At its simplest, pastoral care is the provision a school makes to ensure the physical and emotional welfare of pupils. It is the essential foundation upon which learning can take place. 

Our pastoral team help pupils make the most of school life by breaking down barriers to learning and helping to make school successful for them.  

All parents want their children to be safe and happy at school. The importance of pastoral care goes well beyond this, however. Education and health are closely linked, and research shows that pupils with better health and wellbeing are likely to achieve better in school. 

At Windwhistle, we believe that parents and carers are vital in supporting their children’s well being and therefore their ability to access fully the education we offer. We also know that there can be times in our lives when, for whatever reason, events happen that make this difficult. We have a caring, knowledgeable pastoral team, who support both parents and children in many, many ways, to ensure that they can overcome hurdles and move on positively.

We pride ourselves on the excellent pastoral support for both pupils and parents. We want all of our children to thrive emotionally and leave Windwhistle as confident, happy and well rounded young people. We understand that children will often encounter emotional difficulties along the way and we therefore put a huge emphasis on our pastoral support. We also understand that parents and families often need some help or support and this pastoral support extends to supporting the child and the family as a whole.

Our aim is to:

• Provide an environment which will support the emotional health and well-being of all the pupils.
• Support children in developing social, emotional and behavioural skills within the school setting.
• Support and empower families who may be experiencing difficulties.
• Promote relationships and interactivity between parents and school, raising parental awareness of learning, the importance of education and regular attendance at school.
• Meet with parents to discuss and defuse any barriers that prevent pupils from being able to attend school.
• Providing individual and small group support for children.
• Helping to develop children’s social, emotional and behavioural skills.

Our pastoral team support children within school and work closely with all parents to understand their child’s needs.

Pastoral Lead	Nicole Vinton
Learning Mentor	Nicki Burke
Inclusion Worker	Carol Badman

Between us, we offer you an ‘open door’, whether your concerns are about your child’s life at school or at home, attendance, family relationships, health, housing, finance and benefit eligibility or anything else that is concerning you. We are there to listen and give professional guidance. Please contact us directly or through the school office, so that if you need us, we can be there for you.

Some of the areas we can offer support includes:

The Pastoral Team work with identified children giving them the opportunity to spend designated periods with a trusted adult on a 1:1 basis or within a small group to share information confidentially or talk through issues that concern them.

What are the benefits for pupils?