At Waddesdon pastoral care is not an end in itself, but firmly embedded in the aims, values, beliefs and norms of our school. It is clearly articulated and there is a shared and strong conceptual understanding of the meaning of pastoral care amongst staff across the school community.

Pastoral care is omnipresent and touches every part of school life and is therefore felt at all levels of curriculum, teaching, learning and assessment, school organisation, ethos and environment, partnerships and services.

At Waddesdon we can only make a difference when professionals and parents work together so there is a strong inter-agency requirement with timely communications between key workers, relevant organisations and families.

Our effective care is proactive and preventative, in that we provide a range of activities and support various processes that anticipate ‘critical incidents’ in children’s lives and aim to prevent and reduce the need for reactive casework.

A critical feature of pastoral care at Waddesdon is how well staff know our pupils’ unique circumstances so they can learn effectively.  Therefore, the best care is defined on the quality of relationships, strong partnerships, high expectations and how our staff respond to the needs of specific pupils and groups.