Pastoral Team and Pastoral System

The Pastoral System

We are incredibly proud of the importance we place on student welfare, health and wellbeing at Writhlington School. Our aim is to help our students develop the capacity to manage the ups and downs of life and also to recognise that there is support available if it is needed. Every member of staff at Writhlington has a responsibility for supporting our students.

Key Pastoral Staff

Mr Mike Burr
Pastoral Care and Safeguarding Lead
Mr Kevin Keely
Head of Year 7
Mr Lloyd Davies
Head of Year 8 and 9
Mr David Morris
Head of Year 10 and 11
Mrs Becky Sturdy
Assistant Head of Year 7
Mrs Kelly Payne
Assistant Head of Year 9 and Attendance Officer
Miss Kirsty Playdon
Assistant Head of Year 8
Mrs Rebecca Scattergood
Assistant Head of Year 10 and 11 and Inclusion Lead
Mr Ian McPherson
Inclusion & Support

Tutors

We believe that the role of the tutor is a vital part of the development of young people in our community and each student will be part of a tutor group. The tutor should always be the first point of contact should you need to speak to someone in school.

Our pastoral team is also able to make referrals to other agencies working with us to support our young people. These include:

  • The school Nursing Service
  • Home School Liaison officer
  • Off The Record counselling Service
  • Speakeasy mentoring
  • SAFS / Mentoring Plus mentoring
  • Youth Connect
  • Sporting Family Change

We all work together to ensure that our students have their emotional needs effectively and appropriately supported so that they are able to succeed in school and in the wider world.

“Pupils feel happy, safe and cared for.”

Ofsted 2023

Rewards

A school ethos of encouragement is central to the promotion of desirable behaviour and this policy works alongside the rewards policy. We have high expectations of work ethic, attendance, behaviour and participation in school life.

Each term, students can be awarded for five different aspects of their success:

  1. 100% attendance; REWARD = non-uniform day
  2. No Lates to sessions or lessons; REWARD = certificate
  3. Number of GEMS awarded; For those students who ‘Go the Extra Mile’, we award GEMs to them based on the school’s values. There is an expectation that students will achieve at least the number of GEMS as weeks in that school term. REWARD = certificate
  4. No demerits in a term; REWARD = non-uniform day
  5. Participation in school life; students should regularly attend a school club / activity or be a part of a school event. REWARD = certificate

Students who get the required GEMS AND have no demerits will also be awarded bonus GEMS for success.

If all 5 of the above are met in one term, then the student will also receive A £10 Amazon Voucher.

Celebration assemblies are held at the end of the Christmas, Easter and Summer terms and pupils are presented with the relevant awards. Attendance is also rewarded in the following way:

  • 100% attendance certificate for the year at celebration assemblies.
  • 99/100% attendance letter home at the end of the year.
  • Year group competition - tutor groups with highest attendance weekly and termly will receive Head of Year rewards eg - mufti day or sports activity.
  • Year group competition - Year group with the highest attendance at the end of the year rewarded with mufti day or a specifically targeted activity.

Sanctions

Writhlington School operates a Hub (detention) system across the school in order that there is consistency and inevitability of sanctions. Hubs can be set for the following (although this is not an exhaustive list):

  • Incomplete work in a lesson
  • Incomplete homework and no homework
  • No equipment
  • Disrupting their own learning
  • Disrupting the learning of others
  • Poor language
  • Disrespectful behaviour towards students or staff
  • Failure to do as they are asked to do
  • The need to be exited from a lesson

If a student is disrupting a class to a degree that the learning of others, or indeed their own learning, cannot continue unhindered, then the following strategies will be used:

  1. Use of a restorative approach (e.g. time out period where appropriate OR student given 1 warning for disrupting learning)
  2. Further disruption or a significant disruption to learning will result in the student being ‘Exited’. The student must go immediately to the Exit Room where they will stay for the rest of that lesson.
  3. A Hub will be set automatically if a student is sent to the Exit Room.
  4. Failure to go to the Exit Room as instructed will result in the Exit staff alerting SLT to collect the student and take them to the Isolation room for the rest of the day.

The number of Exits that a student accrues will be closely monitored and the following sanctions will apply if multiple Exits are recorded:

No of Exits

Action

3

Letter to go home warning that any further exits may lead to School Disciplinary Code stage 1 

4

Parent meeting with Head of Year

Targets set on SDC stage 1 (or appropriate to individual if already on a Stage for other reasons)

5

SLT Pastoral Lead meeting with Student and Parents 

Next stage of SDC

6

1 day Isolation

7

Referral to SLT Pastoral lead to consider suspension

Next stage of SDC

Further exits will be considered by SLT for further action 

*Any part of this process may be skipped depending on the situation.

For very serious incidents, the student will be taken to the isolation room whilst the incident is investigated and a suitable sanction is decided upon.

The Hub system: One system for all sanctions

  • Pastoral Hubs will be run at lunchtimes and students who have a number of logged behaviour incidents the day before will be told to attend.
  • Afterschool Hubs will be run on days chosen by staff as per the system below
  • Hubs will be set by the teacher for the next available hub and logged on Talaxy.
  • Contact with home will be made to say the HUB has been set.
  • If the student does not attend, an email will be sent home to inform parents and the HUB will be escalated.
  • Failure to attend a Double/SLT Hub will result in an Isolation the next day.

 

To view our full behaviour policy please click here

Links with Home

We rely on our close partnership with parents to maintain the high standards and positive atmosphere exhibited by our students.

As you would expect, we ask parents to take an active role in the support of their child’s progress in school. To this end we stress that parents are always welcome to contact and visit the school.

We have a Home-School Agreement which the student, parents and school sign. This outlines the commitment each will make to ensure students make the optimal progress during their time at Writhlington.