Conscious Community

At the Federation of the Church Schools of Shalfleet and Freshwater & Yarmouth, we are committed to building a truly Conscious Community.
We expect all members of our community to take responsibility for this in creating a Respectful, Resilient culture which is underpinned by strong, trusting Relationships.
This approach requires commitment and reflection for ALL members of the community; please see the Conscious Community information attached.

What does that mean for our federation?

Every class in the federation states that ‘Mistakes are Expected, Inspected and Respected’. We teach this approach through encouraging a growth mindset which builds upon a child’s resilience. In addition to this, we, as a federation, teach the zones of regulation to all children, to support them in understanding and regulating their emotions and behaviours.

This is the quality first aspect of our pastoral care and every teacher has been trained in delivering the Zones of Regulation in class to ensure that they are able to support the children and families in their care. Having this open dialogue about our emotions, unlocks the fear of being told off for heightened responses and instead gives ownership to the children to be able to find their own way to a resolution.

Additional Pastoral Support

Over the past few years our children have been through unprecedented times, through these times they have shown determination to succeed and to look after one another. Demonstrating respectful behaviours to themselves and each other.

Despite this resilience, we know that emotional wellbeing is more important now than ever before, with this in mind we have decided to develop our pastoral team across the federation to ensure we can meet the needs of our children and to also have a diverse bank of resources and support available.

We continue to offer ELSA support from the two ELSAs across the federation. Additionally, we are introducing a Strengthening Behaviours Lead and a Church Pastoral Lead who will work across the federation. This team will work with children either individually or in small groups depending on the level and type of need.

As church schools, we felt it was important to look to God for support and guidance and through the existing expertise within the federation are able to offer bespoke pastoral support, with the bible teachings embedded for any family who feels that this is the support they would like for their children.

We are also incredibly fortunate to have the Mental Health Support Team (MHST) working with us. The MHST consists of the clinical lead, team managers, supervisors, and Educational Mental Health Practitioners (EMHPs). The team will work with schools to support parents whose children are struggling with their thoughts and feelings.

Overseeing the pastoral and wellbeing support across the Federation are our Inclusion Lead, Mrs Georgina Westhorpe and our Inclusion and Family Support Officer Mrs Heather Eggleton; there are both trained as our Senior Mental Health Lead Practitioners through the DfE quality assured training.

If any concerns are highlighted about a child, either through the parents, class teacher or other member of staff we use a collaborative approach to discuss the needs of the child and who would be best placed to support them, at this point a parent can also request the support of the Church Pastoral Lead.