The pastoral support team provide support in three main areas:
Support, Advice & Guidance
The pastoral team provides focussed support and guidance for students/families who are struggling to cope or that may have concerns. This area forms a large part of our work and some of the issues that students may need help with are as follows;
Bereavement (Loss /change)
Transitions
Relationships
Self Harm
Confidence
Eating Disorders
Behavioural Management
Smoking/Alcohol and other
Understanding and managing feelings/emotions
Substance abuse
Self Esteem
Each student is linked with a member of the pastoral team and can access help and support directly at school or through the pastoral email help&advice@harlington.org. If more intensive support is required the team can access multi agencies through the process of completing a Common Assessment Framework (CAF) form. Some of the agencies we work with are as follows;
Counsellors
Medical Needs Team
Education Welfare
Behaviour Support Team
Social Workers
Plan B (Alcohol/substance abuse)
Youth Workers
School Nurse
Police
Together we can provide comprehensive support to enable students/families to overcome and manage difficulties in their lives so that students are supported in order to be able to reach their full potential. There is an open door policy for students to see pastoral staff. In addition, the team organise workshops for students to be able to participate in learning about issues that may affect their lives i.e. managing emotions, alcohol, sex & relationships and managing money etc…
Click here to view our useful Helplines Booklet
Attendance
Attendance is monitored by the form tutor in the first instance and this is the first point of contact for parents regarding attendance. However, should there be difficulties then the pastoral support team are able to follow this up. We work together with students and families to support attendance and overcome any issues, as there are clear links between attendance and attainment. Together with our Education Welfare Officer we are able to monitor and manage attendance for all students.
Behaviour
If behaviour becomes a concern for any reason the pastoral team are able to give support to assess the issues of the student and the appropriate support to be given. This support may be given in house through pastoral support plans or reports in which the students are given targets and strategies to improve behaviour. These are monitored and reviewed periodically to ensure progress. Other support may be accessed through other agencies through the Common Assessment Framework Procedure (CAF Form).