New Pastoral Structure

Dear Parent/Carer

As you will be aware, our current pastoral structure at the Academy consists of a team of Tutors (currently in Year Groups) and a Head of House team comprising of three non-teaching members of staff. The purpose of both teams is to provide guidance and support to your child and look after their general wellbeing at the Academy day to day.

We regularly review our structures to ensure they provide the best support for our students. In response to feedback from students, parents/carers and staff, we have decided to move to a Year Group Pastoral Leader structure from Term 6 onwards. The purpose of this is to build capacity within this team and also tailor each Leaders’ work around specific Year Group specialisms e.g. the options process in Year 9 or transition from primary in Year 7 as two examples.

This change means that we will now have five dedicated Pastoral Leaders in post who will work alongside the existing year based tutor teams. This means each pastoral leader is now supporting approx. 180 students (rather than approx. 400 students previously).  We feel this will provide an enhanced pastoral offer to both the children and families within each year group.

For Term 6, please find below details of your child’s nominated Pastoral Leader (PL):

We are currently in the process of appointing a fifth Pastoral Leader to join this team in September to complete our team in advance of our new cohort joining us from Year 6.

Although we are moving to a Year Group pastoral structure for day to day student support, the House system remains very much at the heart of Hanham Woods Academy. In the summer term, we will be appointing four new House Leader roles for September 2021. These roles will be filled by teaching staff who will work together to lead on the wider aspects of Academy life such as House identity, student leadership, achievements and celebration across the Academy.

If you would like further information on the new structures in place, please see our video link below:

New Pastoral Structure Term 6 & 2021-22

In preparation for the changeover, please be reassured that our new Pastoral Leaders have already completed a thorough ‘handover’ with the former Heads of House (Miss Wilshire and Mrs Smith) and are ready to support your child in the term ahead. We look forward to working with you within the new structure from the summer term and into the new academic year 2021-22.

Yours sincerely

Sara Hutchinson | Assistant Principal: Pastoral