Pastoral care is a crucial element of any successful school. As highlighted by a senior school in Hertfordshire, excellent pastoral care allows children to enjoy school and actually feel like they want to be there, due to their ability to make friends and feel engaged with their lessons.

Essentially, it refers to the dedication that the staff have to each and every child, helping them to develop spiritually and emotionally so that they thrive and become well-adjusted adults.

When looking for a school for your child, you should consider the pastoral care. After all, the level of pastoral care will have a huge impact on whether or not your child succeeds. It ensures that your child is healthy, happy, safe and triumphant, in all areas of their life. 

One of the key pastoral carers at your child’s school is their form teacher, as they will be the one spending the most time with your child on a day-to-day basis. You can expect your child’s form teacher to report back any concerns they may have, like friendship problems or a change in behaviour.

They will be taking care of the overall student wellbeing, from addressing bullying, installing vape detectors or making sure phones are not impacting life in and outside school.

You should be a partner in this and inform the teacher if anything might be going on at home that could affect their attitude and performance in school. Between the two of you, you should be able to ensure that your child stays on the right track. 

In fact, pastoral care and parenting share many similarities. They both involve protecting children from harm and helping them perform to the best of their abilities, in all aspects of life.

The key difference between the two is that a pastoral team within a school have many more children to take care of, which is what makes it so complicated.

As with anything, each and every school will have a different approach when it comes to their pastoral care, in terms of their policy and practise, but the main goals are usually the same.

It always comes down to providing a brilliant atmosphere where all students can develop on both a personal and academic level, make life-long friends and flourish throughout their lives.

Disclosure: This is a collaborative post.