Pupil Support

Pastoral Support Team
Here at Danesfield we do not have conventional Heads of Year, but a team of 3 people who are responsible, along with all other staff, for the pastoral care of pupils at Danesfield. The team consists of 1 teacher and 2 full time support staff who liaise with parents, deal with issues and monitor attendance and behaviour. The Pastoral Support Team also works with pupils in a pro-active manner through group and individual projects and specific mentoring. Some pupils are given a key worker and this member of staff will be the communication link between school and home.

Tutor System
The tutor groups are based around houses and are a mixture of all 4 year groups. This enables pupils to build peer relationships with older and younger children in the school. Current Tutor Groups:

Luttrell
L/KLA (Mrs Avery)
L/AME (Mr Mellamphy)
L/HLM (Mrs Margison)

St Audries
SA/AJW (Mr Warren)
SA/LML (Miss Leach)
SA/SCW (Mrs Wichard)

Trevelyan
T/CEH (Miss Hancox)
T/SPE (Mrs Perkins)
T/SJB (Miss Bassett)

Wyndam
W/MMI (Mrs Miles)
W/NJM (Mrs Mossman)
W/DJV (Mr Vaughan)

Each pupil meets their tutor during registration in the morning and afternoon. The afternoon session is 20 minutes in duration and this can be a house or whole school assembly time, or a chance for the tutors to work with their groups. All pupils also have a a 1 hour session of form time every two weeks where a planned programme of personal and social education is delivered.

PSHE/Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning

All pupils follow a PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT programme, which is designed to:

• Identify their strengths
• Help them to know and understand themselves
• Build on their achievements

Communication skills play a key role in the programme. Regular discussion sessions encourage pupils to express themselves on a variety of issues including their progress, social ‘pressures’, health issues and their achievements.

Programmes of study focus on separate topics and develop a range of activities, based on one or more key questions related to that topic. There are numerous opportunities for small group discussions, role play, interviewing, surveys and research.

Themes and Dimensions explored in the full 4 year programme include:

• Self Awareness
• Health Education
• Environmental Studies
• Relationships
• Careers
• Economic and Industrial Understanding

Forest School
Selected pupils attend Forest School where they are encouraged to grow in confidence and self-esteem through a mastery of small achievable tasks.

Project Work
Small groups of vulnerable children are given the opportunity to work on a project based scheme which encompasses several parts of the curriculum and enables pupils to develop personal and social skills. These projects have been highly successful.

Anger Management
For some pupils controlling anger is a huge issue that can impact on all areas of their lives. Identified pupils will work in a variety of ways with children to aid them with anger management and self discipline.