At Brown's C of E Primary School we are committed to developing the ‘whole child’.  This includes not only the academic side of school, but also the physical, social and emotional well-being of the child.  We strive to create a caring and supportive environment where young people feel happy, secure, confident and valued in order to achieve their best in the classroom. We offer pastoral support to pupils to ensure that our children feel safe and secure and know that there are adults within school who they can talk to and who will listen to them. Our aim is to ensure that each child has access to guidance and support, where necessary, and to enable each child to fulfil their own potential academically, socially and emotionally.

Class teachers take the lead with pastoral care. They are a child's first point of contact and ideally placed to support their needs. Much of this work takes place in the classroom with daily well-being 'check-ins', adjustments to expectations and additional support. Where a pupil needs more support, this will be provided by skilled support staff.

As a parent your point of contact will also be the class teacher.

As our tagline would suggest, the care of our pupils is our highest priority. We support our pupils and community through our inclusive and caring approach, offering tailored nurturing support to those who need it when they need it. We work closely with other professionals to ensure we are able to meet the needs of all our pupils.

Pupils told me that, ‘There are no dark corners in this school; every corner is light and friendly.' OFSTED 2019

ELSA (Emotional Literacy Support): Mrs Hill is our trained ELSA. ELSAs are teaching assistants who have received specific additional training from Educational Psychologists from whom they receive ongoing supervision following training.  Her role is to support children in school to understand and regulate their own emotions, providing them with the strategies/tools they need to be able to help themselves. 

The needs of a child are individual but some of the common issues supported by our Pastoral work include:

• Friendship issues
• Low self-esteem
• Low levels of resilience
• Anxiety / worries
• Problems managing anger
• Attendance 
• Developing social skills
• Organisational skills
• Illness and Bereavement
• Divorce and Separation
• Parent on Deployment

• Quality first teaching and supportive classroom environments

        - Daily meet and greet

        - Check in Baskets

        - Worry monsters

        - Colour Monster chart

• Impromptu guidance and support for children.  The pastoral team are accessible throughout the day to talk to children as needed.

All staff undertake ongoing relevant training so that they are able to develop productive and supportive relationships with children to meet their needs.