In School Support

Form Tutors:

As a parent, form tutors are your first contact in school if you have any concerns about your child’s well-being or behaviour.  Your child’s form tutor will get to know your child really well as they will see them every morning during form period and also for an hour a week during PD hour. During this time, form tutors will support students with day to day issues and also monitor any concerns around behaviour, engagement and progress. Form tutors are the first ports of call to students who need any extra support and will regularly liaise with the pastoral team if they have identified that additional intervention is needed.

Pastoral Leads:

Our Pastoral Leads provide daily support to all children in school. Pastoral Leads are specialists within the year groups that they oversee, therefore, your child’s Pastoral Lead will change as they move through school.

Below, are a range of strategies and support systems that the Pastoral Leads will implement to support your child.

  • Parental communication in the form of phone-calls, meetings and home visits
  • Providing emotional support and overseeing your child’s well-being
  • Investigating and dealing with behavioural incidents
  • Putting sanctions and consequences in place
  • Supporting with friendship difficulties
  • Group work with a particular focus, e.g. building resilience
  • Bullying prevention
  • Sharing important pastoral information with teaching staff
  • Putting students onto a behaviour report
  • Keeping records and evaluating pastoral interventions
  • Referring to outside agencies such as Early Help
  • Supporting restorative conversations
  • Writing pastoral support plans
  • Many other strategies are also implemented which meet the individual needs of your child

Heads of Year:

In addition to this, your child also has a Head of Year, who in addition to supporting with their pastoral care, will also take a lead on ensuring that your child is making good academic progress in school. Heads of Year move with the student as they progress through school, therefore, your child will have the same Head of Year throughout their time at St. Bernard’s

Below, are a range of strategies and support systems that the Heads of Year will implement to support your child.

  • Parental communication in the form of phone-calls and meetings
  • Monitoring your child’s well-being
  • Investigating and dealing with behavioural incidents
  • Putting sanctions and consequences in place
  • Analysis of academic and behaviour data in order to identify any concerns with achievement and engagement
  • Monitoring and supporting your child’s academic progress
  • Identification of behavioural incidents/concerns
  • Putting students onto a behaviour report
  • Liaison with classroom teachers
  • Planning and leading year group events such as EPRAs and celebration assemblies
  • Many other strategies are also implemented which meet the individual needs of your child

Attendance and Family Liaison

Our Attendance and Family Liaison Officer, Rachel Graham monitors and supports the attendance of your child at St. Bernard’s.

They will identify any attendance concerns about your child and will make contact with parents/carers in order to provide support in helping your child to attend school every day.

They will also carry out home-visits and support with any phased-returns after a prolonged period of absence.

If you have any concerns about your child’s attendance, the Attendance Officer is your first point of contact.