Pastoral care is a great strength of ours here at Thaxted Primary School. The well-being of our pupils and staff is of utmost importance.

We have an open door policy and are a listening school so if children have any worries they are always aware of a range of adults in school they can speak to. If they find it tricky to initiate these conversations we have a ‘Worry  Box’. This has ‘Worry Clouds’ in it and children can write their worries on here. Mrs Black checks the box daily and will then take the child out of class for a short while to give them a chance to discuss their worry in a relaxing and non-threatening environment.

Mrs Black and all our staff work very closely with parents and carers. Should your child express a worry we would always share this with you and would encourage you to share any worries that may have arisen at home. We always find working together works brilliantly to support our children. We can monitor things informally, from keeping a close eye on children, or supporting them with friendships on the playground, to checking up on them in the dining hall.

Mrs Black has put together a set of well-being programmes which are used with throughout the school to give all children the tools and techniques they need.

If you have concerns about your child’s attendance, are struggling to get them to school or are concerned about their behaviour at home….these are all things we may be able to help with.

We also have close links with the school nurse and can often meet with you and the school nurse should you have any concerns. The school nurse is great at sign posting us in the right direction for any health worries.

If you have concerns about your child and feel they would benefit from someone to one mentoring sessions Mrs Black can deliver these. She leads our pastoral care and is fully trained NLP sessions with pupils and staff which supports staff and children relieve stress and anxiety. NLP stands for Neuro Linguistic Programming and is a form of therapy, which can also be used with children and adults who have suffered trauma or are suffering with anxiety.

Mrs Black is also our Mental Health Lead in Education.

We also have close links with other outside agencies and will be able to signpost you should you need support with any other issues linked to home or school. We would always support you and be fully involved in any TAF (Team Around the Family) meetings. This is where services working with you and your child meet together to ensure we are all doing everything we can to help.

We are very proud of the pastoral care we provide here at Thaxted Primary School and would be more than happy to discuss it with you further, should you have any questions.