Pupil Pastoral Support

Downland School promotes a positive, nurturing approach which emphasises tolerance, understanding and listening to pupils.

Ofsted Report, 2019                

Role of the tutor 

When joining Downland School pupils are placed into a tutor group with an allocated teacher as their class tutor. We really value this role; our tutors are key in developing positive attitudes and the aspirations of our pupils, they play a critical role in supporting pupils and parents/carers in navigating the challenges of school life and education. Tutors are the first point of contact for any concerns you may have, their contact information is located on the staff page on this website Staff contact list. Tutors are contactable via phone, email or for face-to-face meetings. Your child’s tutor will contact you regularly with positive news and to discuss your child’s achievements. Additionally, they may also contact you when further discussion is required around meeting the needs of your child. Tutors play a pivotal role in the development of the “whole child”; this includes social, moral, cultural and academic considerations.

Our tutors know the key characteristics, previous school history and SEND profiles for all our pupils. Staff (including the support staff) are all knowledgeable about adaptations and specific support needed to engage our pupils and help them succeed. There is a strong focus placed on developing pupils’ social development. We work closely with parents/carers and partner agencies if and when required.

Tutors and dedicated tutor time are an inherent part of the Personal Development programme; this includes dedicated tutor lessons, regularly scheduled assemblies, thematic ‘drop-down’ days and other key events throughout the calendared year.

Rewards and Behaviour Support

As mentioned above, we understand that learning to behave in a range of different social situations is key for all our pupils. As a result, all our staff are trained in “de-escalation” techniques and we employ additional staff called Pastoral Managers as another layer of support. Pupils are encouraged to take responsibility for their own behaviours and seek the support of adults to help them achieve this. As a school we work hard to change our pupils’ views towards education and support them to work towards increasing their ability to engage in lessons and learning.

All staff promote and celebrate the positive improvements your child is making, this happens during every lesson and throughout the school day. We have an established school ‘points’ and reward system. Pupils are awarded points in lessons (not unstructured break/lunch time) to record their academic engagement. There is a scale of 4-0 (4 being the highest and 0 reflecting absence from learning) culminating in weekly scores linked to rewards. Pupils quickly understand how to achieve within this system and can use their accumulated points to purchase a voucher from our school shop. Parents/carers receive a weekly report to ensure they can also celebrate progress and acknowledge success. If worrying or negative trends are identified then the tutor and pastoral team will start to look at whether specific targeted and additional support is needed.

Another school system in use is ‘BehaviourWatch’. This is used to monitor and record all aspects of pupil behaviour and interaction. The use of BehaviourWatch is underpinned by the school’s overarching approach, referred to as the The Downland Way, which sets out 22 principles to help support and encourage positive social and emotional interaction; the starting point of this is to encourage a fresh start and for children to return to learning as quickly as possible.

All pupil success is regularly celebrated. This includes: positive postcards home; the ‘Gold Club’ draw (over 75% weekly points); reward trips; pupil of the week and Head Teacher Award (weekly).

All staff regularly celebrate and congratulate pupils for progress they have made, whether this is academic or social/emotional.

Support Managers

 Our two pastoral managers below add another level of support for pupils throughout the day. They are non-teaching staff and are available for pupils to speak with if a child is, 'taking five minutes' away from lessons. Pupils are encouraged to seek pastoral support if they have issues with other pupils, have something on their mind, or are just struggling to self-regulate. Both Mrs Robinson and Mr Mauree will support pupils with their developmental needs including, but not limited to, managing friendships, engagement in lessons and self-regulation.

On occasions, pastoral managers may contact parents/carers directly if support is required to work through certain situations. If you would like to contact pastoral managers directly then please use the following email address: pastoral@downland.wilts.sch.uk

Pupil Voice

We believe in all pupils having a say in how their school setting is developed, our pupil voice allows pupils to share ideas and opinions as part of this. In term one pupils elect their tutor group representative and they become part of the school’s committee. Pupils who are nominated attend a pupil voice meeting at least once a term where they are able to bring ideas and concerns from their friends and discuss them with the pupil body. The minutes of the meetings are shared with each tutor group and a formal response to each question raised is supplied by the head teacher or other members of senior leadership team, as necessary.

Our pupils are used to visitors and do like to introduce themselves when we have tours of the school. We engage pupils in all staff appointments, they enjoy this process and willingly participate.

In every classroom, pupils are able to see how they are able to achieve lesson points; this supports their learning and is referred to by the class teachers.

What is my behaviour looking like?