiate School in Bangor.

This is an all-girls grammar school founded in approximately 1880. The school is proud of being child centred and is determined to support all learners in achieving their full potential.

There was an opportunity for the guests from NAPCE to meet pastoral staff and some of the students and to find out about the good practice in the support and pastoral care that is provided.

It was clear that pastoral care is at the heart of the work of the school and there is a deep-seated belief in nurturing not just academic excellence but also emotional resilience and well-being.

In 2019, with the assistance of the School Parent-Teacher Association (PTA), the school embarked on a transformative journey by establishing a dedicated Wellness room.

The NAPCE guests visited the Wellness Centre and saw for themselves how this area provides a tranquil space for reflection, relaxation and rejuvenation.

The school has invested in the pastoral care and support it provides for its pupils with staff appointed to key pastoral roles including a ‘Pastoral Support and Welfare Officer’, a qualified social worker dedicated to providing targeted support and intervention to students and their parents in need.

The school has a clear focus on peer support. Pupils are trained to have responsibility in different roles that provide them with the opportunity to support their peers.

Peer support provides a safe opportunity for pupils to share concerns and explore their own solutions to a range of difficulties.

It acknowledges that young people often feel easier talking to other young people about issues that affect them. The young people who are trained as active listeners and facilitators provide additional support for the school’s pastoral systems.

Peer Supporters are an integral part of school life and visit their form classes on a weekly basis to carry out activities to foster a sense of inclusion within these classes.

In June 2023 the school expanded its peer support through the ‘Pupil Wellness Team’ by appointing ‘Peer Leaders’ to oversee peer support initiatives across different year groups. These students are selected for their exemplary leadership skills and empathy.

The final visit of the day was to St Mary’s Christian Brothers Grammar School.

St Mary’s CBGS is an all-boys Voluntary Grammar School located on the Glen Road in West Belfast.

It is explained on the school website that the school was founded by the Christian Brothers’, in 1866 and moved to our current site in 1968.

The school is inspired by the vision of Edmund Rice who wanted to create schools that provide excellent education and cultivate Gospel-based values.

St Mary’s continues this work today with over 1,170 students aged 11-19.

The school website explains that “Teachers recognise the uniqueness of every student, encourage firm friendships among the boys and foster a sense of community. It is within this caring and supportive environment that our students are allowed to develop their unique talents and become enthusiastic and highly motivated learners.”

The NAPCE visitors were welcomed by senior staff at the school and colleagues from other local schools.

There was a discussion about the challenges facing staff working in pastoral roles in schools and about some of the ideas and good practice being implemented to support learners.

The school was the winner of the Pastoral Development of the Year category in at the National Awards for Pastoral Care in Education 2023 for its work on restorative approaches to behaviour management.

The school found that challenges to authority increased after the Covid-19 pandemic.

The school felt that more was needed than a punitive approach to behaviour management. Difficult conversations were introduced to make learners accountable for their actions.

This is not seen as an alternative to a sanction. Sanctions are applied, if necessary, but a difficult conversation can take place afterwards to make the young person responsible for their behaviour.

The focus of the restorative approach is to make young people accountable for their actions with four principles.

  • Accountability
  • Empathy
  • Resolution
  • Prevention

The use of restorative approaches has seen the school move from a ‘blame culture’ to an ‘awareness of harm culture’. The process involves authority doing things with them rather than to them or for them. The school is now training students to be restorative peer mentors.

Raymond Herron from the school leadership team will be speaking about the schools’ restorative approaches to behaviour management at the NAPCE annual conference in Worcester on October 11th.

Visit napce.org for details and to reserve tickets or contact NAPCE by email at admin@napce.org.uk for more information.

Phil Jones, National Chair commented: “It had been a pleasure to visit the schools and to see the good practice in pastoral care and support for learners.

“The schools made NAPCE very welcome, and it was inspiring to see so many examples of staff in schools wanting to make a real difference in the learning experience and future life chances of the children and young people in their care.

“Congratulations to NAPCE member schools in Northern Ireland for the excellent pastoral care and support being provided for children and young people. ”

Schools from Northern Ireland are well represented amongst the finalists for the 2024 National Awards for Pastoral Care in Education along with schools from other parts of the United Kingdom and other parts of the world.

It will be great to find out about the good practice in pastoral care and support for learners at the grand presentation event for the 2024 awards in Worcester on the evening of 11th October.

Details about the awards grand presentation event and tickets can be found at www.napce.org.uk of email admin@napce.org.uk for more information.

CONFERENCE: NAPCE Annual Conference 2024 – Tickets On Sale Now & Special Offer
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NAPCE Annual National Conference 2024 – Tickets On Sale Now

Annual National Conference

‘Good Practice in Pastoral Care in Education’
October 11th, 2024
In the Graeme Hick Pavilion
Worcestershire County Cricket Club
Worcester

The Conference provides an excellent professional development opportunity for all professionals working in pastoral roles and for anybody who wants to make a difference in the learning experience of children and young people.

Keynote speakers include.

  • Victoria Raynor, Director, Raynor Safeguarding -‘Opening Windows to Opportunities. The Purpose of Pastoral Care in Education’.
  • Dr Caron Carter, Senior Lecturer in Childhood Education at Sheffield Hallam University – ‘Children’s Friendships Matter’.
  • Liz Slater, Liz Bates, Independent Advisor, Trainer, and Magistrate – ‘The Role of the Trusted Adult’.

Good practice presentations from previous winners and finalists in the National Awards for Pastoral Care in Education organised by NAPCE include.

  • Raymond Herron, Senior teacher, St Mary’s Christian Brothers Grammar School, Belfast – ‘Restorative justice approach to behaviour management’
  • Oribi Davies, Director of Inclusion Hub, Friern Barnet School, London -‘Alternative provision to enable young people to remain in mainstream provision’.
  • Ellie Costello, Director Team Square Peg, – ‘Working with families to promote good attendance and to support young people in their education’.
  • There will also be a presentation from Jill Robson, NAPCE National Secretary – ‘Interactive Pastoral Care’

The Conference will be Chaired by NAPCE National Chair, Phil Jones.

Follow the link for more information and tickets.https://2024-napce-annual-conference.eventbrite.co.uk

CONFERENCE SPECIAL OFFER

Join NAPCE as an individual member for 2024 for £44.00 (£21.00 retired, NQT, students rate ) and have free entry to the National Annual Conference along with back copies of the academic journal ‘Pastoral Care in Education’ and future hard copies delivered to your address.

Or

Join NAPCE as a group member for 2024 for £66.00 as a school college or university (£43.00 primary and special school rate) and have free entry to the National Annual Conference for 2 people along with 2 back copies of the academic journal ‘Pastoral Care in Education’ and two copies of future hard copies delivered to your address. The named person for a group has all the benefits of individual membership.

Go to www.napce.org.uk and click the link for membership and the online application form.

Once membership is confirmed go to https://2024-napce-annual-conference.eventbrite.co.uk to reserve tickets at the free member’s rate.

ARTICLE: Safeguarding – “Keeping Children Safe in Education: Three ways to get ahead for September” from headteacher-update.com
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Keeping Children Safe in Education: Three ways to get ahead for September

With the new academic year on the horizon, we thought it might be useful to feature what should be a key aspect of any school, safeguarding.

Our friends at Headteacher Update recently published a helpful article written by Elizabeth Rose an independent safeguarding consultant and the director of So Safeguarding. You can read the article in full below. For many more resources on many aspects of education be sure to pay a visit to https://www.headteacher-update.com/

Keeping Children Safe in Education: Three ways to get ahead for September

The statutory safeguarding guidance Keeping children safe in education is updated every year in readiness for September. Elizabeth Rose looks at the latest changes and what schools need to be doing.

The draft of this year’s version of Keeping children safe in education has been published (DfE, 2024) and although changes are minimal in comparison to previous years, there are still important points to be aware of and action that needs to be taken to respond to the updates.

The final document will be published soon and will come into force from September 1, 2024. There may be some changes from the draft version, but plans can still be put in place now to respond to and prepare for the changes.

The definition of safeguarding

The definition of safeguarding has been updated to more closely align with the statutory guidance Working together to safeguard children (DfE, 2023a), although it doesn’t currently include all of the same elements. However, there is greater emphasis on early intervention by meeting the needs of children as soon as problems emerge and direct reference to harm outside the family home as well as online.

Early help 

The adaptations around early help extend further than the definition of safeguarding and the list of children for whom staff should be additionally vigilant has been updated.

Notably, there is a direct reference within this list now to children who go missing from education (as well as home or care) and children who experience multiple suspensions, are at risk of permanent exclusion, attend alternative provision, or attend a pupil referral unit.

This refreshed list makes it clear that these children are more vulnerable and reminds staff of their responsibilities to be particularly alert to the safeguarding needs of these children.

Types of harm 

There is greater emphasis throughout on exploitation, which is now included where “abuse and neglect” are mentioned. This highlights the issue repeatedly and underlines the fact that children are victims of exploitation in the same way as they are of other forms of abuse and neglect.

The definition of abuse also emphasises that children may experience harm when witnessing the ill-treatment of others (in the case of domestic abuse, for example).

Information-sharing

The points around the designated safeguarding lead’s information-sharing responsibilities have been extended and there are wording changes throughout linking to information-sharing.

It is now additionally clear that child protection records should include all concerns, discussions and decisions made, including the rationale for those decisions. This should include instances where referrals were or were not made to other agencies.

Areas still under review

Two areas remain under review – “children who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or gender questioning” and “radicalisation” (within Annex B). This is because of the consultation into the proposed guidance for schools on gender questioning children (DfE, 2023b) and the updated definition of extremism published in March (DLHC, 2024). Proposed changes can be seen in the draft document, but these may change in due course.

For a full list of changes see both the “Table of substantive changes” in Annex F in the Keeping children safe in education draft guidance and other minor changes detailed throughout the draft document.

Three ways to prepare 

1, Read and understand: For safeguarding leads, reading the updated document, as well as re-reading Working together to safeguard children (DfE, 2023a) is essential, to ensure that you understand the changes fully and can see how the updates work together across the two documents. Read through and highlight key changes as well as important areas you want to prioritise in training and development next academic year across the wider document.

2, Think about your policy: You may use a model policy that is likely to be updated for you (by the local authority, for example) or you might be responsible for updating the policy yourself. Either way, it isn’t just a case of copying and pasting from guidance or from the model. Think about what the changes mean for your context and how they will have an impact on your practice and procedures. Review the year that is coming to an end and think about anything you have learned and managed that could help to strengthen your policy. Local context and personalisation are essential.

3, Consider your training: Consider how you will ensure that any changes in the document are effectively communicated to staff and think through how this will have an impact on practice. Staff can be told about changes, but deeply understanding their responsibilities and what the changes mean for them may take more time to embed. Helping them to understand what changes mean for the school, for the children, and for the expectations of their everyday practice is essential. Don’t forget training for part-time staff, governors, volunteers, agency staff and contractors too – all of those working in or on behalf of the school need to know your policy and procedures.

Final thoughts

As you can see, the “technical changes” still have repercussions for policy, practice and training. Although we haven’t had the final version of the document yet, there are still lots of things that can be put into place now to respond and prepare for the adaptations and to strengthen practice next year – whether these are drawn from the updates or from your own learning across this academic year.

Further information & resources

Find out more about Headteacher Update and pay them a visit via the link below.

https://www.headteacher-update.com/

NAPCE News – July 2024

NAPCE News – July 2024

Making a positive difference to young people through pastoral care

LEAD ARTICLE: Mind the Gap – Learning from Good Practice” by NAPCE Secretary Jill Robson
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Mind the Gap- Learning from Good Practice by Jill Robson
 
As I sit down to write this article the country is just about recovering from the constant bombardment in the media about the July general election.

One of the reoccurring themes has been the promise of levelling up, whether about the North/South divide or the widening gap between rich and poor.

The Labour Party’s manifesto caused great consternation in many quarters with the policy to make private schools pay VAT, affecting the 7% of the school population who are privately educated.

There have always been discussions about the advantages of a private education and recently the BBC in collaboration with the Open University, produced a series of programme’s called “The State We’re In” where writer and rapper Darren McGarvey looked at various aspects of life in Britain today.

In the one on education, he set out to understand why the privately educated dominate Britain’s top jobs.

He started off by stating that the attainment gap between the rich and the poor has barely altered in the last twelve years. During the programme he visited a variety of successful educational provision.

His first experience was visiting Gordonstoun School in Scotland as he tried to find what it is that sets the children, who are educated privately, apart from those in the state system.

He found that what is being taught in the classroom is the least important aspect of life at the school where the facilities include an onsite theatre, superb sporting facilities including a climbing wall and 50 acres of grounds giving an extensive programme of extra-curricular activities.

His conclusion from his visit is that all the staff from the school are fixed on giving the students every opportunity to succeed.

He describes it as a priority pass to whatever career they choose. He then looked at state schools where the other 93 per cent of children are educated. He visited a school in Wales, where despite the picturesque surroundings many children are living in poverty and where the school runs its own food bank and supplies pre-loved school uniforms.

In addition, the school runs an excellent safe haven centre providing mental health support to the children.

The next visit was to Finland, a country which usually ranks highly on the PISA tables. He was shown around by a very confident 11-year-old who explained that the school doesn’t have uniforms, they stay with the same group of children and teacher until they are 16 and call them by their first name. All school meals are free as is all school equipment.  

Teachers also have complete freedom to teach what they choose rather than have to adhere to a set programme of study.

There are no performance tables and teachers are respected by the children, parents and society.

Finland has made a determined effort to remove the barriers to inequality and wants to be an equal society as that will benefit everyone.

McGarvey then moved on to look at early years learning and discovered that poorer children are four months behind, before they even start school and that bridging the attainment gap needs to start even before the child gets into the classroom.

He visited a family hub in Yorkshire where a First Friends group focusses on the crucial attachment with babies and mothers as well as providing emotional and practical support to families. 

After this he moved to his home country of Scotland, to a primary school in an area that has the highest level of deprivation in the country. Here all activities are based on play, both explorative and guided, with an emphasis on collaborative work.

The transition from nursery is eased by play which the headteacher maintained, captures intelligence in a different way.

His final visit was to a state secondary school where there is a focus on outdoor and compassionate learning. The XP academy was set up by two teachers who wanted the focus on empowerment of students, equity and kindness.

Each morning starts in registration groups, reviewing the previous week and praising fellow students. McGarvey is shown around by two students and comments that they “are every bit as confident as their private school counterparts” they explained that the school works on an expedition basis, rather than subject based learning.

There is a focus on outcomes in terms of preparation for life and on developing kindness. The two founders explain that there is research on the correlation between kindness and academic ability and that kindness equates to higher academic achievement.

McGarvey comments that there are lots of parallels between XP academy and Gordonstoun. They acknowledge that Kurt Hahn the founder of Gordonstoun was also the founder of Outward Bound which like XP is all about equity.

James Timpson, the owner of the Timpson’s shoe repair company gave a “Ted Talk” where he outlined his business philosophy, which is based on trust and kindness.

His view is that the more people are trusted, the happier they are, which makes them better colleagues. Kindness is about caring for colleagues and he instils that kindness by ensuring that that leaders know and understand their colleagues.

He conducts a questionnaire each year asking “How happy are you with your boss” on a scale of 1-10 with many of his managers getting a 100% score. He states that the happier his workforce is, the more productive they are and the more money the company makes. 

Looking back to the Finnish education system, Children don’t start school until they are seven, there are free/ subsidised nursery places, every child gets free school meals up until 16, teaching is a valued profession and paid as such and university is free.  

There are no private schools so it is in everyone’s interest to ensure that all schools are good.

Recently I have been busy reading and judging the submissions for the NAPCE pastoral care awards, as ever there are some brilliant nominations of teachers, schools and education personnel which shows that there is excellent practice in so many schools in the UK.  

However, we need the country as a whole to recognise this good practice and to ensure that the opportunity for it to be shared and disseminated is provided and perhaps most importantly the funding for this process is available.

In his summing up of the state of British education Darren McGarvey remarks that schools need to be compassionate places, addressing social, emotional and academic needs and that our education system needs to implement radical and innovative techniques.

He states that “in every other area of life when we find a better way of doing things, particularly in commerce, we immediately implement it. I would like to see that innovative spirit implemented in the education system”.

Hopefully our new Government will take up the challenge of the task of levelling up and we will see some real progress in narrowing the attainment gap between children from rich and poor backgrounds.
Jill Robson
NAPCE General 
Secretary

EVENT: National Chair Phil Jones Visits NAPCE Member School in Wigan
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NAPCE Pays Visit to Member School in Wigan
In June, National Chair, Phil Jones, made a visit to one of the NAPCE member schools, St John Fisher Catholic High School in Wigan.

He had the opportunity to talk to staff and students and to tour around the school to see some of the examples of good practice in the pastoral care and support provided for learners.

The innovative ideas implemented to provide pastoral care in the school include strategies to support the well-being of staff.

These include the opportunity to make anonymous nominations of colleagues to recognise the contribution they make with the opportunity to win a hamper.

The school recognises that to provide effective support and care for its students it is important to value staff and look after their well-being.

Reflecting on his visit, Phil said: “It was a pleasure to visit the school and see the passion that the staff have for supporting the students to achieve their full potential.

“I am full of admiration for the excellent pastoral work in the school to support and inspire the young people in their care, especially as they have been working on a building site for the last few years while the impressive new build is completed on the site.

“We are very proud of the pastoral work of the schools who are members of NAPCE and the difference they make each day in providing children and young people with a positive learning experience and the support they need to prepare them for their future lives”.

St John Fisher Catholic High School is working with NAPCE on the development of the Aspirant Pastoral Leaders Programme.

Please email the NAPCE admin team at admin@napce.org.uk if you would like more details about this programme to support the development of effective pastoral care and to support the professional development of staff in your school.

If you would like your school or college to become members of NAPCE and join a network of professionals that has been supporting pastoral care in education for over 40 years go to www.napce.org.uk and click on the link for membership,  where you will see an option for group membership.

The Aspirant Pastoral Leaders Programme

The recently published book edited by NAPCE, ‘Pastoral Care in Education. New Directions for New Times’ has inspired the development of the Aspirant Pastoral Leaders Programme.

This has been developed in consultation with schools and NAPCE members to enable schools to provide effective pastoral care and support for their learners and to provide professional development for staff in pastoral roles and for staff interested in opportunities to be pastoral leaders in the future.

The programme has four modules with the first and last delivered in person and the two other modules delivered online.

It is designed to be delivered over a one-year period to provide opportunities for participants to reflect on their learning between sessions and gain the maximum benefit from being involved in the programme.

This is an overview of the content of the prorgamme.

The Leadership of Effective Pastoral Care

  • The purpose of pastoral care in schools.
  • Values and beliefs about effective pastoral care.
  • What does effective pastoral care look like?
  • Who needs pastoral care and support in schools.
  • The role of pastoral leaders.
  • Accountability of pastoral leaders.
  • Current issues in pastoral care in education.

The Strategic Leadership of Pastoral Care and Support for Learners

  • Structures and systems.
  • Brilliant goals.
  • Evidence informed planning.
  • Using available resources.
  • Supporting personal development.
  • Supporting academic progress.
  • Building capacity and resilience in pastoral teams.

Sustaining a Positive Culture for Learning

  • Promoting the school ethos and vision.
  • Encouraging positive attitudes to learning.
  • Empathy for individuals.
  • Developing partnerships for success.
  • Building positive relationships.
  • Achieving high expectations.
  • Supporting well-being and welfare.
  • Providing a safe and stimulating learning environment.

Challenges for Pastoral Leaders

  • Providing the drive and motivation for success.
  • Responding to changing circumstances and demands.
  • Managing casework.
  • Leading change.
  • Having difficult conversations.
  • Coaching for improvement.
  • Leadership in a crisis.
  • Current issues for pastoral leaders.

The programme can be adapted in consultation with schools to meet the specific needs of the school and its staff.

More information about the Aspirant Pastoral Leaders Programme is available by contacting the NAPCE admin team at admin@napce.org.uk.

NAPCE will then contact you to discuss how the programme can meet the professional development needs of your school.

CONFERENCE: NAPCE Annual Conference 2024 – Tickets On Sale Now & Special Offer
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NAPCE Annual National Conference 2024 – Tickets On Sale Now

Annual National Conference

‘Good Practice in Pastoral Care in Education’
October 11th, 2024
In the Graeme Hick Pavilion
Worcestershire County Cricket Club
Worcester

The Conference provides an excellent professional development opportunity for all professionals working in pastoral roles and for anybody who wants to make a difference in the learning experience of children and young people.

Keynote speakers include.

  • Victoria Raynor, Director, Raynor Safeguarding -‘Opening Windows to Opportunities. The Purpose of Pastoral Care in Education’.
  • Dr Caron Carter, Senior Lecturer in Childhood Education at Sheffield Hallam University – ‘Children’s Friendships Matter’.
  • Liz Slater, Liz Bates, Independent Advisor, Trainer, and Magistrate – ‘The Role of the Trusted Adult’.

Good practice presentations from previous winners and finalists in the National Awards for Pastoral Care in Education organised by NAPCE include.

  • Raymond Herron, Senior teacher, St Mary’s Christian Brothers Grammar School, Belfast – ‘Restorative justice approach to behaviour management’
  • Oribi Davies, Director of Inclusion Hub, Friern Barnet School, London -‘Alternative provision to enable young people to remain in mainstream provision’.
  • Ellie Costello, Director Team Square Peg, – ‘Working with families to promote good attendance and to support young people in their education’.
  • There will also be a presentation from Jill Robson, NAPCE National Secretary – ‘Interactive Pastoral Care’

The Conference will be Chaired by NAPCE National Chair, Phil Jones.

Follow the link for more information and tickets.https://2024-napce-annual-conference.eventbrite.co.uk

CONFERENCE SPECIAL OFFER

Join NAPCE as an individual member for 2024 for £44.00 (£21.00 retired, NQT, students rate ) and have free entry to the National Annual Conference along with back copies of the academic journal ‘Pastoral Care in Education’ and future hard copies delivered to your address.

Or

Join NAPCE as a group member for 2024 for £66.00 as a school college or university (£43.00 primary and special school rate) and have free entry to the National Annual Conference for 2 people along with 2 back copies of the academic journal ‘Pastoral Care in Education’ and two copies of future hard copies delivered to your address. The named person for a group has all the benefits of individual membership.

Go to www.napce.org.uk and click the link for membership and the online application form.

Once membership is confirmed go to https://2024-napce-annual-conference.eventbrite.co.uk to reserve tickets at the free member’s rate.

NEWS: NAPCE Journal Editor Professor Noel Purdy Awarded OBE
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NAPCE Journal Editor Professor Noel Purdy Awarded OBE

NAPCE is very pleased to hear that Professor Noel Purdy, the Editor of our internationally respected academic journal, ‘Pastoral Care in Education’ has been awarded the OBE in the recent King’s Birthday Honours List for Services to Education.

Noel is a member of the NAPCE National Executive Committee and the Editorial Board and has been an active supporter of the Association and pastoral care in education for some time.

His role as professor at Stranmillis University College in Belfast includes as Director of Research and Scholarship and Head of Education.

As an author one of his more recent publications was as co editor of the book edited with other members of NAPCE, ‘Pastoral Care in Education. New Directions for New Times’.

His research work and expertise in education mean that he is often called upon to provide guidance on policy and practice and to be interviewed by the media.

He will now need to prepare his best suit, ready for an appointment at the Palace to receive his honour.

Everybody at NAPCE is very proud of Noel and of his achievement in being recognised for the important contribution he makes to education.

Huge congratulations to you Noel, from our officers, support staff and all of our members.

REPORT: Second NAPCE Belfast Symposium a Sell-out Success

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NAPCE Belfast Symposium 2024  – A Report

Following the huge success of the inaugural event last year, NAPCE was very pleased to work in partnership with Stranmillis University College in Belfast again to organise the 2024 Symposium.

The event took place on Monday 24th June in the main hall at Stranmillis University College with the title, ‘Promoting and Supporting Effective Pastoral Leadership in Schools’.

Once again, the Symposium was sold out with delegates attending from across Northern Ireland and from other parts of the United Kingdom.

NAPCE Chair Phil Jones attended along with other members of the NAPCE National Executive Committee.

To open, delegates were welcomed to SUC by Professor Noel Purdy.

In his introduction to the Conference, Mr Jones talked about the challenges being faced by professionals working in pastoral roles.

He called on delegates to be confident about the difference they can make to the learning experience and future life chances of children and young people through their pastoral work in schools. 

The first keynote speaker was Linsey Farrell, Deputy Secretary for Education Policy and Children’s Services at the Department for Education.

She explained that the challenges faced including reductions in funding were a good time to step back and think about what is important in education. It is valuable to recognise the importance of education and how it can be a life changer for children and young people.

She talked about how education can give hope and that education is more than just “learning stuff”.

The politician called for a broader way of measuring the impact of education which recognises the relevance of meeting the needs of learners as human beings.

Ms Farrell also called on professionals to think about how children and young people can contribute to society and the economy and the purpose of education in preparing them for this role.

The Department of Education plan in Northern Ireland is for every child to be happy, learning and succeeding. She recognised that teachers had an important role in inspiring children and young people every day.

One challenge is to think about how schools can develop systems and structures to be inclusive and meet the different needs of learners. 

The second keynote speaker was Nicola Byrne, Assistant Chief inspector at ETI. She started her presentation by talking about her role as a form tutor and how important it was for supporting the children in her care.

Ms Byrne commented that pastoral leadership was not the sole responsibility of one person but a shared responsibility of all members of the school community.

She said that although inspectors could measure data from their offices it was important to go into schools to find out about their daily work. The focus is to move inspections away from something that is done to schools to something that is done with schools.

The Education Training Inspectorate executive also recognised the impact of child poverty and the importance of closing the gap between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’. She called on educationalists to be courageous in meeting the diverse and changing needs of the children and young people in their care. 

The keynote presentations were followed by examples of good practice in pastoral care from previous winners in the National Awards for Pastoral Care in Education organised by NAPCE.

Aine Deane, from the Sacred Heart Primary School talked about bridging the gap and promoting well-being to enrich the lives of pupils and their families.

She talked about the importance of meeting the child where they are at, rather than where they should be.

Mrs Deane shared information with delegates about the challenges the school had faced especially during the Covid-19 years and how important the pastoral work of the school was to support the children and their families.

Raymond Herron from St Mary’s Christian Brothers Grammar School in Belfast shared their experience of developing restorative practice across the school.

He explained how there was a need, especially after school norms and expectations were challenges after Covid-19, to have conversations with learners that made them accountable for their actions.

Mr Herron explained that this was not a replacement for sanctions. Difficult restorative conversations can be part of a process including sanctions to improve discipline.

These conversations are an opportunity to build positive relationships and to hold individual learners to account. The process is based on four key principles:

  • Accountability
  • Empathy
  • Resolution
  • Prevention

The NAPCE Award-winner explained that a restorative approach helped the school move from a blame culture to an accountability culture where individuals are made aware of the harm they were causing by their actions.

The school is now training students in restorative practice with peer mentors supporting the process.

After a short break the conference continued with a panel discussion focused on supporting children with adverse childhood experiences. The members of the panel were

  • Hannah Campbell, Nurture Leader and Programme Co-ordinator at St Patrick’s College in Dungannon.
  • Johnny Hampton, Organisation Lead at Reach Mentoring.
  • Sheila Lavery, Trauma Educator and Therapist.
  • Niall Manogue, Principal, West Winds Primary School, Newtownards
  • Dr John McMullen, Programme Director, DECAP, Queens’s University Belfast.

The panel was chaired by Phil Jones and the questions came from members of the audience. These questions included.

  • What do you think would help schools to support children who are impacted by adverse childhood experiences?
  • How can we support staff. To help them with their own hidden challenges and to help students with their challenges?
  • As a pastoral leader what can you do to model best practice and to create a truly pastoral school environment?
  • How do we encourage relationships and supportive pastoral cultures when 87 per cent of children said they found it difficult to talk to adults?

A lively and interesting discussion followed in response to the questions with members of the panel sharing their views and expertise about the issues raised.

The Symposium was once again a brilliant opportunity for delegates who share a passion for the pastoral care of children and young people to share ideas and develop their understanding of current issues.

Please note that Raymond Herron will be speaking about restorative approaches  at the NAPCE Annual Conference in Worcester on October 11th.

Information and tickets are available a https://www.napce.org.uk/

Nominations for the National Awards for Pastoral Care in Education 2025 organised by NAPCE will open on 12th October 2024. Details will be available on the NAPCE website and on NAPCE social media.

 

NEW: NAPCE Young Advisors Panel to be Created in Support of Pastoral Care

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NAPCE Young Advisors

Following discussions at the autumn meeting of the NAPCE National Executive Committee, a new initiative will be implemented for a group of ‘Young Advisors’ to be established.

They will support NAPCE in promoting the importance of pastoral care as a part of children and young people’s learning experience.

Members schools and NAPCE members will be able to nominate two students from a school or college to become ‘Young Advisors’ for NAPCE for 12 months.

Their role will be to share their views with members of the National Executive about how children and young people can be supported to achieve their full potential from their education.

It is planned that Young Advisors will share views and ideas in online meetings. This will be an opportunity for them to represent their school and meet with young people from other parts of the United Kingdom.

It will ensure that members of the National Executive are fully informed about the current priorities of children and young people.

It may also be possible to invite Young Advisors to NAPCE events in the future to contribute to discussions and share their ideas and views.

Further information about the NAPCE Young Advisors and opportunities to nominate young people for the role will be available in the new academic year.

NAPCE News – June 2024

NAPCE News – June 2024

Making a positive difference to young people through pastoral care

LEAD ARTICLE: Vertical Tutor Groups – Research, Insights and how you might make the switchby NAPCE’s Dr Nicole Cara
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Vertical Tutor Groups – Research, Insights and how you might make the switch by Dr Nicole Cara

In the dynamic world of secondary education, schools are constantly seeking innovative ways to enhance the well-being and academic success of children.

It is becoming more apparent that both well-being and the pastoral side of education go hand in hand with attainment – children who have better social, emotional and school well-being are more engaged with school and have higher academic achievement (Gutman & Vorhaus, 2012).

Yet, the daily pastoral systems within schools receive little research attention, and there is minimal guidance for schools to use to make decisions about what is best for their children.

Here, we present a summary of a large-scale research study[1]on one aspect of the pastoral system: Vertical Tutor Groups (mixed age Tutor Groups). We outline what vertical tutor grouping is, the benefits and give some advice on how you could implement this in your school, grounded in psychological theories and organisational change principles.

What are Vertical Tutor Groups?
Traditionally, secondary schools organise their tutor groups within a year group, so all children are around the same age. In a vertical tutor group system, there are children from various year groups that make up a tutor group. Findings showed this is a practice that is typically common in academics – possibly related to having an ethos that is less bound to a historical norm, rather than an ethos of: ‘We do it this way because we always have done’. Where schools used a Vertical system, this was often alongside same-age tutor groups for certain year groups, but depends on your school context.

Why Vertical Tutor Groups? What’s the benefit?
Research highlights several key advantages of vertical tutor groups:

  1. Greater sense of community and belonging: children having relationships beyond their year group (who they will already know as they have lessons together) was described as creating a greater sense of community (McMillan & Chavis, 1986) and school belonging (Allen & Kern, 2017). Form Tutors felt this mitigated some of the negative narratives, ideas and conflict that can be present in schools with same-age tutor groups, therefore fostering pro-social behaviour (Bernard, 2010).
  2. Enhanced Peer Support: vertical tutor groups create easy opportunities for older children to mentor younger children. Form Tutors felt this was particularly important for Year 7 students’ transition to Secondary school. Studies show that peer mentoring can significantly boost self-esteem and academic performance among younger students (Topping, 2005) and can lead to a stronger school identity and improved student morale (Wright & Cowie, 2017).
  3. Improved Social Skills: Students interact with peers of varying ages, enhancing their communication, empathy, and social skills through natural and daily social scaffolding (Bosanquet, Radford & Webster, 2016). Younger children learn how to navigate secondary school learning, life and adolescence. Mixed-age interactions are shown to promote social competence and reduce feelings of isolation (McLellan & Galton, 2015) and improve well-being and therefore academic success (Hobfoll, 2001).
  4. Reduced Bullying: The mixed-age groupings often lead to a decrease in bullying incidents, as older students take on protective roles. Research suggests that vertical groupings can create a safer and more inclusive school environment (Cowie & Hutson, 2005).
  5. Better well-being for Form Tutors: Form Tutors felt different aged children needed different things from them as a Form Tutor, so having a vertical tutor group distributed some of the ‘work’ across the year to make things more manageable e.g., writing fewer sixth form references, settling in a smaller number of Year 7 children new to the school or supporting a smaller number of Year 11 children with their exams.
  6. Clarity and a clear rationale for your pastoral system: moving or adopting a vertical system was found to result in a clear ethos and culture because this is a conscious decision rather than a historical ‘norm’.

So, you’re thinking of making the switch to using Vertical Tutor Groups…
Transitioning to vertical tutor groups involves careful planning and execution. Here’s a step-by-step guide based on organisational change principles, with helpful questions to consider. NAPCE has specialist and skilled people who are at the cutting edge of research to help you with this. Get in touch!

  1. Clear rationale: What year groups will be part of your Vertical Tutor Group system and why?

·       Consider the context of your school – do specific year groups need specific things that can only be achieved/delivered in Form Time?
·       E.g., logistics such as your school being on a split site.
·       Which students will be in each Vertical Tutor Group and how will you decide this?
·       E.g., think about certain groups of students such as those with SEND or who have English as an Additional Language and how best to meet their needs.

  1. Structural changes: What needs to change to make Vertical Tutor Groups possible?

·       How might you use your existing or a new ‘house’ system?
E.g., Moving from Heads of Year to Heads of House.
·       What aspects of the Form Time programme could be delivered to mixed-aged groups?
·       What aspects of the wider curriculum could be delivered to mixed-age groups?
·       What is better delivered to specific year groups and where could this be done?
·       How could this be achieved?

  1. Training and support: What do staff need to implement the change?

·       What will happen in Form Time within the Vertical System?
E.g., resources, activities etc (see the author’s wider research on Form Time and the programmes delivered therein).
·       How will you provide some training to staff as From Tutors to meet the needs of their Vertical Tutor Group? What will this include?
·       Opportunities for ongoing development.

  1. Marketing/buy-in: How will you ‘sell’ the change in your school?

·       How will you communicate your rationale to staff, students and their families to ensure they are ‘on board’?
E.g., Kent and Kay (2007) found that a year after implementing a Vertical Tutor Group system in their school, very few students wanted to return to a Horizontal system.
·       Increase the certainty about what the new Form Time will look and feel like
·       Do different stakeholders need different messages?

Conclusion
Vertical tutor groups represent a forward-thinking approach to secondary education. The benefits – ranging from better behaviour, access to social support and mentoring and improved workload of Form Tutors – make it a compelling choice for schools aiming to nurture well-rounded, resilient children. Form Tutors felt vertical tutor grouping, if done thoughtfully, leads to a greater sense of connection, community and belonging and improved social, emotional, and mental health and well-being. These are the predictors for academic success (Gillen-O’Neel & Fuligni, 2012).

Embracing this model requires careful planning and consideration, and a pragmatic perspective to tailor this to the school’s context. However, the rewards—a more cohesive school community, reduced bullying, and better academic outcomes—are well worth the effort. Get in touch with us if you’d like a hand!

Dr Nicole Cara
Teacher & Educational Psychologist
NAPCE NEC Member
June 2024

References

  • Allen, K.-A., & Kern, M. L. (2017). School belonging in adolescents: Theory, research and practice. Singapore: Springer Singapore.
  • Barnard, P. (2010). Vertical Tutoring. Guilford: Grosvenor House Publishing Ltd.
  • Best, G. M. (2014). Activities and prosocial behaviour in vertical tutor groups.
  • Cowie, H., & Hutson, N. (2005). Peer support: A strategy to help bystanders challenge school bullying. Pastoral Care in Education, 23(2), 40-44.
  • Gillen-O’Neel, C., & Fuligni, A. J. (2013). A Longitudinal Study of School Belonging and Academic Motivation Across High School. Child Development, 84(2), 678-692.
  • Gutman, L. M., & Vorhaus, J. (2012). The Impact of Pupil Behaviour and Well-being on Educational Outcomes. Department for Education. Research Report DFE-RR253.
  • Kent, D., & Kay, D. (2007). The Impact of Vertical Tutoring on Students’ Attitudes and Perceptions. Pastoral Care in Education, 25(3), 1-10.
  • Hobfoll, S. (2001). Social Support and Stress. International Encyclopaedia of the Social & Behavioural Sciences, 14461–14465.
  • McMillan, D. W., & Chavis, D. M. (1986). Sense of community: A definition and theory. Journal of Community Psychology, 14(1), 6–23.
  • Topping, K. J. (2005). Trends in peer learning. Educational Psychology, 25(6), 631-645.
  • Wright, F., & Cowie, H. (2017). The effectiveness of peer support systems in challenging school bullying: The perspectives and experiences of teachers and pupils. Educational Psychology in Practice, 33(1), 17-32.

About the Author
This article is written by Dr Nicole Cara, an Educational, Child and Adolescent Psychologist in a Central London Local Authority and a Teacher in a North London Secondary School. Nicole is the lead researcher on a large-scale study investigating Form Tutors, Form Time and Tutor Groups that is in the process of publication.


[1] This study investigated the role of the Form Tutor, Form Time and Tutor Groups, carried out by researchers from the Department for Psychology and Human Development at the Institute of Education, University College London. The study is based on a large sample of over 1,200 Form Tutors, representing 27% of secondary schools in the country, collecting data through a survey and interviews.

EVENT: NAPCE Awards 2024 – Finalists Announced 
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NAPCE Awards 2024 – Finalists Announced
The finalists of the National Awards For Pastoral Care In Education 2024 have been unveiled.

Now in its fifth year, the NAPCE Awards is a leading event on the education calendar and nominees have been selected in eight categories by an independent panel of expert judges.

NAPCE National Chair Phil Jones announced that the standard of entries was “outstanding” and all nominees should be “incredibly proud” of their work.

The Awards was launched by NAPCE in 2019 and it will return for a third in-person presentation ceremony in October, having been online for the first two years because of the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions.

The NAPCE Awards is the first UK-wide scheme to recognise outstanding achievements across pastoral care in education settings.

It exists to shine a light on excellent practice in pastoral care and to celebrate the people making a real difference in the educational experience of young people.

It also encourages new initiatives and ideas in pastoral care and recognises the contributions being made to developing policy and practice in pastoral support.

Mr Jones said:”Once again we received a record number of entries this year, smashing the previous high and it’s testament to the exciting way the Awards continues to grow and how much they mean to people across the education sector.

“Standards were extremely high this year and I’m told judging was not easy, with so many high class entries to consider.

“I continue to be excited by the geographical spread of the nominations and by the number of schools and colleges returning year on year to get involved.

“And I would like to offer huge congratulations to all who made the finals, with such a large number of nominations of the highest standard it’s a big achievement in itself.

“We now look forward to returning  to Worcestershire County Cricket Ground, in Worcester for a wonderful evening of celebrations in October and tickets for all finalists are FREE.

“Please make sure you book early to ensure you get your place at one of the education sector’s most important events of the year!”

To book tickets for the showpiece Presentation Evening on October 11th at Worcestershire County Cricket Ground, Worcester, click here: https://NAPCE_Presentation_24.eventbrite.co.uk

The Finalists

Pastoral School of The Year

(A school that can demonstrate a commitment to pastoral care and support for learners that makes a real difference in the progress and personal development of young people in the school)

Hazelwood Integrated College, Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland
Creggan Primary School, Randalstown , Co Antrim, Northern Ireland
Good Shepherd Primary & Nursery School. Derry, Northern Ireland
Ebbw Fawr Learning Community, Ebbw Vale, Wales
Drapers’ Academy, Romford, England
Pastoral Team of The Year

(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)

Fir Vale School, Sheffield, England
Staffordshire University’s Institute of Policing, Stoke on Trent
Pastoral Care Team, Glenlola Collegiate School, Bangor, NI
Bristnall Hall Academy’s Achievement Coordinators, Oldbury
St Teresa’s Nursery Staff Team, Belfast, NI

Pastoral Member of Staff of the Year

(A member of staff who works in pastoral care and who always makes the extra effort to support young people to enable them to become effective learners and achieve success)

Ita Quinn, Malone Integrated College, Belfast, NI
Benjamin Spaul, Goffs Academy, Cheshunt
Claire Blaney, St Johns Primary School, Swatragh, NI
Claire Kerr, Royal School Dungannon, NI
Mike Spellman, Staffordshire University’s Institute of Policing

Pastoral Leader of Staff of the Year

(Has a passion for pastoral care that is shared with colleagues to inspire and motivate them to make a real difference in the lives of the young people they work with)

Mark Thompson, Drumglass High School, Dungannon, NI
Nadine Dorrian, Strangford Integrated College, Carrowdore, NI
Andrew Keep, St Bees School, St Bees, Cumbria
Brian Mc Closkey,St Mary’s Fivemiletown, County Tyrone, NI
Richard Clark, Mansel Primary,Sheffield
Rory O’Connor, Strangford Integrated College, Carrowdore, NI

Pastoral Development of the Year

(A pastoral initiative or idea that has achieved positive outcomes and has improved the learning experience and future life chances, for young people)

Holy Trinity Primary School, Belfast NI
Pastoral Care Team, Glenlola Collegiate School, Bangor, NI
Highfield and Brookham School, Liphook
Blessed Trinity College, Belfast, NI
Moneynick Primary School, Randalstown, Co Antrim, NI

Outstanding Contribution to Pastoral Care

(A person, group or organisation that has made a real difference for the benefit of young people in the area of pastoral care)

Fatema Mulla & Hafsa Mulla, Thornhill Community College, Dewsbury
Tyrone Hughes, Bridgend Youth Justice Service, Bridgend
Holy Trinity Primary School, Belfast, NI
Gary Kelly, St Kevin’s College, Lisnaskea, NI
Sue Roffey, Compass Community Schools, Sowerby Bridge

Raising Awareness About Pastoral Care

(An individual, group or organisation who through their actions have raised awareness about pastoral care or pastoral issues and encouraged positive improvements for the benefit of young people)

Thrive Academy, Craigavon, NI
Pastoral Care Team, Glenlola Collegiate School, Bangor, NI
Claire Kerr, Senior Teacher Pastoral, Royal School, Dungannon, NI
St. Louis Grammar School Ballymena, Ballymena, NI
Frederika Roberts / The Happiness Speaker, Doncaster

International Contribution to Pastoral Care

(An international school or organisation outside of the UK or an individual working in research or in an international school outside of the UK, that has promoted or delivered high quality pastoral care)

King Richard School, Cyprus
Debbie Smith All Saints School, London
NLCS Jeju, South Korea
Sue Roffey, Compass Community Schools, Sowerby Bridge
Thrive Academy, Craigavon, NI

There will also be a prize of £100 for the school or institution for the winners of each category and individuals will also be recognised for their achievements.

Grand Presentation for The National Awards for Pastoral Care in Education

Friday 11th October 2024   Information and Tickets  at

https://NAPCE_Presentation_24.eventbrite.co.uk

Tickets available from 9-00am on Monday 3rd June. Tickets for this event are limited so please book early.

Join NAPCE for a brilliant Pastoral Professional Development Opportunity at the same venue on the same day.

The Annual Conference – October 11th -2024 – 10-00am until 4-00pm

Good Practice in Pastoral Care in Education – NAPCE Conference 2024

Also on Friday, October 11th (daytime). This event will include brilliant presentations from national experts in pastoral care and previous winners of National Awards for Pastoral Care in Education sharing their good practice.

Information and tickets at https://2024-napce-annual-conference.eventbrite.co.uk

 

CONFERENCE: NAPCE Annual Conference 2024 – Tickets On Sale Now
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NAPCE Annual National Conference 2024 – Tickets On Sale Now

Annual National Conference

‘Good Practice in Pastoral Care in Education’
October 11th, 2024
In the Graeme Hick Pavilion
Worcestershire County Cricket Club
Worcester

The Conference provides an excellent professional development opportunity for all professionals working in pastoral roles and for anybody who wants to make a difference in the learning experience of children and young people.

Keynote speakers include.

  • Victoria Raynor, Director, Raynor Safeguarding -‘Opening Windows to Opportunities. The Purpose of Pastoral Care in Education’.
  • Dr Caron Carter, Senior Lecturer in Childhood Education at Sheffield Hallam University – ‘Children’s Friendships Matter’.
  • Liz Slater, Liz Bates, Independent Advisor, Trainer, and Magistrate – ‘The Role of the Trusted Adult’.

Good practice presentations from previous winners and finalists in the National Awards for Pastoral Care in Education organised by NAPCE include.

  • Raymond Herron, Senior teacher, St Mary’s Christian Brothers Grammar School, Belfast – ‘Restorative justice approach to behaviour management’
  • Oribi Davies, Director of Inclusion Hub, Friern Barnet School, London -‘Alternative provision to enable young people to remain in mainstream provision’.
  • Ellie Costello, Director Team Square Peg, – ‘Working with families to promote good attendance and to support young people in their education’.
  • There will also be a presentation from Jill Robson, NAPCE National Secretary – ‘Interactive Pastoral Care’

The Conference will be Chaired by NAPCE National Chair, Phil Jones.

Follow the link for more information and tickets.https://2024-napce-annual-conference.eventbrite.co.uk

CONFERENCE SPECIAL OFFER

Join NAPCE as an individual member for 2024 for £44.00 (£21.00 retired, NQT, students rate ) and have free entry to the National Annual Conference along with back copies of the academic journal ‘Pastoral Care in Education’ and future hard copies delivered to your address.

Or

Join NAPCE as a group member for 2024 for £66.00 as a school college or university (£43.00 primary and special school rate) and have free entry to the National Annual Conference for 2 people along with 2 back copies of the academic journal ‘Pastoral Care in Education’ and two copies of future hard copies delivered to your address. The named person for a group has all the benefits of individual membership.

Go to www.napce.org.uk and click the link for membership and the online application form.

Once membership is confirmed go to https://2024-napce-annual-conference.eventbrite.co.uk to reserve tickets at the free member’s rate.

EVENT: NAPCE Chair Phil Jones to Speak at Online Pastoral Care Conference in September 2024
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Outstanding Pastoral Leadership Conference 2024

Thursday 19th September 2024 | Virtual Conference

CONFIRMED SPEAKERS:
Phil Jones, National Association for Pastoral Care in Education | Sam Garner, Mental Health & Inclusion Consultant
Joanne Sierzega, Senior Attendance and Welfare | Deborah Innes-Turnill, Child Protection Lecturer & Safeguarding Consultant
Nicola Harvey, Founder, former Senior Teacher & Author Harvey Heals | Luke Ramsden, Deputy Headteacher, St. Benedict’s School
Kelly Hannaghan, Mental Health Consultant, Motivational Speaker, Coach, Mind Word Matters Ltd

Why this conference and why now?

“More than ever before, children arrive at school with significant needs that require attention before learning can take place.”

Teaching: the new reality, May 2023

Recent reports show that school leaders are increasingly supporting children with pastoral needs outside of their academic work. With the cost of living crisis, unprecedented pressures on mental health services and continued challenges with school absence, the role of the pastoral teams in schools has never been more demanding.

Outstanding pastoral care is crucial – and that starts with outstanding pastoral leadership…

During this full day conference our expert speakers will discuss recent changes to guidance on behaviour, exclusions, attendance and safeguarding so that you are able to remain compliant and understand the impact that these will have on your day-to-day work.

Our experts will also be delivering sessions on some of the biggest challenges facing pastoral leads in schools, including; responding to the cost of living crisis, working strategically as a pastoral lead, supporting students with anxiety, attachment and trauma aware approached and addressing the difficulties arising out of cyber bullying.

★★★★★

Previous feedback includes from past Conferences:

“Fantastic experience shared from speakers. Very knowledge.”

“Very helpful and informative, covered many areas. I will be able to take the learning and apply it in my role’

“Very well organised. Relevant talks especially with the cost-of-living crisis”

“Well organised, good range of speakers/presenters”

“I can feedback and open up about lots of what we have discussed to help our practise at school”

“Very helpful and informative, covered many areas”

“Very well organised. Relevant talks especially with the cost of living crisis”

“well organised, good range of speakers/presenters”

“Really informative and some fresh new ideas”

“Very informative and well throughout.”

“Lots of ideas to take away and make me re-evaluate or just reminders about best practice.”

“Excellent and knowledgeable speakers.”

“Very cohesive and informative.”

“Very well structured and a good balance of areas covered.”

★★★★★

Why not join your fellow pastoral leads and gain fresh ideas, new perspectives and strong guidance on delivering outstanding pastoral care for your school? Click here to book now.

Your learning objectives:

– Update your knowledge on school attendance and the changes to guidance and proposed changes
– Get essential updates on key topics for pastoral leads in schools
– Work more strategically in a pastoral care role
– Understand how the cost-of-living crisis might impact your pupils
– Come away with practical ideas to support children and families facing poverty
– Improve how you work with hard to reach and disengaged families
– Gain a deeper understanding of how to work with children facing mental health challenges
– Respond to the increases in children struggling with anxiety
– Understand how attachment and trauma aware approaches in education can support you in your pastoral role
– Improve how you respond to incidents of cyber bullying to ensure pupils are effectively supported
– Update your knowledge on school attendance and the changes to guidance and proposed changes

Plus: We have two breakout sessions for delegates to discuss the role of the pastoral lead in improving attendance and the impact of the cost of living crisis in your school

Ready to secure your place? Click here to book!

Why train with Education Conferences?
Because we know how busy your job is and that you might have to duck out to deal with urgent issues, the conference is being recorded (delegates will be edited out) with the video being uploaded to a secure landing page – access to the recording, all presentations and accompanying resources will be available to you for 3 months!

Group Rates & In-House Training
We are pleased to discuss special rates for group bookings if you would like training for a number of staff or to book places across all our conferences and courses. Contact joanna@hc-uk.org.uk and we will do our best to work to your budget and meet your CPD training requirements.

We hope to see you there but if you are unable to attend you may like to hear news from the day on Twitter by following @eduk_joanna #PastoralinSchools

Regards
Ben
Education Conferences UK
www.educationconferencesuk.co.uk
Providing conferences and training aimed at senior leaders, teachers, SENCOs, safeguarding leads and support staff working in early years, primary and secondary education.

 

EVENT: NAPCE Belfast Symposium SOLD OUT

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We are very pleased to announce that the NAPCE Symposium in Belfast has sold out for the second year running.

The event will take place at Stranmillis University College on June 24th, 2024. It will feature a panel of guests speakers and good practice sharing from winners of the National Awards for Pastoral Care in Education.

Thank you to NAPCE Journal Editor Professor Noel Purdy and the team at Stranmillis University College for organising this special event.

 

EVENT: New Conference Aimed at Amplifying the Student Voice Will Take Place in July 2024 Find Out More

Thriving Together – Rebuilding Student Resilience and Developing Student Voice in Post-Covid Education

Monday 1 July 2024 9:30-3:30 at St Benedict’s School

So much of pastoral care and support is done ‘at’ young people, and this Conference, with a
fabulous line-up of nationally-respected figures in this field, seeks to redress the balance by talking about how we can work together with students to develop their own resilience, confidence and voice to face the challenges of the world around them.
Schedule

Session 1: Empowering Student Voice

9.30 arrive and coffee

10.00-10.25 Dr Emily Setty -Giving Students the tools to challenge harmful behaviours in school

10.25-10.50 Dr Robyn Muir -Working positively with influencer culture in schools

5 Minute comfort break

Seeking to understand unheard student voice – the key to safer communities

10.55-11.20 Zoe Shuttleworth & Jason Tait – Seeking to understand unheard student voice – the key to safer communities

11.20-11.40 Q&A with the panel

11.40-12.00 Refreshment Break

Refreshment Break

Session 2: Building The Bridge Between Teachers And Students

12.00-12.30 Nicole Rodden – How to build confidence in
students and teachers in
engaing with, and delivering RSE sessions

12.30-1.00 Andrew Hampton -Finding pupil voice through relatability

1.00-1.20  – Q&A with the panel

1.20-2.20 – Lunch

Session 3: Working With Students on a Culture Of Consent

2.20-2.45 Laura Currer -Understanding the student
experience: how themes of consent and sexual
violence impact young people, and how to support students through it, from a lived experience perspective

2.45-3.10 Monica Bhogal – Supporting students in understanding consent: starting a dialogue

3.10-3.30 – Q&A with the panel

Delegates and speakers who wish are invited to a reception in the school Orchard Hall

Tickets & more information here: https://www.trybooking.com/uk/events/landing/57663

The Speakers

Emily SettyDr Emily Setty is a Senior Lecturer in Criminology at the University of Surrey. She conducts research directly with young people to explore and understand their perspectives on and experiences of sex and relationships. She addresses topics relating to consent and online sexual behaviours, with the aim of identifying the risks and challenges that young people face and how to intervene effectively to reduce harm and to enable them to have and experience healthy and positive relationships. She works with schools, police, local authorities, statutory and non-statutory children’s services, as well as national and local policy makers, to translate research findings and evidence into best practice. Currently, Dr Setty is working with Surrey Police, the Department for Education and a variety of commercial and third-sector organisations to devise, implement and evaluate preventative and remedial interventions to tackle harmful sexual behaviour in schools.

Robyn Muir

Dr Robyn Muir is a Lecturer in Media and Communication at the University of Surrey. Her research focuses on representations of gender in popular culture, as well as how young people engage with influencer culture. Her recent book, The Disney Princess Phenome- non: A Feminist Analysis was published in 2023. She is experienced in researching with young people on their perspectives on princess culture, gender, media and influencer culture to centre young people’s voices inresearch and make a positive change for young people. Her youth centred approach is present throughout her work, where she also works with

educators and youth practitioners to co-create toolkits and resources that can benefit young people, their families and adults working with young people. Further details about Dr Muir can be found here: https://www.surrey.ac.uk/people/robyn-muir and she can be followed on Twitter @DrRobynMuir

Zoe ShuttleworthZoe Shuttleworth is a Director of It Happens Education and delivers the Substance strand of work, from medicines and the law through to illegal drugs and harm reduction. Zoe also works directly with many of the leading UK festival organisers, sharing information about how to be safe at festivals with both students and parents.
Zoe spent 15 years working directly with people experiencing addiction issues, supporting them to address their substance use and helping them to rebuild their lives. She started working in homelessness in 2004, supporting people with drug, alcohol and mental health issues. She then specialised in criminal justice drug and alcohol treatment, working in po- lice stations, prisons, courts and the community. In 2013, Zoe became the manager of the community drug and alcohol service in Hackney, London.
Zoe is passionate about sharing evidence based, non-judgemental information with
young people that can help them make well informed and, hopefully, safer choices. Zoe’s message is predominantly one of assessing risk, thinking through the consequences and encouraging young people to ask for help as soon as it’s needed.

Jason Tait

Jason Tait is the Director of Pastoral Care and Designated Safeguarding Lead at a leading independent international school in the UK. In addition to having specific responsibilities for all aspects of pastoral care and safeguarding across the school, Jason has particular interests and expertise in positive psychology and contextual safeguarding.

Jason is also the co-founder and developer of the award-winning Student Voice, a contextual safeguarding tool that seeks to create brave spaces that empower young voices and inspire society to develop safer communities.

Nicole RoddenNicole Rodden (MA, BA, PGCE) is a former Relationships & Sex Education and Philosophy teacher with Teach First. Nicole co-founded the award-winning organisation Life Lessons in order to help pupils to be healthy, make good decisions and navigate the social and emotional complexities of life. They do this by supporting teachers to create empathic school cultures through delivering outstanding relationships, sex and health education. They currently support over 250 schools and alternative provisions across the UK. Prior

to this, she undertook a Masters in Education Leadership at UCL and was Programme and Training Manager at Education Charity, Team Up.

Andrew Hampton

Andrew Hampton was a Headteacher for 18 years, running a school in Nottingham and then Thorpe Hall School in Southend-on-Sea. Thorpe Hall was recognised with awards from ISA and the TES for all parts of the school, from EYFS to Senior School, for wellbeing, use of IT, breadth of curriculum offer and community outreach. Andrew is the founder of Girls on Board which is an approach adopted by schools that empowers girls to navigate the choppy waters of friendships for themselves. Over 1,000 schools across the world have adopted the approach which was recently recognised with an award from NAPCE. In March 2023, Routledge published Andrew’s latest book – Working with Boys. This book describes a programme of study which helps schools guide boys to be the best they can be. The programme is already being actively used in several dozen schools across the UK. Andrew’s latest book, How to Run a School, will be published by Routledge in Summer 2025. Look out, also, for his new podcast, The Empathy Effect.

Laura Currer

Laura Currer is a thought leader and expert advisor on Sexual Violence and Domestic Abuse, as a rape survivor. Laura’s vision is that whilst violence against women and girls prevails in society, there will always be a safe place to land and rebuild.
Laura owns and leads her own front-line therapeutic business, is a consultant in VAWG and EDI, and was the Independent Chair of the NHS National Sexual Assault and Abuse Services Lived Experience Group.

In pursuit of her vision, Laura is passionate about supporting all public and private sector organisations to consider the impact of sexual assault and abuse on their customers and employees, offering training and consultation to achieve common goals.

Monica Bhogal

Monica is a UK qualified lawyer who practised as a solicitor for 15 years, specialising in defamation, privacy claims, reporting restrictions and pre-publication advice and repre- sented individuals and companies, including media organisations. She began volunteering with the Schools Consent Project in 2017, taking on the role of London Regional Manager in 2018 and was appointed as Director in 2020.

She is passionate about educating and empowering young people. By ensuring they have accurate and comprehensive knowledge to enable them to enjoy respectful, fulfilling relationships and by making the next generation confident of their legal rights, able to communicate their boundaries, and respectful of those boundaries in others, she believes we can support the wider cultural change that we are all looking to achieve, not just in our schools but in society as a whole.

Tickets & more information here: https://www.trybooking.com/uk/events/landing/57663

NAPCE News – May 2024

NAPCE News – May 2024

Making a positive difference to young people through pastoral care

LEAD ARTICLE: “Embedding pastoral care into the curriculum: preserving the prominence of personal development” by NAPCE’s Dominic Riste
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“Embedding pastoral care into the curriculum: preserving the prominence of personal development” by Dominic Riste

“Muad’Dib learned rapidly because his first training was in how to learn. And the first lesson of all was the basic trust that he COULD learn.” Dune – Frank Herbert

The science fiction novel ‘Dune’, by the American author Frank Herbert and recently adapted for film, opens with the rebellious Lady Jessica’s determination to teach her son, Paul Atreides, the skills of perception, observation, inference, control and prophetic sight. It is a multifaceted training plan that becomes a foundation for the qualities of adaptability, resilience and honour.

Underpinning this education is an acknowledgement of the importance of developing the skill of learning as demonstrated in the quote above.

In education, developing the skill of learning is a common goal shared across institutions, an academic and pastoral commitment that is embedded in the mission statements of many schools.

Although semantics may vary, the ambition to develop lifelong learners who are able to contribute to society and achieve future success lies at the heart of the intention of many educational settings.

Alongside the skills that are needed for academic progress, the skills needed for personal development make up an essential part of the vision of many schools.

Unfortunately, the current context for education poses risks to the ability of schools to deliver this dual intention.

The Guardian newspaper recently published an article called ‘Hunger, homelessness and gang grooming: just a normal week at one London academy’ that gave an insight into the ethical dilemmas facing school leaders when increased bills, reduced funding and unfunded pay rises are jeopardising the provision of wrap-around pastoral care.

Far from an isolated account, insights like this reflect research conducted by The Sutton Trust School Funding and Pupil Premium 2023, which highlights a pattern of school leaders having to reduce the academic and pastoral provision offered by their schools.

From trips to extra-curricular activities to the worrying suggestion that secondary schools have felt compelled to cut subject choices and limit the breadth of curriculum, and the equally concerning indication that teaching assistants in primary schools have been let go due to financial difficulties.

Ultimately, assets and opportunities that enrich education are at risk of being reduced by necessity.

Despite the challenge, schools are finding ways to maintain the valuable pastoral care available to their pupils. Embedding the pastoral care further into the fabric of the school, the lessons, the currciulum and culture is vital.

In my current role, as Assistant Headteacher and Safeguarding Lead in a large state secondary school, I have been looking at how the proactive and preventative side of safeguarding can continue to be developed and delivered through this process of embedding it within the curriculum.

Alongside a robust RSHE curriculum and delivery, I initially focused on visibility, staff training and ensuring that all members of the school community were aware of the safeguarding processes.

The next year I worked towards creating a holistic programme of training, messages, advice, reminders and collection of pupil voice that was calendered across the academic year.

By sequencing and disseminating the information, I intended to foster a preventative approach where young people were given the skills to navigate risks while parents and staff were given the awareness of what these risks might be.

In an effort to continue to grow and develop the provision for pupils, and considering the tighter budgets and less readily available funding, I have begun to plan for a way to embed this more deeply into the teaching that already exists.

There are key skills that are essential for young people to safeguard themselves and make positive choices where barriers arise.

The ability to think critically, recognise bias and perspective and evaluative the validity of information are all skills that have the potential to protect the individual using them.

When surveying the challenges facing pastoral care NAPCE National Chair, Phil Jones, noted the “rapidly changing technological world and this will require changes in our approach to education and how pastoral care is implemented”, highlighting the growth of technology as a significant development that must be reflected in the way we educate.

However, the ability to question the authenticity or inherent bias of a source on social media is a skill that has the potential to imbue pupils with the means to proactively safeguard themselves beyond their years at school, in person and online.

Beginning with staff training on what these skills are and how they can be developed, the expertise of class teachers as to how these skills can be embedded within their schemes of learning will be vital.

As an English teacher why not teach young people how to identify harmful, manipulative and deceitful social media advertising at the same time that I am teaching the influence of perspective on a non-fiction article? The plan is to track and deliberately plan for and seize on opportunities to teach these skills across all subjects.

As an English teacher I also can’t resist a cyclical ending, so I return to Dune’s fictional setting of Arrakis, an arid desert planet with limited water, on which the Fremen survive and thrive.

Where the conditions evoke resilience rather than resignation and where a Fremen demonstrate a profound appreciation of the value of water.

In the current educational climate the commitment to pastoral care could wilt, its moisture drained and surfaces scorched, however its presence in education is longstanding and will find methods to continue to enrich the lives of young people through embedding itself further into the educational structures that exist.

“You see, my climate demands a special attitude towards water. You are aware of water at all times. You waste nothing that contains moisture.” Dune  – Frank Herbert

Dominic Riste
Assistant Headteacher/Safeguarding Lead
NAPCE NEC Member
May 2024

AGM: NAPCE Annual General Meeting Agenda & Chair/Secretary Reports – Meeting is Taking Place on May 18th in London 
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NAPCE Annual General Meeting Agenda & Chair/Secretary Reports

Annual General Meeting 2024 
Saturday 18th May 2024
13:00 –14:00 hours (BST)

All 2024 members of the National Association for Pastoral Care in Education are invited to attend the 2024 Annual General Meeting (AGM). This will take place at 1-00pm on Saturday 18th May at Mixing Networks Unit 2.15, East London Works, 65 Whitechapel Road, London, E1 1DU.

Please email events@napce.org.uk to confirm that you will attending the 2024 AGM and you will be emailed the agenda and documents for the meeting. We are hoping to be able to arrange a live stream on the internet for the AGM.   If you are unable to attend in person but would like to be sent the link for the meeting, please email events@napce.org.uk

We are pleased to announce that current members of NAPCE will have free entry to the Annual Conference which takes place in the Graeme Hick Pavilion at the Worcestershire County Cricket Club on Friday 11thOctober 2024. Please email admin@napce.org.uk to request information about the 2024 conference.

Thank you for your continued support for the Association.

Phil Jones, National Chair, the National Association for Pastoral Care in Education

Annual National Conference
‘Good Practice in Pastoral Care in Education’
October 11th, 2024 
In the Graeme Hick Pavilion
Worcestershire County Cricket Club
Worcester
The 2024 Annual conference is included in the membership fee for 2024 and entry is free to all 2024 NAPCE members. Follow the link to https://2024-napce-annual-conference.eventbrite.co.uk   

NAPCE AGM 2024 – National Chair / Secretary Reports

Chair/Secretary Report 2023/24 
For The National Association for Pastoral Care in Education (NAPCE) AGM – May 2024

The Association through the National Executive Committee (NEC) continues to maintain strong financial management and governance. The NEC at its meetings and through the work of its members ensures sound strategic planning and internal accountability for the activities of the Association. The NEC ensures, (that as a non – profit making charity which aims to support pastoral care in education), the work of its members, NEC and sub committees including the Editorial Board (EB) has the support needed to achieve its aims including administrative, financial, and appropriate insurance. The National Executive has the responsibility for ensuring that the Association meets the governance expectations of the Charities Commission. The strategic priorities for the NEC this year have been.

  1. Planning events and conferences, where appropriate in partnership with other organisations to ensure that NAPCE is active in the educational world.
  2. To expand the activities of the NAPCE to enable the Association to interact with an increasing number of people with an interest in pastoral care in education.
  3. To develop the role of NAPCE as a provider of training and professional development, to share theory and good practice in pastoral care.
  4. To continue to develop the structure and organisation of the Association to meet the current and future needs of its members.
  5. To raise the profile of NAPCE and the Journal in the educational world

The Association like many organisations has faced many challenges in recent years because of the global pandemic and cost of living crisis. The strategic aims during this period have been.

  1. To be financially secure.
  2. To continue to engage and interact with people with an interest in pastoral care in education.
  3. To sustain interest in the work of NAPCE, to maintain and increase membership.
  4. To support professionals with an interest in pastoral care and explore new ways to support professionals, to ensure that the Association continues to have positive role in a changing educational world.

These strategic aims have been achieved because of the hard work and contributions made by the National Executive (NEC), Editorial Board (EB), NAPCE Admin support, NAPCE members and people who support the work of the Association. In recent years, the Association has adapted to changing situations and been successful in responding to these challenges. The NEC and EB have taken advantage of opportunities to promote NAPCE online and to return to live events and face to face meetings. This ensures that NAPCE is taking advantages of all opportunities to raise awareness about its work and to engage people in supporting the aims of the Association.

The NEC continues to work closely with the EB to support their work in developing the Journal and to maintain its excellent reputation. The Association has a positive relationship with the publishers of the journal, Taylor and Francis. They continue to be an important partner in the future development of NAPCE and by providing a regular income to provide financial stability. Discussions have started with Taylor and Francis, about a new contract for the journal, from December 2025, to enable the Association to make an informed decision and to consider all options. This decision will include consideration of issues, such as, the management of the website, (as this is no longer going to be part of the support provided by the publishers in a new contract agreement with societies for the publication of the journal). This will be a priority for the Association in 2024 to make a decision that continues to secure the future of NAPCE. Professor Noel Purdy continues as the Editor of the Journal and is assisted by Associated Editors, Caron Carter, Amanda Hatton and Mark Shields who was appointed in 2023 to provide the administrative support for the Journal. James Coggins continues to be the Association’s contact Taylor and Francis and his support and guidance is appreciated by the NEC and EB. The Association was proud in October to have a new pastoral book edited by NAPCE published by Cambridge Scholars Publication. It was a great pleasure to see ‘Pastoral Care in Education, New Directions for New Times’ published after months of demanding work editing the manuscript and NAPCE thanks everybody who contributed. The book has had complimentary reviews and will be a valuable resource for anybody interested in pastoral care in education and is available from all ‘good book’ sellers and Amazon.

Following the success of similar events in recent years NAPCE once again organised an online conference in March. The event attracted 461 views on the NAPCE Eventbrite page, and sixty-four links were reserved for the evening. Delegates joined from the UK and a number of places across the world including USA, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Switzerland, Greece, and Moldova. Delegates came from all parts of the UK including Belfast, London, Manchester, Norwich, Lincoln, Bolton, Burnley, Guildford, and Sheffield. The guest speaker was Shaun McInerney, School Leadership and Strategy Lead at the University of Worcester.

In his interesting and stimulating presentation he explored how pastoral care can unlock potential. He talked about the need for a pro-active approach to pastoral care and the importance of listening to children and young people to be clear about their needs and how effective pastoral care can build their confidence to communicate with other people. He examined the concept of social capital and explained how it can open future social mobility opportunities. Sean commented on the need to build relationships that connect the academic and pastoral work of schools and that leaders need to create the conditions and positive relationships to unlock potential in learners. A “Pastoral Question Time” followed the presentation. The members of the panel were.

  • Professor Noel Purdy, Director of Research and Scholarship, Stranmillis University College, Belfast
  • Dr Mark Diacopoulos, Assistant Professor, Department of Teaching and Leadership, Pittsburgh State University, USA
  • Dr Caron Carter, Senior Lecturer in early childhood/childhood, Sheffield Institute of Education, Sheffield Hallam University.
  • Victoria Raynor, Director Raynor Safeguarding Ltd,
  • and Shaun McInerney

The questions were put to the panel by Phil Jones National Chair of NAPCE.

These included.

  • Is conformity the goal for pastoral leaders and pastoral systems in 21st century schools?
  • Do all learners need pastoral care and support?
  • Is there time to care in the pastoral work of schools in 2024?

Does new technology and social media always have a negative impact on well-being and mental health?

Comments made by delegates about the event included.

“Thank you all, a really well considered conversation by the panel and the chat.”
“Thanks to all speakers and to Phil for organising this conference, much appreciated.”
“Such a fantastic conference! Thanks everyone!”“Thank you, very interesting.”NAPCE organised a Symposium in Belfast on Wednesday 21st June 2023 with Stranmillis University College to explore the title ‘. Who Cares About Pastoral Care?’ The aim of the Symposium was to share good practice in pastoral care and to address the challenges being faced by schools in Northern Ireland. The inspiration and motivation for planning the event came from Professor Noel Purdy who is the current editor of NAPCE’s academic journal ‘Pastoral Care in Education’ and a member of both NAPCE’s National Executive and Editorial Board. National Chair Phil Jones, National Executive member Eilleen Donnelly and Anne Jones from the NAPCE Admin team attended the event and joined a room full of delegates for the sold out event 

The first speaker was Koulla Yiasouma, the former Children’s Commissioner for Northern Ireland, who spoke on the title “Education needs pastoral care to succeed-addressing pastoral care challenges facing schools in Northern Ireland”.
In an honest and passionate presentation, she reminded the audience that every child is a unique person with rights that include the right to be safe and the right to be heard.
She explained how there is a link between pastoral care and academic progress and how pastoral care is an integral part of education and needs to be part of a whole school approach to meeting the needs of children and young people.
She talked about how different language is used to describe pastoral care in schools. She reminded the audience that all children have pastoral care needs and some vulnerable children have more than others. The next speaker was Catherine Davidson, Vice-Principal of Ballysillan Primary School. The title for her presentation was ‘The Importance of a nurturing approach to primary schools.’ Another speaker was Claire Breen, Principal of Tor Bank Special School, in Dundonald. The school was the winner of the NAPCE Award in 2020 for ‘Outstanding Contribution to Pastoral Care’. The title for the presentation was ‘Supporting the school community through their bereavement journey.’ The final speaker was Catherine McHugh, who is Principal of St Patrick’s College in Dungannon. The school was the winner of the 2022 NAPCE Award for Pastoral Team of the Year and Pastoral Development of the Year. The event was a brilliant opportunity to share good practice taking place in pastoral care and to bring people together who despite the many challenges currently being faced by schools, had a determination to improve the learning experience and future life chances of all children.

The Association organised the ‘National Awards for Pastoral Care in Education’ for the fourth year in 2023. This is an important initiative to raise awareness about NAPCE and to engage with more people who share an interest in pastoral care in education. It has become an important part of the education calendar which was demonstrated by the number of nominations increasing for the 2024 Awards. We continue to see a connection between people who make nominations for the awards and then become more actively involved in NAPCE and interested in becoming members. Nominations came from different regions in the United Kingdom and other parts of the world. The 2023 Presentation Event took place in Worcester in September 2023 in the Graeme Hick Pavilion at Worcestershire County Cricket Club. Awards were presented to the winners selected by the judging panel, in eight categories to recognise the achievements of people working in different areas of pastoral care in education. The sponsors of the awards included, Taylor and Francis, Association of School and College Leaders and Crown House publishers. This was only the second time that the awards have been presented at a live event and NAPCE was pleased to see the number of people attending double from the previous year with 140 guests in the room as the winners were announced in each category. The guest speaker was Ronald Skelton the Headteacher and CEO of Broadway Academy in Birmingham. He spoke about the challenges faced by the school and their work to support young people to enable them to achieve their full potential. Entertainment was provided by performers from Alderbrook School in Solihull, Sienna Evans Cook, a student at Chipping Campden School and Irish Dancers from the McCarthy- Felton School of Irish Dance. A huge thank you to Susana Cervera, Anne Jones and Iain Johnson for their work to make the awards and the presentation event an enormous success. Thank you to Noel Purdy, Anne Emerson, Julianne Brown, Margaret Mullholland and Jill Robson, for being part of the judging team. The finalists for 2024 will be announced in June and the grand presentation event will take place in Worcester on Friday 11th October. More details will be shared in future editions of the NAPCE monthly newsletter.

The Association was once again actively involved in the planning and delivery of the Association of School and College Leaders, (ASCL) annual conference for Pastoral Leaders in January 2024. The conference which took place in Birmingham was sold out and NAPCE contributed with Phil Jones representing NAPCE by chairing the panel of invited educationalists to answer questions from delegates. Anne Jones from the admin team was available on the NAPCE display desk to talk to delegates and tell them about the work of NAPCE. This was an excellent opportunity to raise the profile of NAPCE, with delegates in leadership roles in primary and secondary schools, attending the conference, from all around the country. NAPCE was once again invited to contribute to the planning of Safer Internet Day and was a registered supporter of the event. This is an annual event involving schools and organisations from across the country. As Chair of NAPCE, Phil was invited to attend the online event in February, that was streamed live from the top of the BT Tower in London. It is good to see NAPCE taking an active role in educational events and activities and that other educational organisations are now approaching NAPCE to ask for our support and contributions to important educational events.
Future events that are being planned by the NEC include another Symposium in Belfast on 24th June. The annual conference on 11th October in Worcester with the title ‘Good Practice in Pastoral Care in Education’ and the Presentation Event for the National Awards for Pastoral Care in Education in Worcester on the evening of October 11th.

The NEC have continued to take positive action to enable the Association to interact more effectively with other people who share an interest in education and the contribution that pastoral care can make to the learning experiences of children and young people. The Association continues to form partnerships with organisations with similar interest and values. The sponsorship of the National Awards has provided opportunities to form partnerships, and these have included The Schools Consent Project, Connect to Purpose and Global Equality Collective. The increase in contact with NAPCE administration by email and telephone has continued this year and demonstrates how NAPCE has raised its profile. There have been requests for advice and guidance on a wide range of pastoral issues that members of the NEC have responded to. Contacts have been about advice on good practice in pastoral care and guidance about the roles of pastoral leaders, pastoral staff, and designated safeguarding leads. NAPCE through its Twitter (X) page and other social media platforms encourages the sharing of good practice in pastoral care and discussion and debate about current pastoral issues.
The Association is pleased to continue working with Iain Johnson from Noise PR. Iain is managing our social media and supporting the Association with its publicity and marketing. Iain has made a huge contribution to raising awareness about the work of NAPCE and is making a real impact in helping us to achieve our aim of interacting with more people who share our interest in pastoral care. The impact of his support can be seen in increased followers on social media and people contacting NAPCE. Iain produces the monthly newsletter for the Association, which has seen a growing number of people requesting a copy and an increase in the number of people opening and reading the newsletter each month. The Newsletter has published a wide range of articles on pastoral care, written by guest educationalists from other educational organisations as well as contributions from members of the NEC and EB. The newsletter has become a valuable resource for the latest thinking and sharing of ideas about pastoral care in education and ensures that members and supporters of NAPCE are kept up to date with current information about pastoral care and news about NAPCE events and activities. This increased interaction has seen more interest, in membership of the Association and there has been an increase in the number of members and subscribers to the journal. This demonstrates that the work to increase awareness about the work of NAPCE is having an impact. There have been challenges this year with our contact with external organisations such as Santander our bank and the Charities Commission. There are increasing requirements from external organisations who do not seem to understand in this age of trusts that NAPCE has always referred to executive members as officers and not trustees. For this reason, an amendment to the constitution is proposed for the AGM with the addition of the statement instatement six. For clarity with external organisations the trustees of the Association will be the officers. 

Members of NEC this year have contributed their energy, skills, and expertise to the Association to enable it to continue to expand its activities for its members and raise its profile in the educational world. The NEC welcomes suggestions about how to raise awareness, of the work of NAPCE, and any views or opinions from our members about future developments in policy and practice in pastoral care in education. NAPCE as a charity follows the guidance and advice of the Charities Commission to ensure that it has good governance and that decisions are made in the best interest of achieving the aims of the Association. Thank you to all members of the National Executive Committee, Editorial Board, Anne Jones, Communication Administrator, Susana Cervera, Meetings and Events Administrator, Iain Johnson at Noise PR, Mark Shields, for administrative support for the journal and James Coggins and his colleagues at Taylor and Francis, for your support, contributions, energy, and ideas this year. NAPCE continues to raise its profile in the educational world and to make a positive contribution to the sharing of good practice and developing effective policy and practice, in pastoral care in education.

Phil Jones, National Chair
Jill Robson, National Secretary
NAPCE 
       

AWARDS: Outstanding Practice from the NAPCE Awards 2023 Find Out More

The National Awards for Pastoral Care in Education 2023 – Sharing Good Practice – Episode 6

The NAPCE Awards 2023 was an amazing success, bigger than ever with a record number of entries and a sold-out event.

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

For this sixth episode we’re focussing on the category Raising Awareness about Pastoral Care.

Raising Awareness about Pastoral Care

An individual, group, or organisation who through their actions have raised awareness about pastoral care or pastoral issues and encouraged positive improvements for the benefit of young people.

In 2023 this award was sponsored by The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL)

The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) is the leading professional association and trade union for all school, college, and trust leaders. They support and represent more than 25,000 leaders of primary, secondary, and post-16 education from across the UK. Members of ASCL are responsible for the education of more than four million young people and children. ASCL works to shape national education policy, provides advice and support to members, and delivers first-class professional development. More information can be found on the website at https://www.ascl.org.uk

The winner for 2023, announced at the grand presentation event in Worcester, in September 2023 was Ellie Costello, Team Square Peg

Here are some of the comments that were made about the 2023 winner of this award in the nomination.

Ellie has a passion for improving the life chances of children. Through her work she ensures that the voice of families is heard in discussions about how the needs of children can be met by the educational system. She is an advocate for the ‘square pegs’ who often do not fit the round holes of the current education system in the United Kingdom. She is a determined supporter of inclusion in our schools and highlights the need for an approach in schools, that is focused on meeting the needs of all learners from different backgrounds and who have had different life experiences.  Ellie has a positive approach to her work and is optimistic about finding effective ways to support children who are not fitting in. This encourages an approach to pastoral care in education that is proactive in providing appropriate support that is relevant to the needs of every individual learner. Ellie is a director of ‘Square Peg’ which is a community interest company with the aim of bringing about change to prevent children and families from being failed by an education system with a ‘one size fits all approach’.

Ellie is driven by the experiences of caring for her own children to provide support and information to families to help them to overcome barriers to school attendance. She has been responsible for running the ‘Square Peg’ organisation from April 2022 and has used media opportunities including articles in national newspapers and numerous interviews on radio and television to raise awareness about the difficulties many families face in supporting their children to attend school and to achieve their full potential from their education.   Ellie is the author of the book ‘ Square Pegs. Inclusivity, compassion and fitting in’. A guide for schools’, published this year by Independent Thinking Press, with Fran Morgan. The book illustrates why there is a need to consider mental health and wellbeing and to recognise that all children are individuals with different needs and experiences when developing educational policy and practice. Ellie’s work is an important reminder that the purpose of schools is to meet the needs of children and that schools need to work in partnership with families. With Ellie, we can be confident that children with underlying needs that impact on their ability to access education have a champion who will use her energy and enthusiasm to ensure that they are not forgotten.

Here are some of the comments made in the nominations for the other finalists in this category.

Mr Stephen Page, All Saints Catholic School

The nomination was for Mr Stephen Page’s creation and the positive impact of the ‘No Child Left Behind’ Project.  This project reflects one of the key priorities for the school, the visionary notion that no child is left behind.  This means that every student is provided with the opportunity to succeed, with clear and direct support provided to those that may be struggling to achieve their potential and are at risk of being left behind by the rest of their cohort. They may need wrap around pastoral care alongside academic intervention.  This project was based on the principle that a teacher must have a clear understanding of the needs of all pupils, including those with special educational needs; those of high ability; those with English as an additional language; those with disabilities; and be able to use and evaluate distinctive teaching approaches to engage and support them.

From examining the year ten end of year data for the current year eleven it is clear that there are a number of students that are not making the progress that they are capable of and therefore require additional intervention.  For this reason, Stephen identified a group of (circa) twenty students based on projected progress 8 scores as well as other personal and learning needs and strives to enhance the progress they make and increase their overall outcomes. These pupils will be made known to staff and to their parents so that they receive complete support inside and outside of class.    The programme started in September with student’s performance being reviewed and then the intervention for these students will continue where it is deemed necessary.  Where students show sustained improvement in effort and attainment they can be removed from the sessions unless they wish to stay on. The removal of the stabilisers will be gradual, and they will remain monitored personally, behaviourally, and academically.    Parental engagement is a vital element to the success of this programme.  Therefore, parents are informed of the programme and kept up to date.  The head of year also supports this intervention, providing another avenue of support through parental meetings.    A clear measure of success is the upward movement of students’ GCSE scores as they move through each of the key assessment milestones, especially the December and April mock examinations. All pupils report feeling more confident and upskilled since the targeted project began; a project that brings curricular achievement and pastoral care together.

Pastoral Care Department, Glenlola Collegiate School

Glenlola Collegiate School is a high achieving girl’s Grammar School in Northern Ireland.  Their priorities are to enable students to thrive and to strive to create opportunities for their holistic development. In the aftermath of a global pandemic, pastoral support has never been more important and is a foundational part of their whole school practice.  As a result, the approach to pastoral care and mental wellness is proactive rather than reactive. By encouraging and promoting positive and healthy mental wellness, the school provides students with the strategies they need to cope with life’s inevitable challenges.

To embed an ethos of pastoral care throughout the school, the school have created a zone called Cygnet Wellness Centre, comprising of a Wellness Room, Relaxation Room, and a Counselling Office.  They chose the name Cygnet due to our school emblem, the swan. This centre has developed into a popular, calm yet lively place for anyone in need.  Cygnet Wellness Centre is available to pupils every lunchtime and is supervised by the Pastoral Care Team and Pupil Wellness Team. These rooms can also be booked by staff for themselves or their classes to use. They are designed for quiet time but are also used for specific events such as Pilates, mindfulness, and visits from a local therapy dog. It has bean bags and sofas, a projector playing nature scenes, a sensory room with stars projected, diffusers and instrumental music, and opportunities for activities suggested by students such as colouring and painting. In feedback pupils have said how important this space is for them and is a vital part of their school routine.

The Pastoral Care Team comprises of a Vice-Principal, Head of Pastoral Care, Deputy Head of Pastoral Care, two Pastoral Assistants and three Counsellors.  Senior Pupils volunteer as Peer Listeners. They have built friendships with younger students and identify and pass on concerns about anyone they feel needs further support. Our younger students report how transformational these friendships are for them and their mental wellbeing, and our Senior Pupils have found this has benefited their own mental wellbeing and inspired them in their career choices.  Peer Listeners and Peer Supporters are trained in active listening, child protection procedures and pastoral care using resources developed from the Childline Mentoring schemes.     Pupils can drop-in or book an appointment. The school has its own school counsellor, and pupils are made aware of this option, so it is normalised and promoted. Pupils with specific concerns can use drop-ins at lunchtimes to the Pastoral Care Offices where they can talk to a member of the Pastoral Care Department.  All pastoral staff and other key staff have completed Mental Health First Aid courses.  Students have travelled to Uganda to work with the school charity ‘Charlene’s Project’, and a pupil team promote and facilitate fundraisers and events, with six Ugandan pupils sponsored through our house system.

Highfield and Brookham Schools

The key objective for pastoral care centres on the emotional and physical welfare of children. In order to raise awareness of pastoral care the school takes a whole-school strategic and operational approach to foster an atmosphere that is conducive to learning and promotes tolerance, resilience, fairness, and equal opportunities among the children. To raise awareness of the importance of pastoral care and what the school does to support it, this last academic year the school have carved space out of the children’s busy days to allow time dedicated to their pastoral care.

To ensure that the school has a successful support programme that’s fit for purpose and that will leave all children feeling safe, happy, involved in the school community and able to perform to their full potential, the school have implemented a new ‘Weekly Wellbeing’ initiative.     Across the Nursery, Pre-prep, and Prep school there is a full programme of activities for children. Putting on a full programme rather than an occasional activity builds awareness in children that there are different ways to look after their emotional welfare. Groups of children gather by interest and age to indulge in some ‘me time’. There is ‘Journaling and Scrapbooking’ on Tuesdays, ‘Cards and Board Games’ on Thursdays and ‘Lego and Chill’ on Fridays. ‘Be With the Boys’ and ‘Go with the Girls’ are run by Peer Listeners – a group of trained and compassionate Year 8 children who offer our younger children a friendly face or a kindly listening ear in times of trouble or upset. The peer listeners are selected via a robust interview process involving the school’s Head of PSHE and typically deal with issues such as friendships, homework worries or feeling left out.    Other events in the Weekly Wellbeing calendar include ‘Listening Club’ where children can chat or share worries with a trained Emotional Literacy Support Assistant.

Three fully trained Emotional Literacy Support Assistants also have discussions with children about understanding their feelings, the importance of working together, expressing empathy, and recognising facial expressions. As the children better recognise their emotions, they too have helped raise awareness and understanding.    The most successful activity in raising awareness is the weekly lunchtime wellbeing walk. All children and staff (support staff as well as teachers) are invited to head outside into our 175-acre grounds to enjoy the simple pleasure of a stroll and a natter. Inviting the whole school community to join ensures that everyone is aware of the importance of these activities but can also help signpost children to activities that might support them. The pinnacle of these weekly walks came in February when Pre-prep and Prep school children came together to mark the culmination of Children’s Mental Health Week. Children of all ages joined the thought-provoking walk; chatting, laughing, and playing along the route as they discovered strategically placed topics for discussion such as ‘what helps you cope when things are difficult?’. The younger children spending quality time in the company of their older peers was a huge benefit and a learning curve for both.

The children have benefited hugely from the heightened awareness of the school pastoral care initiatives, as highlighted in our November 2022 Independent Schools Inspectorate report which deemed the school “excellent” in all areas. The report found that pupils had “a very strong understanding of how to keep safe and healthy” and that they understood that “keeping them safe is the number one priority” for the school. The children told the inspectors they also understood how to be mentally healthy through a strong PSHE curriculum.   Highfield and Brookham Schools are now investing in and fast-tracking the development of their very own wellbeing centre which will ensure that the commitment to the care of children, and staff, will be at the core of everything they do.

CONFERENCE: Tickets for NAPCE Conference 2024 are On Sale Now

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NAPCE Annual National Conference 2024 – Tickets On Sale Now

Annual National Conference

‘Good Practice in Pastoral Care in Education’
October 11th, 2024
In the Graeme Hick Pavilion
Worcestershire County Cricket Club
Worcester

At a time when education is facing challenges to meet the needs of children and young people, effective pastoral care and support in schools, colleges and educational settings is essential, to enable all young leaders to achieve their full potential from their learning experience. The Conference will explore how professionals and everybody with an interest in education can respond to the learning, personal development, welfare, and wellbeing needs of children and young people.

Expert speakers and experienced practitioners will share ideas and good practice to enable delegates to improve the learning experience of children and young people in their care and prepare them for their future roles in society.

The Conference provides an excellent professional development opportunity for all professionals working in pastoral roles and for anybody who wants to make a difference in the learning experience of children and young people. Delegates will take away from the conference.

  • A clear understanding of the current issues and challenges being faced by the pastoral work of schools and colleges.
  • Current thinking and ideas about how effective pastoral care and support for learners can be delivered.
  • An awareness of good practice that has had an impact and made a difference in the learning experience of children and young people in different settings.

Keynote speakers include.

  • Victoria Raynor, Director, Raynor Safeguarding -‘Opening Windows to Opportunities. The Purpose of Pastoral Care in Education’.
  • Dr Caron Carter, Senior Lecturer in Childhood Education at Sheffield Hallam University – ‘Children’s Friendships Matter’.
  • Liz Slater, Liz Bates, Independent Advisor, Trainer, and Magistrate – ‘The Role of the Trusted Adult’.

Good practice presentations from previous winners and finalists in the National Awards for Pastoral Care in Education organised by NAPCE include.

  • Raymond Herron, Senior teacher, St Mary’s Christian Brothers Grammar School, Belfast – ‘Restorative justice approach to behaviour management’
  • Oribi Davies, Director of Inclusion Hub, Friern Barnet School, London -‘Alternative provision to enable young people to remain in mainstream provision’.
  • Ellie Costello, Director Team Square Peg, – ‘Working with families to promote good attendance and to support young people in their education’.
  • There will also be a presentation from Jill Robson, NAPCE National Secretary – ‘Interactive Pastoral Care’

In addition, it is planned that the programme for the Conference will include live video interviews with.

  • Charlie Walker, NAPCE National Executive Student Member – talking about his visits to schools in Asia and Africa and experiences of pastoral care.
  • Nic Ponsford, Founder and CEO of Global Equality Collective – talking about their work to help schools build positive inclusive cultures.

The Conference will be Chaired by NAPCE National Chair, Phil Jones.

Please note there may be changes in the planned programme due to circumstances beyond the control of NAPCE.

  • Free parking at the venue
  • Premier Inn next to the venue
  • Walking distance to Worcester Foregate Street railway station.
  • Refreshments and lunch provided for delegates
  • Excellent venue with views of the River Severn and Worcester Cathedral

Follow the link for more information and tickets.
https://2024-napce-annual-conference.eventbrite.co.uk
CONFERENCE OFFER
Join NAPCE as an individual member for 2024 for £44.00 (£21.00 retired, NQT, students rate ) and have free entry to the National Annual Conference along with back copies of the academic journal ‘Pastoral Care in Education’ and future hard copies delivered to your address.

Or

Join NAPCE as a group member for 2024 for £66.00 as a school college or university (£43.00 primary and special school rate) and have free entry to the National Annual Conference for 2 people along with 2 back copies of the academic journal ‘Pastoral Care in Education’ and two copies of future hard copies delivered to your address. The named person for a group has all the benefits of individual membership.

Go to www.napce.org.uk and click the link for membership and the online application form.

Once membership is confirmed go to https://2024-napce-annual-conference.eventbrite.co.uk to reserve tickets at the free member’s rate. 

EVENT: NAPCE Symposium Coming Back to Belfast in June – Tickets On Sale Now

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NAPCE Symposium Coming Back to Belfast – Tickets On Sale Now

NAPCE is very proud to be hosting a Symposium in Belfast this June, following the success of our inaugural sell-out event last year.

We are very pleased to announce that we will be returning to Stranmillis University College on Monday, June 24th, for the event, which is ideal for people working in pastoral care in education.

Tickets are FREE to NAPCE members and £15 to non-members and are available to book here

Here are the event details.

Title: Promoting and Supporting Effective Pastoral Leadership in Schools

Date/time: 10am – 12.30pm, Monday 24th June

Venue: Craigantlet Room, Refectory Building, Stranmillis University College, Belfast BT9 5DY

Cost: £15 non-members, NAPCE members (free)

Join us for this timely and insightful half-day conference on Promoting and Supporting Effective Pastoral Leadership in Schools organised by the National Association for Pastoral Care in Education (NAPCE) in association with Stranmillis University College, Belfast.

All schools are committed to the pastoral care, emotional health and wellbeing of children and young people, but too often pastoral leaders report feeling overwhelmed but under-resourced and under-supported in their increasingly busy and challenging professional roles.

This half-day conference aims to address this need, by providing insight from key policy-makers and researchers, as well as national award-winning practitioners from across Northern Ireland.

Delegates will hear more about the latest DE policy developments, gain insight into what the ETI are seeking through inspection, and gain practical ideas and strategies from those at the cutting edge of pastoral practice across a range of settings, with a particular focus on supporting children and young people impacted by adverse childhood experiences.

Numbers are limited so please book early to avoid disappointment. The conference is priced at £15 for delegates (free for NAPCE members – see NAPCE website for details of how to join)

Outline Programme:

9.30-10.00 Arrival, tea/coffee
10.00 Welcome: Professor Noel Purdy (Stranmillis University College/NAPCE) Phil Jones (NAPCE Chair)
10.10 Keynote speakers: Linsey Farrell, Deputy Permanent Secretary at DE and Nicola Byrne, Assistant Chief Inspector at ETI
10.45 2023 NAPCE Award Winners:

Áine Deane, Sacred Heart Primary School, Derry on “Bridging the Gap- promoting inclusive wellbeing to enrich the lives of pupils and their families.” – winner of Pastoral Leader of the Year 2023

Raymond Herron, St Mary’s Christian Brothers Grammar School on “Developing Restorative Practice across the School” – winner of Pastoral Development of the Year 2023

11.30 BREAK
11.45 Panel Discussion on Supporting Children Impacted by Adverse Childhood Experiences – to be chaired by Phil Jones featuring guest panellists:
–            Dr John McMullen, Queen’s University, Belfast (Educational Psychologist, Researcher and Educator)
–            Jonny Hampton, Organisation Lead, Reach Mentoring
–            Niall Manogue, Principal, West Winds Primary School, Newtownards
–            Hannah Campbell, Nurture Leader and Programme Coordinator, St Patrick’s College, Dungannon
–            Sheila Lavery, Trauma Educator and Therapist
12.30 CLOSE of Conference

NAPCE News – March 2024

NAPCE News – March 2024

Making a positive difference to young people through pastoral care

LEAD ARTICLE: “The Importance of Resilience in a School Setting” by NAPCE NEC Member Dr Julianne Brown

The Importance of Resilience in a School Setting by Dr Julianne Brown

With the increase in mental health concerns amongst young people post-covid, there is a need for a focused approach to strengthen resilience both for individuals and communities.

Resilience is a positive factor for wellbeing and crucial for supporting mental health (Mesman, Vreeker and Hillegers, 2021).

This newsletter article explores what is meant by resilience, the determining factors and proposed strategies for strengthening resilience, particularly in the school context.

I  discuss the need for a support person, a ‘Champion in our Corner’. Finally, I call for a reinforcement of our collaborative resilience net, in order to nurture the resilience in us all, one that, not only cushions us from the falls, but guides us further towards different ways of being and growing together.


The above definitions suggest resilience as the individuals ability to bounce back or recover from adversity, returning, as a minimum, to the previous level of functioning. For the purposes of this article, I have referred to this as the bounce back model of resilience:

Drawing on current the academic literature on resilience, a more comprehensive interpretation emerges. The findings of the systematic literature search from Mesman, Vreeker and Hilleers (2021:587), refers to resilience as a “multi-systemic dynamic process of successful adaption or recovery in the context of risk or a threat” that can change over time and includes the social, cultural and family context. This study corroborates the socio-cultural aspects for resilience from The Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. For a brief exploration of the science behind resilience their video series ‘InBrief: The Science of Resilience’ is, as its title suggests, brief but informative. Moving perspective towards the field of positive psychology, Tal Ben-Shahar introduces the concept of resilience as anti fragility, Resilience 2.0 as he named it. The ability not only to bounce back from difficult situations but achieve a post traumatic growth following such episodes of stress and/or trauma.

The possibility of post traumatic growth provides encouragement for a proactive approach to strengthening resilience within the school context.

Resilience – the determining factors

It is important to recognise that not all people react in the same way towards stressful or traumatic events. The capacity for resilience is influenced by past experiences, individual wellbeing and lived context. Whilst adverse childhood experiences are negative factors for the development of adult resiliency, the presence of a trusted adult is a positive factor (Bellis et al 2017, Ashton et al 2021), a role that may or may not be fulfilled by parents depending on their own levels of resilience. Whilst there are calls for a greater understanding of resilience factors over the long term to improve the provision of preventative and early intervention programmes, there is support to developing resilience through individual personal development skills, building supportive relationships and nurturing safe, caring communities. For children and young people, this includes the school setting and resonates strongly with the trauma informed education approaches that are gaining in popularity.

Strategies for strengthening resilience in the school context

Starting with the early identification of childhood impact stressors, through a multidisciplinary approach to student health and welfare, scarce resources should be targeted to reach those most at risk.  Nonetheless, resilience is not purely an individual pursuit. A dynamic perspective of resilience is likely to be realised through a collective approach to wellbeing that acknowledges the interdependence of our individual wellness in direct correlation with our relationship to others. This perspective brings into focus the social, emotional aspects of living and learning within the school community.

So what can we do to strengthen resilience in schools?

Mesman, Vreeker and Hilleers (2021:590) suggest the following factors to support a positive growth in resilience:

“personal skills, social skills, peer support, school environment, contact with peers, parent–child relationship, family problem-solving, parental resilience, parental stress and goal orientation”.

Whilst some of these factors will be outside the specific remit of schools, we can elicit that building resilience over the longterm will require more than stand-alone, individually targeted interventions and that a holistic approach within our learning communities is required. It is useful then, to consider resilience programmes as part of a whole school framework for wellbeing, particularly based on relational wellbeing, building connections through the individual, family, school culture and wider society. In the following table, I offer some suggestions for such a framework in schools using these four dimensions which could be adapted and developed depending on local school context.

 

Setting  
Individual  Individual health and wellbeing strategies

  • personal development and communication skills
  • social and emotional learning programmes: e.g. CASEL, PSHE
  • Future goal setting – Exploring strengths; career and further study options
  • Trusted adult – pastoral + other school staff – training and support
  • Mindfulness practices
  • Active and health promoting lifestyle
  • Resilience coaching – for staff and students
Family Empowering parents

  • home/school partnerships
  • skills sharing
  • multidisciplinary support teams
School culture Sense of belonging, staff and student wellbeing

 

  • Mental health first aid training
  • Trauma informed training in education for staff
  • Transition care programmes for young people entering and exiting the school
  • Peer support – ‘Buddy’ programmes
  • Specialist wellbeing senior leader – to lead on social emotional and cultural aspects of school and integrate this with academic path
  • Whole school, inclusive, approach to wellbeing targeting every member of the school community
  • Safeguarding and child protection – safe personal boundaries, clearly understood and robust policies
Links to wider society Hope for a positive future outlook

 

Strengthen school/community partnerships:

  • Volunteering
  • Service learning
  • Connecting with community leaders
  • Participating in planned events
  • Future goals: Partnerships with public and private businesses to provide work placements opportunities.

A Champion in Our Corner

For children and young people, the continued support of a trusted adult is a crucial element of strengthening resiliency through reducing the impact of adverse childhood experiences (Bellis et al 2017, Ashton et al 2021). We all need a ‘champion in our corner’, someone who will actively listen, be non-judgemental and who can treat our hopes, desires and dreams with care and respect. A trusted adult may be a parent, a relation, friend or professional. Whoever that ‘champion’ is they will also need support and guidance to ensure their wellbeing is not compromised by this sometimes overwhelming responsibility. Within an education setting, the informal role of a ‘trusted adult’ becomes a grey area. To protect both children and adults in the school setting, the ‘trusted adult’ requires clear boundaries around their scope of practice, robust policies that include aspects of confidentiality and effective leadership to support the role. Training, debriefing and networking opportunities are necessary and an awareness that the ‘trusted adult’  may already be experiencing their own trauma or stress, particularly in light of the impact of the COVID 19 pandemic.

In conclusion, I have given a brief overview of the meaning of resilience, not only as a supporting mechanism for the individual to bounce back to their ‘normal state of functioning’ following episodes of trauma or stress, but also as a dynamic model, with the possibility for post traumatic growth in the longer term. I have taken a holistic view of resilience programmes in education    acknowledging resilience as a “complex multi-systemic dynamic process” (Mesman, Vreeker and Hillegers (2021:587) and suggested a tentative framework based on the individual, family, school culture and links to the wider society. Finally, I discussed the identified need for a ‘trusted adult’  that has proved to be such a crucial support for children and young people in their ability to cope with adversity. In education, the role of ‘trusted adult’ requires discussion and ongoing support to protect both the child and adult. A whole school approach to fostering resilience recognises the necessity of our collective efforts to nurture the positive growth suggested in response to stressors so that we can thrive even within the certainty of our own uncertain futures.

Ashton, K., Davies, A.R., Hughes, K. et al. Adult support during childhood: a retrospective study of trusted adult relationships, sources of personal adult support and their association with childhood resilience resources. BMC Psychol 9, 101 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-021-00601-x

Bellis MA, Hardcastle K, Ford K, Hughes K, Ashton K, Quigg Z, Butler N. Does continuous trusted adult support in childhood impart life-course resilience against adverse childhood experiences – a retrospective study on adult health-harming behaviours and mental well-being. BMC Psychiatry. 2017 Mar 23;17(1):110. doi: 10.1186/s12888-017-1260-z. Erratum in: BMC Psychiatry. 2017 Apr 13;17 (1):140. PMID: 28335746; PMCID: PMC5364707.

Mesman E, Vreeker A, Hillegers M. Resilience and mental health in children and adolescents: an update of the recent literature and future directions. Curr Opin Psychiatry. 2021 Nov 1;34(6):586-592. doi: 10.1097/YCO.0000000000000741. PMID: 34433193; PMCID: PMC85003

Dr Julianne Brown
NEC Member
NAPCE

AWARDS: Entry for NAPCE Awards 2024 Closes in Just One Month 

Entry to National Awards for Pastoral Care in Education Closes on April 19th – ENTER/NOMINATE NOW

Entry to the fifth annual National Awards for Pastoral Care in Education closes in just one month.

The NAPCE Awards is the first and only awards scheme dedicated to recognising outstanding achievements in the field of pastoral care in education.The closing date for all categories this year will be Friday, 19th April, 2024, but there’s no reason to delay, get your entries in now.

The Presentation Ceremony will take place at the County Ground, Worcester in October 2024.

Just like in previous years, the finalists of the National Awards for Pastoral Care in Education will be selected by an independent judging panel and invited to attend the ceremony to share the experience with peers and find out who wins each Award.

NAPCE is inviting nominations in the following categories;

Pastoral School of the Year
Pastoral Team of the Year
Pastoral Member of Staff of the Year
Pastoral Leader of the Year
Pastoral Development of the Year
Raising Awareness about Pastoral Care
Outstanding Contribution to Pastoral Care
International Contribution to Pastoral Care

You can enter the NAPCE categories here Enter here

Nominations are encouraged for awards across different categories from schools and educational establishments and you DO NOT need to currently be a member of NAPCE to take part.

NAPCE Awards 2024 is an excellent opportunity to share good practice in pastoral care and through our social media, website and those of our partners, the Awards raises awareness of where pastoral support is making a real difference in the educational experience of young people.

The Awards also encourages new initiatives and ideas in pastoral care and will recognise the contributions being made to developing policy and practice in pastoral support.

This is an excellent opportunity to recognise the impact the work of pastoral staff is having on the development and well-being of young people.

The decisions about prize winners in each category will be made by a panel of invited professionals.

There will be a prize of £100.00 for the school or institution for the winners of each category and individuals will also be recognised for their achievements.

The criteria for the NAPCE awards are;

•Pastoral School of the Year
A school that can demonstrate a commitment to pastoral care and support for learners that makes a real difference in the progress and personal development of young people in the school

•Pastoral Team of the Year
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

•Pastoral Member of Staff of the Year
A member of staff who works in pastoral care and who always makes the extra effort to support young people to enable them to become effective learners and achieve success

•Pastoral Leader of the Year
Has a passion for pastoral care that is shared with colleagues to inspire and motivate them to make a real difference in the lives of the young people they work with

•Pastoral Development of the Year
A pastoral initiative or idea that has achieved positive outcomes and has improved the learning experience and future life chances, for young people

•Raising Awareness about Pastoral Care
An individual, group or organisation who through their actions have raised awareness about pastoral care or pastoral issues and encouraged positive improvements for the benefit of young people

•Outstanding Contribution to Pastoral Care
A person, group or organisation that has made a real difference for the benefit of young people in the area of pastoral care

•International Contribution to Pastoral CareAn international school, organisation outside of the UK or an individual working in research or in an international school outside of the UK, that has promoted or delivered high quality pastoral care.

Nominations for the NAPCE Awards are welcome from member schools and institutions and from schools and institutions that are not currently members of NAPCE.

AWARDS: Great Practice from the NAPCE Awards 2023 – Episode 5

 

The National Awards for Pastoral Care in Education 2023 – Sharing Good Practice – Episode 5

The NAPCE Awards 2023 was an amazing success, bigger than ever with a record number of entries and a sold-out event.

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

For this fifth episode we’re focussing on the category Pastoral Team of the Year.
Pastoral Team of the YearThis award is for:

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.

In 2023 it was sponsored by Connect to Purpose.

Connect to Purpose is a charity on a mission to provide retreats for rest and renewal to support young people who are struggling, working holistically with them and their families.

More information can be found on the charity’s website at https://www.connecttopurpose.co.uk

The winner for 2023, announced at the grand presentation event in Worcester, in September was The Pastoral Team at Stockport Academy.

Here are some of the comments that were made about the 2023 winner of this award in the nomination.

Pastoral Team, Stockport Academy

The pastoral team at Stockport Academy includes 5 heads of year, 5 pastoral managers, a positive behaviour mentor, full time counsellor, EHA coordinator, MUF behaviour mentor, home liaison officer, attendance support team, young carers lead, mental health lead, safeguarding lead/ team.  The school has invested heavily in response to student need, and to ensure that the Academy remains proactive rather than reactive for students and families.  The team works with over 1000 students many of whom are vulnerable.

Each member of the team always put students first working collectively to ensure that not only students, but families also thrive.  The team fully believe that they nurture community that is within and outside school contributing to positive family lives and the happiness and success of all as a result – the impact of their contribution is immeasurable.   Students are unanimous that they feel happy and safe in school; they have access to support and have a number of trusted adults around them.

The attendance team work tirelessly ensuring that students attend school to develop social interactions, knowledge, and aspirations for the future.  Attendance is above national average post pandemic due to a range of interventions. The team are rewards driven, celebrating, and recognising engagement with school with trips to the cinema, pizza lunches, vouchers or family takeaways providing positive experiences for all and engaging families in this priority.   The safeguarding team are relentless in supporting the most vulnerable students. The safeguarding team has been celebrated as exceptional practice with their proactive approach supporting early help and teaching safeguarding, in addition to responding to crisis.  The team, work with all staff in addition to agencies to provide classes for parents regarding issues arising such as self-harm or anxiety.

Heads of Year/Pastoral managers work to meet every possible need for students that may be a barrier to their ultimate success resolving issues as soon as possible and celebrating student effort and achievement alongside values and qualities demonstrated by students such as kindness and teamwork.  Heads of year nurture a sense of community and care of others, working to engage parents on a daily basis in ensuring that students meet high expectations to underpin their aspirations and ambitions for themselves.     The  pastoral team together, ensure that all students are supported in developing firm foundations to have happy and successful lives and be successful at school.

Here are some of the comments made in the nominations for the other finalists in this category.

Pastoral Team at Shireland Collegiate Academy

Shireland Collegiate Academy is a large, inner city secondary school in Smethwick, Sandwell in the West Midlands.  Shireland sits at the heart of a diverse community.  This diversity in both ethnicity, culture and religion is a core strength of the school that helps to guide our principle of promoting cohesion amongst the student body.  This is enabled in a large part, by the outstanding pastoral team, and the school is very proud of the level of pastoral care that they give to the students.  At Shireland Collegiate Academy, they promote to staff that we are all pastoral leaders.  This is led by an exemplar pastoral team, who guide and support tutors, students, and their families. The aim is to have a school where students are happy and achieve well above their potential and is somewhere that they feel valued and important. Students are encouraged to be ambitious for themselves and others and feel that they can achieve their dreams.

The school has a dedicated mental health webpage, where students are invited to self-reflect on how they are feeling at the end of each week by selecting an emoji of how they are feeling alongside a comment which they will know their form tutors will read.  Tutors and Heads of Year analyse the results which can facilitate conversations with students who have raised a concern.  This ensures that our pastoral team work closely with the student and family to address the concerns or barriers they may feel which could impact on their mental wellbeing and academic success. Heads of Year and Senior Teacher meet on a fortnightly basis with student support agencies within school to discuss interventions and strategies to help support students and their families.

The school has developed a bespoke rewards system for our academy called EPraise. The school has a Student Council made up of form representatives, year representatives and our Head/Deputy senior students.  This forum allows all students to voice their suggestions and opinions on how we continue to keep the learning environment a fun and safe space.
The school organised its first ‘Student Council Culture Day’ in November and included cultural dress, foods from around the World, cultural icons and music, poetry and literature and the day finished with a fabulous fashion show.

SENDi Team Tudor Grange Academy Worcester

The SENDi team (Special Education Needs and Disabilities and Inclusion) have worked tirelessly in the last two years, creating a support network for the school to ensure they are meeting the needs of as many pupils as possible.   The team have successfully completed funding bids in their own time to go towards the pastoral support we can offer. This includes successfully taking part in a local founding forum ‘Dragons Den’, where they applied and pitched to secure funding for a school sensory room. The school sensory room is a low sensory space with sensory equipment, available for staff to use for pupil interventions as well as a regulation space for pupils if they so need it.

The pastoral team secured additional funding for a ‘Zen Den’. They sourced local funding, creating a funding bid, to create a calming garden space which they have named the ‘Zen Den’ for all pupils to use. The pastoral team have provided support for all pupil premium pupils.  Any pupil who has experience trauma has specialist trauma intervention.   In the last two years, the pastoral team have created bespoke pathways to help cater for most pastoral concerns:

  • My mind matters,
  •  Me myself and I,
  • Expect Respect,
  • Trauma,
  • Worries and Wellbeing.

Every pupil up to year 10 has had access and intervention for mental health support. In year 11 we offer anxiety and stress workshops to help aide them during exams.     A new area we have developed is ‘Response’. Each day a member of staff is timetabled to ‘Respond’ to any needs of the pupils during each and every period. This means they have support to re-regulate, discuss thoughts and feelings, and hopefully feel able to reengage in lessons.   They have arranged parent drop ins to support parents and also provide them with the skills to support their child.   Any child with SEMH or a diagnosed need has also been given a profile. This profile lists their needs and what works for them. Any member of staff can access this to better understand the pupils which increases the pupils confidence in the staff.

Institute of Policing’s Work Based Education Officers team

They currently have 18 dedicated Work Based Education Officers (WBEOs) in Staffordshire University’s Institute of Policing, all of whom go above and beyond the traditional assessor duties expected from a WBEO in similar roles. The WBEOs have developed their roles to deliver critical pastoral care and wellbeing support to over 1900 police apprentices currently studying with the university.     The first cohort of Police apprenticeships only started four years ago when Staffordshire University partnered with Staffordshire, Warwickshire, West Mercia, and West Midlands Police in 2019. Since then, their WBEO team has grown with our student officer population.

The WBEOs have adapted to the emerging complex needs and emotional experiences of apprentices who work shifts as operational police officers across the partnered forces while spending 20% off the job with their learning and studying for an accredited qualification.    The Institute of Policing’s WBEOs support student officers by monitoring and assessing the students’ progress, signposting them towards key University support services (including additional learning needs, financial support, equality, and diversity services), and even visit students in employment to provide comprehensive support in their work-based education and/or apprenticeship development.  The WBEOs form a crucial connection between the Institute of Policing and partner police forces.

The team members have developed strong relationships with the student officer with each WBEO knowing their student officers by name. They show great determination to help, support and guide the student officers from always being willing to listen to their concerns and provide encouragement or guidance, to using their skills and experience to identify the specific needs of individual students to ensure each officer reaches their potential and successfully passes onto the next stage of their training.    The WBEOs have a significant positive impact on the students they work with. Their approach to pastoral care has helped to create a positive and supportive culture throughout the Institute of Policing, which has led to a plan of support which can meet the wide range of needs student officers may have while on the programme.
Developing the WBEO pastoral care provision was evidence-based. they worked with police and student course representatives to identify issues and create a multi-agency plan of support that can be adapted and changed to meet the diverse needs of every student officer on programme.  Training to become a police officer has many challenges.  It’s a physical role which requires a good level of fitness, it can be emotionally demanding, and the public view of policing can make it a challenge for any junior police officer starting in the force. Add to this the extra studying which student officers have to undertake and it can be a difficult time for many student officers. The support from the WBEO team is pivotal in helping the  cohorts of student officers to  reach their potential, complete their training and successfully graduate to become full time police officers.

Team of Student Managers, Preston College

Preston college has a team of student managers who offer a holistic approach to pastoral care to support enjoyment, achievement, and progression. On a weekly basis, they encourage positive attendance and behaviour and also share a suite of tutorial subjects which enhance the overall college curriculum. They operate an ’open door ‘policy which enables students to drop in and share any issues or concerns and also to celebrate their successes.  Student Managers build fantastic relationships with parents and carers too, establishing mutually beneficial connections to support a student on their learning journey. Parents are invited into college to meet with the student managers and also have a regular phone line to them should they need support, or queries answered. In addition, the team host welcome events and parents’ evenings to further enhance the college /parent relationship.

The suite of tutorial topics is fast paced and relevant to the cohort of 16–19-year-old learners. The material is regularly updated and adapted to suit the range of levels of learner and any higher needs within the groups. The tutorial time is a special time for students. As well as imparting knowledge on current affairs and topical themes it is also a time to explore new ideas and discuss progression.  The pastoral team create and support themed weeks throughout the year including a Health and Wellbeing week. This is an opportunity to bring in a range of external providers and activities and really offer some alternative sessions to the students.

When a student’s world appears to be falling apart, their student manager can often be the key to finding a solution. The team regularly upskill in how to deal with more difficult situations through CPD in suicide prevention, sexual health, eating disorders and many more.  Working closely with the College safeguarding and counselling team, they are able to support the student to a successful outcome. The team is made up of individuals who will not leave any stone unturned in the quest to support the student and place them back on track.  The team have upskilled in mental health awareness and offer creative solutions to timetables and to ways of working to smooth the process and continue with academic progress.  When it comes to time for students to move on, the team play a key role in encouraging and supporting the chosen student path. This may be through arranging external and internal speakers, supporting apprenticeship applications, arranging careers team appointments, or checking CVs. They also play a pivotal role in checking UCAS applications, making suggestions and also attaching references. The role becomes key to raising aspirations and supporting progression into their desired future, beyond college.

Congratulations to everybody nominated for Pastoral Team of the Year Award in 2023. The nominations for the 2024 National Awards for Pastoral Care in Education are now open. All the details are available on the NAPCE website www.napce.org.uk. Follow the link to make a nomination to recognise and value contributions to good practice in pastoral care in education.

Making a nomination for the National Awards for Pastoral Care in Education 2024 organised by NAPCE.

It is easy to make a nomination for the Awards to recognise good practice in the eight categories and it only takes a few minutes.

Entry closes April 19th, 2024.

Here is some guidance on how to make your nomination.

  • Visit our nomination page here https://napceawards.wufoo.com/forms/napce-awards-2024-entry-form/
  • Or go to www.napce.org.uk and click on the link for the awards.
  • This takes you to the page where you can make your nomination.
  • Read the information about the criteria for each category.
  • Provide your contact details as the nominee and the name of the person or organisation you are nominating with their email contact details on the form provided.
  • Click on the button to select the appropriate category for your nomination.
  • In the box provided provide information and any evidence to support you nomination.

You can make a nomination for another person or organisation, or self-nominations are also welcome.

You have 750 word available to describe the reasons for your nomination to the judges.

You do not have to use all 750 words and the best nominations are concise and clear.

Explain what makes your nomination an example of good practice.

Describe how it makes a difference in the learning experience of children and young people.

Give examples of actions that have been taken and outcomes that have been achieved.

Explain why you are proud of this nomination.

Make your nomination now to recognise good practice and achievements in pastoral care in education.

EVENTS: NAPCE Annual General Meeting 2024 – Details Announced  

NAPCE AGM 2024 – Details Announced

The Association’s Annual General Meeting will take place at 1-00pm on Saturday 18th May.

The meeting will be held at Mixing Networks, Second Floor, 36 Spital Square, London E1 6DY, in the heart of Spitalfields Market. All members are invited to attend the meeting.

Please contact events@napce.org.uk to confirm that you will be attending and to ensure that you are sent the agenda and other documents for the meeting.

Please also use the same email to register to attend online to ensure that you are sent the documentation and the link.

The AGM will include reports on the activities of the Association in the last 12 months and reports from the officers.

We hope all members will make every effort to attend to be fully informed about the Association and to share any views or ideas.

Save the Date

The NAPCE Annual Conference will take place on Friday 11th October from 10-30 am until 3-00pm.

The venue will be the Graeme Hick Pavilion, at Worcestershire County Cricket Club in Worcester.

The title for the conference is ‘Good Practice in Pastoral Care in Education’.

This will be followed in the evening by the grand presentation event for the 2024 National Awards for Pastoral Care in Education at the same venue.

Further details will be available soon on the NAPCE page on Eventbrite and in future editions of the NAPCE Newsletter. 

EVENT: FREE NAPCE Spring Conference – LAST CHANCE TO BOOK

FREE NAPCE 2024 Online Spring Conference – LAST CHANCE TO BOOK

Just a few tickets remain for the FREE NAPCE Online Conference on Wednesday, March 20th, 2024.

Following the huge success of the online Spring Conference events organised by NAPCE in recent years we are pleased to announce plans for the 2024 event.

It will take place from 7-00pm-8-30pm and the title is ‘Achieving outstanding personal development and pastoral care in 21st century schools’.

The Keynote presentation will be from Shaun McInerney who is the School Leadership and Strategy Lead at the University of Worcester.
 
Shaun has led in five start-up schools in England and India. He was a Senior Leader in a successful, large inner-city school in Liverpool and was the founding Principal (and latterly Executive Principal) of The Studio, Liverpool from its inception in 2013 to 2019.

Ofsted rated the Studio’s personal development as outstanding and noted their success in turning around the lives of young people.

In 2019 Shaun returned to international sixth form college, UWC Atlantic, as Director of Curriculum Innovation, pioneering their Changemaker curriculum.

Shaun continues to work at a system level with the Edge Foundation and international NGO, Ashoka, developing an ecosystem to help schools respond and meet the needs of young people in a rapidly changing world.

He has developed the New Capabilities for a New World Programme which is supporting Principals and system leaders in Greater Manchester to develop their leadership and strategy to enable young people gain fair access to the economic opportunities in their region.

The Schedule
 
7-00pm – Welcome and introduction, Phil Jones, National Chair, NAPCE
 
7-05pm – Presentation, Shaun McInerney, the School Leadership and Strategy Lead at the University of Worcester.
 
7-45pm Pastoral Question Time
Chaired by Phil Jones, National Chair, NAPCE
Panel 
 

  • Shaun McInerney, School Leadership and Strategy Lead, University of Worcester
  • Professor Noel Purdy, Director of Research and Scholarship, Stranmillis University College, Belfast
  • Dr Mark Diacopoulos, Assistant Professor, Department of Teaching and Leadership, Pittsburg State University, USA
  • Dr Caron Carter, Senior Lecturer in early childhood/childhood, Sheffield Institute of Education, Sheffield Hallam University.
  • Maria O’Neill, educationalist, and author of ‘Proactive Pastoral Care. Nurturing happy, healthy, and successful learners.’
  • Victoria Raynor, Director Raynor Safeguarding Ltd,

Questions and discussion about current pastoral issues and topics.


Book your free tickets for this event on Eventbrite. Remember to book your tickets early as in previous years all available tickets have been reserved several weeks in advance.

Follow the link to book tickets https://NAPCESPRINGEVENT24.eventbrite.co.uk
Enquiries email admin@napce.org.uk

There are a few tickets still available for this event. Reserve your ticket today to avoid disappointment!

The team at NAPCE would like offer to our sincere thanks to all of our readers. You play a key role in the development of NAPCE and the education community at large. A key part of our mission statement is to continue to expand the NAPCE community. If your staff team are not ‘pastoral care aware’ please send on the link below to your colleagues. The more we share, the more we can make a positive difference to young peoples’ wellbeing throughout their school education experience.
Click here: An Introduction to Pastoral Care

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