Recognising a concern is only the beginning. Most adults working with children can usually sense when something doesn’t feel right. A child withdrawing. A sudden change in behaviour. Attendance dipping. Friendships falling apart. Something shifting that’s hard to put into words. But pa

School isn’t just about exams. Some of the most important things children learn in school are never formally assessed at all. How to regulate emotions. How to recover after setbacks. How to navigate friendships. How to cope with pressure. How to ask for help. How to keep going when thing

I don’t think secondary school has changed as much as childhood has. Secondary schools have always been busy, noisy, fast-paced and socially intense. But many children are now arriving there after growing up with: less independence, more stimulation, more online life, more adult intervent

I don’t think children are failing the education system. I think the education system is struggling to adapt to modern childhood. Children are growing up in a completely different world now: constant stimulation, online pressure, less independence, more anxiety, very little switch-off ti

Research consistently shows that just one trusted adult can change a child’s outcomes. And in schools, those trusted adults are often pastoral staff, teachers, TA’s, mentors, receptionists, safeguarding leads and support teams quietly building relationships every single day. But being that tr

Schools are increasingly being asked to solve problems that were never traditionally theirs to carry alone. Mental health. Safeguarding. Family crisis. Online harm. Emotional regulation. Poverty. Attendance. Multi-agency support. And while schools absolutely play a vital role, I think

Attendance is one of the most complex parts of school life right now. And I think a lot of the public conversation around it misses the reality schools, families and children are actually navigating every day. Most schools are already trying everything they can: support plans, mentoring, red

One thing I think people underestimate about pastoral work is the level of emotional regulation it requires from staff. You can walk from: a safeguarding concern to a behaviour incident to a distressed parent to a student in crisis all within the space of an hour. And throughout all

For a long time, schools were seen primarily as places of education. But over the last few years, pastoral teams have quietly become something much bigger. We’re seeing rising anxiety, emotionally based school avoidance, increasingly complex safeguarding concerns, overwhelmed families, friend

In 20 years, I’ve not ever been able to accurately describe what my job entails. I try to in these captions and posts. But somehow I still don’t think it quite cuts it. Being good with kids/teenagers, isn’t all it’s about, neither is neither is being approachable, or even caring. It’s important