Pastoral Care
At St Clement Danes, all staff are committed to knowing every student and to providing the necessary support and guidance to ensure that every individual is able to succeed as well as they can, both academically and personally. The high quality pastoral care provided is a core part of the overall progress and well-being of every individual student in the school.
An experienced team led by the Deputy Head (Pastoral) includes both teaching and non-teaching pastoral staff. Every child is assigned a Form Tutor whose role is to get to know each student and is the first port of call for both students and parents. The Head of Year 7 inducts and supports new students. From Year 8 onwards, the Heads of Year take on responsibility for pastoral care. In the Sixth Form, the Director of Sixth Form is supported by the Assistant Director of Sixth Form whose role is to oversee pastoral care in Years 12 and 13.
A team of support staff, including the Medical Administrator, School Counsellor, Welfare & Attendance Officer and Pastoral Administrator, play an important role in providing every day support and guidance to students. We also work closely with a number of other outside agencies.
We adopt a pro-active approach through the personal development (PSHE) and resilience programmes. Students are taught key life skills and provided with appropriate information and guidance through personal development. Students learn about coping strategies, alternative thoughts, problem solving and decision-making through resilience lessons.
At St Clement Danes we work closely with parents. Additional guidance and support is provided via a range of themed evenings and parent workshops. Safeguarding and child protection are key responsibilities for all staff and fundamental in ensuring effective student well-being. A team of staff with a high level of safeguarding training deals with more serious issues. If any student is in need of additional support, this is provided either by staff in school or via external agencies.
Feedback on the pastoral care at St Clement Danes is extremely positive. In the last inspection, Ofsted stated that
The school’s engagement with parents and carers is outstanding and the excellence of the care, guidance and support for students is a bedrock of the school.