Pastoral Care
Townsend Church of England School is passionate about making a difference to the lives of young people. We know that childhood development is best approached holistically, necessitating working collaboratively, as a whole staff body, with external agencies, with the wider community and most importantly with the young people in our school.
We act with determination and we act proactively to support and encourage our pupils, to improve their life chances. Our school’s ethos of ‘Respect for All, Achievement for All’ is underpinned by the concept of ‘Love Your Neighbour’ from the Bible story of the Good Samaritan (Luke10:25-37).
We value everyone and believe in showing love for others and ourselves.
We are committed to making a difference; we are not passive players in young people’s lives but active participants who can, and do, make a real difference. These are a reflection of the school’s curriculum intent statement and core values, in particular, ‘Respect’, ‘Achieve’, ‘Inspire’, ‘Support’, ‘Encourage’ (R.A.I.S.E.).
The wellbeing of all students is something we take very seriously at Townsend Church of England School. We have a Wellbeing Manager who is available to see students who may be going through a challenging time. We also work closely with a number of external professionals who we use to support students when there is a specific need.
All Townsend staff have a role to play in safeguarding our young people. We regularly run staff safeguarding training, which includes updates on new policies and procedures, as well as an overview of current contextual issues.
Bruno, the school dog, joined us on trial in September 2023. He is here for the wellbeing of students and staff.
Families First – advice and guidance for families
Hertfordshire & Bedfordshire have both created resources for families called “Families First “.
They are directories of organisations, services and groups in Hertfordshire & Bedfordshire that can help with problems you or your family may be facing, before things might get worse. This is known as ‘Early Help’. There is advice and guidance on a range of issues and local and national support services, many of which are free for families to access.
You may not want or need to ask for help from a professional and there is a lot of support you can find yourself by looking on the portal.
Positive and Healthy Relationships
Townsend School takes a positive approach to teaching our students about positive and healthy relationships. This includes teaching about the following topics in an age appropriate way and according to the statutory guidance Relationships, Sex and Health Education 2020:
- Safeguarding and how to stay safe-including online
- Healthy and respectful relationships, including kindness, privacy, respecting boundaries
- What respectful behaviour looks like
- Consent
- Gender roles, stereotyping and equality
- Body confidence and self-esteem
- Peer-on-peer abuse
- Prejudiced behaviour
- Sexual violence and sexual harassment
We also make clear to students how we ensure we put relevant policies into practice i.e. Relationships, Sex and Health Education Policy; Safeguarding and Child Protection; Behaviour Policy and Anti-Bullying as well as our Mental Health Pastoral Intent Statement.
Through our explicit routines and guidance, we make it clear to students what behaviour is and is not acceptable including any kind of peer on peer abuse. We regularly remind students of the importance of raising any concerns which they may have and how to access support if they need it.
We have an online bullying reporting form, which can be accessed here
Healthy Young Minds in Hertfordshire
Information on emotional health and wellbeing support in Hertfordshire for young people, parents and carers, professionals and schools.
Healthy Young Minds in Hertfordshire
Just Talk
In Hertfordshire, over 35 teams and organisations work together to develop and share useful tools, training and information to support children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing. This ranges from self-help tools to information on how to access support if it’s needed. This is known as the ‘Just Talk’ programme – named by Hertfordshire young people. Public Health, Education, NHS, and voluntary sector partners all work together to ensure we develop and share the most useful information possible with young people, parents/carers and professionals.
Hertfordshire’s Five Ways to Wellbeing Toolkit explains the importance of young peoples’ wellbeing and introduces practical ideas for how young people can incorporate the Five Ways to Wellbeing into their daily lives.
For more information visit: Just Talk Herts
The Sandbox
The Sandbox is an NHS funded service to support children and young people in Hertfordshire with their mental health and well-being. It offers a website, with access to games, worksheets, group chats and online events for children, young people, their parents/carers, teachers and other professionals. The Sandbox provides access to internet enabled Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (iCBT), or one to one support from professional therapists by text, phone, online chat or video call, based on a triage of the young person’s needs:
- website: 24/7
- therapy sessions: 7am-10pm Mondays-Fridays and 10am-10pm Saturdays and Sundays
- live Chat: 10am-8pm Mondays-Fridays
Signing up is easy and doesn’t require a referral from a professional.
Apps to download for self-help
There are a variety of apps for IOS and android devices that can support your mental health.
If you are concerned about online safety or bullying visit CEOP to learn about internet safety and report online abuse.
Calm Harm – Free app with password protection that provides a range of techniques to relive emotional distress. It’s particularly helpful if you often use self harm to cope.
Recharge – Move Well, Sleep Well, Be Well – Uses a free, personalised 6 week programme to help you improve your mood and energy levels
Smiling Mind – Provides free mindfulness meditations aimed at reducing stress, anxiety and concentration levels
