Structures and Support Systems in School

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Contents Page

Introduction        

Structures and Systems        

Vertical System        

Horizontal System        

Combination System        

The Form Tutor        

The relationship with teaching and learning        

PSHE and Pastoral Care        


Introduction

Hamblin (1982) states that ‘An effective pastoral system is more than a device for providing emotional first-aid for adolescent tensions in a complex society, or a welfare activity for alleviating poor home conditions.’ He then goes on then goes on to share his ideas that the true failure of secondary schools lies in the field of learning and that inappropriate teaching methods, rather than indiscipline, can cause sterile relationships. Pastoral care in education is a complex and diverse issues, during the course of this paper some of the areas of pastoral care will be examined against past theories and related to present day teaching. Structures and systems in school will be studied followed by the roles and responsibilities of key personnel and also the relationships between teaching and learning.

During the course of this paper some research has come not only from theories but will also relate to: my own schooling, my first placement which is an FE College and research that I have carried out into a secondary comprehensive school in Derbyshire.

Structures and Systems

‘While there are lots of ways of making the actual divisions in a big school, they tend to crystallise into two main groups. These are the schools which split “horizontally” and those which split “vertically” (Haigh, 1975).’ A school which has a vertical structure often splits pupils into houses, and it is also often seen to split schools by upper, middle and lower school, each with its own head. A horizontal system splits up the children into year groups and will then be subdivided into manageable tutor groups. This system is also likely to have a head of year.

Vertical System

‘When the first comprehensive schools were opened in the 1950’s it was seen that this new type of school would need new ways of working and new forms of organisation. A common response was to create a ‘house’ system in which the head of house and the house tutors would take responsibility for the care and guidance of pupils throughout their school life (Blackburn. 1983).’ This type of system works well for integration of pupils into the school and they are supported by other pupils in the house. However the system can be somewhat problematic in its organisation and administration. The house system was introduced into many Secondary Comprehensive schools in their early days. Schools have since moved away from using this system and moved towards structuring pastoral care into year groups (horizontal system).

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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 ...

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