Whole School Evaluation 
and Pastoral Care:

Effective Preparation

Many schools have contacted the IAPCE Office seeking guidance around their pastoral care provision and the expectations of Whole School Evaluation. This article seeks to offer some general guidelines in relation how to prepare for WSE in this area. IAPCE as one of its services offers schools on-site support in reviewing and developing pastoral care with reference to the context of each school and its particular needs.

WSE – How it reports on Pastoral Care

In reviewing WSE reports currently available, it is clear that Pastoral Care provision is a significant area of exploration for WSE. It is addressed usually in two key sections in reports – under Quality of School Management (section dealing with Characteristic Spirit) and Quality of Support for Students – often getting a dedicated section under this heading. Issues raised in reports have been: a pastoral care policy; link to characteristic spirit; key roles of Year Head and Tutor in place; definition of these roles; Care Team; addressing needs of students with particular challenges; experience of care in the school community; care for all the school partners…

Building on Good Practice

The vast majority of schools in our experience have a very effective pastoral approach and culture operative. Teachers and management alike have the interests of students very much at heart and want to do all in their power to address the

developmental needs in any way possible. Most schools have the core structures of Year Head and Class Tutor in place in some form. Many have Care Teams to oversee the pastoral provision and to ensure effective co-ordination between the different roles. A whole school approach – whether formally or informally (and often both) is evident. Nonetheless it is always useful to review the status of pastoral care and the prospect of WSE is a further impetus in this regard.

A Checklist

The following paragraphs provide a broad overview of some areas and issues to consider when reviewing your current provision in this area – while WSE may be part of the context for this review, the real value of the review will be to reflect seriously on this vital aspect of school life.

 Characteristic Spirit

For many schools its Characteristic Spirit will often include some expression around the full development of students. The fundamental task for each school is to enact, bring to life this Characteristic Spirit in the day to day life of the school. Effective pastoral care approaches, structures and practices will be a most significant facilitator of living the core values of the school in an observable way.

Pastoral Care Policy

Obviously having an effective policy in place is necessary in the underpinning, resourcing and the approaches taken in pastoral care. IAPCE has developed both Pastoral Care Guidelines and a Policy Template – members will have received these in an earlier posting. Some of the key elements of the policy include:

1. Statement of Core Values

‘St Anonymous realises its core aims and goals through a variety of means, none more important than our pastoral care approach. We understand Pastoral Care ‘as an approach to education which endeavours to value and develop each member of the school community. It promotes learning at every level of the student.’ (The Year Head, Monahan IAPCE). This approaches animates the nature of our pastoral care provision. Each member of the school community has access to the relevant pastoral structures and procedures, each is also invited to play their part in contributing to the pastoral ethos of this school community. More than anything else we seek to nurture positive relationships as the core resource in developing a pastoral approach. This policy endevours to put in place the framework necessary to underpin and support this approach.’

• A consultative process will be employed to draw up the role description of Class Tutor and Year Head.
• While the staff are at the core of this process, consultations with parents and students will be held.
• The role descriptions will be approved by staff and ratified as part of this policy by the Board of Management.
• As with other policy areas the Board of Management have the right to initiate, contribute, amend and finally approve this policy. 
• The role descriptions will be reviewed at least once per year.

Pastoral Care Team

Some schools call them care teams or support teams. In general terms this is the team that brings together all the support services of the school to review how the school community is responding to overall needs of each member of the school community but in particular the student and even more specifically those students with particular challenges. In that context a number of roles might suggest themselves to this team – guidance counsellor, co-ordinator of SPHE, resource teacher, homeschool liaison, year heads, chaplain, principal and/or deputy…the list is not exhaustive as each school needs to decide who is best fitted for this team.

Pastoral Practices

This area is about the actual experience of the pastoral approach in the school – so difficult to measure yet so evident experientially. This area is at the heart – asking do students experience a pastoral approach, is there a real and effective caring ethos in the school that all can attest to…putting in place structures and roles can only go so far. The pastoral aspirations need to be translated into the daily interactions within the life of the school community for the benefit of all. This aspect of school life is visible in the quality of relationships, in HOW challenges are managed, HOW students and others are encouraged, celebrated, resourced, challenged…

New Service to schools: WSE and Pastoral Care

IAPCE is now providing a new service to schools in this area. Luke Monahan will work individually with schools to review and develop their pastoral approach. His work with hundreds of schools nationally gives him a unique insight into this area of school life. This consultation – normally two to three hours - will usually involve a meeting with key pastoral personnel and management. He will go through a process of review and with these personnel prepare a programme of development. See the IAPCE Programme Page for contact and cost information.