Welcome to Watchfield! : A Guide to The Provision of Pastoral Support

Effective pastoral care underpins children’s personal development.  At Watchfield, we know from experience that with outstanding pastoral care, children feel they belong and their self-esteem is able to flourish because they recognise that they are valued and cared for.  We believe that good pastoral support focuses on nurturing the individual needs of each child, working alongside parents and carers to ensure children make good progress in all aspects of their lives during their time with us at Watchfield.  We want everyone involved with our school to feel well supported.

Our Pastoral Support Team on site at Watchfield is made up of our Pastoral Lead and our Family Support Worker & ELSA, working closely alongside our Teaching Assistants.  We aim to create empathic relationships with all our pupils and their families, which are built on trust.  Together, our staff team works with children and their families so they can lead fulfilling and balanced lives whilst at Watchfield and beyond.

Specifically, the role of the Pastoral Support Team is to:

• Support and work alongside parents in addressing pastoral concerns impacting on their child’s learning and development.
• Meet with parents/carers to discuss issues relating to their child and where required, support parents and carers in accessing external support e.g. through the Early Help Assessment process.
• Work with the wider staff team to ensure effective support for pupils that builds upon the caring and respectful relationships that exist between staff, pupils and families.
• Provide bespoke emotional support for individual children; listening and talking to children who may need assistance on a variety of pastoral issues, for example, self-esteem and confidence, bereavement, managing feelings, anxieties/worries, separation and developing social and friendships skills.
• Recognise the importance of enabling the voice of the child to be heard, in order to promote safeguarding and well-being.  Sometimes, supporting the pastoral needs of pupils involves working with external agencies. In these situations we ensure that confidential, non-judgmental and sensitive support is provided.

A key objective of our pastoral work in school, is to support children’s well-being and therefore in-turn, help reduce any barriers to their learning.  By the time they leave us, we want all of our children at Watchfield to be able to SOAR: To be Successful, Original, Aspirational and Resilient.  This is our Whole-School Vision.

How Can My Child Access Bespoke Pastoral Support?

All staff at Watchfield are very approachable and we offer an ‘Open Door Policy’ before and after school hours.  Therefore, in the first instance, if you have any concerns about your child’s emotional well-being and how this may be impacting on them and their education, your first port of call should be their Class Teacher, who can also be contacted via the School Office.  However, if you have any questions about Pastoral Support in general at Watchfield or would like some advice about how your child can access some bespoke support, please contact our Family Support Worker directly.  Appointments can be made via the School Office on the following contact details:

Telephone:  (01793) 782623        or            email:  office.@wat.faringdonlearningtrust.org