Pastoral Support

Pastoral Care

Pastoral care is an essential aspect of the mission of St Francis Xavier’s Academy. We strive to live out the charism of the De La Mennais Brothers and their Founder Father Jean-Marie De La Mennais, “making Jesus Christ better known and loved by all”, through the formation and development of the whole person and we are committed to providing a holistic education that attends to the intellectual, emotional, social, and spiritual needs of our students. At SFX we see pastoral care as creating a safe and supportive environment in which students can flourish and develop to their full potential. This includes providing counseling services, spiritual guidance, mentoring, and support for students experiencing difficulties or crises in their lives.

St Francis Xavier’s Academy and Xaverians have a strong sense of community and we aim to foster a sense of belonging amongst our students. Pastoral care initiatives in our school includes:

• Spiritual retreats or visits
• service projects
• peer mentoring programs
• opportunities for students to engage in social justice and advocacy work.

The ultimate goal of pastoral care in St Francis Xavier’s Academy is to help students develop a sense of personal responsibility, social awareness, and moral integrity, and to prepare them to become engaged and compassionate members of society who can live Life in all its fullness…

We aspire to be a confident, outward-looking Catholic community in which every member:

• enjoys creative, dynamic and reflective learning
• is supported, challenged and equipped for the future
• values and takes responsibility for themselves and others
• helps to build supportive, long-lasting relationships.

Pastoral Support and Intervention

At St Francis Xavier’s Academy we pride ourselves on our pastoral support. From Year 7 all the way through to Year 13 our students are well looked after by our outstanding Pastoral Team. Each student is allocated to a form class in Year 7 and they move throughout the key stages in the same form class group. The Form Teacher will stay with the form class for the duration of Years 7-11. The Heads of Year also remain with the year group throughout their time at Francis Xavier’s Academy, they are supported by a team of five non teaching Pastoral Support Officers. This model means our Pastoral Teams get to know both parents and pupils very well.

The Form Tutor is a key member of staff and is responsible for establishing a happy, secure and supportive relationship with the tutor group. Students in turn feel secure in having someone to whom they can look for support and guidance.

Each Year group has an assembly each week, which underpins our values and ethos. Students also have additional focus days and events, which further enhance the pastoral well-being of our students. These days focus on themes ranging from mental well-being to study skills. Students actively participate these days.

The Heads of Year, Pastoral Support Offficers and the SENDco liaise closely with feeder primary schools and gather as much relevant information as possible on each student to ensure a smooth transition. Careful consideration is given to the composition of each tutor group to ensure that each student is taught in a balanced group. The group will receive as much support as possible in order to meet the needs of all students, including the very able students and those who need individual learning support.

We are very proud of our pastoral systems and all of our staff care about the future of our pupils. We have a strong team of pastoral leaders who develop the ‘whole’ child.

GRASP

Our Graduated Response and Support Processes provide targeted monitoring and support for pupils who are exhibiting negative behaviours or behavioural patterns. Pupils are monitored for a two week period, if no improvements are seen this can be extended to a four week period. There are five stages to GRASP (Stages 1-4 and next steps).

The pastoral teams meet weekly to discuss any pastoral, wellbeing or behavioural concerns and target appropriate support for pupils.

Pastoral Support Officer: Provides in and out of lesson support for most pupils. Small group and individual work at KS3 & KS4.

School Counsellor: Our school counsellor is available for appointments via a referral system. Counselling is available for staff and pupils. Pupils can request referral via the Pastoral Team.

Safe Hands: A safe hand team of 5 designated adults in school to provide wrap around care and support for pupils who are vulnerable at any given time.

Handle with Care: Pupils who have experienced bereavement, trauma or who are vulnerable are added to our Handle with Care list so staff are aware they may be fragile and need additional support.

Learning Support

• SENDCO: Mrs Liddy
• Assistant SENDCo: Mrs Fletcher
• LSA team: Mrs Boardman, Mrs Hood, Mrs MacCormack, Mrs Nieminen-Smith, Miss L Arends, Ms S Murphy, Ms J Wolstenholme

Learning Support Base: Fully staffed base to support pupils with self-regulation and a quiet place to work for short term interventions.

Our School SENDCo is also a fully qualified level 7 assessor (exam access arrangements, cognitive and attainment profiles) and a specialist teacher (Dyslexia).

Interventions offered through Learning Support

• Talkabout for Teenagers: A social skills and relationships group intervention
• Talkabout: Theory of Mind: teaches strategies to identify others’ thoughts and feelings based on their behaviour
• Lego Therapy
• Zones of Regulation: to build self-regulation, executive functioning, perspective taking and flexible thinking skills
• 1:1/Small Group Literacy Intervention
• 1:1/ Small Group Numeracy Intervention

Education Welfare Office: Ensures students who are below 80% attendance to ensure the proper procedures are carried out. Home visits and working with families Working with our students in school and after school to support positive relationships and identify and remove barriers.

Personal Development Programmes: Pupils access to personal development programmes to improve communication, relationships, resilience, growth mindset, habits, emotional regulations, mental toughness, aspirations and motivation.

Pastoral and Curriculum support: School can facilitate class moves, form moves etc to support pupils and help them to settle into a positive peer group and into learning.

External Support and Interventions:

Pupils may be specifically targeted to engage in the following external programmes:

• The “Bounce Back” programme through the Liverpool Foundation which is aimed at supporting pupils to improve their social and communication skills.
• A personal and social development programme delivered through Everton in the Community to support pupils and help them to develop positive relationships in school, team building, improve communication skills and further support making positive choices in school.
• Safer School Police Officer: Our School Police Office PC Williams is available to provide guidance and support to pupils. He meet is with pupils on a weekly basis via a referral and appointment system.
• School Nurse Referrals for anger (CBT), anti cessation advice, weight management
• We Are With You support and referrals
• SENISS (Special Educational Needs, Information and Support Services) referrals
• Educational Psychologist referrals
• Everton in the Community 41 footsteps referrals for pupils at risk of criminality/exploitation