Pastoral Support
At Little Green Junior 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 so that they feel safe and ready to learn. We aim to build trusting and empathic relationships with all our pupils and their families.
'Mental Health First Aiders'
Our Inclusion Team is made up of dedicated professionals including our Inclusion Leader, and two Pastoral Leads as well as three Teaching Assistants trained in Drawing and Talking and other therapies. Together our team works with students so they can lead fulfilling and balanced lives at school and beyond. The Inclusion Leader has been trained in Protective Behaviours and children are all encouraged to complete their safe hand network so they all have a trusted adult in school that can support them.
The Pastoral Leads are also “Mental Health First Aiders” and are able to spot and support the early signs of a child or adult within our community who may be struggling. All our staff model to students how to look after themselves and others; encouraging them to seek help, support or advice whenever they need it. Pastoral care underpins personal development and we know from experience that with outstanding pastoral care, students feel they belong and their self-esteem is able to flourish because they feel valued and cared for.
'Working with other agencies...'
Supporting the pastoral needs of pupils sometimes involves working with external agencies such as the Family Support Worker and the School Nurse. There is also an organisation called DSPL 9 that provides many courses for parents, details of which are provided in the section below. In these situations, we ensure that a confidential, professional, non-judgemental and sensitive service is provided.
'Interventions...'
Pastoral Support includes a range of interventions such as our Nurture groups, Comets and Rockets, staff trained in Drawing and Talking, Staff trained in mentoring skills and a School Counsellor. Little Green Junior School understands the importance of enabling the voice of the child to be heard to promote safeguarding and well-being.
'Zones of Regulation...'
The Zones of Regulation is a strategy used across the school and modelled by staff to enable the children to understand how different emotions make us feel and influence our behaviour. It is a toolkit that gives the children an appropriate vocabulary to articulate their feelings and enables them to self-regulate their emotions so that they are ready to learn.
Useful Resources
Anxiety: This third lockdown is proving tougher for so many, during this winter season. The charity 'Young Minds' has an excellent website of resources and 'tool kits' amongst other support, for parents and carers.
Specifically, the below link will take you to a section on supporting and coping with children's anxieties around COVID-19 and lockdown.
Big Life Journal is a kids podcast that covers a range of stories with topics such as Growth Mindset, Resilience, Gratitude or stories of children and adults around the world with an interesting story to tell.
We all have mental health, just like we all have physical health. It’s OK to not be OK. We all struggle sometimes and there is help available.
Talking can really help. Just Talk is a multi-agency campaign, steered by young people.
In 2017, a group of professionals from various agencies in Hertfordshire came together to discuss the issue that current mental health services, projects and campaigns were better meeting the needs of girls than boys. As a result of this meeting, extensive research and consultation took place with teenage boys across Hertfordshire. The Just Talk campaign was born.