Some of our form tutors are excellent at pastoral work, but a few see their role as little more than taking the register. How do you develop pastoral skills in all staff?

John, Stratford-upon-Avon

A: The pastoral role isn’t for everyone. Some colleagues feel uneasy about counselling. Perhaps this isn’t surprising as the skill-set for classroom teaching is different from the one-to-one skills needed for counselling.

We can try to close the skill gap with training that might work for some. We can share good practice, and we can think about pastoral mentors.

Until we have a fully trained workforce that is committed to the pastoral aspect of the job we will, I’m afraid, be papering over the cracks.

Sue, East Grinstead

A: There will always be staff who in every other way might be model professionals, but just can’t get their heads around the pastoral role.

I know this isn’t good, but equally I know that it is going to be hard to change them. You can lay on lots of chats about good practice, buddy them up with excellent pastoral practitioners and even tell them that they are not doing their jobs properly. But what you won’t do is change them.

Rather than bang your head against this brick wall it might be a better use of energy to devise “cover” arrangements for their tutor groups.

Rod, Feltham

A: There are two ways forward on this: carrot and stick. To take the stick, you could remind your colleagues that the pastoral aspect of their job is within their job description. On the other hand, you could identify who is doing the job well and get them to lead a meeting and demonstrate how important the role is

John, Worthing

COMING UP

Q: Our pupils go on activity days and assault courses for team-building. When I asked what we do as a staff, all one colleague could think of was “hold coffee mornings”. What do other schools do to build up the team spirit?

Q: There is no teacher union representative at my school, who do I go to first if I need to ask anything or if I have an issue with something?

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