Pastoral Team

At William Harding we are very proud of our strong Pastoral team and we work hard to ensure all our pupils and families are well supported whatever the need.

Please find information below regarding our pastoral staffing team. Should you wish to contact any staff please note details can be found on the ‘Who to contact’ sheet.

Safeguarding Team

If you have a Safeguarding concern please speak to a member of the Safeguarding team;

Mrs Skinner - Inclusion, Pastoral and Safeguarding Lead and Designated Safeguarding Lead

Miss Cotchin - Headteacher and Deputy DSL (Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead)

Mrs Bone - Lead Family Liaison Officer and Safeguarding Manager (Additional Designated Person)

Mrs Fuller - Deputy Headteacher (Additional Designated Person)

Mrs Sin - Safeguarding Governor

Family Liaison Team

Our FLOs a team of staff who work to support our pupils and needs including Safeguarding and those that are vulnerable. They offer training for staff and work with parents to build strong relationship between home and school. They also work to improve attendance and home visits.

Mrs Bone - Lead Family Liaison Officer / Domestic Abuse Champion

Miss Locke - Family Liaison Officer, Behaviour Support

Mrs Collins - Family Liaison Officer, Medical Support

Mrs Locke - Family Liaison Officer

School Counsellor

Mrs Wood is an experienced counsellor and has many years experience supporting young people of all ages, both in schools and in private practice. 

What support do we provide for vulnerable pupils?

At William Harding we provide a wide range of support for vulnerable pupils and families. We provide a range of support when there are mental health concerns for example counsellor support or support from out pastoral TA. We also provide support with ongoing family issues such as supporting families who have experienced domestic violence through our Helping Hands programme.

We support vulnerable children through the curriculum. We have a personal development curriculum designed to support children to develop a range of skills such as resilience and independence. We also use Real PE for our PE curriculum that supports personal development alongside physical development.

We support vulnerable pupils who need academic support through providing a homework club, Family Learning sessions and our enrichment opportunities.

A full list of what we provide can be found below

Vulnerable Pupil Support

Pastoral Support Programmes

Helping Hands is a programme ran by Women’s Aid. The aim of the programme is to increase the understanding of feeling safe and to explore and promote behaviours which will contribute to a safe environment. The programme is a 5–6 week course full of activities and worksheet materials for mothers and children to engage together.

Helping Hands helps children:

• increase their self esteem and confidence

• explore and express feelings, make choices and solve problems

• understand their right to feel safe at all times

• increase their abilities in safety planning

• identify their own personal support network

• explore how their behaviour can affect the feelings of others, and

• identify healthy ways to manage conflict.

By working with children using Helping Hands, we can help them:

• understand that feelings are okay

• express strong feelings without violence, and

• practice non violent problem solving skills.

Read 2 Dogs Programme

Research shows that young people can become nervous and stressed when reading to others in a group. However, when a Read 2 Dog enters the group, they often become less stressed, less self-conscious and more confident as the confident as the dogs are non-judgmental. Before long children start looking forward to the new reading experience as they are going to read to their new friend. Read 2 Dogs are PAT tested and provide comfort, encourage positive social behaviours, enhance self-esteem, motivate speech and inspire children to have fun.

www.petsastherapy.org

Peer Mentors

Peer mentors are children in Year 5 and 6 who help younger children in the playground and at lunch. 

The role and duties of a peer mentor will include:

• Being a listening ear for other students

• Being on duty in the drop-in room or outside on the playground

• Being a mental health ambassador within the school

• Creating promotional posters and assemblies for the service

• Passing on any worries to a teacher

Mentors will receive one full day’s mental health awareness training from Bucks Mind covering what mental health is, what positively and negatively affects our mental health, mental health in the media, the role of a peer mentor, safeguarding & confidentiality* and the logistics of the service.

We run a half termly Young Carers sessions for our Young Carers. A Young Carer is identified as:

The young person is all of the following:

• between the ages of 5-16 years old.

• lives in Buckinghamshire.

• is aware of the referral and parent/guardian consent has been given.

• cares for a family member within the home (parent/sibling/other relative).

The young person cares for someone with at least one of the following:

• a physical disability (including sensory impairment).

• a learning disability.

• a long-term illness, with clear diagnosis.

• a terminal illness.

• a mental illness, with clear diagnosis.

• drug or alcohol dependency.

• or who is elderly.

Their caring role has a direct impact upon or affects at least one of the following:

• social inclusion.

• educational opportunities and achievement.

• their emotional wellbeing.

• their physical wellbeing.

• family relationships.

If you believe your child is a Young Carer please speak to a member of the FLO Team.