Pastoral Care

At Ickford we put the happiness and safety of our children above everything else and we have recently enhanced our pastoral provision by becoming a ‘Brilliant School’ and following the work by Dr Andy Cope with the aim of embedding,

“positive habits into the lives of everyone involved in the learning process, leading to pupils feeling happier and attaining better results, creating a ripple of positivity that will extend through your school and beyond.”

The aim is to create a sustainable, long-term wellbeing ethos in our school. One that is passed on from every pupil, staff member and even parents.

In addition to our work on mental health and happiness, we also have a positive and proven strategy to empower children to initially deal with adverse behaviour themselves called the Steps to Stop and we make every effort to maintain our ‘culture of telling’. As a result, we are a school where the phrase, “Don’t tell tales,” is prohibited and we believe that we help children to recognise the importance of speaking out against behaviours that violate their right to be happy and safe at school and in the wider society throughout their lives.

We also have a dedicated Pastoral Support Officer whose role it is to act as a ‘listening service’ for any children that may be anxious about something particularly the transition from Primary to Secondary School.

If your child has a problem at school

From time to time, in the children’s lives, events may take place that are upsetting for them. If you are able to share information about your child’s personal life with us, it can be extremely useful in helping us to offer understanding and support. This will always be dealt with in the strictest confidence.

If you think your child is experiencing any kind of difficulty at school, or if you have any concerns about aspects of school life, then you should talk to your child’s teacher or the Headteacher.

Safeguarding

Under the Education Act 2002 (section 175), schools must make arrangements to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. Parents/carers should know that the law requires all school staff to pass on information which gives rise to a concern about a child’s welfare, including risk from neglect, physical, emotional or sexual abuse. The staff will seek, in general, to discuss any concerns with the parent/carer and where possible inform them of the referral to Social Care.

In accordance with GDPR guidelines, we will ensure that any permissible and necessary information is shared effectively and sensitively. Information will only be shared with other services where it is deemed proportionate to ensure that children and young people are safe and receive the right service.

Schools will seek advice from Social Care when they have reasonable cause to suspect a child may be suffering or likely to suffer significant harm. Occasionally, concerns are passed on which are later shown to be unfounded. Parents/carers will appreciate that the designated person for child protection was carrying out their responsibilities in accordance with the law and acting in the best interests of all children.

The Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) in school is the Headteacher.