St Matthew’s and Parents as Partners
The Pastoral System at St Matthew’s
At St. Matthew’s we believe that children succeed when they feel secure and content. It is important that they feel cared for and they know precisely to whom they can turn if they have a problem. The fear that a child may get lost or be bullied in a large school is overcome by a carefully structured pastoral system. This system ensures that each pupil has someone to whom he or she can immediately relate.
Each pupil at St. Matthew’s has a Form Tutor, who will meet them each day for Tutor Time. The Form Tutor is the key person for your child throughout their time at St. Matthew’s. It is the Form Tutor who will help children through difficulties, help monitor progress and encourage them to get the best out of school and themselves.
We ask you as parents to make your child’s Form Tutor the first point of contact in the school. Please address all notes to them. Should the need arise; the Form Tutor will refer matters to the Head of Year.
Heads of Year
Mrs Newey
Head of Year 7
Mr Johnston
Head of Year 8
Mrs Travis
Head of Year 9
Miss King
Head of Year 10
Mrs Bunn
Head of Year 11
St. Matthew's Safeguarding Team
Mr D Latham
Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead
Mrs S Ross
Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lea
Mrs A Lennon
Assistant Headteacher / Designated Safeguarding Lead
Parent Voice
At St. Matthew’s we want to develop relationships with parents so that their voice is used to inform whole school improvement. Our aim is to ensure that parents are treated as partners in their child’s education rather than recipients of a service. In this way we hope to improve engagement in school for parents and their children.
We involve parents in the following ways:
- Through regular and open communication with form tutors, teaching staff, pastoral teams and senior leaders
- By asking for their opinions at regular intervals (surveys are taken at parents’ evenings and school meetings)
- By inviting groups of parents to participate in focus groups to discuss key issues.
