Celebrating the special role of pastoral teams in schools
The mental health needs of our children and young people have never been so high and we, as a nation, are more critically aware of how this is manifesting in our schools and communities.
Even prior to the pandemic, awareness of mental health was on the rise, with services stretched to their limits and schools struggling to know how to respond to young people’s needs. But now, as we are reeling from a time of deep uncertainty and unprecedented challenges, there are growing numbers of children who need support around them.
For schools there are huge challenges in focusing on learning and gathering achievement data, which are causing huge pressure on children and teaching staff.
While the focus is on that and ‘managing behaviour’, children’s emotional needs and anxiety within the system of data are spiralling with even higher numbers of children with wellbeing and mental health needs. Under this pressure, schools look for external support and services to refer onto, but capacity for those services is at breaking point, too.
A referral to CAMHS is often turned down and referred back to schools due to long waiting lists and lack of capacity. But actually, there is a case for highlighting and celebrating the amazing work of pastoral teams in schools who have the skills, awareness and most importantly, the crucial relationships with the children. They are often best placed to offer the hugely important day-to-day care that all children need, but particularly those who are vulnerable due to adversity or life’s struggles. Of course, there is a need for higher-level services and mental health professionals to support children and families, but we need to celebrate and recognise the incredible work of the pastoral teams in schools who are the anchor and haven of safety for many children.
The work of pastoral teams in schools can often be life-changing in helping children to manage in school, to feel safe enough to learn, to be listened to and understood and then regulated and steady so that they can begin to make and sustain friendships and relationships with adults who they can trust. Many children have their parents or carers too, and joining up the pastoral support with families is another important role that pastoral staff fulfil so that schools and families can work together to best meet the needs of children.
It is the pastoral teams, who are warm, empathic and really care about children on a day-to-day basis that hold children steady, help them to feel valued, that they are thought about and cared for. We need to celebrate and empower these adults to continue to be there and to know that just a smile, just a check-in, just an “I’ve been thinking about you” can make the difference to a child who may be reluctant to come to school or holding emotional pain or conflict that they aren’t yet able to express. It is important to recognise the significance of these adults in school, who make all the difference by their compassion and the everyday nature of their role.
By valuing and celebrating the role of the pastoral teams in school we need to recognise the need for them to be equipped and supported in their role too. Having regular supervision and care about their professional development is key so that they can develop and enrich their role and professional capacity, and so that their wellbeing is also prioritised.
Not only is their role important in caring for the children and showing kindness, they also have incredible insight and skill in being able to listen and really hear children. They can empower children with the means to have conversations that allow them to open up, share their fears, concerns, hopes and dreams, enabling children to thrive and grow. Pastoral staff can also be equipped with the skills and resources to have conversations that allow reflection and even healing, as well as giving children the psychoeducation they need to help them understand what is happening in their bodies and brains and to know that they are not alone. By giving pastoral staff the means to work alongside children and help equip them with skills and strategies, we are maximising opportunities for children to feel heard, to feel well and happier in schools.
This is why at Hamish & Milo we are passionate to value pastoral staff and help provide quality intervention resources to equip them with the means to have important conversations with children and help build children’s self-esteem and sense of value but also to offer activities and resources that really help children to talk about and express how they are feeling so that they can feel happier, heard and connected and so that they can thrive in today’s world.
