At John Keats Primary School, we pride ourselves on our ability to support parents as well as their children. On our new pastoral team, we have Miss Cherilee and Miss Whiting, both have years of valuable experience in working in education. By working in different year groups, providing high quality interventions for children and also speaking with and supporting parents, we feel that has helped to bridge the gap between school and home. This is something we feel is imperative in ensuring the best for the families, which in turn will produce better outcomes for our children. Through training and our own personal experiences, we have gained knowledge of how best to support, build and maintain productive and constructive relationships with children and their families, meeting with pupils and parents as necessary to address pastoral concerns.  

 We have an extensive understanding of social, emotional and mental health techniques. The systematic, cognitive-behavioural approach Zones of Regulation is something we have a lot of experience in, and we have been instrumental in making sure this has been implemented across the school. It is delivered as an intervention targeted at specific children who have been identified by class teachers as needing extra support in regulating their emotions. It has also been bought into classrooms by way of displays, which ensures all children have access to it and that there is a whole school approach being applied.

We are committed to supporting families, and we also signpost to outside agencies and organisations. We are also able to make referrals. We have historically supported families with verbal communication with many different agencies, working with parents to identify where best we can support them. We liaise with outside agencies to set up interventions to support individuals and groups of students, as and when required. This can often be delivered through holding regular coffee mornings or targeted, one to one or group sessions.

• Family early help
• Citizens Advice Bureau
• Southwark Housing
• CAMHS
• Food banks
• Domestic violence agencies
• Bereavement services
• And many more

We hold regular informational coffee mornings, offering advice and support in many different areas. We also work closely with the PTA and school council children.

In addition to supporting parents and families, an important aspect of our role is to closely monitor attendance. Ensuring that the children within our school attend regularly, and if there are any obstacles affecting their ability to come to school, we support families to ensure that their children get into school. By taking direction from our attendance policy, we communicate the highest expectations of attendance and punctuality for all students. We create action plans to develop strategies to improve low attendance and highlight to parents when their child’s attendance falls below the national target. We work to develop, agree and implement action plans with groups or individuals linked to the needs of vulnerable pupils and to maintain accurate records of work for each identified pupil.

We work with the school safeguarding leads, to implement actions related to safeguarding concerns and matters. We liaise with social workers and other relevant support agencies to ensure that all families, vulnerable children and young people receive the care and protection they require.

With the impact of the pandemic, we are even more committed to supporting families within our school. Our vision is that John Keats Primary School will act as a positive catalyst for change and improvement within its community.