Pastoral Support

Pastoral Offer at Wellington

At its simplest, pastoral care is the provision a school makes to ensure the physical and emotional welfare of its pupils. It is the essential foundation upon which learning can take place, in order to foster pupils’ personal development as much as their academic progress.

Why is pastoral care important?

Education and health are closely linked. Recent studies have shown that pupils with better health and wellbeing are likely to achieve better academically. What is more, life skills, such as those taught in a successful PSHE (personal, social, health and economic) programme, are associated with greater wellbeing and higher achievement. Good pastoral care in school is also fundamental to the development of character and social skills, which will be of critical importance to pupils in later life.

Teachers and school leaders discuss all pupils needs and refer pupils to the appropriate intervention.

Please click on the links below to see more about our different offers.

ELSA

What areas does an ELSA (Emotional Literacy Support Assistant) help with?

Loss and bereavement
Anxiety and worries
Emotional Literacy
Bullying
Self-esteem
Conflict
Social Skills
Emotional Regulation
Friendship issues
Growth Mindset
Relationships
Social and therapeutic stories
Managing strong feelings
Problem solving

The vast majority of ELSA sessions are proactive, meaning that there are targets for the ELSA to achieve with the child or young person. This makes the intervention measurable so the school knows the child or young person has made progress and the intervention has been successful. These targets are known as SMART – specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time limited.

ELSA runs in 6-8 weeks programmes for around 30 minutes a week. Sessions are confidential and can be extended if the ELSA feels this is appropriate.

Bubble Time

Bubble time is a short, 15-minute slot which should happen once a week for 6-8 weeks. This can also happen on a 'check in' basis. Bubble Time is more of an opportunity for feelings to be discussed on a play-based basis. This is not ELSA or TALA but an opportunity for children to think about any big emotions they currently have and why they are reactive to them. These are not confidential sessions but practitioners will not feedback to teachers/SLT unless there is a disclosure or reason for concern.

LEGO-based Therapy

LEGO-based Therapy is a social development programme that uses LEGO activities to support the development of a wide range of social skills within a group setting.

LEGO-based Therapy was developed in the mid-1990s by US paediatric neuropsychologist Daniel LeGoff. He was inspired by watching two of his customers with Autism Spectrum Disorder play with LEGO in his waiting room and displaying previous non-demonstrated positive social interactions.

While initially developed for autistic children, LEGO-Based Therapy has since been found to benefit children with a variety of communication and social developmental difficulties. It focuses upon teamwork and speaking and listening skills.

Therapy Dog

We are so lucky to have a therapy dog called Mila who visits us once a week! She spends time with different children and will listen to them read a book of their choice. She is a wonderful emotional support dog and we always looks forward to her visit!