NAPCE News – April 2022

Making a positive difference to young people through pastoral care

FEATURE ARTICLE: NAPCE Chair Phil Jones reviews DFE’s New Consultation on Behaviour, Suspension and Permanent Exclusion Guidance in Schools

DFE Consultation on Revised Behaviour in Schools’ Guidance and Suspension and Permanent Exclusion Guidance – February 2022

The recent publication of the Education White Paper and Green Paper on Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) systems provided an insight into the thinking and plans of policy makers in education.

Another recently published document which suggests how policy and practice in schools is likely to develop (that was especially relevant to professionals with an interest in pastoral care or working in pastoral roles) was the consultation document ‘Revised behaviour in schools’ guidance and suspension and permanent exclusions guidance.

This document can be found at GOV.UK. and the consultation is based on two draft policy documents Behaviour in schools Guidance (2022) and Suspension and Permanent Exclusion Guidance (2022).

This is in response to a promise following the publication of the Timpson Review of School Exclusions (2019) that the UK Government was committed to working with sector experts to publish clearer, more consistent guidance.

The aim of this guidance is to support schools to:

· create positive behaviour cultures
· ensure suspensions and permanent exclusions are conducted in a lawful, reasonable and procedurally fair way

This promise seems to have been lost or delayed by the Government’s focus on Brexit and then the global pandemic.

NAPCE responded to the consultation which closed on the 31^stMarch 2022.

The proposed changes in the guidance are likely to have a significant impact on policy and practice for managing behaviour in schools and in the daily work of staff in pastoral roles.

There had been speculation before the publication of the Timpson Review that it would restrict the powers of school leaders to implement suspensions and exclusions as a strategy to achieve good behaviour and a positive learning environment for learners.

The Timpson Review made 30 recommendations for changes but did recognise that school leaders use exclusions as a sanction as a ‘last resort’.

It also recommended that schools should be made more responsible for pupils that are excluded and more accountable for the educational outcomes that theses pupils achieve.

There was no guidance provided by the report or by the DFE on how this would be achieved in practice, and this might help to explain why there has been a delay in discussing new policy and practice.

The Timpson Revew suggested that more funding should be provided for alternative provision as an alternative to exclusion.

It raised concerns that pupils who were given repeated fixed term exclusions were missing out on education and that their experience was like a ‘revolving door’.

The Report asked for further consultation on reducing the 45-day limit for fixed term exclusions in an academic year and raised concerns about what was described as the rare practice of ‘off rolling’ to solve school behaviour issues.

There were also calls for the DFE to strengthen guidance about in-school units for managing behaviour, so they were always used constructively.

The Timpson Review called for more training on behaviour management so that schools could embed and maintain positive behaviour cultures.

The introduction to the consultation document demonstrates a focus on ensuring that schools make good behaviour a priority.

“Good behaviour in schools is essential to ensure that all pupils can benefit from the opportunities provided by education”.

“Schools should be calm, orderly and safe environments that support their pupils to succeed”.

This suggests that schools will come under increased scrutiny for their policies and practice to provide a positive learning environment and be accountable for how they manage behaviour.

It is also clear from the introduction to the consultation document that school leaders will be under increased scrutiny for how they use suspension and exclusions as strategies as part of the behaviour policy.

“It is important that headteachers have the knowledge and confidence to suspend or exclude pupils where it is warranted”.

“It is equally important that the obligations on schools are clear and well understood to ensure that any suspension or permanent exclusion is lawful, reasonable and fair”.

This could leave school leaders and staff in pastoral roles in the position where they are criticised if suspension or exclusion is not used as a sanction but also aware that they must carefully justify any decision and ensure that all appropriate procedures are followed.

The different sections of the consultation document provide clues about what is likely to be important for policy makers and what is seen as being good practice in behaviour management in schools.

The role of governing bodies in reviewing and monitoring suspensions and exclusions is highlighted.

There is a promise of increased guidance for governing bodies on how to analyse data on behaviour, suspensions and exclusions to be able to identify any variations in practice.

There is an increased expectation that headteachers will involve other professionals such as social workers in the exclusion decision making process.

A call for further consultation on remote meetings for exclusions suggest that theses are seen as being an option and part of the practice in schools after the pandemic.

There is a discussion about managed moves that suggests a more structured approach to their use as part of behaviour management.

Schools are encouraged to have a clear vision of what expected behaviour looks like and how they will create a whole school environment in which pupils are more likely to behave well.

It is emphasised that the school behaviour policy should be clearly communicated to ensure that the role and responsibilities for staff, pupils and parents is clear, to maintain good behaviour standards.

There is a focus on SEN and SEND pupils that statistics show are at more risk of suspension or exclusion.

Schools are encouraged to provide more support for vulnerable groups of pupils to meet behavioural standards and reminded about their responsibilities and duties under the Children and families Act 2014 and the Equality Act 2010.

The use of rewards and positive recognition is encouraged to reinforce expectations and routines of the school behaviour culture.

This has implications for staff in pastoral roles and suggests that pastoral leaders will need to plan a proactive approach to meeting the needs of different groups of learners and plan actions that develop and sustain a positive culture for learning and behaviour.

The document calls on schools to respond, “robustly to incidents of misbehaviour”, to deter further incidents and restore order and protect pupils from further disruption to their learning.

Sanctions should be applied in a fair and consistent manner and special consideration should be given when sanctions are implemented for SEND pupils.

The document discusses the use of removal rooms and how they should be used and highlights that there is a difference between a removal room and a separation space.

This includes comments that special consideration should be given to the removal of SEND or vulnerable pupils.

A small section signals how schools should support pupils following behavioural incidents and the pastoral support that may be required.

There is an emphasis on the importance of early intervention strategies to prevent misbehaviour, to reduce suspension and exclusion numbers and help pupils to develop appropriate skills and attitudes.

This will have implications for staff in pastoral roles for the use of their time and for the priorities for their daily work with pupils.

There is a discussion about how schools should respond to incidents of sexual violence and harassment to prevent it “leading to a culture of unacceptable and an unsafe environment for children in line with current safeguarding guidance”.

It is recognised that guidance on how to respond to online incidents and other incidents that take place away from the school site would be useful.

It recognises the headteacher’s autonomy in setting a policy on mobile phones but outlines that any policy should consider the needs for phones to be used in some circumstances such as medical grounds or to enable “children with SEND to access the curriculum”.

Staff in pastoral roles are very skilled and have considerable experience in managing behaviour in schools.

They have access to guidance in a wide range of books and publications based on research and experience that is shared.

The comments in the consultation document explore areas that pastoral staff are aware of and have daily experience of them in their schools.

What is interesting is that the issues that are examined indicate what the priorities are for policy makers and what needs to be considered by pastoral leaders in reviewing their behaviour policies and practice.

The DFE is currently analysing the feedback to the consultation and will publish the outcomes soon.

NAPCE will continue to contribute to discussions about policy and practice in pastoral care in education and welcomes any views or comments from Members.

Phil Jones
National Chair
NAPCE
April 2022

References
SEND review: right support, right place, right time – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Opportunity for all: strong schools with great teachers for your child – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Revised behaviour in schools guidance and suspension and permanent exclusions guidance – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

REPORT: NAPCE NEC Meets in Person for First Time Since Pandemic Started

After nearly three years following restrictions caused by the global pandemic, it was great for NAPCE members to meet up in person again for the March meetings.

The National Executive meeting took place in the morning followed by the Annual General Meeting at lunchtime and the Editorial Board Meeting in the afternoon.

The venue was Worcestershire County Cricket Ground in Worcester which will be the venue for the conferences, events, and meetings to celebrate the 40th anniversary of NAPCE in October.

The meetings took place in the View Conference Centre. This is on the third floor and has excellent views of the cricket ground and cathedral from the balcony and views of the River Severn and the City from the rear.

Unfortunately, COVID still made an impact, and it was only possible for some people to attend by video link on the large screen in the conference room.

This meant that the people attending in person had to make an extra effort to enjoy the excellent refreshments!

There were discussions at the meetings about plans for the free online conference in June, the ‘in person’ conference in October, the National Awards for Pastoral Care in Education 2022 and the presentation event and the Anniversary Dinner which takes place over the anniversary celebration weekend in October.

There were positive reports about the Association’s academic journal, ‘Pastoral Care in Education’ with its reputation around the world for raising awareness about research and practice in pastoral care in education continuing to grow.

News about the plans for a special edition of the Journal to celebrate the 40th anniversary were shared and updates were given on the progress made.

The engagement with NAPCE through social media continues to grow and it was good to hear that even during the pandemic more people are engaging with NAPCE and taking an interest in its work to raise awareness about pastoral care in education.

The Association has a sound financial position and is well supported by the administrative team.

Mel O’ Grady has now stepped down form her role providing administrative support for NAPCE, and special thanks were given for her work for several years supporting the Association.

Members were informed about the work of NAPCE in the previous year and plans for the year ahead at the Annual General Meeting.

Reports were presented from the Chair, Secretary, Treasurer and Editor of the Journal.

The reports gave members a positive picture of the Association’s work and made them aware of the exciting plans for events and activities in the future.

Our Journal editor, Professor Stan Tucker, is currently recovering from surgery and Dr Noel Purdy is acting as editor.

Everybody wished Stan a speedy recovery and sent best wishes.

An amendment to the constitution was agreed at the AGM to clarify that anybody contributing to decision making as a member of the National Executive or editorial board or any other sub committee that may be formed in the future must be a member of NAPCE.

This means that decisions for members are made by members and ensures that decision makers are covered by the Association’s insurance and are compliant with the governance expectations of the Charities Commission.

The next meetings of the National Executive and Editorial Board will take place in Worcester as part of the anniversary weekend.

There are plans for the March 2023 meetings to take place in central London.

ARTICLE: Creating Sense of Self to Find Young Carers by Dr Dee Gray

While young carer figures are often accompanied by the caveat that they are ‘underestimated’, we have rough numbers of approximately 30,000 carers under the age of 25 in Wales, 29,000 in Scotland, 6,500 in Northern Ireland, and 800,000 in England.

The reasons why these figures are ‘underestimated’ and are therefore inaccurate vary.

Most obviously there inaccuracy is due to the timing of studies (the last published census was in 2011, the next is due summer 2022), to the shifting negative influences that affect the health of the population and thereby increasing the need for young carers (Covid being a prime example), and surprisingly perhaps the fact that some young carers do not want to be found.

Why young carers might not want to be found often relates to the stigma attached to caring roles, especially when those being cared for have mental health or drug and alcohol problems (The Children’s Society, 2013).

When we look at the experiential learning of young carers it is a mixed bag of positives and negatives.

On the plus side, young carers have unique experiences that develop their leadership and interpersonal skills, they learn how to budget, how to provide often complex health and social care, and are a dab hand at showing compassion to others. Their value to society is huge.

On the negative side however, young carers are often bullied at school, and are isolated from the usual social activities that contribute towards a sense of self and belonging.

When young carers ‘slip through the pastoral net’, their mental health is impacted, often their academic potential is unfulfilled, so the likelihood of reduced employment opportunities becomes all too real.

Awareness of the pastoral needs of young carers is growing and many schools are actively involved in identifying, and making a real and positive difference to the young carers within the school setting.

There is always more to do however, which can be a challenge when resources are tight.

A few years ago I was invited to adapt a wellbeing programme (originally designed for and being delivered to frontline staff in stressful occupations), for delivery to young carers and school staff in Wales.

The programme ran over a few months and, although the numbers involved were small, as a case study it demonstrated how the value of young carers in the school could be improved, and with that the identification of young carers.

From this grew the establishment of the Young Carers Academy, a not for profit organisation based in Wales.

The Young Carers Academy runs along a central wellbeing theme, so everything we do spins out from it and then spins back into it.

We co-produce everything with young carers, even our website and branding comes from them. \

All of this takes time, but it contributes to a young carer sense of identity and of creating their own space, something they want to belong to, not something we tell them, however well meaning, is a good idea.

There are a fair few reasons why co-production supports this, but the real insight into why we do things this way relates back to ‘not wanting to be found’.

The simple truth is like many young people, young carers are often reluctant to stand out, because they want to fit in.

By exposing their home conditions and unmet needs to others in the school, we risk creating the psychologically unsafe spaces we are trying to address.

The wellbeing methodology we use at the Young Carers Academy is about creating and finding a way to being a ‘best self’ (Gray. D., Jones. K. 2018).

The methodology is the same tried and tested approach I undertook with frontline staff, and it works with young carers because they too are often on the frontline Gray. D. (2017).

The approach adapted for them is simple, and requires in essence for them to recall times of happiness, and then to add to these memories through a range of new co-produced experiences.

Being part of the co-creation of the Young Carers Academy is one of those potentially life changing experiences.

It is early days but it is hoped that the general idea to develop their salutogenic way of experiencing the world, will stand them in good stead for what life throws at them in the future.

If you would like to find out more about our work at the Young Carers Academy, please contact me at dee@youngcarersacademy.org

Dr Dee Gray
Young Carers Academy

Hounsell. D. (2013) Hidden from View: the experiences of young carers in England. The Children’s Society. https://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/sites/default/files/2020-10/hidden_from_view_final.pdf
https://socialcare.wales/hub/hub-resource-sub-categories/young-carers-and-young-adult-carers

3. Gray. D., Jones. K. (2018) “The resilience and wellbeing of public sector leaders”, International Journal of Public Leadership, Vol. 14 Issue: 3, pp.138-154, https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPL-09-2017-0033
4. Gray. D. (2017) The Resilience and Wellbeing of Carers – Developing the Third Workforce. Forum Conference Proceedings International Forum on Quality and Safety in Healthcare: Building Capability and Leadership. Kuala Lumpur, 24-26 August 2017, Kuala Lumpur

CONFERENCE: FREE Tickets Available Now for NAPCE Online Spring Conference 2022

Online Spring Conference 2022

‘How can effective pastoral care support learners and prepare them for their future roles in society’?

FREE Online Conference over three days

Tickets are going fast for the free online conference being organised by NAPCE in June 2022.

With a brilliant line up of expert speakers and a great Question Time panel this is the conference for everybody who is interested in pastoral care in education and the difference it can make to a young person’s learning experience and life chances.

Last year’s conference sold out a month before the event, so go to Eventbrite today to register for your tickets.

PROGRAMME
Wednesday 15 June
2-00pm Welcome to the Conference – Phil Jones, Chair of NAPCE
2-10pm Presentation 1– The School Response to Online Sexual Harassment and Abuse., Professor Kaitlyn Mendes, University of western Ontario Canada.
2-40pm Questions
2-45pm Presentation 2 – Developing Effective Supervision for Safeguarding, Carl Elder, Educational Consultant
3-15pm Questions
3-20pm Presentation 3 – The Rock and Roll Years for Education and the Lessons for Pastoral Care, LesWalton, CBE, Educationalist and Author
3-50pm Questions
3-55pm Close – Phil Jones Chair of NAPCE

Thursday 16^th June

7-00pm to 8-00pm NAPCE QUESTION TIME – How can pastoral care and support in schools enable young people to achieve their full potential?
Chaired by Phil Jones – Chair of NAPCE
Invited onto panel,
Dr Noel Purdy– Deputy Editor of Pastoral Care in Education.
Maria O’Neill – Author ‘Proactive Pastoral Care
Dr Mark Diacoupolos, Assistant Professor, Department of Teaching and Leadership, Pittsburg State University. USA
Charlie Walker, Student member of NAPCE National Executive.
Luke Ramsden, Senior Deputy Head, St Benedict’s School, Ealing, London.
Dr Helen O’Connor, St Swithins’ School Psychologist.

Friday 17^th June
10-00am Welcome – Phil Jones Chair of NAPCE
10-10am Presentation 4 – Using data to Create a Proactive Pastoral Strategy, Luke Ramsden, Senior Deputy Head, St Benedict’s School, Ealing, London
10-40am Questions
10-45am Presentation 5 – Lessons from Pastoral Care in a Special School, Nadine Huseyin, Family Support, Pastoral and Safeguarding lead, the Grove School Tottenham
11-15am Questions
11-20am Presentation 6 – Wellbeing – Early Intervention Made Easy, Alex Kyriacou, Director, UOK Wellbeing
11-50am Questions
11-55am Close – Phil Jones Chair of NAPCE

Follow the link to book your FREE tickets https://napce-june-conference-22.eventbrite.co.uk

The links for each event in the Conference will be sent to people who have registered for tickets in June.

CELEBRATION DINNER: Join us to Celebrate NAPCE’s 40th Anniversary

You are invited to the Anniversary dinner to celebrate the 40 years since NAPCE was formed.

It will be an opportunity to meet with other people who have contributed to the history of NAPCE and to celebrate the difference it has made for raising awareness about pastoral care in education and the difference it makes to the learning experience for children and young people and supports their personal development to prepare them for their future lives in society.

This event will take place at the Worcestershire Cricket Ground, overlooking the Severn River and cathedral in Worcester.

It takes place on Saturday 8^th October as part of a weekend of events to celebrate the anniversary which include a two-day conference and the presentation for the National Awards for Pastoral Care in Education 2022.

The event is open to members and non-members.

Availability is limited and you are advised to reserve your ticket early to avoid disappointment.

Tickets can be reserved by visiting https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/napce-40th-anniversary-dinner-tickets-299335118397

The programme for the evening is,

7-00pm Guests Arrive – Prosecco Welcome Reception.
7-30pm Three Course Anniversary Dinner.

Dinner menu

Starter
Cream of Leek, Potato and Watercress Soup, Croutons (V) (GF)
Main course
Roasted Chicken Supreme, Gratin Potato, and Red Wine Gravy (GF
Dessert
White Chocolate and Raspberry Cheesecake (V)

Vegetarian/Vegan Gluten Free option

Starter
Leek, Sweet Potato and Spinach Soup (GF)
Main course
Butternut Squash, Sweet Potato and Roasted Red Peppers, Parsley and Dill Sauce with Tender Stem Broccoli (GF)
Dessert
White Chocolate and Raspberry Cheesecake (V)

Please advise in advance of the evening if you would prefer the vegetarian option or if you have any additional dietary requirements.

8-30pm After Dinner Speaker – Les Walton CBE

Les as he explains in his recently published book ’Education the Rock and Roll Years. A Northern Perspective on A lifetime of learning Teaching and Leading’, was one of the leading educationalists involved in the forming of NAPCE in 1982.

As the title of the book suggests, Les has a wide experience of education in recent history that he will share with guests at the dinner.

9-30 pm Pay bar available until 11-00 pm to meet old friends and make new friends. Please note this is a cashless venue.

The cost of the Anniversary Dinner is £35.00 for full members of NAPCE, £40.00 for Associate members and £45.00 for non- members.

Please dress to impress.

Please note that tickets will not be refunded unless the event is cancelled by the Association for reasons beyond its control when a full refund will be made.

There are direct train services from London to Worcester Foregate Station which is a ten-minute walk or short taxi ride from the venue.

Cross country trains call at the new Worcestershire Parkway, which has connections to Foregate Street. There is parking available at the venue and at public car parks nearby.

The venue has a Premier Inn Hotel on the site and there is a good choice of other options for accommodation in the city of Worcester.

Please book your tickets early to ensure that you do not miss this important event in NAPCE’s history to celebrate the contribution it has made to education in the last 40 years.

If you have any questions about the event, please contact NAPCE administration at admin@napce.co.uk

40th ANNIVERSARY: Weekend Conference Details Released to Mark Four Decades of NAPCE

We are very proud to reveal details of the weekend conference to mark NAPCE’s 40th Anniversary in October.

Further details are being added in the coming weeks.

Dates for the Diary

The 40^th Anniversary Conference and Events Weekend – October 2022

Venue
Worcestershire County Cricket Club
County Ground
New Road
Worcester
WR2 4QQ

Friday 7^th October

Conference Day One

‘Is There a Need for a New Direction for Pastoral Care in Education’? – Research and Policy making.

Confirmed Speakers

Dr Noel Purdy – Director of Research and Scholarship at Stranmillis University College, Belfast, and Deputy Editor of ‘Pastoral Care in Education’
Maria O Neil – Educationalist and author of ‘Proactive Pastoral Care’
Professor Helen Cowie – University of Surrey

Invited and waiting for confirmation

The Rt Hon Nadim Zahawi, Secretary of State for Education
Ofsted
Full programme and other speakers to be confirmed

Saturday 8^th October

Conference Day Two

‘Is There a Need for a New Direction for Pastoral Care in Education’? – Good Practice.
Daniel Sobel – Educationalist, author and founder and CEO of Inclusion Expert
Ron Skelton – Headteacher and CEO of Broadway School, Perry Barr, Birmingham
Dr Helen O Connor – Psychologist at St Swithun’s School in Winchester
Invited and to be confirmed
Mrs Heather Hansbury, President, Girls School Association

Workshops include:

Jill Robson – NAPCE National Secretary – Effective PSHE

Full programme and other speakers to be confirmed

Tickets: https://napce2022.eventbrite.co.uk/

Reduced price tickets will be available for NAPCE members, and a reduced-price ticket will be available for both days of the conference.

Other Events planned for the Anniversary weekend in Worcester include

Friday 7^th October 7-00pm
Presentation Event for the National Awards for Pastoral Care in Education

AWARDS: Entry for the NAPCE Awards 2022 Closes on May 30th

There is just over one month left to enter the National Awards for Pastoral Care in Education 2022 organised by NAPCE.

The third annual NAPCE awards takes place in our 40^thanniversary year for the Association and we are inviting everybody with a pastoral role or an interest in how pastoral care in education can support children and young people to achieve their full potential.

The closing date for nominations is 30^th May 2022 and the judges will then have the difficult task of deciding who the finalists and winners will be in each category.

We are looking for the people, teams and organisations that make a real difference in the learning experience of children and young people and want to recognise their achievements and celebrate their good practice.

The categories for the awards this year 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.

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

International Contribution to Pastoral Care
An 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.

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.

The maximum number of words to support a nomination is being increased from 100 words to 300 words this year so there will be every opportunity to describe the good practice and the impact it is making.

Nominations can be made for excellent contributions to research, for raising awareness and for good practice in pastoral care in education from the 2021 -2022 academic year. The sponsors and panel of judges will be announced shortly.

A grand live presentation event is planned for the anniversary year in the autumn to announce the winners.

All finalists will receive a certificate form NAPCE to recognise their achievements and winners will receive a plaque and a £100.00 cash prize.

Make sure your good practice is recognised by making a nomination today.

To make a nomination for the 2022 National Awards for Pastoral Care in Education organised by NAPCE go to https://napceawards.wufoo.com/forms/napce-awards-2022-entry-form/

NAPCE News – August 2021

Making a positive difference to young people through pastoral care

FEATURE ARTICLE: NAPCE’s Dr Julianne Brown explores pastoral leadership in schools as approach”Normality”

Pastoral leadership in schools, new challenges, new perspectives, new leaders?

There is much talk and hope about a “return to normal” in education for the new school year.

A brief look at the word ‘normal’ in the Oxford Dictionary online suggests ‘normal’ as “typical, usual, or ordinary; what you would expect”.

In a global pandemic, there is no ‘typical, usual or ordinary’.

As we progress through the pandemania of COVID 19, the only certainty is uncertainty.

In this article I take a look at senior pastoral leadership in schools and question the idea of whether we can, or even should, attempt a return to what was ‘normal’ in our education systems.

Effective leadership in pastoral care in schools has never been more vital. Could we use this unprecedented time to reflect on old practices and reimagine pastoral care in education?

A search for wellbeing and/or pastoral care roles in the Times Educational Supplement, or the Education job sector of The Guardian reveals the welcome variety of new positions being offered in schools. Many positions are assistant or middle leadership roles.

But what about the senior leadership level?

On the rare occasions that a pastoral position in the senior leadership team is advertised, the essential criteria for the post will often specify qualified teacher status (QTS).

I would argue that strategic pastoral leadership requires a specific skill set that may or may not be found in a qualified teacher.

In these different times, is it conceivable that we can question these established practices and do things differently?

Let’s start by thinking about the upcoming school year and the new buzzword “catch-up”.

The effects of school closures, the absence of face-to-face teaching and the shift to online/ hybrid learning has negatively impacted the learning of many children and young people across the world (UNESCO et al 2021).

Calls to bridge the gap abound with some Government funding available for the most vulnerable students (UKGov 2021).

Possible solutions to make up for the ‘lost learning’ are the National Tutoring Programme in the UK, peer tutoring and summer schools.

How are we expected to cope with the pressures of this new ‘catch-up’ agenda in schools?

Demands for extra learning outside of the school day, during weekends and holidays and persistent reminders to fill the learning gaps will inevitably bring extra stresses and strains.

It is difficult to state the long-term effects of the last 18 months on the mental health and wellbeing of the school community but what we know at the moment is that many people are suffering.

The disruptive nature of the global pandemic has affected our personal, social and political lives and left many feeling vulnerable, isolated, confused and even fearful about what lies ahead, questioning how we understand the world and our place in it.

The COVID 19 pandemic has raised awareness of mental health issues and highlighted the importance of social and emotional wellbeing in schools. It has reinforced the inextricable link between our wellbeing and the possibilities for effective teaching and learning.

In the coming weeks, months and even years, it will be important not to lose sight of this when driving forward with the ‘catch-up’ agenda.

Indeed, the suggestion that students can ‘catch-up’ to a pre-Covid 19 learning trajectory may in itself be unrealistic.

On a more positive note, it is at these points in time, when our worlds have been shaken up, that new possibilities come into view.

This is a time for innovation and creativity as we begin to shape new ways of thinking about education and school as a social space.

It is a time to prioritise excellence in pastoral care, to strengthen our relationships and ensure safe, kind, caring, supportive environments for learning.

Excellence requires leadership, vision and compassion. In these unprecedented times we need senior pastoral leaders, with a strategic capability, who have a deep understanding of the wellbeing/learning space, who are able to challenge entrenched views and open dialogue as a platform to new ways of being.

Here, I ask that we take a minute to reflect on Senior Leadership in pastoral care.

What is the job profile of the Senior Leader in Pastoral Care? Of course, this is not an exhaustive list, but I offer it to encourage a process of reflection and discussion:

The Senior Pastoral Leader:

Develops a whole school approach – pastoral care is not an outlier, a separate element of the school. Much like health and safety at work, pastoral care is everyone’s responsibility. Pastoral care underpins effective learning, but it sits alongside policy and practice, and needs to be embedded in every decision, at every level, along the way.
Is language aware! An example could be the “catch-up” agenda, the “lost school time”. Think of how it might feel, to a child who may already be struggling, to constantly hear that you have ‘gaps’ in your learning and that you have to work harder to catch up, otherwise….! Pastoral leaders need to model the language of support and encouragement.
Understands that teacher wellbeing is a critical factor for effective teaching and learning. The Teacher Wellbeing Index 2018 (ESP 2018) stated that 67% of teachers described themselves as stressed (80% of Senior Leaders). This was pre-COVID. Teachers and staff are a critical resource in schools and teacher wellbeing has been shown to affect the quality of their teaching and learning. Therefore, prioritising staff wellbeing is an essential component of senior leadership (TES, 2020). Who can manage these competing goals in favour of wellbeing?
Cares for those who care. At a conference I organised at our school for professionals working in pastoral care, one of the reoccurring points was the stress of ‘caring’. COVID 19 has made its own particular demands on our health and welfare services. The pastoral leader takes time to listen, takes action to remove unnecessary barriers to effective working practices, gives praise and is inclusive.
Makes time for professional development in the area of mental health and wellbeing for all staff e.g. how to recognise potential and actual problems; referral pathways; coping strategies; how to proactively promote student wellbeing in the classroom. Doesn’t assume that people naturally know how to promote wellbeing.
Ensures support systems are transparent, easily accessible and available for staff and students
Doesn’t shy away from asking the difficult questions

The senior pastoral leader requires a comprehensive understanding of teaching and learning in schools as well as in-depth knowledge of the field of mental health and wellbeing.

They demonstrate empathy, kindness and compassion in their relationships with others. They listen actively to foster personal and professional relationships.

This is the basis for excellence in pastoral care.

I welcome your thoughts.

Dr Julianne Brown
NAPCE Officer

References:
Education Support (2021)Teacher burnout: help & support. https://www.educationsupport.org.uk/teacher-burnout-help-support (accessed 10.08.2021)

TES, 2020: Staff Wellbeing Report: October 2020

UKGov (4.2021) : Education, universities and childcare during coronavirus: Guidance Catch-up premium: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/catch-up-premium-coronavirus-covid-19/catch-up-premium (accessed 11.08.2021)

UNESCO, UNICEF, The World Bank and OECD, (2021) : What’s Next? Lessons On Education Recovery: Findings From A Survey Of Ministries Of Education Amid The Covid-19 Pandemic

REPORT: “From the Chair” with NAPCE Chief Phil Jones

From the Chair by Phil Jones

I am sure that this year the summer break will be very welcome, and more important than ever before, to everybody working in pastoral roles in education.

I remember the summer holidays in three different stages.

The first two weeks was recovery time where I realised that there was more to life than coping with the latest demands being made on educational professionals.

The middle two weeks were a time for reading and thinking positively about opportunities to develop new ideas and implement improvements for the benefit of the learners in our care.

In the final two weeks I tended to spend the time convincing myself that this year would be better than the last and counting the days down to when life would become hectic again and feeling a little frustrated that time would once again be rationed for family, friends, and myself.

I always had mixed feelings about the first day back at work.

I was not keen about having to get up at a certain time and having my time during the day organised for me, but it was also good to meet colleagues and students again and make a difference for learners with new energy and motivation.

This highlights why the summer break is so important for professionals working in education, to be able to recharge yourself both physically and mentally in preparation for new challenges and opportunities.

It is also a reminder of how important it is to look after your physical health and mental health with a sensible work/life balance during the academic year.

The new academic year is a fresh start and an opportunity to focus on what really matters in your role and to reflect on how you can make a positive contribution to improve the learning experience and life chances of the children and young people in your care.

Planning and setting goals in September creates the motivation and inspiration to keep going when you face the challenges that are part of every academic year and will remind you later in the year about what your priorities are despite what other demands are made for your time and attention.

My summer reading included the book, ‘Successful conversations in school’ by Sonia Gill.

In the book she describes a process of group development from Bruce Tuckman.

Forming – where the groups from and expectations are explored
Storming – where boundaries and expectations are challenged
Norming – where there is some agreement about what is expected and the boundaries
Performing – where the agreed norms and boundaries mean that positive work can take place.

This can be applied to my experience of the school year.

In September there is a motivation to explore better ways of working and new ideas and initiatives.

As a headteacher I can remember in the first few weeks of the academic year how colleagues would come and tell me how well their classes were doing.

Then comes the storming period which in my experience takes place around November with the weather deteriorating and the added distractions for people working with children and young people of Halloween, bonfire night and the darker evenings with the clocks going back.

During this period my experience as a headteacher was of colleagues coming me to tell me how impossible it is to work with my children.

This is the time when expectations and boundaries are being challenged as learners and adults explore what the norms will be.

Sonia Gill describes this as a positive process where if issues are examined and discussed a positive working culture can be developed.

The time spent on resolving disagreements leads to the norming period where there is an acceptance of the boundaries and although it is the nature of young people to keep testing them there is a shared view of what is expected.

In my experience this does not really start to appear until the second term, so it is important to understand that the challenge and questioning of rules and boundaries is a normal process that we must work through.

Eventually the reward for all the effort invested in the process comes with the performing stage when there is some shared sense of purpose of what we are working towards.

It is frustrating that with many students they seem to arrive at this point just as they are about to leave the school and the adults are left wondering why we couldn’t get to this way of working earlier, without all the effort being spent on resolving conflicts and reinforcing expectations.

Resolving conflicts and establishing a positive learning culture will always be part of the work of staff in pastoral roles in schools.

This was especially true in the last academic year because of the additional challenges form the pandemic.

Reading the nominations for the 2021 National Awards for Pastoral Care in Education it was clear what inspirational work is taking place in pastoral care.

It was great to see that nominations were being made from all parts of the UK and some from other countries across the world and from many different schools and educational organisations.

There were so many brilliant examples of good practice and innovations to respond to challenges and provide excellent pastoral care and support for learners.

It has also become clear how vital this work is for supporting the socialisation of children and young people to enable them to become positive members of society.

NAPCE is pleased to have this opportunity to share the good practice by organising the annual awards and to contribute to inspiring professionals to find effective responses to new challenges and to make a real difference in the future life chances of learners.

The winners in the eight categories will be announced at a Presentation event that takes place at 7-00pm on Thursday 23^rd September.

Once again because of the uncertainty about restrictions for the pandemic it will be an online event.

We hope that once again colleagues will make an evening of the event and join with NAPCE, to celebrate the achievements of everybody who was nominated and to congratulate the winners.

There are a limited number of tickets for the event and they can be reserved by visiting Eventbrite.

There is no limit to how many people can join a link to be part of the event so why not arrange to dress up for the evening and organise the celebratory drinks!

Tickets for the presentation Event are free and to reserve your place and for more details please follow the link:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/presentation-for-the-2021-national-awards-for-pastoral-care-in-education-tickets-165522423023?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=listing&utm-source=cp&aff=escb

The national awards are an important reminder of the excellent work that is being done in pastoral care to support young people to achieve their full potential from their education despite the difficulties and challenges that we face every day.

The increased interest in the work of NAPCE, demonstrates what a positive impact effective pastoral care can have in supporting learners and improving their future life chances.

NAPCE followers on social media have increased, there is more contact with the Association from people who share our interests in pastoral care and the number of memberships of the Association which includes a subscription to the respected international academic journal, ‘Pastoral Care in Education’ is increasing.

NAPCE is looking forward to our 40^th anniversary year in 2022.

The Association has been supporting pastoral care in education and sharing good practice for 40 years and the passion to continue making a positive contribution to the learning experience of learners and their preparation for their future lives is as strong as it has ever been.

The National Executive Committee are planning events and activities to celebrate the anniversary, and these include the publication of a new book about pastoral care by Cambridge Scholars and a Conference where we hope to once again be able to meet each other in person.

For the latest news and information about NAPCE please visit the website napce.org.uk and follow NAPCE on social media. (TWITTER @NAPCE1). For information about membership or anything else please contact us by email on admin@napce.org.uk

NAPCE is looking forward to working with our members and supporters in the new academic year, to continue making a positive contribution to supporting children and young people to enable them to achieve success in their education and future lives.

All my best wishes
Phil Jones
National Chair
NAPCE

ARTICLE: “Supporting students to take control of leaked explicit images” published on schoolsweek.co.uk

NAPCE was created almost 40 years ago and we’ve been at the heart of pastoral care development for that time.

From as far back as the 1980s we’ve been sharing great practice and actively engaging in matters of the day affecting the wellbeing of young people in education.

Once upon a time we flicked through the newspapers on a daily basis to stay abreast of reported developments across education but more recently we have been sharing links to articles published online which relate to the wellbeing of young people.

These are matters that people working in pastoral care roles or associated positions in schools should be aware of.

In this edition of NAPCE News, we are keen to share an article published on the Schools Week website on 17th August, 2021.

The article is written by Suzanne Houghton and it is this month’s recommended read.

Read it here: https://schoolsweek.co.uk/supporting-students-to-take-control-of-leaked-explicit-images/

NAPCE News – July 2021

Making a positive difference to young people through pastoral care

FEATURE ARTICLE: Summer Sun & Self Discovery by NAPCE Officer Victoria Bownes

Summer Sun & Self Discovery by Victoria Bownes

As we unlock fully from lockdown take the time to capture the opportunities around you and develop your skill set all the more.

Self-discovery has been a drive for many with the year that has passed.

Developing new ways of learning has been a huge challenge and pressure for many.

Growing as professionals in education or indeed being a committed student and preparing for milestones and new phases of their own educational journey has placed a burden on working longer hours, having greater screen time and fundamentally missing the chance to interact fully with one another.

Adaptations have been made by thousands of students across the world to be more effective remote learners.

By instilling greater organisation skills and running a busy working day from home has been the biggest change for many over the past academic year or so.

For learners to be achieving fully pastoral leaders have continually needed to guide and inspire students to navigate their way through learning and striking a balance of being prepared for assessments and online presentations.

At NAPCE we have been continually supporting our followers with new interventions and ideas as to how to spend their time during lockdown and we have provided Pastoral Leaders across the country with inspiration as to how to support pupils during these unprecedented times.

It is therefore equally as important to share our vision for the unlocking of lockdown in the final phase which the country has been waiting for in great anticipation.

Now is the time for all communities of any profession to step foot into the summer ahead with tremendous excitement to rediscover their hidden talents.

The social interaction is of tremendous importance and all that it brings to people of all ages is to be cherished and made pivotal in the move to engage fully with others once again.

As we are all fully aware children of a young age strive forwards quickly with positive social interaction.

It is indeed equally as important for Primary and Secondary School aged pupils to capture this summer ahead and make the most of the opportunities of holiday clubs and recreational activities to compliment the program of hard studying which has been the focus for many over recent months.

Pastoral care is all around us and the small encouragement that one can give to the next person is so vital as we all look to rebuild our lives fully and interact even more with each other in the future.

So do encourage people around you to utilise their free time and build their skills set.

By doing so, it is indeed these hobbies and interests which will help many to grow in confidence as they immerge in new places, universities and colleges across the country and build new positive relationships in the months ahead.

Building self-esteem and maintaining positivity is the best mindset to be an effective learner.

Take the time to build your own portfolio of skills and enjoy the journey of rediscovering your own abilities, talents and strengths.

Victoria Bownes
NAPCE Officer

#Encourageotherstodevelopthierskills #Developinghobbies #ArtDesignSportMusic&Drama #Enjoythegreatoutdoors #Newchapters&goalsetting #Growthmindest #PastoralCare2021

REPORT: NAPCE Annual National Conference 2021 – Does Every Child Still Matter?

In July NAPCE organised its first online national conference over three days.

There were presentations on the first day on different pastoral care topics, a Question Time panel on the second day and more presentations on the final day.

It was an excellent opportunity to reflect on the current challenges facing pastoral care and to share ideas on how to respond to these challenges in the future.

The conference brought together experts in pastoral care and delegates with an interest in pastoral care in educations from different parts of the United Kingdom and using the power of the internet form around the world.

Recordings of all presentations and the Question Time from the three days of the conference are available on ‘catch up’ by following this link to the NAPCE website
https://www.napce.org.uk/napce-conference-2021-watch-a-replay-here/

This is a sample of some of the brilliant feedback sent to NAPCE following the conference.

“Thank you for the brilliant presentations last
week. It was a very amazing and thought-provoking conference”
“Thank you NAPCE for organising the brilliant conference ‘Does Every Child Matter? A New Approach to Education’, I enjoyed all the speakers and found it to be very motivating and inspiring”
“I really enjoyed the conference; The whole conference was excellent. Well done on organising such a good event online”
“Congratulations, on a very successful event”
“Thank you for the conference. It actually gave me a new insight into my own teenager”
“Thank you to all the speakers. You have really hit the nail on the head in so many ways. Extremely useful; and given me lots to think about”
“Thank you NAPCE and everybody involved in contributing to the conference. The speakers were positive and inspiring”
“The Question Time was a brilliant opportunity to listen to different views about issues that are important to schools and educationalists”
“Thank you to everyone on the Question Time panel and in the audience for your thought-provoking conversations. The Question Time was an excellent discussion with lots of diverse ideas”
“Absolutely brilliant! Just what I need at the moment. Lots to think about as I start planning for the return to school in September for staff and students. Thank you”
“Thank you for such wonderful presentations from all the presenters. Clear and interesting talks. Well done”
“Thank you so much for everybody’s time and contributions. I am a Scottish NQT and appreciate seminars such as this trying to soak up as much info and preparation as possible before I dive into teaching full time in August”

The Conference opened on the afternoon with a presentation from, Dr Kaitlyn Mendes, from, Leicester University and Dr Tanya Horeck, from Anglia Ruskin University, on the important topic of Combatting Online Sexual Harassment – Why we need RSE More Than Ever.

The presentation provided information on an issue that is very current and made delegates aware of the implications for all schools.

It was clear that this is not something that schools can respond to just with new policies, but a change is needed in school cultures and the pastoral care that is provided.

Free training for teachers is available in the new academic year for sex and relationship education by contacting The School of Sexuality Education at info@schoolofsexed.org

The next Presentation was from Lee Pritchard, Head of UK Development, The Thrive Approach, who are partners of NAPCE and one of the sponsors of the National Awards for Pastoral Care in Education, organised by NAPCE.

Lee’s interesting presentation explained more about resilience and why it is so important. Lee explored how our brains and bodies work together (or not); what we can do to build our own robust self-regulation systems and then help the children and young people we work with to do the same; and how this will ensure that they are then in a much better place to access learning and thrive!

The presentation highlighted the importance of a whole school approach to supporting learners to achieve their full potential.

It encouraged delegates to reflect on what effective pastoral care should look like in the 21^st century.

The final presentation on the first day was from Connor Acton who is a pastoral leader and teacher in Leicester and a member of NAPCE’s National Executive Committee.

Connor’s presentation considered what we have learned from the tests, trials and tribulations brought about by COVID-19 and how they will impact on Pastoral Care as we move into the future.

It discussed the challenges we may face in the future and how we can take the lessons learned and ensure that Pastoral Care in our schools is effective.

Connor gave a positive report on how attitudes to learning have improved as learners have returned to school and the challenge is how to sustain this improvement.

It encouraged teachers to reflect on how pastoral systems can support learners to develop positive relationships and the implications for staff training in the future to ensure that staff develop understanding and empathy for learners.

On the Thursday evening it was Question Time with a panel of guest experts to answer questions and share ideas with delegates in the audience.

In the Chair was Phil Jones Chair of NAPCE and on the panel were Assistant Professor Mark Diacopoulos, Pittsburg State University USA, Nigel Patrick Murray MBE, a retired British Paralympic athlete, Daniel Sobel, author and the founder and Lead Consultant of Inclusion Expert, Dr Noel Purdy, Director of Research and Scholarship at Stranmillis University College, Belfast, and deputy editor of NAPCE’s academic Journal, ’Pastoral Care in Education’, Margaret Mulholland, the Inclusion Policy Advisor for the Association of School and College leaders (ASCL), and Michelle de Middelaer, an experienced educational consultant for ‘Learning through Leadership’.

The first question was “Is it more important to change how schools are organised or how young people learn?”

This led to an interesting discussion about the future of schools with views shared by members of the panel and in the audience.

One suggestion was that Covid-19 could be seen as the ‘wrecking ball’ for education which provides an opportunity to think about what schools should be about and why we need schools in the 21^st century.

It was recognised that covid had highlighted just how much work schools do in supporting the educational progress and personal development of young people.

The increased focus on pastoral care that this had encouraged was an opportunity.

A question about mobile telephones in schools which had been raised in one of the presentations on the first day of the conference raised some issues to be considered in planning and delivering pastoral care and support in schools.

There were different views in response to the questions with some suggestions that schools would want to control anything that was seen as a risk to learning with others commenting that schools needed to teach learners how to use technology safely.

The discussions raised awareness that staff working in school will not fully understand the experience that children and young people have had in the last 18 months and that empathy is important for all adults who are going to be working with children and young people in the future.

The first presentation of the final morning of the conference was from Helen Peter.

Helen Peter is a teacher, trainer, published writer and author, and inspirational presenter.

She has worked in over 400 schools and organisations, in all phases, training staff in pastoral care, circle time and mental and emotional health.

She is the author of “Making the Most of Tutor Time”.

Helen shared her considerable experience with delegates including ideas for building sound relationships using techniques, activities, and games to engage them.

She provided some excellent practical advice for example on the importance of body language and tone and not just what is said by teachers and adults working with children and young people.

The presentation raised some interesting questions about how online learning has changed learners’ perceptions about their learning experience.

The next presenter was Maria O, Neil who is an experienced pastoral leader, researcher, and advanced skills teacher.

Maria is the founder of Pastoral Support UK and currently works as a pastoral leader in a school as well as various key roles to provide sustainable pastoral training and raise the profile of pastoral leadership nationwide.

Maria has worked as a partner of NAPCE to organise pastoral conferences in the past.

In the autumn term Maria will start a new challenge as a Deputy Headteacher in a school in London.

Maria used the ideas and research from her book published in April 2021, ‘Proactive Pastoral Care.

Nurturing happy, healthy, and successful learners.’

The presentation explained why there is a need for a proactive approach to pastoral care in schools.

It will explore how pastoral care in schools can empower students to make healthy life choices, take care of their wellbeing and reach their full potential in school and beyond.

It was clear from Maria’s presentation how her values and beliefs motivate and guide her in her pastoral work.

She started by explaining challenges that she has had as a mother, and this was a reminder for delegates that we are all humans and the people we work with in pastoral care are all humans.

It was clear from the presentation that as professionals we do not know yet what challenges we will have to face in the future in supporting learners.

The conference was ended with the final presentation from Phil Jones the National Chair of NAPCE.

Phil has many years of experience in leadership roles in schools and as a school governor and now works as an educational consultant specialising in pastoral care, support for learners and leadership.

The presentation explored the opportunities and challenges schools will face after the pandemic to engage children and young people in education.

Phil encouraged delegates to reflect on the need to rethink how education meets the needs of children and young people and supports them to achieve their full potential from their learning and prepare them for their future lives in society.

The pandemic has prevented children and young people from experiencing the learning opportunities and activities that support their socialisation.

Using evidence from recent research he suggested that schools will need to consider how to support young people in their personal development and to overcome barriers caused by poor mental health and well-being for some time after there is a return to something like normality following the pandemic.

The presentation highlighted how the experience of the pandemic could be seen as an opportunity to consider what is relevant in a learning experience for children and young people living in the 21^st century and adapt policy and practice to meet their needs.

To share any thoughts or ideas about the topics explored and the ideas shared in the conference please search #NapceCon21 on Twitter.

AWARDS: Finalists for the Second National Awards for Pastoral Care in Education Announced

The finalists of the second National Awards For Pastoral Care In Education have been revealed.

Deserving nominees have been selected in each of the eight categories by an independent panel of judges made up educational experts.

The standard of entry was extremely high this year once again, according to NAPCE Chair Phil jones, who sits on the Panel.

The Awards was launched by NAPCE in 2019 and is the first UK-wide scheme to recognise outstanding achievements across pastoral care in education settings.

A host of impressive organisations have lined up to support the National Awards For Pastoral Care In Education by sponsoring categories including Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), Blue Sky Education, The Thrive Approach, Taylor and Francis , Inclusion Expert and Hult International Business School.

The event was created 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 large range of fantastic entries for the National Awards For Pastoral Care In Education and the event is continuing to build spectacularly.

“Thank you once again to all of fantastic sponsors who returned to support the Awards again this year and to our newest supporters who came onboard for the first time.

“Huge congratulations to the finalists in each category, the standard of entry was sky high and getting to the finals is a great achievement in itself.

“Best of luck for the big presentation event later in the year, we will be revealing whether that will take place in person or online again soon.”

The Finalists

Pastoral School of The Year – Sponsored by Blue Sky Education

(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)

Royal School Dungannon, Dugannon, Northern Ireland

Oakfield School, Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire

The Children’s Hospital School, Leicester

Limavady High School, Limavady, Northern Ireland

School for Inspiring Talents, Newton Abbott, Devon

Pastoral Team of the Year – Sponsored by The Thrive Approach

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

The Grove Pastoral Team, The Grove School, Tottenham, London

All Saints C of E Primary School, Wigston, Leicestershire

Limavady High School , Limavady, Northern Ireland

Nidderdale High School, Pateley Bridge, North Yorkshire

Buxton Community School, Buxton, Derbyshire

Pastoral Member of Staff of the Year – Sponsored by Inclusion Expert

(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)

Zoe Knight, Westfield Infant School, Hinckley, Leicestershire

Julie McCartney, Limavady High School, Limavady, Northern Ireland

Dawn Sadler, Learning Mentor at Moulton Primary School, Moulton, Northamptonshire

Dr Helen O’Connor, St. Swithun’s School, Winchester, Hampshire

Mrs Shanie Thorpe, Bishop Challoner School, Basingstoke, Hampshire

Pastoral Leader Of The Year – Sponsored by Taylor and Francis

(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)

Miss Laura Fisher, Limavady High School, Limavady, Northern Ireland

Helen Burton (Deputy Headteacher) Belmont Community School, Belmont Durham

Luke Ramsden, Senior Deputy Head, St Benedict’s School, Ealing

Micki Handford, The Children’s Hospital School, Leicester

Alison Simpson, Cobden Primary School, Loughborough, Leicestershire

Pastoral Development of the Year – Sponsored by NAPCE

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

TRT (Trauma Recovery & Training) Student Support and mentoring Intervention Programme

St. Swithun’s School, Winchester, Hampshire – Positive Education Curriculum

Jenny Kay, Nidderdale High School, Pateley Bridge, North Yorkshire – Flourish Personal Development Programme

The Children’s Hospital School, Leicester – The Thrive Programme

Buxton & Leek College, Leek, Staffordshire – My team (Learner Journey Team), BLC INVEST

Outstanding Contribution to Pastoral Care – Sponsored by NAPCE

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

Jan Ashton, Nidderdale High School, Pateley Bridge, North Yorkshire

Sarah Cockerline, Oakfield School, Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire

Nicola Wright, Nidderdale High School, Pateley Bridge, North Yorkshire

Claire Gibbs, Ridgeway Secondary School, Redditch, Worcestershire

AchieveNI, Belfast, Northern Ireland

International Contribution to Pastoral Care – Sponsor The Hult International Business School

(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)

Bromsgrove International School, Thailand

Stephany Herzog, International School of Zug and Luzern

Child1st Consultancy Limited

Raising Awareness About Pastoral Care – Sponsored by Association of School and College Leaders

(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)

The results of this category will be announced at the Presentation Event later this year, details of this will be announced shortly.

There will 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.

SURVEY: Invitation to Take Part in Survey on Sexual Violence in Education

Invitation to Schools to Participate in an Important Survey on Sexual Violence in Education

Dr Kaitlyn Mendes and Dr Tanya Horeck made an important presentation at the NAPCE online July conference about combatting online sexual harassment and why we need RSE more than ever.

They are now inviting teachers in schools to contribute to their important research by completing a survey to develop a better understanding of sexual violence in schools.

This can be sent to any teacher to complete.

The survey won’t take more than 7 minutes to complete and will really help with the research.

Follow us on Twitter @napce1 where we’ll be sharing a link to the survey soon.

Dr Kaitlynn Mendes is Professor of Gender, Media and Sociology at the University of Leicester, UK. Tanya Horeck is an Associate Professor in Film, Media & Culture at Anglia Ruskin University in the UK.

NAPCE News – June 2021

Making a positive difference to young people through pastoral care

FEATURE ARTICLE: “Will Pastoral Care Mean Business as Usual? by NAPCE’s Journal Editor Professor Stan Tucker

Will Pastoral Care Mean Business as Usual? by Stan Tucker

Recently I have been busy thinking about the possible content of a new book I am involved in producing.

The provisional title for the book is: ‘Pastoral Care in Education – Time for Change?’.

As part of my contribution to the book, I want to consider whether, following the return of children and young people to their respective schools and colleges, the practice of pastoral care is in a transitional state. Or is it in fact ‘business as usual’?

The impetus for my questioning of current pastoral care practices is centred around some of my recent published research, where I argued that we need to develop a deeper understanding of terms such as ‘vulnerability‘ and ‘risk’ (Trotman and Tucker, 2018).

Why then might such an examination of pastoral care practices prove to be important?

Well, one of the massive pressures impacting on schools and colleges is directly concerned with their perceived effectiveness to respond to government policies and guidance.

However, a scarcity of resources often means that pastoral practices are severely restricted to meeting ‘safeguarding’ requirements.

Yet, following on from their COVID-19-related experiences and the consequences of ‘lock down’, many children and young people are returning to education feeling confused, lost, isolated and disengaged. While at the same time the need for catch-up tutoring and an extended school day are the main plasters being applied to what in fact may be gaping wounds!

Of course I recognise that the availability of resources will, to a significant degree, determine the kind of work that is undertaken in the name of pastoral care.

Yet at the same time, while previously those who were seen as the most vulnerable and ‘at risk’ where often defined also by matters of class, ethnic, disability etc., it seems to me at least that we are now faced with issues, problems and dilemmas that do not sit easily within such narrow definitional boundaries.

If, as I believe, times have changed for all children and young people, then we have to reflect on how those changed circumstances are to be effectively responded to.

Professor Stan Tucker
Editor, Pastoral Care in Education

Reference

Trotman, D. and Tucker, S. (2018) ‘Multi-agency Working and Pastoral Care in Behavioural Management: Discourse, Policy and Practice’, in Deakin, J., Taylor, E. and Kupchik, A. The Palgrave International Handbook of School Discipline, Surveillance and Social Control. Palgrave Macmillan: Switzerland.

CONFERENCE: An Update on NAPCE Annual National Conference 2021 – Does Every Child Still Matter?

Annual National Conference – Does Every Child Still Matter? – A New Approach to Education

Tickets for this important online conference being organised by NAPCE in July are being reserved and it is good to see so much interest in what will be an interesting and stimulating event. It takes place over three days on Wednesday 7^th, Thursday 8^th and Friday 9^th July.

On the Wednesday and Friday there will be presentations from leading experts in pastoral care.

On the Thursday evening an invited panel of educational experts will answer questions about the challenges and opportunities for education following the global pandemic.

To register for tickets, go to https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/does-every-child-still-matter-a-new-approach-to-education-tickets-146551434285?aff=ebdsoporgprofile

Tickets for this conference are FREE but delegates are encouraged to register early to avoid disappointment. The conference will explore if it is time to revisit the ‘every child matters’ agenda as a starting point to reset thinking about education.

CONFERENCE PROGRAMME

Wednesday 7^th July
2-00pm Welcome to the Conference – Phil Jones Chair of NAPCE.
2-10pm Presentation One Combatting Online Sexual Harassment – Why we need RSE More Than Ever – Professor Kaitlyn Mendes, Leicester University.
2-45pm Presentation Two – Promoting Social and Emotional Well-Being. The Thrive Approach
3-20pm Presentation Three Pastoral Care post COVID – Connor Acton.
3-55pm Close – Phil Jones Chair of NAPCE.
Thursday 8^th July
7-00pm to 8-00pm NAPCE QUESTION TIME – The Challenges and Opportunities for Education Following the Experience of the Global Pandemic.
Chaired by Phil Jones – Chair of NAPCE.
On panel
Professor Stan Tucker – Editor of Pastoral Care in Education.
Margaret Mulholland – ASCL SEND and Inclusion Specialist.
Nigel Murray – Paralympic Gold Medalist.
Mark Diacopoulos, Assistant Professor, Pittsburg State University.
Daniel Sobel, Author and Founder of ‘Inclusion Expert’.
Other guests to be confirmed
Friday 9^th July
10-00am Welcome – Phil Jones Chair of NAPCE.
10-10am Presentation 4 Building Positive Relationships for Learning – Helen Peter.
10-45am Presentation 5 – Proactive Pastoral Care – Maria O’ Neill Founder UK Chat Care.
11-20am Presentation 6 Engaging Learners – Phil Jones Chair of NAPCE.
11-55am Close – Phil Jones Chair of NAPCE.

MORE DETAILS ABOUT THE PRESENTATIONS AND PRESENTERS

Presentation title – Pastoral Care Post COVID
Connor Acton

Details about presentation:
What have we learned from the tests, trials and tribulations brought about by COVID and how will they impact Pastoral Care as we move into the future? A discussion of the challenges we may face in the future and how we can take the lessons learned and ensure that Pastoral Care in our schools is effective.

Biography:
Connor is a Pastoral Leader and Teacher in a Leicester secondary school – he has held a variety of roles linked to pastoral care (including Head of Year, Assistant Head of Year and Mentor) in a variety of disadvantaged contexts. Connor is Chair of Trustees at Brookvale Groby Learning Campus, Chair of Trustees for the RSPCA in Leicestershire and sits on the National Executive Board for NAPCE.

Presentation title – Building Positive Relationships for Learning
Helen Peter

Details about presentation:
Helen will outline some ideas for building sound relationships within staff and student groups by using techniques, activities, and games to engage them.
She was a fan of SEAL and believes that Every Child does still matter!
“If we were meeting in person, I would ask for a class to come in to demonstrate a lesson, but as it is I will have to try on Zoom. I hope that everyone will go away energised, with at least one new idea to use next week”.

Biography:
Helen Peter is a teacher, trainer, published writer and author, and inspirational presenter.
She has worked in over 400 schools and organisations, in all phases, training staff in pastoral care, circle time and mental and emotional health.
She is the author of “Making the Most of Tutor Time” – Speechmark 2013- a whole school, practical handbook on emotional literacy and positive behaviour management, designed to promote emotional and social intelligence and positive mental health. The handbook guides tutors and teachers to develop their communication and social skills, to support students to resolve conflict and to build self-esteem, self-awareness, and self-management. She is also the co-author of “Circles, PSHE and Citizenship” for secondary teachers to guide them in setting up a pedagogy for emotional support via circle time. She has 40 years’ teaching experience and still retains the enthusiasm, energy, and vocation she had at the start of her career.

Presentation title – Combatting Online Sexual Harassment – Why we need RSE More Than Ever with Dr Kaitlyn Mendes, Amelia Jenkinson, Dr Tanya Horeck, Professor Jessica Ringrose.

Kaitlyn Mendes

Tanya Horeck

Amelia Jenkinson

Details about presentation:
The presentation will focus on why Relationship and Sexual Education is needed now more than ever. The recent events, including over 18K disclosures of sexual violence via the website and Instagram Account Everyone’s Invited has brought these issues to public attention. Although schools are understandably focused on ensuring pupils are caught up with the curriculum, we argue that schools must equally spend time ensuring young people’s physical, mental, and emotional well-being. We argue that RSE plays an important role here. In this talk, we will share findings from our research with British teens showcasing the high rates of sexual abuse and violence, often facilitated through digital devices, and the very low rates of reporting. We will also discuss the importance of having language that recognizes practices like sending or receiving unwanted nudes as a form of abuse. The talk will finish by outlining some resources, guidance, and policies we have co-created with the School of Sexuality Education, which can help schools navigate these challenging issues.

Biographies:
Amelia Jenkinson (she/her) is the CEO and co-founder of the School of Sexuality Education. School of Sex Ed is an award-winning charity which provides comprehensive and inclusive RSE workshops for UK schools and training for teachers. School of Sex Ed’s programme covers all topics, including consent, sexuality, porn, and pleasure. Our approach is LGBTQIA+ inclusive and evidence based.

Kaitlynn Mendes is Professor of Gender, Media and Sociology at the University of Leicester, UK. She is an expert on feminist activism, and has written over fifty publications around this topic, including the books SlutWalk: Feminism, Activism & Media (2015), and Digital Feminist Activism: Girls and Women Fight Back Against Rape Culture (2019, with Jessica Ringrose and Jessalynn Keller). She is currently leading two projects with young people in schools, exploring online gendered harms and risks, and how we can teach young people to safely navigate digital spaces and speak out about issues that matter to them.

Tanya Horeck is an Associate Professor in Film, Media & Culture at Anglia Ruskin University in the UK. She writes on binge-watching, celebrity culture, crime, internet memes, social justice, and social media, and is the author of Public Rape: Representing Violation in Fiction and Film and Justice on Demand: True Crime in the Digital Streaming Era. Her current research projects include an AHRC funded study on online sexual risks for young people during Covid-19, and a British Academy funded study on the rise of consent culture and intimacy coordination.

Presentation title – Promoting Social and Emotional Wellbeing.

Lee Prichard, Head of UK Development, The Thrive Approach

Details about presentation:

Why are some people able to bounce back from the everyday knocks life throws at us – while for others it can seem like the end of the world? Lee will explain more about what resilience is and why it is so important. She will explore how our brains and bodies work together (or not); what we can do to build our own robust self-regulation systems and then help the children and young people we work with to do the same; and how this will ensure that they are then in a much better place to access learning and thrive!

Biography

With over 20 years’ experience as a teacher with specific roles as SENCo, Leader for Learning and Foundation Phase Leader, Lee has also worked as a Behaviour Support Coordinator for a local authority. In 2014 Lee was part of the first cohort of Thrive Licensed Practitioners in Wales, achieving her Thrive Trainer license in 2016 prior to joining Thrive and helping others embed the Thrive Approach in their settings.

Presentation title – Proactive Pastoral Care by Maria O’ Neill

Details about presentation:

Maria will use the ideas and research from her book published in April 2021, Proactive Pastoral Care. Nurturing happy, healthy, and successful learners. The presentation will explain why there is a need for a proactive approach to pastoral care in schools. It will explore how pastoral care in schools can empower students to make healthy life choices, take care of their wellbeing and reach their full potential in school and beyond. The presentation will share essential information to enable teachers and leaders in schools to enhance their pastoral support to boost student progress and personal development. It will share practical research-based strategies and activities perfect for tutor time, assemblies and PSHE lessons.

Biography
Maria O’Neill is an experienced pastoral leader, researcher, and advanced skills teacher. She is the founder of Pastoral Support UK and currently works as a pastoral leader in a school as well as various key roles to provide sustainable pastoral training and raise the profile of pastoral leadership nationwide.

Presentation title – Engaging Learners with Phil Jones

Details about the presentation:
The presentation will explore the opportunities and challenges schools will face after the pandemic to engage children and young people in education. He will argue that the response to the pandemic needs to be more than simply providing learners with more English, Maths, and a focus on delivering the content in the curriculum. There is a need to rethink how education meets the needs of children and young people and supports them to achieve their full potential from their learning and prepares them for their future lives in society. The pandemic has prevented children and young people from experiencing the learning opportunities and activities that support their socialisation. Evidence is suggesting that schools will need to consider how to support young people in their personal development and to overcome barriers caused by poor mental health and well being for some time after there is a return to something like normality following the pandemic. This presentation will consider how professionals working in schools can respond positively to this challenge.

Biography

Phil has been an active member of NAPCE both regionally and nationally, since his first year in teaching in 1982. He is the current Chairperson of the National Executive Committee and a member of the Editorial Board for the Journal. Phil has written articles for publication on pastoral issues and is a peer reviewer for the Journal. His recent publications include guidance on effective pastoral support and developing social and emotional skills Phil retired from leadership roles in schools in 2017 and now works as an educational consultant supporting schools with developing pastoral support systems, leadership, and school improvement. His experience of leadership in secondary schools, includes roles as Deputy Headteacher and Headteacher. He has experience of supporting schools as a Specialist Leader of Education specialising in pastoral care, behaviour and improving attendance. He is an Educational Performance Coach and an experienced trainer.
He has been a governor in both primary and secondary schools for over thirty years.

QUESTION TIME PANEL

Assistant Professor Mark Diacopoulos. Pittsburg State University USA
Mark is an Assistant Professor of Teacher Education and Leadership at Pittsburg State University, KS. He researches diverse topics such as meaningful integration of social emotional learning into the curriculum, educational technology in social studies, social studies preservice education, teacher candidate dispositions, and the ever-evolving identities of teachers and educators. Mark has over 25 years’ experience – ten as a high school teacher in England, with rest earned the US as a social studies teacher, technology specialist, and teacher educator. He describes himself as a dad, Arsenal fan, sometime travel soccer coach, and semi-retired broken Aikidoka. Not necessarily in that order.

Nigel Patrick Murray MBE

Nigel Patrick Murray MBE is a retired British Paralympic athlete. He is a thirteen time English National Champion and seven time British Champion and multiple Paralympic medal winner in the sport of boccia, having competed at 5 Paralympic Games as well as numerous World and European Championships during his distinguished playing career.
Murray was born and lives in Leamington Spa. He won gold in the BC2 class during the 2000 Summer Paralympics in Sydney, Australia. Although he only reached the quarter finals in Athens four years later he followed this up with a silver medal in the same event, and a gold medal in the team event, during the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing.
After Beijing, Nigel continued to win numerous medals on the world stage before captaining the GB Boccia team at the London 2012 Paralympics, winning Bronze in the Team BC1–2 event in front of home family and friends at the Excel Arena.
Nigel retired from competitive Boccia after the 2016 Rio Paralympics after a career spanning 20 years and as the most successful British Boccia player of all time. On finishing his playing career Nigel returned to his former profession, that of supporting adults with physical and learning disability in the local community. Nigel is currently manager of a day service for people with disabilities in the Stratford-upon-Avon area.
Since his retirement, Nigel has continued to remain involved in the sport of Boccia, coaching and mentoring athletes at a national level, though it is still Nigel’s ambition to be one day involved with coaching at an international level.
Nigel was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to boccia.
Nigel’s other passions are musical theatre, as well as supporting his beloved Leeds United and Leamington Football Clubs who have caused him much heartache over the years!!!

Daniel Sobel

Daniel Sobel is the Founder and Lead Consultant of Inclusion Expert. An internationally respected leader in inclusive education, he has advised the Department for Education, the European Union, governments abroad and led various large scale initiatives involving thousands of schools. Daniel has an enormous following, particularly on LinkedIn and is a highly regarded and sought-after speaker for his thought provocative and often hilarious presentations and refreshingly original approach to Education and Inclusion Leadership. He is the author of several works, including The Pupil Premium Handbook and The SEN Code of Practice Pack. His best-selling books Narrowing the Attainment Gap, Leading on Pastoral Care are available now and The Inclusive Classroom just released in January 2021, all published by Bloomsbury Press. He has written over 50 articles in publications around the world, a series for the Guardian on Inclusive Schools and a regular column in the UK’s leading Principal’s periodical Headteacher Update. Under Daniel’s leadership, Inclusion Expert has grown into one of the country’s most respected education organisations, which has worked with over 10,000 schools in the UK and abroad and launched programs at the Houses of Parliament. His training has been used in more than 40 countries and translated into numerous languages. Daniel has a vision of a new era in Inclusion: beyond labels where we all share both a common humanity and a unique individuality.

Professor Stan Tucker

Stan is Emeritus Professor at Newman University in Birmingham. He is the Executive Editor of NAPCE’s academic journal ‘Pastoral care in education’. Stan has spent the last 8 years actively researching matters of inclusion, alienation, school structures and educational underachievement. He has interviewed more than 500 children and young people as well as local authority and school leaders, governors’, and pastoral support staff. He has undertaken consultancy work on behalf of local authorities and schools. His most recent publication along with Professor Dave Trotman, entitled ‘Youth Global Perspectives, Challenges and Issues of the 21^st Century’ was published in the United States in 2018. They are currently planning a new book that will focus on reforming current pastoral policies and practices. Stan is the current editor of the journal ‘Pastoral Care in Education’.

Margaret Mulholland

Margaret is the Inclusion Policy Advisor for the Association of School and College leaders (ASCL). ASCL represents 20,000 school leaders and acts on behalf of pupils in their schools. Her extensive teaching and leadership experience spans both mainstream and special schools. Margaret is an Honorary Norham Fellow of the University of Oxford. She also writes a column on research and inclusivity, for the Times Educational Supplement. A leading advocate for the role SEND settings play in improving understanding of inclusive teaching and learning, Margaret brings over 20 years’ experience in ITT innovation and practice. She spent seven years as Director of Development and Research at a leading special school and thirteen years at the Institute of Education, where she was responsible for innovative employment-based routes to QTS, PGCE secondary partnerships.
Margaret sits on the Universities’ Council for the Education of Teachers, is an advisor to the UK Government on ITT curriculum development and works with local authorities as an external advisor for NQTs, ITT and leadership development.

Don’t miss your opportunity to be part of this important educational event. Please send your questions for the Conference Question Time panel to admin@napce.org.uk. Visit the NAPCE page at Eventbrite to register and secure tickets for the free conference by following this link.

http://napceconference2021.eventbrite.co.uk?s=130218883

More updates about the conference will be included in future newsletters.

FESTIVAL: Tickets for International Festival of Inclusion Now Available and NAPCE is Offering an Exclusive 50% Discount

Tickets are available now for the International Festival of Inclusion which starts online on June 19th and NAPCE is proud to exclusively offer a 50% discount on the ticket price!

Both NAPCE Chair Phil Jones and Vice Chair Matt Silver will be speaking at the event which focuses on wellbeing, social, emotional and mental health and special needs across schools.

The Festival – which runs from June 19th-25th – takes place over 7 days, 70 countries and there will be 70+ talks and resources for delegates to benefit from.

Founder Inclusion expert Daniel Sobel said: “If you have anything to do with inclusion, then you won’t want to miss out on being part of this event. Join us, be part of the change.”

Tickets are priced at £100, but you can benefit from a 50% discount by entering a discount code which has been created especially for this edition of NAPCE News. Enter the code PROMO50621PJ

You can book tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ifip-international-festival-of-inclusion-tickets-158210857935

For the full festival programme check out the pinned post on twitter.com/napce1

ARTICLE: The Role of “Advocate for the Vulnerable” by Inclusion Expert Daniel Sobel

The Role of “Advocate for the Vulnerable” by Daniel Sobel

“It is the complex, contested, and multi-faceted nature of vulnerability – in addition to the complexity of attendant bureaucracy – that creates the need for a school pastoral leader to act as advocate, especially since a great many vulnerable children will not have anyone else to advocate for them: the only agents of the state who are regularly involved in their life are their teachers.” Someone quoted me as saying that but I genuinely don’t remember doing so. I’ll take it though and I figured this is a good starting point for my article on the role of the ‘advocate for the vulnerable’.

Simultaneously, pastoral leaders have to confront an unpleasant reality, which is the conflict between their role as representatives of the local community (parents and children) and their role as agents of the state (which pays their wages).

It is the state that sets overall funding levels for the availability of services and it is the state that pays educational professionals to act as gatekeepers and rationers of those services, while nonetheless disclaiming responsibility and insisting that teachers act on behalf of children. In other words, we practitioners of pastoral care in school settings sometimes feel very conflicted about how we priorities our allegiances.

So what is advocacy anyway? Well, despite this being a common practice in every school in England on a daily basis, there is a surprising lacuna when it comes to the research. Look at this question from a different angle: if you’ve done the advocacy well, what can you describe were the results? I asked this question to my Masters students who all said something like this: successfully navigated through the quagmire of ignorance and misconceptions held by the adults surrounding the child. Well, according to that, the pastoral role then is less about the child and more about helping the adults. I can buy that, mostly.

The research (the little that there is) suggests that many pastoral leaders – and especially SENCOs tend to evaluate their success by how well they navigate the (for example EHCP) bureaucracy. A couple of choice quotes to buttress my assertion: (Gore, 2016) “the SENCOs role in writing that education section is crucial to whether something will be approved or not”(SENCO 4, line 441-442)
“…why I’m going to get as much information from you as possible because we want to make sure it’s all there so that they can’t say no…SENCO 2, line 316-317)

In some other professional public sector jobs, the advocate role is more firmly defined and better researched in the literature. Social work is an obvious example, where the legal system envisages a clear role for social workers to advocate on behalf of vulnerable children (Dalyrmple and Bolan, 2013), although even social workers are not immune from some of the same conflicting incentives that teachers also suffer from. Social workers, like teachers, are also paid by the state, and some Serious Case Reviews highlight the dangers of social workers becoming uncritical advocates of parents, over and against the interests of children.(Ferguson, 2016).

In theory, teachers could be aided by the idea that they are obliged to act in “loco parentis”, but in the “loco parentis” concept has itself been criticized as blurring the boundaries between the role of parents and the professional responsibilities of teachers, especially when conflicts between parents and teachers arise.

Legal dispute between parents and teachers have arisen not just in the field of safeguarding vulnerable children but also in the more mundane but no less fraught domains of school trips and playground accidents, where teachers have to evaluate risk as parents hypothetically would if they were present (Thomson, 2002). In loco parentis, therefore, may not be as straightforward a guide as it appears, particularly given its historic application as enabling teachers to exert far greater force over students than we would tolerate today (Burchell, 2018).

The ‘advocacy conflict’ exists for pastoral leaders in that they are directly employed by a local bureaucracy (the school) and its interest may not directly align with those of vulnerable children and/or their parents. In recent years, scandals over unofficial exclusions and managed years – generally concentrated around the key exam years – have brought this conflict to the fore (Nye, 2017).

More generally, schools have a strong natural incentive to maintain internal cohesion and discipline, an incentive created by Ofsted, parents, and teachers. Although important, behaviour management systems can become an end in themselves and begin to override the needs of vulnerable children who do not easily fit inside such systems.

It should be noted, however, that Ofsted can also serve as a spur to improve inclusive practice and pastoral leadership, since Ofsted can and does note when levels of exclusions appear unacceptably high, and motivate schools to improve their practice in this area (Tucker, 2013).

Conclusion: well, despite the fact that this is a major aspect of the pastoral roles, the research is scant, the job is conflicted and the legal ramifications are dangerous. Let’s just all give up and go home.

Daniel Sobel CEO, Inclusion Expert
www.inclusionexpert.com
PA: Sharon.finn@inclusionexpert.com
++44 (0)333 301 0178

Dalrymple J & Bolan J. (2013).Chapter in “Effective Advocacy in Social Work”. Sage.

Ferguson, Harry (2016). How Children Become Invisible in Child Protection Work: Findings from Research into Day-to-Day Social Work Practice. British Journal of Social Work, (), bcw065–. doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcw065

Burchell, A. (2018). In Loco Parentis, Corporal Punishment and the Moral Economy of Discipline in English Schools, 1945–1986. Cultural and Social History, 1–20. doi:10.1080/14780038.2018.1518562

Thomson, S. (2002). Harmless Fun Can Kill Someone. The Entertainment and Sports Law Journal, 1(1), 7. DOI: http://doi.org/10.16997/eslj.187

DUNCAN, N. (2003). Awkward Customers? Parents and Provision for Special Educational Needs. Disability & Society, 18(3), 341–356. doi:10.1080/0968759032000052905 url to share this paper: sci-hub.se/10.1080/0968759032000052905

Gore, H (2016.) “Working together…it doesn’t go far enough actually for what the relationship becomes” – An IPA study exploring the experiences of primary school SENCOs working with parents/carers through the EHCP process. A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctorate in Child, Community and Educational Psychology Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust / University of Essex. Retrieved from http://repository.tavistockandportman.ac.uk/1397/1/Gore%20%20-%20Working.pdf

Tucker, S. (2013). Pupil vulnerability and school exclusion: developing responsive pastoral policies and practices in secondary education in the UK. Pastoral Care in Education, 31(4), 279–291. doi:10.1080/02643944.2013.842312
url to share this paper: sci-hub.se/10.1080/02643944.2013.842312

Nye, P. (2017). Who’s left: three questions for the Department for Education from our work. Blog for Education data Lab, retrieved from https://ffteducationdatalab.org.uk/2017/01/whos-left-three-questions-for-the-department-for-education-from-our-work/

AWARDS: An update on the National Awards for Pastoral Care in Education 2021

The National Awards for Pastoral Care in Education 2021 – UPDATE

The nomination period for the 2021 National Awards for Pastoral Care in Education, has now closed.

We are pleased to have had more nominations this year than for the first year of the Awards, especially because of the additional pressures that managing the impact of the pandemic has had on schools and professionals working in pastoral roles.

We are pleased that despite these challenges it was important to find time to make nominations, to recognise the difference that is being made by people working in pastoral roles.

Pastoral work in schools, colleges and universities is going to be even more important for some time in the future to respond to the impact of the pandemic.

The nominations are now with the judges and NAPCE will soon be ready to announce the finalists of the 2021 Awards.

Make sure you look out for information in the monthly newsletter and follow NAPCE on Twitter for the latest news and information.

The Judging Panel

Phil Jones, National Chair, NAPCE
Phil has experience of working in leadership roles in different secondary schools including as Headteacher. He is the current Chair of the National Executive Committee for NAPCE and a member of the Editorial Board for the Journal, ‘Pastoral Care in Education’. Phil has over 30 years’ experience as a School Governor including being a Chair of Governors in secondary, middle and primary schools. He is an experienced trainer and regular speaker at educational conferences. He is currently working as an educational consultant which includes a role as pastoral consultant for ASCL.

Stan Tucker, Emeritus Professor Newman University Birmingham, Editor, Pastoral Care in Education
Stan has spent the last 8 years actively researching matters of inclusion, alienation, school structures and educational underachievement. He has interviewed more than 500 children and young people as well as local authority and school leaders, governors and pastoral support staff. He has undertaken consultancy work on behalf of local authorities and schools. His most recent publication along with Professor Dave Trotman, entitled ‘Youth Global Perspectives, Challenges and Issues of the 21^stCentury’ was published in the United States in 2018. They are currently planning a new book that will focus on reforming current pastoral policies and practices. Stan is the current editor of the journal ‘Pastoral Care in Education’.

Anne Emerson, Associate Professor, University of Nottingham
Anne started her career working as a speech and language therapist with children with a range of communication impairments. Over the past 30 years Anne has worked in special and mainstream schools in the UK and India, worked as a Family Services Coordinator for Mencap, and with adults with disabilities in a large residential service. Anne also has teaching experience in FE and HE. For 7 years Anne worked as a psychology lecturer specialising in the fields of communication, disability and inclusive education. Anne continues to work directly with children with special needs and provide training to teachers, teaching assistants, parents and carers. Anne is a member of the Editorial Board for the journal, ‘Pastoral Care in Education’.

Richard Pring, Emeritus Professor Oxford University
Richard is the Current president of NAPCE. He retired after 14 years as Director of the Department of Educational Studies at Oxford University in May 2003. Since 2003, he was Lead Director of the Nuffield Review of 14-19 Education and Training. This was a six – year project, funded by the Nuffield Foundation. Since retiring Professor Pring has completed the following research projects in addition to the Nuffield Review: the evaluation of the Oxford Bursary Scheme with John Fox, and an evaluation of quality assurance in 11 Arab Universities. Since retiring his publications include.

2020 Challenges for Religious Education: is there a disconnect between faith and reason? Routledge, March 2020.
2013 The Life and Death of Secondary Education for All, London: Routledge

Dr Noel Purdy, Director of Research and Scholarship, Stranmillis University, Belfast
Noel is the Independent Chair of Expert Panel on Educational Underachievement, appointed by Minister of Education, Peter Weir MLA, September 2020 – May 2021. He has been the Northern Chair, of the Standing Conference on Teacher Education North and South (SCoTENS) from 2016. He is the Deputy Editor, of Pastoral Care in Education – An International Journal of Personal, Social and Emotional Development. He is an External Examiner PGCE Primary, Durham University (2017-2021). He is the UCETNI representative on the Northern Ireland Anti-Bullying Forum from 2011 (Chair 2013-2016). He was the President of Northern Ireland branch of NASEN (National Association for Special Educational Needs) 2014-2016. He is a Parent representative on Board of Governors of Tor Bank Special School, Dundonald. He has published many articles on educational issues and his book Purdy, N. (ed.) Pastoral Care in Schools 11-16: A Critical Introduction, was published by Bloomsbury in 2013.

The judges will have a difficult job to select the finalists from the excellent work that the nominations have highlighted in pastoral care.

A presentation event is planned for 24^th September where the winners in each category will be announced.

The event will be a fantastic opportunity to share good practice in pastoral care in education and to recognise the excellent contribution that is being made by so many people to research and practice in pastoral care and the impact this has on supporting children and young people with the education and improving their life chances.

With uncertainty about the restrictions needed for the pandemic it is not clear at the moment whether it will be possible to organise a ‘live’ event or whether it will once again be an online event.

Further details will be shared in future newsletters and on the NAPCE Twitter account.

Thank you to our sponsors of the 2021 Awards for making it possible to recognise and highlight the work being done in pastoral care in education, that will make a difference in supporting learners to achieve their full potential, especially in these difficult and challenging times.

NAPCE Awards 2021 sponsors are:

BlueSky Education
The Thrive Approach
Inclusion Expert
The Association of School and College Leaders
Taylor and Francis
The Hult International School
NAPCE

Thank you to everybody who made a nominations and congratulations to everybody who has been nominated.

We look forward to celebrating your achievements at the Presentation Event.

ARTICLE: Pastoral Care The Gratitude and the Challenge – UK vs International

Our social media channels are remarkably busy and we were very pleased to have received this insightful article recently on our Twitter account @napce1

The piece “Pastoral Care, The Gratitude and the Challenge – UK vs International” was written by PE Teacher and Head of Year 12 Annie Finch-Johnson for her blog talkpastoral.com

Annie has a valuable perspective because she is working at an international school in Lima, Peru.

Pastoral Care, The Gratitude and the Challenge – UK vs International

When I moved internationally I dropped my middle leadership role. I wanted to get some clarity on being a pastoral leader. I was, and still am in no doubt about how much I love working in pastoral care, but I often found it so intense in England that I found myself questioning whether I was right for the role; a role that I had longed for and worked in for so long.

However, when moving internationally I had time to reflect on both the challenges and gratitude of aspects in both situations within pastoral care. So here is an honest reflection piece looking at both these aspects.

Let’s start with the challenges!

Challenges of pastoral care in the UK

The “British” education system is one that is often seen as the gold standard across the globe. Many independent schools take on the system within their own international setting, along with the branches from the UK independent schools, it has infiltrated many continents. Yet, working in the UK it can sometimes seem the opposite, especially when you are in pastoral care.

Let’s look at a few of the challenges we face here,

Results/progress! Oh yes, we are accountable for this along with subjects. Of course, some schools may have the budgets to have solely pastoral focused leaders, but many do not, and therefore as a Head of Year/House, you often monitor and analyse data for each term of your year group/house. This is in addition to you checking in with students pastorally and dealing with any concerns that may have affected results.
Attendance, attendance, attendance! If you work in a school in England (in any role) you hear about attendance, but in a pastoral role you often dream about it. The expectation for students to have 95%+ all year, interventions to improve attendance, rewards and punishments, parents being fined – yep, we as pastoral leaders are accountable for checking, monitoring and chasing this. Of course attendance is a very important part of students ensuring they have the knowledge for the exams, but I often found this exhausting, as the focus was always on the effect on results, rather than the students and possible situations that may be happening. Also, should a child/family be punished for a child having the flu and being off school? I will leave that thought with you.
Groups – Oh the groups! Do not get me wrong, I value the importance of having groups within schools, to be able to check in on how the ‘disadvantaged” (another word I cannot stand), the students with SEN and so on, are doing both pastorally and academically, because we want to give all students the best and equal opportunity. However, I often felt that this was more of a tick box exercise, rather than it coming from a place of genuine care, through no fault of the school.

Please do not misunderstand me here and think I am complaining about schools in the UK, I am not! The schools have to do all this to meet demands from stakeholders, but I often felt that as much as the schools want it to be heartfelt and it genuinely coming from a good place; budgets, deadlines, paperwork, tick boxes (to name but a few), cloud these good natured intentions of teachers and educators.

Challenges of pastoral care internationally

Depending on where you are in the world will depend on the type of education the international school has decided to take, but many will often go down the route of IGCSE’s, MYP, IB or A Levels with a mix of that country’s national curriculum to support and keep the tradition/heritage. This in itself provides many challenges to those in pastoral care roles, here is a few to think over,

The number of roles! This challenge comes with a positive partner, but it’s because of the positive aspect that makes it challenging. Due to generally bigger budgets it means there are opportunities to develop more roles, – GREAT you say! Yes I agree, but this also means confusion on roles. In the UK as a pastoral leader, there are teams you can go to for support but generally you are a lone warrior, overseeing everything. However, internationally all those aspects can often be divided up among many people, and this can cause confusion and mixed messages to both parents, staff and students.
Freedom! As Sadie Hollins mentions in her blog Supporting whilst unsupported: Navigating pastoral provision in international schools, parents have the freedom to choose schools and leave them just as easily. This creates an unwritten pressure that you need to ensure things are completed correctly, in line with the school expectations but also with the parents expectations, because if people are not happy with how the situation is dealt with, they can just move on.
Culture and change! No matter where you go in the UK there can often be a slight shift in societal change but when you move internationally you have a whole new culture to understand, and often this culture is intertwined with many other influences. Liz Cloke explains it perfectly in her blog 5 pastoral care differences in international schools, that what we take as common expectations in the UK e.g. mental health, LGBTQ+, periods and sex education are not always accepted where you end up. You have to be careful in how things are approached and often subjects can be taboo and unwanted!

You may be thinking to yourself, ‘is this not what you expected when you moved internationally’? For me personally yes I did but for my job role, quite frankly the answer is no, I didn’t! Although all of these challenges are exciting, e.g. understanding a new culture, having lots of staff who can take some load, it can make you feel alone and struggling to find your place.

What I miss about working in a UK pastoral role

Since moving Internationally I have recognised many things that I took for granted in the UK within my pastoral care role.

Agencies! Wowzers, we have so many support networks for schools that are amazing! Yes, as pastoral leaders we get annoyed, frustrated, angry when we have long waiting lists for students who desperately need the support, but I never appreciated how readily available it is in the UK. More often than not, you can call the agencies to get advice, support and referrals for students and families. Having these options are priceless!
The mix of students! I have been fortunate to work in varying types of school in England, from single sex state schools to mixed grammar schools and one thing I have always loved is how diverse the students are. No matter what type of school you find yourself working in, the challenges are immense but the clear difference you make is something you cannot replace.
The identity of schools! Of course the schools are held to certain expectations by the stakeholders but because of the vast amount of schools, they can choose their own focus, their own special thing that they want the school to be. It could be sports, art, maths, academic, pastoral focused, but this helps you choose a school that is right for you and your values!
Then the openness of ‘moving with the times’. I love that the UK in general, supports and acknowledges the changes of ALL societies, groups and current affairs. LGBTQ+ is discussed and acknowledged, sex education is more informed and open, the list could go on, but this freedom is something we should not take for granted when working there!

What am I grateful for working internationally in a pastoral role

The opportunities to establish yourself within the school. I appreciate the opportunity to do the things I love and implement the things I feel are beneficial to the students and the school. There is time to monitor and evaluate without you feeling that your teaching will suffer because of it. I do not feel judged or worried that I will all of a sudden be questioned for one thing not going as well as I had hoped.
Although it is a challenge – more job roles within pastoral care is also a benefit. My workload feels lighter, I can seek support and delegate jobs to other areas that may be more suited to that situation. I work a little closer with the coordinators of the areas e.g IB Coordinator ,which makes you feel so much more supported, and it is someone you can talk out your thoughts with.
I have the time to develop myself outside of school! This is a big one for me! Since being international, I have had the time to set up this blog, be more active in research, read journals, engage with people across the world and this does not always have to be in my own time.
There are opportunities to challenge yourself and others’ mindset! This also links with one of the challenges regarding culture and taboos. The students are often forward thinking, inventive and want to be global citizens and therefore want to venture into discussions that are taboo generally in their culture, this provides opportunities to challenge people’s thoughts as well as your own. I do not mean challenge to cause offense, but to challenge to develop understanding globally, which in international education we want these students to be – globally minded.

So there we are, an honest reflection on the differences in a pastoral role between the UK and International working. To summarise my points, here is a table of the key points:-

	Challenges	Grateful for
UK	Attendance Groups Results	AgenciesMix of students School identity Openness Forward thinking
International	Number of roles Freedom Cultural+change	Opportunities to establish yourself Job roles Time Opportunities to challenge yourself and others

Whether you are thinking of heading to work internationally or choosing to stay in the UK, pastoral care is an incredible role to work in. Both opportunities will have its challenges (probably many more than I have labelled) but they will also have their positives. I hope this helps anyone on the border to decide whether to take the leap abroad or the leap into pastoral care! Whatever you decide, enjoy the opportunity to find what is right for you!

Annie Finch-Johnson, June 2021

NAPCE News – May 2021

Making a positive difference to young people through pastoral care

*FEATURE ARTICLE: “What About Staff Voice?**” A View on the Value of Worker Opinion in Schools by NAPCE Secretary Jill Robson*

What About Staff Voice by Jill Robson

Student voice has long been established as an integral part of school life.

Even when visiting primary schools, I see evidence of student councils in foyer displays and other areas but it has often occurred to me that in many schools teachers and other staff are not offered the same opportunity to contribute their voice in the running of the schools in which they work.

I have always been an advocate of student voice and have been actively involved in setting up and running student councils in all the schools I have worked in.

In my second school, as a head of year, I established a year council for my year group.

Some of my colleagues mocked this idea, giving the reason the that students were in school to be taught, not to be expressing opinions but I was constantly impressed by the cogent arguments presented by my students on the issues that affected them and the council went on to be a successful venture.

Following the success of the year council, I had the idea that it would be good for staff to have a similar vehicle to express and generate ideas so I suggested to my headteacher that we should have a staff council.

He was not overly enthusiastic about the prospect but begrudgingly allowed me to proceed and see whether there was any interest from colleagues.

It turned out that there was interest and when staff gathered together in the staffroom at the end of the day, I was impressed by the enthusiasm of staff who had been working hard all day staying behind and over a cup of coffee and a few biscuits discussing ways to improve issues in school.

I went back to the head with some of the suggestions and it was obvious that he was regretting his decision to allow it to go ahead.

In my efforts to convince him that I was not attempting to stage a coup I invited him along to a meeting where staff offered ideas and suggestions on how things could be improved.

That experience convinced me that the more people you involve in dealing with issues the more likely you are to come up with successful and workable solutions.

It was not a total success however; some staff were reluctant to be seen attending the meeting in case the head thought that it was subversive but the wealth and quality of ideas convinced me that it was a worthwhile activity and one which seemed to energised many of my colleagues.

During my career I have attended numerous interviews for deputy head and headship where I was not successful to be told in the feedback that I was the preferred staff (and students) candidate but that the appointing governors were not in agreement with that choice.

Apart from my obvious disappointment at not being appointed it always struck me that at the end of the day it was the staff who I would have been working with on a daily basis and that perhaps they should have had a greater say in who they felt would lead the school and them, in the best way.

Giving people a say in the organisation they work in makes them feel valued, leading to greater self- esteem and engagement in the organisation.

Maslow identifies self-esteem as a crucial part of human progress, potential, and performance.

Many studies have shown the correlation between teachers with high self -esteem and the achievement of their students.

A report from the University of Texas as long ago as 1997 reported “findings of the study indicate that students with teachers in the high esteem category scored an average of 5.67 points higher than those students in the low level of self- esteem category.

Findings from the study led to the conclusion that teachers with high levels of self- esteem have positive influences on the achievement of their students.

The research that has been done suggests that this is an essential component in ensuring high achievement in students.” (Hartley, Melba Lynn 1997)

This begs the question, “As a school leader why would you not want to do everything in your power to enhance the self- esteem of your staff?”

Giving employees any sort of voice is sometimes seen as threatening to managers particularly when they are not secure in their own positions in the same way that my colleagues derided me for wishing to involve students in decision-making, they see the relinquishing of power to others as a threat to their own position.

“It should be noted that one of the studies mentioned found that while many people are keen to contribute more at work, the behaviour of their mangers and culture of their organisation is actively discouraging them from doing so” (Towers, Perrin 2005)

Whilst taking the NPQH qualification I was lucky to have a very experienced and respected head as one of my tutors.

His mantra was that “the most important thing a headteacher does is appoint the right staff the second thing is to look after them”.

Looking after staff should be a prime concern for senior leaders in schools, as if they do their job in that respect, the staff will pass on that culture of care to the students.

After doing the NPQH qualification I was invited to take part in a follow up programme on Transformational Leadership run by Professor Beverley Alimo Metcalfe, which involved 360-degree feedback from colleagues, it was quite an enlightening experience but what I always remember was her introduction, when she stated that in any organisation “for every pair of hands you employ you get a brain for free.”

Sadly, in some schools that particular “freebie “is a wasted offer!

Pastoral Care for staff is an area that has been a neglected consideration in many schools and staff in some schools have been treated as disposable commodities, consequently, we have many experienced and talented people leaving the profession because they end up feeling that they are not valued.

I used to think that student voice was the most undervalued resource in schools but now I believe it is staff voice that takes that accolade.

At one time awards such as “Investors in People” encouraged organisations to engage with their employees to improve the efficacy of the organisation and develop good practice for training and development.

“Engagement has been described as a positive attitude held by the employee towards the organisation and its value.

An engaged employee is aware of business context and works with colleagues to improve performance within the job for the benefit of the organisation. “(Robinson, et al 2004)

The importance of employee engagement has long been recognised in business and there are many companies who go out of their way to engage and nurture their employees.

“Why are organisations investing so much in engagement?

The answer is that the rewards for high engagement are considerable, with several recent studies showing indisputable links between engagement and various measurements of financial success in the private sector.” (BAM- Engaging learners) Timpson’s, the shoe repairers have built a reputation for excellence in employment practice.

The company owns holiday homes for workers, gives staff their birthdays off and pays bonuses for exceeding targets, it has grown its profits from £500K to £12 million in 20 years of trading.

There are many other examples of good practice in the private sector but sometimes education and public services take a little longer to adapt to the benefits of good practice.

It may well be argued that the public sector does not have the resources available to the private sector however many of the ways that staff can be recognised and nurtured, simply take a little time and care.

NAPCE has always promoted the importance of the personal, social and emotional aspects of education and it is essential that the care of the whole community, students and staff continue to be a focus for our work particularly as we emerge from the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic and that we continue to recognise that all voices are valued, and deserve to be heard.

Jill Robson
NAPCE Secretary

CONFERENCE: An Update on NAPCE Annual National Conference 2021 – Does Every Child Still Matter?

Annual National Conference – Does Every Child Still Matter? – A New Approach to Education

Tickets for this important online conference being organised by NAPCE in July are being reserved and it is good to see so much interest in what will be an interesting and stimulating event. It takes place over three days on Wednesday 7^th, Thursday 8^th and Friday 9^th July.

On the Wednesday and Friday there will be presentations from leading experts in pastoral care.

On the Thursday evening an invited panel of educational experts will answer questions about the challenges and opportunities for education following the global pandemic.

To register for tickets, go to https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/does-every-child-still-matter-a-new-approach-to-education-tickets-146551434285?aff=ebdsoporgprofile

Tickets for this conference are FREE but delegates are encouraged to register early to avoid disappointment. The conference will explore if it is time to revisit the ‘every child matters’ agenda as a starting point to reset thinking about education.

CONFERENCE PROGRAMME

Wednesday 7^th July
2-00pm Welcome to the Conference – Phil Jones Chair of NAPCE.
2-10pm Presentation One Combatting Online Sexual Harassment – Why we need RSE More Than Ever – Professor Kaitlyn Mendes, Leicester University.
2-45pm Presentation Two – Promoting Social and Emotional Well-Being. The Thrive Approach
3-20pm Presentation Three Pastoral Care post COVID – Connor Acton.
3-55pm Close – Phil Jones Chair of NAPCE.
Thursday 8^th July
7-00pm to 8-00pm NAPCE QUESTION TIME – The Challenges and Opportunities for Education Following the Experience of the Global Pandemic.
Chaired by Phil Jones – Chair of NAPCE.
On panel
Professor Stan Tucker – Editor of Pastoral Care in Education.
Margaret Mulholland – ASCL SEND and Inclusion Specialist.
Nigel Murray – Paralympic Gold Medalist.
Mark Diacopoulos, Assistant Professor, Pittsburg State University.
Daniel Sobel, Author and Founder of ‘Inclusion Expert’.
Other guests to be confirmed
Friday 9^th July
10-00am Welcome – Phil Jones Chair of NAPCE.
10-10am Presentation 4 Building Positive Relationships for Learning – Helen Peter.
10-45am Presentation 5 – Proactive Pastoral Care – Maria O’ Neill Founder UK Chat Care.
11-20am Presentation 6 Engaging Learners – Phil Jones Chair of NAPCE.
11-55am Close – Phil Jones Chair of NAPCE.

MORE DETAILS ABOUT THE PRESENTATIONS AND PRESENTERS

Presentation title – Pastoral Care Post COVID
Connor Acton

Details about presentation:
What have we learned from the tests, trials and tribulations brought about by COVID and how will they impact Pastoral Care as we move into the future? A discussion of the challenges we may face in the future and how we can take the lessons learned and ensure that Pastoral Care in our schools is effective.

Biography:
Connor is a Pastoral Leader and Teacher in a Leicester secondary school – he has held a variety of roles linked to pastoral care (including Head of Year, Assistant Head of Year and Mentor) in a variety of disadvantaged contexts. Connor is Chair of Trustees at Brookvale Groby Learning Campus, Chair of Trustees for the RSPCA in Leicestershire and sits on the National Executive Board for NAPCE.

Photograph to follow.

Presentation title – Building Positive Relationships for Learning
Helen Peter

Details about presentation:
Helen will outline some ideas for building sound relationships within staff and student groups by using techniques, activities, and games to engage them.
She was a fan of SEAL and believes that Every Child does still matter!
“If we were meeting in person, I would ask for a class to come in to demonstrate a lesson, but as it is I will have to try on Zoom. I hope that everyone will go away energised, with at least one new idea to use next week”.
Biography
Biography:
Helen Peter is a teacher, trainer, published writer and author, and inspirational presenter.
She has worked in over 400 schools and organisations, in all phases, training staff in pastoral care, circle time and mental and emotional health.
She is the author of “Making the Most of Tutor Time” – Speechmark 2013- a whole school, practical handbook on emotional literacy and positive behaviour management, designed to promote emotional and social intelligence and positive mental health. The handbook guides tutors and teachers to develop their communication and social skills, to support students to resolve conflict and to build self-esteem, self-awareness, and self-management. She is also the co-author of “Circles, PSHE and Citizenship” for secondary teachers to guide them in setting up a pedagogy for emotional support via circle time. She has 40 years’ teaching experience and still retains the enthusiasm, energy, and vocation she had at the start of her career.

Presentation title – Combatting Online Sexual Harassment – Why we need RSE More Than Ever with Dr Kaitlyn Mendes, Amelia Jenkinson, Dr Tanya Horeck, Professor Jessica Ringrose.

Kaitlyn Mendes

Tanya Horeck

Amelia Jenkinson

Details about presentation:
The presentation will focus on why Relationship and Sexual Education is needed now more than ever. The recent events, including over 18K disclosures of sexual violence via the website and Instagram Account Everyone’s Invited has brought these issues to public attention. Although schools are understandably focused on ensuring pupils are caught up with the curriculum, we argue that schools must equally spend time ensuring young people’s physical, mental, and emotional well-being. We argue that RSE plays an important role here. In this talk, we will share findings from our research with British teens showcasing the high rates of sexual abuse and violence, often facilitated through digital devices, and the very low rates of reporting. We will also discuss the importance of having language that recognizes practices like sending or receiving unwanted nudes as a form of abuse. The talk will finish by outlining some resources, guidance, and policies we have co-created with the School of Sexuality Education, which can help schools navigate these challenging issues.
Biographies:
Amelia Jenkinson (she/her) is the CEO and co-founder of the School of Sexuality Education. School of Sex Ed is an award-winning charity which provides comprehensive and inclusive RSE workshops for UK schools and training for teachers. School of Sex Ed’s programme covers all topics, including consent, sexuality, porn, and pleasure. Our approach is LGBTQIA+ inclusive and evidence based.

Kaitlynn Mendes is Professor of Gender, Media and Sociology at the University of Leicester, UK. She is an expert on feminist activism, and has written over fifty publications around this topic, including the books SlutWalk: Feminism, Activism & Media (2015), and Digital Feminist Activism: Girls and Women Fight Back Against Rape Culture (2019, with Jessica Ringrose and Jessalynn Keller). She is currently leading two projects with young people in schools, exploring online gendered harms and risks, and how we can teach young people to safely navigate digital spaces and speak out about issues that matter to them.

Tanya Horeck is an Associate Professor in Film, Media & Culture at Anglia Ruskin University in the UK. She writes on binge-watching, celebrity culture, crime, internet memes, social justice, and social media, and is the author of Public Rape: Representing Violation in Fiction and Film and Justice on Demand: True Crime in the Digital Streaming Era. Her current research projects include an AHRC funded study on online sexual risks for young people during Covid-19, and a British Academy funded study on the rise of consent culture and intimacy coordination.
Presentation title – Proactive Pastoral Care by Maria O’ Neill

Details about presentation:

Maria will use the ideas and research from her book published in April 2021, Proactive Pastoral Care. Nurturing happy, healthy, and successful learners. The presentation will explain why there is a need for a proactive approach to pastoral care in schools. It will explore how pastoral care in schools can empower students to make healthy life choices, take care of their wellbeing and reach their full potential in school and beyond. The presentation will share essential information to enable teachers and leaders in schools to enhance their pastoral support to boost student progress and personal development. It will share practical research-based strategies and activities perfect for tutor time, assemblies and PSHE lessons.

Biography
Maria O’Neill is an experienced pastoral leader, researcher, and advanced skills teacher. She is the founder of Pastoral Support UK and currently works as a pastoral leader in a school as well as various key roles to provide sustainable pastoral training and raise the profile of pastoral leadership nationwide.

Presentation title – Engaging Learners with Phil Jones

Details about presentation:
The presentation will explore the opportunities and challenges schools will face after the pandemic to engage children and young people in education. He will argue that the response to the pandemic needs to be more than simply providing learners with more English, Maths, and a focus on delivering the content in the curriculum. There is a need to rethink how education meets the needs of children and young people and supports them to achieve their full potential from their learning and prepares them for their future lives in society. The pandemic has prevented children and young people from experiencing the learning opportunities and activities that support their socialisation. Evidence is suggesting that schools will need to consider how to support young people in their personal development and to overcome barriers caused by poor mental health and well being for some time after there is a return to something like normality following the pandemic. This presentation will consider how professionals working in schools can respond positively to this challenge.

Biography

Phil has been an active member of NAPCE both regionally and nationally, since his first year in teaching in 1982. He is the current Chairperson of the National Executive Committee and a member of the Editorial Board for the Journal. Phil has written articles for publication on pastoral issues and is a peer reviewer for the Journal. His recent publications include guidance on effective pastoral support and developing social and emotional skills Phil retired from leadership roles in schools in 2017 and now works as an educational consultant supporting schools with developing pastoral support systems, leadership, and school improvement. His experience of leadership in secondary schools, includes roles as Deputy Headteacher and Headteacher. He has experience of supporting schools as a Specialist Leader of Education specialising in pastoral care, behaviour and improving attendance. He is an Educational Performance Coach and an experienced trainer.
He has been a governor in both primary and secondary schools for over thirty years.
QUESTION TIME PANEL

Assistant Professor Mark Diacopoulos. Pittsburg State University USA
Mark is an Assistant Professor of Teacher Education and Leadership at Pittsburg State University, KS. He researches diverse topics such as meaningful integration of social emotional learning into the curriculum, educational technology in social studies, social studies preservice education, teacher candidate dispositions, and the ever-evolving identities of teachers and educators. Mark has over 25 years’ experience – ten as a high school teacher in England, with rest earned the US as a social studies teacher, technology specialist, and teacher educator. He describes himself as a dad, Arsenal fan, sometime travel soccer coach, and semi-retired broken Aikidoka. Not necessarily in that order.

Nigel Patrick Murray MBE

Nigel Patrick Murray MBE is a retired British Paralympic athlete. He is a thirteen time English National Champion and seven time British Champion and multiple Paralympic medal winner in the sport of boccia, having competed at 5 Paralympic Games as well as numerous World and European Championships during his distinguished playing career.
Murray was born and lives in Leamington Spa. He won gold in the BC2 class during the 2000 Summer Paralympics in Sydney, Australia. Although he only reached the quarter finals in Athens four years later he followed this up with a silver medal in the same event, and a gold medal in the team event, during the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing.
After Beijing, Nigel continued to win numerous medals on the world stage before captaining the GB Boccia team at the London 2012 Paralympics, winning Bronze in the Team BC1–2 event in front of home family and friends at the Excel Arena.
Nigel retired from competitive Boccia after the 2016 Rio Paralympics after a career spanning 20 years and as the most successful British Boccia player of all time. On finishing his playing career Nigel returned to his former profession, that of supporting adults with physical and learning disability in the local community. Nigel is currently manager of a day service for people with disabilities in the Stratford-upon-Avon area.
Since his retirement, Nigel has continued to remain involved in the sport of Boccia, coaching and mentoring athletes at a national level, though it is still Nigel’s ambition to be one day involved with coaching at an international level.
Nigel was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to boccia.
Nigel’s other passions are musical theatre, as well as supporting his beloved Leeds United and Leamington Football Clubs who have caused him much heartache over the years!!!

Daniel Sobel

Daniel Sobel is the Founder and Lead Consultant of Inclusion Expert. An internationally respected leader in inclusive education, he has advised the Department for Education, the European Union, governments abroad and led various large scale initiatives involving thousands of schools. Daniel has an enormous following, particularly on LinkedIn and is a highly regarded and sought-after speaker for his thought provocative and often hilarious presentations and refreshingly original approach to Education and Inclusion Leadership. He is the author of several works, including The Pupil Premium Handbook and The SEN Code of Practice Pack. His best-selling books Narrowing the Attainment Gap, Leading on Pastoral Care are available now and The Inclusive Classroom just released in January 2021, all published by Bloomsbury Press. He has written over 50 articles in publications around the world, a series for the Guardian on Inclusive Schools and a regular column in the UK’s leading Principal’s periodical Headteacher Update. Under Daniel’s leadership, Inclusion Expert has grown into one of the country’s most respected education organisations, which has worked with over 10,000 schools in the UK and abroad and launched programs at the Houses of Parliament. His training has been used in more than 40 countries and translated into numerous languages. Daniel has a vision of a new era in Inclusion: beyond labels where we all share both a common humanity and a unique individuality.

Professor Stan Tucker

Stan is Emeritus Professor at Newman University in Birmingham. He is the Executive Editor of NAPCE’s academic journal ‘Pastoral care in education’. Stan has spent the last 8 years actively researching matters of inclusion, alienation, school structures and educational underachievement. He has interviewed more than 500 children and young people as well as local authority and school leaders, governors’, and pastoral support staff. He has undertaken consultancy work on behalf of local authorities and schools. His most recent publication along with Professor Dave Trotman, entitled ‘Youth Global Perspectives, Challenges and Issues of the 21^st Century’ was published in the United States in 2018. They are currently planning a new book that will focus on reforming current pastoral policies and practices. Stan is the current editor of the journal ‘Pastoral Care in Education’.

Margaret Mulholland

Margaret is the Inclusion Policy Advisor for the Association of School and College leaders (ASCL). ASCL represents 20,000 school leaders and acts on behalf of pupils in their schools. Her extensive teaching and leadership experience spans both mainstream and special schools. Margaret is an Honorary Norham Fellow of the University of Oxford. She also writes a column on research and inclusivity, for the Times Educational Supplement. A leading advocate for the role SEND settings play in improving understanding of inclusive teaching and learning, Margaret brings over 20 years’ experience in ITT innovation and practice. She spent seven years as Director of Development and Research at a leading special school and thirteen years at the Institute of Education, where she was responsible for innovative employment-based routes to QTS, PGCE secondary partnerships.
Margaret sits on the Universities’ Council for the Education of Teachers, is an advisor to the UK Government on ITT curriculum development and works with local authorities as an external advisor for NQTs, ITT and leadership development.

Don’t miss your opportunity to be part of this important educational event. Please send your questions for the Conference Question Time panel to admin@napce.org.uk. Visit the NAPCE page at Eventbrite to register and secure tickets for the free conference by following this link.

http://napceconference2021.eventbrite.co.uk?s=130218883

More updates about the conference will be included in future newsletters.

AWARDS: Last Chance to Enter National Awards for Pastoral Care in Education 2021

Entry for the National Awards for Pastoral Care in Education 2021 closes at midnight on MONDAY, MAY 24TH.

The Awards scheme is the first and only in the UK to recognise great practice of pastoral care providers in the education sector.

ALL schools are urged to submit their entries, which is a simple online process and takes no more than five minutes or so.

You can enter the NAPCE Awards 2021 here https://napceawards.wufoo.com/forms/napce-awards-2021-entry-form/

This year we’ve added a new category in International Contribution to Pastoral Care this year, a worthy addition to the seven existing classifications which proved so popular in 2020.

Just like last year, the finalists of the National Awards for Pastoral Care in Education will be invited to attend the ceremony on Friday, September 24th, 2021 to share the experience with peers and find out who wins each Award.

Speaking about the Awards, Phil Jones, Chair of NAPCE, said: “There is just a short time left for schools and other educational establishments to make their nominations for the NAPCE awards and we urge them to take part.

“But the entry process is very quick to complete, we know how busy staff at schools are.

“We think this year it is so important to give recognition to the pastoral heroes who have done so much to support our young people through the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The nomination process is simply to complete and we urge all schools, individuals and associated organisations to get involved, recognition for those who make a real difference is so important.”

Criteria for Each Category

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 in pastoral care, for the benefit of young people.

International Contribution to Pastoral Care
An 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.

Any school or organisation can make a nomination for one or more of the categories. You do not need to be a member of NAPCE to make a nomination. Self-nominations are accepted.

Nominations are supported with information about how they meet the criteria for the category.

Nominations are for pastoral work during the 2020-21 academic year. The finalists and winners are selected by the judging panel of leading academics and practitioners in pastoral care and education. All finalists are invited to attend a presentation event when the winners are announced.

There is a prize of one hundred pounds for the school, university, or organisation that the winners represent, in each category, to support their future work in pastoral care. There are prizes and plaques for winners and certificates for finalists.

Nominations opened on Monday 18^th January, 2021 and it is a good idea to make your nomination as soon as possible so you do not forget.

Activity	Date 2021
Nominations Open	Monday 18^th January
Nominations Close	Monday 24^th May
Judging Completed	Friday 25^th June
Finalists informed	Monday 28^th June
Tickets for Presentation Available	Monday 5^th July
Invitations to attend Presentation Event sent	Monday 5^th July
Presentation Event	Friday 24^th September

To make your nomination

You can enter the NAPCE Awards here https://napceawards.wufoo.com/forms/napce-awards-2021-entry-form/

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

MEDIA ARTICLE: Emotionally based school refusal: How can we respond? from headteacher-update.com

At NAPCE we keep a close eye on media reports and articles relating to pastoral care, well-being and safeguarding of young people in the public domain and often share the most useful of these on our social media channels.

For this edition of NAPCE News we wanted to share this article written by Darren Martindale from the very useful resources website headteacher-update.com published on May 18th, 2021.

Emotionally based school refusal: How can we respond? by Darren Martindale.

This article was NOT produced by NAPCE and was shared on social media.

Read the full article here: https://www.headteacher-update.com/best-practice-article/emotionally-based-school-refusal-how-can-we-respond-vulnerable-children-mental-health-anxiety-covid-wellbeing-attendance/237271/

NAPCE News – November 2019

NAPCE News – November 2019
Making a positive difference to young people through pastoral care

Pastoral care in schools across the UK and further afield is proven to be critically linked to the academic and personal-social development of young people. NAPCE continues to support education providers in the process of pastoral care implementation and development. It is here that we share important news of our latest activities, events and best practice guidance.

FEATURE ARTICLE: Statutory Relationships and Sex Education: What should we make of school protests? Asks NAPCE’s Dr Max Biddulph

Statutory Relationships and Sex Education: What should we make of school protests? By Dr Max Biddulph

In the first major policy shift in the field for almost twenty years, in England and Wales the Department for Education (DfE) is introducing compulsory Relationships Education for primary pupils and Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) for secondary pupils from September 2020.

In the detailing of their intention, the DfE (2019) states that:-

“Through these subjects, we want to support all young people to be happy, healthy and safe – we want to equip them for adult life and to make a positive contribution to society”.

The last time Sex and Relationships Education was given an overhaul was in the early 2000s, so this is a long overdue revision given the shifts in societal values and impact that technology is having on many dimensions of daily life. In explaining the process of consultation, the DfE go on to say that:

“A thorough engagement process, involving a public call for evidence and discussions with over 90 organisations, as well as the public consultation on the draft regulations and guidance, has informed the key decisions on these subjects. The consultation received over 11,000 responses from teachers, schools, expert organisations, young people and parents – these responses have helped finalise the statutory guidance as well as the regulations that have been laid in Parliament”.

Interestingly, despite the fact that the new proposals contained in the legislation received support from the majority of MPs in its passage through parliament in April 2019, this curriculum change is proving controversial in some quarters as evidenced by the high volume of correspondence sent to parliamentarians and the protests outside school gates in Birmingham and Nottingham during 2019.

So although this scenario is predictable as historically researchers have conceptualised the field of RSE as a “contested area”, what should we make of this latest turn of events?

Firstly, it’s helpful to scrutinise the objections that underpin the protests which seem to centre on three key issues namely: the feeling that ‘control’ over what is taught has been taken away from parents, fears that RSE will sexualise ‘innocent children and young people’ and objections to the inclusion of LGBT content.

A second characteristic of the school protest phenomenon seems to be that there is a strong presence of individuals from certain faith groups e.g. Muslim community, and that although some parents and children can be found amongst those protesting, there are a significant number of ‘activists’ for whom faith is strongly aligned with identity.

The situation is further complicated by the fact that in the Nottingham protest, there was a counter protest of parents supporting the inclusion of LGBT content. Given the presence of persons of different ethnicities and faith over an issue that has sexualities at its core, I think it is important to examine at a deeper what is in process here.

The expression of identity through “what I am not?” Conservative Islam versus white secular liberalism? The assertion of deeply held values when they seem to under attack? Homophobia and transphobia?

As a former teacher of Sex and Relationships Education myself, I am supportive of statutory RSE as I see it’s potential to empower and don’t see it as contaminating knowledge, rather as a vehicle for learning protective behaviours.

I am speaking from a fairly privileged position of having researched in the field and delivered considerable amounts of professional development on the subject. I state this not because I want to patronise people with the opposing view but to point out that I have developed a nuanced over view and I think this is key to understanding the current impasse.

Writing in The Guardian (6.8.19), Colin Diamond, Professor of Educational Leadership in the University of Birmingham, raises questions about the way that the government has gone about the introduction of this curriculum change pointing out that ‘the DfE was unwilling to discuss how the guidance would play out in complex multi-faith, multi-ethnic schools and communities.

This was a dereliction of duty by ministers’. Historically the agents of dialogue and engagement with faith schools and communities were professionals in former LEAs or sexual health charities such as fpa, who developed considerable expertise and good practice in this area. Sadly both mechanisms are now gone, the former being replaced by academyisation and the latter a victim of austerity.

Diamond goes on to observe that ‘the protests are wrong and have been almost universally condemned for the use of homophobic slogans and harassment outside schools.

Yet some of the language used to describe the situation has also not been helpful. Those who ask questions about the teaching of LGBT awareness in primary schools are not all “homophobic”, or behaving as “bigots” or “extremists” – just some of the labels being thrown around. And neither is this solely a “Muslim issue”. The protests reflect wider concerns from some Christians and Jews too.

Digging deeper, we find communities who feel they have been backed into a corner and judged as not compatible with 21st century British values. Some mainstream Muslim school leaders in Birmingham (also) feel marginalised’.

So, the battle lines are drawn and in October 2019, the government issued new advice to local authorities on dealing with protests outside schools over LGBT-inclusive teaching.

There is a lot at stake here including the wider project of pastoral care in education. RSE is part of the wider reform of PSHE and includes an important new initiative to support the mental well-being of children and young people.

Perhaps this is the avenue to find the common ground to begin a dialogue and Diamond helpfully steers us to UNICEFs ‘Rights of the Child’. This is an important moment in the story of RSE that is proving painful and damaging for people on all sides.

I hope some dialogue and reconciliation can begin soon.

Dr Max Biddulph
NEC Officer
National Association for Pastoral Care in Education (NAPCE)

ENTER NOW: NAPCE launches awards event to celebrate pastoral care work in schools

NAPCE is delighted to have joined forces with UK Pastoral Chat to launch an exciting new awards scheme for pastoral care providers in the education sector.

This is the first time ever an event has being organised to recognise the fantastic achievements across schools in the UK on pastoral care.

It has been created to provide much deserved recognition to the people and schools who are doing great work and to shine a light on good practice in pastoral care.

There are seven categories to enter in the NAPCE Awards and 11 under the UK Pastoral Chat scheme.

Entry for both sets of awards is separate, although the closing date for both is Monday 2^ndMarch, 2020.

Both organisations will work in partnership to organise the first ever National Awards for Pastoral Care in Education under one awards ceremony which will take place in 2020.

You can enter the NAPCE awards now here: https://napceawards.wufoo.com/forms/zxzr4y71g2ofzi/

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

Nominations are encouraged for awards in different categories from schools and educational institutions.

UK Pastoral Chat is inviting nominations for awards in the following categories;

SLT
Head of Year (Including Head of 6^thForm)
Head of House/Head of Boarding
PSHE Lead
Nurse/ Counsellor
Pastoral Support Staff (including Learning Mentor)
Tutor/Classroom teacher
Unsung Hero
Guidance teacher
DSL/CP Co-ordinator
Governor

Details about how to make nominations can be found on the UK Pastoral Chat Twitter pages.

The Awards will be an excellent opportunity to share good practice in pastoral care and through the social media and websites of both organisations to raise awareness of where pastoral support is making a real difference in the educational experience of young people.

The awards will encourage 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 opportunity to recognise the impact the work of pastoral staff is having on the achievement and well being of young people. The decisions about prize winners in each category will be made by a panel of invited professionals who work in pastoral care.

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;
Award Criteria

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

Nominations can be made online via this link:

https://napceawards.wufoo.com/forms/zxzr4y71g2ofzi/

You can also enter by e-mail to NAPCE Base at admin@napce.org.uk or they can be sent by post to National Association for Pastoral Care in Education, (NAPCE), PO BOX 60005, Nuneaton, CV11 9GY, with the following information:

Award __________________________________________

Nomination __________________________________________
Support for nomination (maximum 100 words)

Nominated by _______________________________________________

Email contact _______________________________________________

The Awards Programme and partnership with UK Pastoral Chat is an exciting opportunity to raise the profile of Pastoral Care and give hard working pastoral staff and schools with positive approaches to supporting learners the recognition that they deserve.

Please be part of this process by sending your nominations.

Phil Jones
National Chair
National Association for Pastoral Care in Education

***ARTICLE: In the aftermath of Anti-Bullying Week 2019, NAPCE have shared a practical classroom exercise to engage students in this* difficult *subject***

As part of NAPCE’s support for Anti-Bullying Week 2019 (November 11-15, 2019) our Chair, Phil Jones, shared a collection of practical in-school activities to help students and staff explore and understand the line between bullying and banter.

Each of these scenarios have been created to engage young people in the thought process behind activities which could cross the line with an overall view to encourage contemplation and adjusted behaviour outcomes.

We encourage educators to adopt this practice session within a classroom environment and would very much welcome any reported outcomes send to admin@napce.org.uk

Bullying or Banter? Classroom activities to make a difference by Phil Jones, Chair of NAPCE

Organise the class into groups of 5 or 6 students.
Ask students to organise themselves into roles for example:

Chair (who organises the meeting)
Secretary (who records any decisions made)
Timekeeper (who makes sure that the team are on task to meet the deadline)

Ask the team to agree three rules for their discussion
Hand out the scenarios.
To add challenge and pace to the activity give the teams a deadline for completing each scenario.
Ask for feedback from each team on the decisions they have made when the deadline is reached for each scenario.
Give points to the team depending on the quality of their response and how well they explain their views. Perhaps a prize for the best team.
Extension activity would be to come up with five rules for preventing misunderstandings between bullying and banter.
Team can evaluate how well they worked together and how well they considered all the issues.

SCENARIO A

A is a goalkeeper in a football team. A is a good goalkeeper and is respected for making important saves in matches. In one important cup match A makes three big mistakes which all lead to goals for their opponents and they lose the match 3 goals to two. As A come off the pitch some members of the team tell A that they were useless today and that it is their fault that they lost. In the evening A gets a text message saying that the team needs a new goalkeeper. A decides that they will not play football again.

Was this banter or bullying?
Is A being too sensitive?
What could A do about the situation?
What could anybody else do about the situation?

SCENARIO B

B is asked to go to a gig at a local nightclub by a group of friends from school. When B asks their parents, they say no because they think B is too young and they have heard rumours that there are drugs at this nightclub. B explains this to their friends, but they just respond by saying that B is ‘scared’ of their parents and that they should ignore them and just go anyway. Later, that evening one of the friends posts a picture of a chicken on social media with the question does anybody recognise this person?

Is this bullying or banter?
What could go wrong?
What should B do?
What could anybody else do to help resolve the situation.

SCENARIO C

C has just started their first job working in an office. They are very nervous on their first day and do not want to do anything wrong. They are not sure what happens at lunchtime, so they take sandwiches in a Tupperware box. At lunchtime everybody in the office agrees to go out for lunch. Everybody starts laughing when they see that C has got their sandwiches out to eat. They make fun of C and say look at ‘Tups’, who cannot afford to buy a lunch and similar comments. They go out and leave C behind. In the afternoon everybody ignores C apart form a note which suddenly appears on their desk which says, “give some money now for starving workers’. C decides that they are going to give the job up.

Is this bullying or banter?
What has caused this situation?
What could C do about the situation?
What could anybody else do about the situation?

SCENARIO D

D enjoys listening to classical music and does not like modern music. They have just started their first job after leaving school and enjoys having the money to be able to go out for meals. On a visit to a restaurant with their four closest friends form school a local rock band is playing. D makes a comment that the band is rubbish and the restaurant would be better to have a musician playing a violin. The friends laugh and say that he is not living in the real world and make comments about D being boring. Later that evening D finds out from social media that his four friends are going to a rock concert and he has not been invited. D decides that he is going to tell his friend that they are unable to appreciate good music and he doesn’t want to see them again.

Is this bullying or banter?
How could this situation have been avoided?
What could D do to improve the situation
What could anybody else do about the situation?

The scenarios will encourage teams to consider different perceptions about situations and what is the intent of the people involved. They will need to think about how situations can be prevented form becoming a problem and how people need to use empathy and sensitivity to resolve them. The organisation of the activity will provide opportunities for students to learn how to work in teams, how to contribute their ideas and to develop their listening and communication skills.

MEDIA WATCH: A round-up of the latest news stories involving pastoral care in education

At NAPCE we work very hard to stay across the national and international news media to store and share the latest stories involving pastoral care in education on our own platforms.

In this new feature for NAPCE News, we are sharing with you a selection of the biggest stories hitting the headlines this month with the aim that some of these reported developments may provide useful context within your work as a strategist or practitioner of pastoral support.

Here is a summary for November 2019.

“Self-harm: Girls ‘more likely to end up in hospital'” from BBC News

Read here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-50211831

“Councils dealing with more children at risk of gang involvement and trafficking” from The Guardian

Read here: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/oct/31/social-services-see-30-rise-in-children-seeking-asylum

“Domestic abuse ‘biggest threat to child protection'” from BBC News

Read here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-50294046

“Bullying: Fifth of young people in UK have been victims in past year – report” from BBC News

Read here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-50370667

“Teen self-harm rates are dramatically down in Denmark – here’s why” from The Independent

Read here: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/teen-self-harm-rates-down-denmark-mental-health-suicide-a9181561.html

“Teachers ‘need more training’ to combat sexual abuse” from TES

Read here: https://www.tes.com/news/teachers-need-more-training-combat-sexual-abuse

“We are sleepwalking into a student self-esteem crisis” from TES

Read here: https://www.tes.com/news/we-are-sleepwalking-student-self-esteem-crisis

“Children who rarely eat breakfast secure lower GCSE grades than classmates, study finds” from The Independent

Read here: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/breakfast-school-gcse-grades-children-austerity-leeds-university-a9209131.html

“One in seven children develop a mental illness, claims new research” from The Independent

Read here: https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/children-mental-illness-research-depression-anxiety-young-people-a9210926.html

“Sharp rise in pupil numbers in special schools
DfE figures show special school population has risen by 6 per cent in a year” from TES

Read here: https://www.tes.com/news/sharp-rise-pupil-numbers-special-schools

NAPCE News – April 2022

Making a positive difference to young people through pastoral care

FEATURE ARTICLE: NAPCE Chair Phil Jones reviews DFE’s New Consultation on Behaviour, Suspension and Permanent Exclusion Guidance in Schools

REPORT: NAPCE NEC Meets in Person for First Time Since Pandemic Started

ARTICLE: Creating Sense of Self to Find Young Carers by Dr Dee Gray

CONFERENCE: FREE Tickets Available Now for NAPCE Online Spring Conference 2022

CELEBRATION DINNER: Join us to Celebrate NAPCE’s 40th Anniversary

40th ANNIVERSARY: Weekend Conference Details Released to Mark Four Decades of NAPCE

AWARDS: Entry for the NAPCE Awards 2022 Closes on May 30th

NAPCE News – August 2021

Making a positive difference to young people through pastoral care

FEATURE ARTICLE: NAPCE’s Dr Julianne Brown explores pastoral leadership in schools as approach”Normality”

REPORT: “From the Chair” with NAPCE Chief Phil Jones

ARTICLE: “Supporting students to take control of leaked explicit images” published on schoolsweek.co.uk

NAPCE News – July 2021

Making a positive difference to young people through pastoral care

FEATURE ARTICLE: Summer Sun & Self Discovery by NAPCE Officer Victoria Bownes

REPORT: NAPCE Annual National Conference 2021 – Does Every Child Still Matter?

AWARDS: Finalists for the Second National Awards for Pastoral Care in Education Announced

SURVEY: Invitation to Take Part in Survey on Sexual Violence in Education

NAPCE News – June 2021

Making a positive difference to young people through pastoral care

FEATURE ARTICLE: “Will Pastoral Care Mean Business as Usual? by NAPCE’s Journal Editor Professor Stan Tucker

CONFERENCE: An Update on NAPCE Annual National Conference 2021 – Does Every Child Still Matter?

FESTIVAL: Tickets for International Festival of Inclusion Now Available and NAPCE is Offering an Exclusive 50% Discount

ARTICLE: The Role of “Advocate for the Vulnerable” by Inclusion Expert Daniel Sobel

AWARDS: An update on the National Awards for Pastoral Care in Education 2021

ARTICLE: Pastoral Care The Gratitude and the Challenge – UK vs International

NAPCE News – May 2021

Making a positive difference to young people through pastoral care

FEATURE ARTICLE: “What About Staff Voice?” A View on the Value of Worker Opinion in Schools by NAPCE Secretary Jill Robson

CONFERENCE: An Update on NAPCE Annual National Conference 2021 – Does Every Child Still Matter?

AWARDS: Last Chance to Enter National Awards for Pastoral Care in Education 2021

MEDIA ARTICLE: Emotionally based school refusal: How can we respond? from headteacher-update.com

NAPCE News – November 2019 Making a positive difference to young people through pastoral care

FEATURE ARTICLE: Statutory Relationships and Sex Education: What should we make of school protests? Asks NAPCE’s Dr Max Biddulph

ENTER NOW: NAPCE launches awards event to celebrate pastoral care work in schools

ARTICLE: In the aftermath of Anti-Bullying Week 2019, NAPCE have shared a practical classroom exercise to engage students in this difficult subject

MEDIA WATCH: A round-up of the latest news stories involving pastoral care in education

*FEATURE ARTICLE: “What About Staff Voice?**” A View on the Value of Worker Opinion in Schools by NAPCE Secretary Jill Robson*

NAPCE News – November 2019
Making a positive difference to young people through pastoral care

***ARTICLE: In the aftermath of Anti-Bullying Week 2019, NAPCE have shared a practical classroom exercise to engage students in this* difficult *subject***