PASTORAL CARE

Pastoral Care At St Edward’s School, we recognise that effective pastoral care is paramount. It is as important as education. In fact, the two are intrinsically linked. Effective pastoral care enables pupils to safely access all aspects of school life and fulfil their God given potential. Being a school for pupils with increasingly more complex Social, Emotional and Mental Health needs, necessitates an approach to pastoral care that is forever adapting and necessarily becoming more personalised. Whilst our principles are consistent, our practices are flexible. Our pupils can exhibit challenging behaviour associated with their co-morbid diagnoses and trauma histories, but structure does not have to be at the detriment of nurture. St Edward’s School is a high structure, high nurture provision, where effective pastoral care is the responsibility of every single member of staff; a supportive learning environment for neurodivergent children with high needs. Staff are encouraged to be reflective practitioners; seeing pupil behaviour through an Attachment or sensory ‘lens’ with a view to changing their own practice in order to support pupils to make positive changes. At St Edward’s School, the problem is the problem – not the child. It is incumbent on all staff members to understand the importance of co-regulation and be adults who are emotionally predictable, resilient, unconditionally ‘available’, empathic, with a passion for developing authentic, attuned relationships with children who in many cases fear closeness. We train and promote staff to be ‘amygdala whisperers’; working relationally with pupils to help avoid those crisis moments of fight, flight or freeze. We are a school where every interaction is an intervention. We continue to consult with leading professionals whose expertise inform school policy and practice in respect of trauma informed behaviour management. Our aim is always to reduce instances of crises, episodes of positive handling and exclusion, in favour of a proactive approach. If we can predict it, then we should be able to support its prevention. In those instances, when pupils do evidence unexpected behaviours, they are encouraged to engage in a restorative process to repair their relationships with those effected. But there has to be something worth repairing. First, we connect and then we correct. When the nature of a placement becomes tenuous due to a risk of exclusion, we work hard to prevent this through our Restore Programme. Underpinned by the core principles of restorative practice, its purpose is to support pupils to reflect, foster accountability and responsibility, promote empathy and understanding, repair harm, rebuild relationships through conflict resolution and reconnect to their sense of belonging to a school community that values them. We are developing an integrated approach to pastoral care and education, that is informed by a well-resourced therapeutic department, including Occupational and Speech & Language Therapy and Clinical Psychology in The Bridge. Pupil induction into St Edward’s is managed by their multidisciplinary team to accrue essential information as to a pupil’s need. Prior to a pupil’s introduction into class, will be the creation of their Pupil Passport. This informs effective and personalised approaches to pastoral care by thinking therapeutically. Depending on need and age, each pupil is allocated a specific Pastoral Care Keyworker - a dedicated and highly experienced care professional who walks alongside them and their family, every step of their St Edward’s School journey. We know that pupils are far more likely to succeed and make progress in the most holistic sense, with a wraparound provision. To that end, we offer each pupil the opportunity for extended days, engaging in an exciting but meaningful activity programme on-site and in the local community, to develop their Cultural Capital, hone adaptive behaviour skills and preparedness for adulthood, through socialisation and exposure to new experiences. Our specialist education team offer an outstanding curriculum, tailored to meet the specific learning difficulties of each pupil. This ensures that we diminish the difference and support them to fulfil their academic potential, but it is the seam of pastoral care running through every facet of school life, that supports pupils to regulate, communicate and heal, in order to access their learning.