Pastoral Support

At Dane Bank Primary School we want everyone involved with our school to feel well supported. We believe that good pastoral support focuses on nurturing the individual needs of each child. We aim to build trusting and empathetic relationships with all our pupils and their families.

Pastoral care underpins personal development and we know from experience that with outstanding pastoral care, pupils feel they belong and their self-esteem is able to flourish because they feel valued and cared for. We offer support and guidance for families experiencing difficulties and provide a link between home and school to try and resolve issues at an early stage.

As a small school, we pride ourselves on knowing our children and their families well. We are able to identify when there are issues appearing and work to offer early help support and pastoral provision in a pro-active way. Following our recent Safeguarding Audit, our report identified – “Dane Bank Primary School is a warm and welcoming place to learn and work. The relationships within school at all levels were positive and respectful. The children spoke highly about the staff and the staff spoke equally highly about the children. It was a joy to be in such a warm and positive environment.” Of this, we are very proud.

Supporting the pastoral needs of pupils and families sometimes involves working with external agencies. In these situations we ensure that a confidential, professional, non-judgmental and sensitive service is provided.

Mrs Fuggle is our PE and PSHE Lead in school and has also undertaken training with the “Thrive Approach” to become our Senior Mental Health Lead. Mrs Fuggle leads on our pastoral offer and – alongside Senior Leaders, including the Designated Safeguarding Lead and the SENDCO, maintains a provision map outlining which children are receiving additional, personal pastoral support. Mrs Fuggle meets with children, individually or in pairs/small groups according to need, each week and during these sessions, children are given opportunties to share worries, anxieties and questions. Mrs Fuggle also leads of Worry Wizard Intervention group – these are structured sessions where children are encouraged to share their worries and the “worry wizrd” helps them to become more manageable and less overwhelming. You can find out more about the Worry Wizard Intervention by clicking here.