Pastoral Team

At William Harding we are very proud of our strong Pastoral team and we work hard to ensure all our pupils and families are well supported whatever the need.

Please find information below regarding our pastoral staffing team. Should you wish to contact any staff please note details can be found on the ‘Who to contact’ sheet.

Safeguarding Team

If you have a Safeguarding concern please speak to a member of the Safeguarding team;

Mrs Skinner - Inclusion, Pastoral and Safeguarding Lead and Designated Safeguarding Lead

Miss Cotchin - Headteacher and Deputy DSL (Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead)

Mrs Bone - Lead Family Liaison Officer and Safeguarding Manager (Additional Designated Person)

Mrs Fuller - Deputy Headteacher (Additional Designated Person)

Mrs Collins - Family Liaison Officer and Medical Support

Mrs Locke - Family Liaison Officer and Early Help Support

Miss Irwin - Family Liaison Officer and Mental Health Lead

Mrs Gurton - Safeguarding Governor

Family Liaison Team

Our FLOs a team of staff who work to support our pupils and needs including Safeguarding and those that are vulnerable. They offer training for staff and work with parents to build strong relationship between home and school. They also work to improve attendance and home visits.

Mrs Bone - Lead Family Liaison Officer / Domestic Abuse Champion

Miss Gondolosi - Family Liaison Officer and Behaviour Support

Mrs Collins - Family Liaison Officer and Medical Support

Mrs Locke - Family Liaison Officer and Early Help Support

Miss Irwin - Family Liaison Officer and Mental Health Lead

Miss Norris - Family Liaison Officer and Attendance Support

Mrs Gannon - School Counsellor

School Counsellor

Mrs Gannan is an experienced counsellor and has many years experience supporting young people of all ages, both in schools and in private practice. 

What support do we provide for vulnerable pupils?

At William Harding we provide a wide range of support for vulnerable pupils and families. We provide a range of support when there are mental health concerns for example counsellor support or support from out pastoral TA. We also provide support with ongoing family issues such as supporting families who have experienced domestic violence through our Helping Hands programme.

We support vulnerable children through the curriculum. We have a personal development curriculum designed to support children to develop a range of skills such as resilience and independence. We also use Real PE for our PE curriculum that supports personal development alongside physical development.

We support vulnerable pupils who need academic support through providing a homework club, Family Learning sessions and our enrichment opportunities.

A full list of what we provide can be found below

Vulnerable Pupil Support

Pastoral Support Programmes

Helping Hands is a programme ran by Women’s Aid. The aim of the programme is to increase the understanding of feeling safe and to explore and promote behaviours which will contribute to a safe environment. The programme is a 5–6 week course full of activities and worksheet materials for mothers and children to engage together.

Helping Hands helps children:

• increase their self esteem and confidence

• explore and express feelings, make choices and solve problems

• understand their right to feel safe at all times

• increase their abilities in safety planning

• identify their own personal support network

• explore how their behaviour can affect the feelings of others, and

• identify healthy ways to manage conflict.

By working with children using Helping Hands, we can help them:

• understand that feelings are okay

• express strong feelings without violence, and

• practice non violent problem solving skills.

Read 2 Dogs Programme

Research shows that young people can become nervous and stressed when reading to others in a group. However, when a Read 2 Dog enters the group, they often become less stressed, less self-conscious and more confident as the confident as the dogs are non-judgmental. Before long children start looking forward to the new reading experience as they are going to read to their new friend. Read 2 Dogs are PAT tested and provide comfort, encourage positive social behaviours, enhance self-esteem, motivate speech and inspire children to have fun.

www.petsastherapy.org

Peer Mentors

Peer mentors are children in Year 5 and 6 who help younger children in the playground and at lunch. 

The role and duties of a peer mentor will include:

• Being a listening ear for other students

• Being on duty in the drop-in room or outside on the playground

• Being a mental health ambassador within the school

• Creating promotional posters and assemblies for the service

• Passing on any worries to a teacher

Mentors will receive one full day’s mental health awareness training from Bucks Mind covering what mental health is, what positively and negatively affects our mental health, mental health in the media, the role of a peer mentor, safeguarding & confidentiality* and the logistics of the service.

We run a half termly Young Carers sessions for our Young Carers. A Young Carer is identified as:

The young person is all of the following:

• between the ages of 5-16 years old.

• lives in Buckinghamshire.

• is aware of the referral and parent/guardian consent has been given.

• cares for a family member within the home (parent/sibling/other relative).

The young person cares for someone with at least one of the following:

• a physical disability (including sensory impairment).

• a learning disability.

• a long-term illness, with clear diagnosis.

• a terminal illness.

• a mental illness, with clear diagnosis.

• drug or alcohol dependency.

• or who is elderly.

Their caring role has a direct impact upon or affects at least one of the following:

• social inclusion.

• educational opportunities and achievement.

• their emotional wellbeing.

• their physical wellbeing.

• family relationships.

If you believe your child is a Young Carer please speak to a member of the FLO Team.

Our FLO Team have undertaken training and are qualified to provide parent support sessions.

The sessions help parents and carers work together in ways to support growing children and have a calm family life. These sessions are not about judgement or blame. They are not about telling people what to do. The programme is a safe place to talk with other parents or self-reflect on what we do, why we do it and how it makes us feel as a family.

There are 4  two hour sessions, one each week for four weeks. Parents would need to sign up to attend all 4 sessions.

Week 1 – Self Awareness – managing feelings, nurturing ourselves, the role of the parent.

Week 2 – Appropriate expectations – setting expectations, communication and support

Week 3 – Boundaries and Positive Discipline – parenting styles, time to calm down, problem solving and negotiating

Week 4 – Empathy – choosing how to respond, empathy for adults and children

Parents who have attended these sessions have said:

“I feel closer to my children as I can understand them now”

“I just feel I’m a lot calmer and clearer, and have a lot more resources to be thoughtful”

“Even if you only learn one thing, it will improve your relationship/home environment, making a more positive life for your children”

A nurture group is a small group of pupils (usually 6-12 in a group), who have social, emotional and mental health needs (SEMH). We run nurture groups in school. A member of the FLO Team and a member of the SEND Team have been trained to run nurture sessions. As nurture sessions require two members of staff to run them, they will run the sessions together. The nurture group environment is designed to be welcoming and safe, to support pupils in developing relationships with their peers and teachers, to develop their self esteem, and to have a greater understanding of and ability to express their emotions. 

There are 6 principles of nurture, which are: 

• Children's learning is understood developmentally

• The classroom and school offer a safe base

• Nurture is important in the development of self-esteem

• Language is understood as a vital means of communication

• All behaviour is communication

• Transitions are significant in the lives of children. 

The theory behind a nurture group is based on Attachment theory - that if children’s early experiences are characterised by missing or distorted nurturing, then emotional and cognitive development can be affected.

Many children with SEMH difficulties have been exposed to high levels of stress whilst still very young. This can impact their developing brain, and may result in hypervigilance and  difficulties with attention, learning and emotional control.  By providing this nurture later in a child’s life, we can help children and young people to develop the skills and resilience to cope with stressful experiences. 

The impact of nurture sessions include:

They develop pupils’ confidence and self-esteem, and they learn to take pride in their work;

• Pupils become better at managing emotions and empathising with others, and form more positive relationships with peers and teachers;

• Pupils enjoy school more, and overall attendance increases;

• Academic performance increases;

• Behaviour significantly improves, and there is a reduction in the number of exclusions;

• Parent-child relationships improve;

• Bonds between teachers and pupils improve, and help create a whole school nurturing ethos. 

The FLO Team will assess the needs of pupils across the school year. Pupils will be invited to join sessions that the FLO Team feel would be beneficial. Parents are informed in writing if their child has been invited to join a support session.

If you feel that your child would benefit from any of the above programmes, please contact the FLO Team via the school office.