Pastoral Care

We firmly believe that for students to achieve their full potential, they must feel safe, supported and challenged. We value the importance of providing the highest possible standards of student support, welfare and guidance, and consequently have invested in a broad and experienced team who are dedicated to supporting young people and their families to remove any barriers to learning they may face.

Furthermore, we understand that each student is unique, and Ormiston Denes Academy prides itself on respecting this individuality so that every student is able to find someone to discuss their questions, seek a particular piece of advice, or allay any concerns.

Central to this team is the form tutor, with whom students have daily contact, through morning form time, 1:1 academic target-setting and review meetings and also informally throughout the day around the academy. The form tutor is also a key point of contact between home and the academy, supported through the student planner, and supports the delivery of our personal development curriculum.

Leading the team of tutors and carrying overall strategic responsibility for the pastoral care and academic progress of our students is the head of year. This member of staff is supported by a pastoral manager, whose primary responsibility is to provide welfare and guidance support and respond to any concerns or queries either from students or parents, so that students can maintain their focus on learning and progress.

Each year group is overseen by a head of key stage, who is a member of the academy’s senior leadership team. Their role is to provide strategic leadership of standards across all areas relating to their year groups, including curriculum, behaviour, attendance and progress.

Working in collaboration with the year teams to ensure the highest standards of student wellbeing are a range of other professionals within the pastoral team. These include:

• Attendance officer – provides support to students and families to ensure our students attend and succeed in school.
• Raising achievement support team – provides specialist academic, social, emotional and mental health support.
• Safeguarding officer – liaises with staff, families and external organisations for all matters concerning child safeguarding.
• Academy counsellor – delivers focussed 1:1 sessions to support young people who are experiencing particular challenges.
• Academy nurse – delivers specialist health support and interventions.

From the structure of the year tutorial system and access to form tutors, to pastoral support staff and student leadership opportunities, the framework of pastoral care at Ormiston Denes ensures that at every stage, each student’s development is monitored and fully supported.