PASTORAL SUPPORT

At The Crescent 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.

Our Pastoral Support Team:

Mrs Eithne Howard ( Pastoral Support Lead and DDSL)

Mrs Marcia Eldridge (ELSA, TALA, Nurture and Family Links)

Mrs Cafi Gigg (ELSA, TALA, Nurture and Family Links)

The pastoral team undertakes ongoing relevant training so that they are able to develop productive and supportive relationships with children to meet their needs.

WHAT WE OFFER

• ELSA (Emotional Literacy Support): ELSAs are teaching assistants who have received specific additional training from Educational Psychologists from whom they receive ongoing supervision following training.  Their 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. 

• TALA (Therapeutic Active Listening Assistant): A TALA Practitioner is a specially trained member of staff who can offer a young person a safe and supportive environment to talk about difficult issues in confidence.  A TALA Practitioner is not a Counsellor, but does use counselling skills.  TALA Practitioners have regular professional supervision from Educational Psychologists, experienced Counsellors or Therapists to help them with their work.  

• Nurture Group (Stardust Class):  Each group is run by two members of specially trained staff. Children attend nurture groups but remain an active part of their main class group, they spend a portion of the week within the nurture group and typically return full time to their mainstream class within 1-3 terms.  Nurture groups assess learning as well as social and emotional needs and give the necessary help to remove the barriers to learning. There is great emphasis on social skills and communication. The relationship between the two staff, always nurturing and supportive, provides a role model that children observe and begin to copy. Food is shared at ‘snack time’ with many opportunities for social learning, helping children to attend to the needs of others, with time to listen and be listened to.

• Worry Box: There are 3 worry boxes in school. Children fill out one of the cards provided and post it in the box. An ELSA contacts each child individually to discuss the worry and offer advice and support.  Sometimes a need for further pastoral support is identified and targeted support can begin.

• Family Links-The Parent Puzzle: A ten week programme to support parents.

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

Click on the links below for further information regarding some of the pastoral support on offer at The Crescent Primary School.

If you have any queries regarding Pastoral Support, please contact us by email or give us a call. 

Tel: 02380612536   

Email: pastoral@crescent.hants.sch.uk