Pastoral Support

Welcome to Holland Park’s Pastoral Team

‘At Holland Park Primary School, we believe that every child should enjoy their education and be happy, healthy and safe at school. We will value our children for their individuality, culture and heritage.’

We are extremely proud of the pastoral support we offer all of our children and families and believe that this support is incredibly important in order to enable all of our amazing pupils to fulfil their potential and overcome any barriers to their learning.

Our experienced and dedicated Pastoral Team play an integral part in ensuring all pupils are ready to learn as well as supporting them to develop key life skills such as resilience and empathy.

All of this work is completed within our nurturing environment and we work with a number of key agencies and delivery partners to ensure we meet the wide range of challenges that our children and families face.

Meet the Pastoral Team

Sarah Edwards

Pupil Behaviour and Well-being Lead

Nurture UK Practitioner

Adult and Youth Mental Health First Aider

DDSL

Designated Teacher for LAC

Lisa Penn

Family Liaison Worker

Adult and Youth Mental Health First Aider

Young Carer Lead

DDSL

Angela Hope

Learning Mentor

Nurture UK Practitioner

Adult and Youth Mental Health First Aider

DDSL

Testimonials from families supported by our Pastoral Team

I want to say thank you for giving me the strength and courage to show the girls, never to settle for second best.
It’s really good to have someone to go to when your child first moves to a new school. Doing home visits to meet the parents is a great idea!
Thank you for all the support you have given us during a difficult time in the family.
Thank you for the constant help and support.
The Pastoral Team are so kind and caring. Your support has been amazing.
Thank you so much for being such a big support to us. We, as a family, really appreciate everything that you both are doing to ensure that our daughter’s emotional and mental wellbeing is getting the right support, along with reassuring us that she is happy at school.

The role of the Pastoral Team

To support and work alongside parents in addressing pastoral concerns impacting on their child’s learning and development.
To work with staff in ensuring good pupil support and build upon the caring and respectful relationships that exist between staff, pupils and families.
To provide support for individual children; listening and talking to children who may need support in a variety of pastoral issues, for example, self-esteem and confidence, bereavement, managing feelings, anxieties/worries, separation and developing social and friendships skills.
Responding to situations as they arise within school.
Meeting with parents/carers to discuss issues relating to their child.
To ‘signpost’ families to outside services for appropriate provision and support.

What support can I get from the Pastoral Team?

Often it may be that parents want to talk about concerns they have about their child, but support can be offered in many different ways to help you in your role as parents.

Here are just some of the ways we have been able to help families:

Making phone calls on your behalf
Help with filling in forms for housing/benefit applications etc
Help with applying for secondary school places
Giving a listening ear when parents just need to talk
Attending meetings with parents
Pointing you in the right direction for specialist help and support
Referrals to outside agencies

Within the school setting, we help the children with:

Friendship issues
Family breakdown
Unstable or difficult family circumstances
Changes in home life
The loss of a loved one
Controlling emotions
Social skills
Self-esteem or confidence issues
Worries or concerns about transferring from primary to secondary school
Anything else causing a child to worry

At Holland Park Primary School, we are proud of our nurturing and trauma perceptive approach to our pupils.

Morning Nurture for children who are struggling to come in to school
Lunchtime activities
Lunchtime drop ins for our young carers
Afternoon Nurture sessions run by our trained Nurture UK Practitioners

The Pastoral Team are on the playground in the morning and afternoon. If you have a pastoral concern please come and have a chat with us or call the school office and ask for one of the team.

Here are some of the ways we support social, emotional and mental wellbeing in school:

ELSA Therapy sessions
Fidget toys, sensory baskets
Incredible Five Point Scale/Zones of Regulation
Nurture provision – morning, lunchtime and afternoon sessions
Forest schools nurture groups
Colchester united interventions & presentations
WARMs workshops for children & parents
Multi Schools Council workshops and programmes for children & parents
Wellbeing Hub
Young Carer drop in sessions & lunch provision
Coastal School parent & child ‘Wild Well Being’ sessions with Essex Wildlife Trust
Referrals to specialists – eg; WARMS, Paeds, EP, IP, CAMHS
Child & Family Well Being Service – small group interventions (on site) for understanding healthy relationships/ building friendships
Student Social Worker – small group and 1:1 work
Self esteem pilot programme with Multi Schools Council Lead
Parkers Garden Centre – outdoor well being group in school
Evolve Intervention counselling for bereavement (1:1)
Affinity Programme (1:1 on site weekly sessions for those at risk of exclusion)