Horizontal System
There are now over three times as many schools adopting a horizontal system than a vertical system. (HMIe) The horizontal system is now represented in the majority of comprehensive schools within the UK. The horizontal system sees pastoral care being split into year groups and then separated into form/tutor classes within that year group. Marland writes "Too many secondary schools have developed sophisticated pupil grouping techniques for their teaching, but retained a pastoral structure which has not been freshly thought out from the point of view of the quality of care offered."
Combination System
Schools are increasingly using a system that they have developed that combine the two systems and have both interlinked house and yearly systems. During my own experiences of schooling a system was used where-by pupils were split by year and by house. Pupils were split by tutor group which was done by year group for administration purposes such as registration and notices. The school also consisted of four house groups which were used regularly for sporting events and organised activities. If schools are using a vertical system they will also often split the school into upper and lower segments so that this type of structure can be managed more easily.
Roles and Responsibilities
Pastoral care in most schools falls down to all teachers when they are in contact with a class. All teachers have a duty of care towards their pupils and thus are responsible for their well-being. Kottler argues that all teachers have a duty to care and list the duties of care as follows:
- Respond to children’s emotional needs
- Resolve interpersonal conflicts
- Identify children suffering from abuse, neglect, emotional problems and make appropriate referrals as necessary
- Function as a problem solver for those pupils in the throes of crises
For the purpose of this report, the focus will be on the form tutor and their influence on pastoral care within the school environment.
The Form Tutor
‘The role of the form tutor is often seen as primarily concerned with getting to know the children in their form, and the children getting to know the tutor, sufficiently well for them to feel comfortable in bringing such problems to the tutor in the first instance.’ (Collins, 1999) The form tutor has a vital role to play in pastoral as they are often the first port of call for students to raise problems whether socially or academically. The tutor has to have a bond with the pupils or else the student will simply not seek the tutors advice and guidance and if this happens we could almost say that the tutor has failed in their role.
Tutors can often be split by those which are reactive and those which are pro-active. The re-active tutor is one whole is approachable and one that will listen and sympaphise with pupils who bring problems to their attention. This requires the teacher to be accepting and approachable and have key skills in listening, negotiation, guidance and counselling. The pro-active tutor is based on the adage prevention is better than cure. It is this kind of approach that has lead to the development of the PSHE curriculum and preparing pupils for problems which may arise in their time at school and in their future lives.
There is a big difference in the tasks that have to be carried out as the education year’s progress. From my observations in 3 schools of differing ages I have seen that in the younger years of secondary education more time is spent consulting students about social worries and academic preparation for their forthcoming SAT’s. During the middle years, 10-11 my experiences, observation and research have shown that a large proportion of the time a tutor is with his group is spent dealing with disciplinary matters. However there is still a role to be played by the form tutor as a councillor.
The emphasis on the form tutor to play a disciplinarian is large and enforcing a discipline policy within the school is crucial to many form tutors. In a Leicestershire college the behaviour policy is such that any issues of behaviour, lateness and poor attendance are logged on a system in which reports get sent to the pupils tutor for them to address the issues arising. These issues are addressed in a number of ways which include, calling the parents, arranging formal meeting with the students and sometimes the parent also and putting students onto an independent learning agreement. If all of these problems persist exclusion is sometimes the only option.
Senior Management Teams
As with any organisational structure there is often a need for hierarchy, and this is the same within schools. Within a research school this is called the senior management team. This is a team headed up by the vice-principle who do not have their own tutor group but they are responsible for matters arising that are out of control of the hands of the form tutor. These problems are mainly disciplinary although can sometimes be personal issues which are having adverse effects on the pupils education. Most schools generally have a senior management team but not always directly called this. In most comprehensive schools there is likely to be heads of house, heads of year etc, which all have a vital role to play in promoted the schools pastoral care.
The relationship with teaching and learning
‘Pastoral care, at least as much as any other activity within the secondary school, needs to be purposeful. Indeed I would argue that there is an even greater need for such periods to be well organised and stimulating, for they are concerned with personal development.’ (Hamblin, 1982)
PSHE and Pastoral Care
The development of the PSHE curriculum is one that is designed to give tutors guidance on likely problems that will arise in some of their pupils lives. ‘Formulation of clear objectives for the pastoral system is a necessary step in enabling it to contribute actively to the raising of educational and behavioural standards, but specification of objectives will not guarantee that the desired result is reached.’ (Hamblin 1982)
‘The concern with personal and social development has led to the development pf a pastoral curriculum, or personal and social education (PSE) programme, within schools. This comprises those learning experiences set up within the school which aim to foster personal and social development, often explicitly linked to pastoral care.’ (Kyriacou, 1997) He then goes on to say: ‘Such teaching can include almost anything which has a pastoral connection: moral education, religious education, life and social skills teaching, sex education and study skills.’ All of these tasks are generally completed within a small allocated time of the day’s timetable, sometimes within registration periods and sometimes allocated sessions within the school timetable.
Most schools with have formulated packs in which pupils have to follow as part of their PSHE curriculum. In some instances I have found these packs to be of little use and time on PSHE spent to be relatively ineffective. The older pupils witnessed, see this time as a waste and feel it is of little importance compared to the large workload they have to complete for their a-levels.
Conclusion
The Pastoral system in any school has a vital role to play in providing the best education available to children today. The structure and systems in which schools use are crucial in getting the right balance of year groups and diversity of children to enable integration into the school in their early stages. We have seen a shift from early comprehensive schools adopting a vertical pastoral structure to most schools now using a combination structure that they have devised.
Roles and Responsibilities are constantly changing in schools and teachers and senior management teams are not only teachers but would also say that they are sometimes councillors and parental models. The role of pastoral work in school is vital pupil’s future and can help them to integrate with post school life in the later schooling years. Senior management teams are not only there to provide discipline in schools but also coach and help new teachers in their roles as form tutors and pastoral carers.
The role of the pastoral system and its development over the years has had a great positive effect on pupil’s education and with its continual development in schools there will be greater rewards to be gained.
Word Count: 1810
References
Hamblin, D. 1982, The teacher and pastoral care, Basil Blackwell Publishers, Oxford.
Blackburn, K. 1983, Head of house, Head of year, Heinemann Organisation in Schools Series, Heinemann Educational Books, London.
Haigh, G. 1975, Pastoral care, Pitman Publishing.
HMIe (Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education), 1989, the curriculum from 5-16, Her Majesty’s Stationary office, London.
Collins, U M. and McNiff, J. 1999, Rethinking Pastoral Care, Routledge, London and New York.
Kyriacou, C. 1997, Effective teaching in schools – theory and practice, Nelson Thornes Ltd, London
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