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 Clouds Box’. This has ‘Worry Clouds’ in it and children can write their worries on here. Miss 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.

Miss 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.

Miss Black has put together a set of well-being lessons which are used with Year Six, but we are looking to roll these out across the school to give all children the tools and techniques they need.

If you have concerns about your child’s attendance, are struggling getting 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 some one to one mentoring sessions Miss Black can deliver these. She leads our pastoral care and is fully trained to deliver EFT and NLP sessions with pupils and staff. EFT stands for Effective Freedom Technique and is a form of acupuncture without needles. It focuses on tapping pressure points to 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.

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.

Miss Black has also begun to run sessions for parents. During these sessions, she has invited local professionals to come and speak. Our last session involved talks from a nutritionist, a lady selling natural oils, Miss Black spoke about EFT and NLP and things you can all try at home and finally Mrs Shackleton led a session on meditation and relaxation, again to help you out at home.

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.