Pastoral Care
"Working together for excellence in a caring community"
This is our school mission and it permeates all aspects of school life. At Killicomaine JHS we seek to provide a caring, secure and supportive environment in which all members of our school community, pupils, parents and staff, can interact and make valuable contributions.
At Killicomaine we promote the triangle of learning made up of the Pupil, the Parent and the School. Each member has a vital part to play by being supportive of each other and being committed to the success of this partnership.
Education at Killicomaine is concerned with the holistic development of all pupils, encompassing academic, social, personal, emotional and moral development. Our Pastoral Care system facilitates this development.
Aims of the Pastoral Care Structure
1. To ensure the school pastoral system effectively caters for the needs of all our pupils so that they are happy, safe and cared for during their time at KJHS.
2. To ensure that all pastoral information is communicated to the relevant personnel by regular meetings of the pastoral team and between its various members.
3. To continue to maintain and develop home-school partnership using our triangle of learning.
4. To continue to raise awareness of the Pastoral System with pupils, staff and parents.
What is Pastoral Care at KJHS?
Our Pastoral Care structure and system is focussed on ensuring that your child is safe, happy, involved and able to perform to their potential.
Pastoral Care Structure
While all staff have responsibilities for caring for all our pupils, a pastoral care system exists to ensure that specific staff have particular responsibilities for certain pupils. The Pastoral Care System at Killicomaine also ensures that there is a continuous, regular flow of detailed information between the specialists within the system. This includes communication flow between school staff and specialist agencies.
The Pastoral Care System is led by our Vice Principal and supported by a Pastoral Team of Designated Teacher for Safeguarding, Assistant Inclusion Coordinator and six Year Heads. Each Year Head leads a team of up to 9 Form Teachers. As far as is possible within the staffing of the school the Form Teachers and particularly the Year Heads will remain with the same group throughout the 3 years.
Form Teachers are the key staff member who will look after your child:
Form Teachers
What does the role of Form Teacher involve?
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Take the register on a daily basis
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Work to develop a bond with each pupil in the class and between class members, fostering a form class identity.
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Help pupils set termly academic and personal targets.
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Be alert to how pupils are integrating.
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Deal with any problems or issues that arise. The Form Teacher is the first point of contact for a parent and we encourage parents to keep school updated on any changes in circumstances- illness, separation, bereavement that may impact on a child.
Year Heads
Each Form Teacher is supported by two Year Heads. The Form Teacher will collaborate with the Year Head to ensure each pupil is making progress, is supported and is recognised for their successes. The role of Year Head is an all-encompassing, pupil centred role that straddles the pastoral, personal, social, academic and behavioural aspects of a child’s development. This role involves an understanding of how pastoral issues impact on learning. The Year Head will coordinate with parents and outside agencies to ensure that pupils thrive at Killicomaine.
Other Key Staff
The Pastoral system is supported by other staff:
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Mrs Maxwell, Special Education Needs Coordinator
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Mr Chambers, Head of Preventative Education and LLW
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Mrs Finlayson, Careers Education and Information Guidance.
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Helen Woods, School Counsellor.
Pupil Support
In addition we have created a network of other ‘in-school’ supports that involve pupils supporting other pupils within our school community such as Prefects, Buddy Mentors, House captains, Student Council, Well Being Ambassadors, Girls Active ( GLAMS) Numeracy Leaders, Editorial Teams, Charity Committees and House Captains .
Pastoral Care policy and other key polices can be found in our policy section.
External Pastoral Support Agencies
There are also a range of other support agencies that come into school each week and work directly with our pupils. These include: Links Counselling, Reach Mentoring, Aspire, School Nursing Service, Youth Workers and local clergy.
We also draw on the expertise of “out of school’ agencies such as Family Support Hub, Children and Adult Mental Health Service (CAMHS), Social Services, Education Welfare Service, EA Behaviour Support.
Bullying Concern Form
Telephone and Web Support
Our Pastoral Care Structure
