Our Pastoral Team is made up of Mrs Higginbotham and Miss Spalding who are Learning Mentors along with Vicky who is our school counselor from Off The Record. Mrs Higginbotham and Miss Spalding are available for you to contact between the hours of 8.00am and 4.15pm from Monday to Friday. Vicky works at Corrie on a Tuesday and Wednesday.
What do the Pastoral Team do?
The Learning Mentors provide support for children who are not reaching their full potential for whatever reason. This could be because of a variety of issues including low self-esteem, lack of confidence, anxiety, friendships, mental health, difficulties managing emotions and feelings, difficulties at home due to separation or bereavement. They will then either work with a child in a small group or on a 1-1 basis depending on what the issue is. The work will continue for as long as the child needs additional support and will be reviewed half-termly. Sometimes children may just need a one off drop in if it is a specific issue but usually it is a longer period of work that is needed to support a child. They are also a safe and trusted adult with whom the children can speak to and share their worries with in The Rainbow Room, which is a safe place.
Vicky works on a 1-1 basis with each child that is referred to her and there is a consent form that a parent will need to sign in order for her to begin her counselling work with a child.
What does the support look like?
The Learning Mentors will run each group for between 20 minutes and 45 minutes. The groups are usually art or play based. There are a variety of groups which include Friendship Group, Nurture Group, Social Group, Sand Play, Peer Massage and also a Hotshot Group which teaches the children the skill of relaxation, mindfulness, managing emotions, developing emotional literacy and peer massage. Whilst the Rainbow Room is well equipped to support children who may have worries and anxieties -Children do not have to be facing a challenging emotional experience to visit. Mrs Higginbotham and Miss Spalding are here to provide ‘time out’ for children or simply a chat about something exciting that has happened. Whatever children require at the time, our Pastoral Team are available to support them.
The Pastoral Team love to facilitate special and rewarding experiences for our children who may be experiencing challenges in their lives. Mrs Higginbotham and Miss Spalding recently took two children the donkey sanctuary where they had a lovely time with the donkeys and had hot chocolate and marshmallows to finish. Our Pastoral team are committed to meeting the individual needs of children and families at Corrie by providing a holistic approach and appreciating that sometimes, children need time out for themselves.
Play Therapy
Miss Spalding is a Trainee Play Therapist who is undergoing her training with Play Therapy UK. Play Therapy is used to help children understand their thoughts, feelings and emotions using a variety of resources including; music, art, clay, sand and role play. Miss Spalding is currently undertaking Therapeutic Play sessions with some of our children; whether this is due to an emotionally challenging experience they have endured or they may require therapeutic support for alternative reasons.
Counselling
Vicky uses a person centred approach to her counselling work with the children. She provides a safe space in which they are able to talk freely. Vicky uses Childrens Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Play Therapy and Role Play to assist her work with the children and she also offers grief counselling when appropriate.
Family Support
The Learning Mentors are also available to support families. They can provide support for a variety of issues which can be on an informal basis or an Early Help Assessment can be put in place if it is felt that outside agencies or services are need to support the family. The Early Help Assessment is a really good tool to ensure that a co ordinated approach is in place and regular meetings go ahead to ensure the best possible outcomes for our families. The Learning Mentors are also able to offer support to access and signpost outside agencies including the local food bank, Anthony Seddon Centre, The Hive and many more all of which links can be found on this website.
Our Learning Mentors are currently undergoing training on The Solihull Approach to understanding the needs and development of children. In the near future they will be able to deliver this informative training to our parents.
Attendance
Mrs Higginbotham is our attendance lead and monitors attendance on a daily basis. If you are having any kind of difficulty in getting your child to school on time and on a regular basis Mrs Higginbotham will invite you into school to discuss what support is available to ensure your child is in school every day in order for them to reach their full potential academically, socially and emotionally. There is more information on attendance including our attendance policy on the attendance tab.
- Absence in term time penalty notice information September 2013
- Encouraging Good Attendance
- Holidays in term time letter June 2013
- Leave of absence in term time 2013
- Penalty Notice Information letter 2013