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Pastoral Support

At Sharples School, the wellbeing of our pupils  is paramount.  We work hard to provide guidance and support across the school.  We want our pupils to become resilient young people, equipped with knowledge to guide them through their adolescent school life and beyond.  In this section you will find key information for Parents/Carers and pupils, outlining our wellbeing support system in school.

How we support our students

At Sharples School, we pride ourselves on the excellent pastoral care and support we provide, ensuring that every student is happy, safe and settled in their environment, and that all students develop into confident, hard-working, respectful and ambitious young people.

Our strong pastoral support network includes Year Co-Ordinators, Pupil Intervention officer, In-school Behaviour Mentor, form tutors as well as a dedicated pastoral team. We cater to the individual needs of each and every student at Sharples School.

Transition

At Sharples School, we offer a two-day transition for every Year 6 student. In addition to this we host our very own free one week summer school, additional welcome evenings and settling in evenings throughout the year, so it doesn’t matter if you’re the only student coming from your primary, you will settle and have lots of friends by the time you start in Year 7.

As well as the students, we want to support parents and carers as much as possible. For a Year 6 parent it can be as nerve racking as it is for the student transitioning into secondary education. We welcome parents and carers to ring, email or visit Sharples School as often as they like.

Support

Need advice? Any questions? Concerned? Worried? Please feel free to contact the relevant member of staff or arrange an additional visit for you and your child. If you have any concerns, please email safeguarding@sharplesschool.co.uk

In House Support

At Sharples we believe we have an amazing support structure in school, to promote well being and resilience for our pupils.  We have two counsellors in school, male and female.  To compliment this service, we also have our School Nurse.

Gillian Meadows
Gillian joined Sharples in December  but has worked in schools for ten years. She brings a wealth of experience in Person Centred Counselling. Gillian has worked with pupils who suffer from Self Esteem, Anger Management and Grief and she also has a certificate in Cognitive Behavioural therapy.

Michael Hirst
Michael has been at Sharples for many years and is very popular with our pupils.  He offers valuable coping skills and strategies for pupils as well as supporting whole school.

Davina Crofts
Davina is our school nurse.  She provides a confidential drop in service on a Tuesday lunch.  Davina is extremely popular with our pupils, providing advice around general health and wellbeing.  Davina also supports whole school with Mental Health and Wellbeing.

Click here to view the School Counselling Policy.

Year Co-ordinators
The Year Co-ordinators ensure the smooth running of their year groups, providing daily support for attendance, wellbeing, safeguarding.  They provide 1-1 support to key pupils needing support throughout the day.

Mrs Gregory (Inclusion Lead)
Mrs Gregory manages the school’s inclusion unit.  Mrs Gregory provides peer mediation, behaviour management and re-integration into lessons.

External Agency Support

At Sharples we work closely with external agencies, forming strong working relationships to offer support to our pupils.  Here are some agencies that we work with and an insight into their work:

CAMHS: https://www.gmmh.nhs.uk/bolton-camhs/
CAMHS is based at Bolton Hospital and stands for child and adolescent mental health service.  They provide assessment and guidance for young people, usually between the  ages of 5 and 18, suffering with mental health.  School work closely with this team to provide the best advice for our pupils.

Children’s Services / The Integrated Front Door
The Integrated Front Door is a team of multi-agency professionals including Child Protection social workers, Early Help Access Point workers, Health, Police and other partner agencies. Children’s Services are an extensive team of social workers who offer safeguarding support and monitoring across Bolton.  They often offer us as a school, advice and guidance.

Early Help Access Point
Early Help means providing support as soon as a need emerges, at any point in a child or young person’s life. At Sharples we work with the Early Help Access Point in order to support the wellbeing of children, young people, and families by tackling emerging needs at the earliest opportunity and prevent them from getting worse.
In Bolton we refer to Bolton’s Framework for action which provides guidance on how to ensure all work done to help a child is collaborative, holistic and supportive. For Early Help to be effective, we work closely with families and other agencies to:

● Identify children, young people and families who would benefit from support.
● Undertake an assessment of need.
● Provide services to address those needs.
● Review progress to ensure that positive change has happened.

Targeted Youth Support: https://www.blgc.co.uk/targeted-youth-services/
Targeted Youth work with pupils at risk of exclusion and engaging into risky/unsociable behaviour out of school.  They provide key workers and one-to-one support for  young people to build a trusting relationship to support them through difficult periods and build their self-confidence, self-esteem and resilience.

Time2talk Mediation: https://www.bolton.gov.uk/community-safety-anti-social-behaviour/bolton-mediation-%E2%80%93-time-2-talk-project
Telephone:01204 335945
The service offers mediation between  young people and their parents/carers  where there is conflict in the family. The  aim is to prevent the family unit breaking  down completely and to reduce the number of young people presenting as  homeless.

School Nursing Team
This team works across Bolton schools providing Health advice and support for the school and pupils/parents/carers.

RUNA: https://www.urbanoutreach.co.uk/portfolio-posts/runa/
RUNA (Remember UR Not Alone) team works with young people who are frequently going missing from home. Together with Greater Manchester Police, Bolton Council, parents, carers and local schools the team ensures children are returned home safely and as quickly as possible. The service provides advice, guidance and support to the children and young people who have gone missing and those who are at risk of running away.

Useful Support Groups

ACIS: https://www.bolton.gov.uk/youth-support/support-families-new-uk
Telephone: 01204 338055
Support for families that are new to the UK  and speak English as an additional language.

Be Kind To My Mind: www.bekindtomymind.co.uk
Website to help young people to understand more about mental health conditions or circumstances that may impact on your mental health; how to cope with your feelings and what support is available.

Bolton 360: https://www.nhs.uk/services/service-directory/bolton-360%C2%B0-young-people-s-substance-misuse-service/N10965491
Telephone: 01204 462444
Specialist intervention for young people,  families and children affected by substance  misuse.

Bolton Lads and Girls Club  (BLCG): https://www.blgc.co.uk/
Offering a range of different  services for young people,  including support around lower-level mental health,  general wellbeing, building  resilience, self-confidence and  self-esteem, social and peer  relationships, personal and  social development, personal safety, understanding feelings,  emotions and associated  behaviours, risk of  homelessness, and preventing  school exclusion and offending  behaviour. BLCG also offer a young carers  service, as well as a bereavement support service.

Chat Health
ChatHealth – new text health service  launches | Bolton NHS FT (boltonft.nhs.uk).
Contact for children & young people: 07507 331753. For parents: 07507 331751.
Confidential texting service for  advice and support from a healthcare professional for young people between ages  11-19. Support is available on a  variety of topics, including  bullying, emotional health &  emotional wellbeing, relationships, sexual health, drugs & alcohol etc.
Parents can also text a specialist nurse for advice  around a range of topics, including child development, behavioural issues etc.

ChildLine: www.childLine.org.uk
Telephone: 0800 1111 Counselling service for parents, children and young people. It also offers multilingual services to South Asian communities living in the UK. Languages include Bengali/Sylheti, Guajarati, Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu and English. Help and advice is free and confidential.

Endeavour: https://www.endeavourproject.org.uk/
01204 394 842
A registered charity offering a wide range  of services including front line community  based support, group work and counselling  for those affected by domestic abuse. Also  includes a pet fostering service to enable  those with pets to flee an abusive household without surrendering or leaving  their animals.

Female Genital Mutilation
NSPCC FGM Helpline – It’s free and available 24/7 : 0800 0283550 or email help@NSPCC.org.uk. Click here to see the information leaflet.

Fort Alice: https://fortalice.org.uk/
Telephone: 01204 701846 / 01204 365677 (24 hour support and  advice line)
A charity offering support to people  affected by domestic abuse. Support  includes a refuge service, group work  programmes, counselling, an IDVA service  for high risk cases, and a children and  young persons service.

Give Us A Shout: https://giveusashout.org/
24/7 text service, free on all major mobile networks, for anyone in crisis anytime, anywhere. It’s a place to go if you’re struggling to cope and you need immediate help. Text 85258.

Kooth: www.kooth.com
Online mental health support  for children & young people via an app. Kooth gives children and young people access to an  online community of peers, as  well as a team of experienced,  accredited counsellors.

Maudsley Charity:familiesunderpressure.maudsleycharity.org
For families who are feeling the pressure of parenting. Simple tips and tricks, formulated by researchers and NHS mental health experts, which are backed by science and proven to work with families.

Mermaids: https://mermaidsuk.org.uk/
Telephone: 08088 010400
Supporting trans, non-binary and gender-diverse children, young people and their families

Mind: www.mind.org.uk
National charity organisation providing information, advice, and campaigning to promote and protect good mental health for everyone.

NHS Choices: www.nhs.uk
Telephone: 111 The NHS Choices website contains information about all aspects of health. NHS 111 is a fast and easy way to get the right help, whatever the time. NHS 111 is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Calls are free from landlines and mobile phones.

Samaritans: www.samaritans.org
Telephone: 116 123 (any time) National minicom number: 08457 90 91 92 Email: jo@samaritans.org Address: Chris, PO Box 9090, Stirling, FK8 2SA Samaritans is a confidential emotional support service for anyone in the UK and Ireland. The service is available 24 hours a day for people who are experiencing feelings of distress or despair, including those which may lead to suicide. Volunteers offer support by responding to phone calls, emails and letters. Alternatively, people can drop into a branch to have a face to face meeting.

The Parallel: https://www.boltonft.nhs.uk/locations/the-parallel-young-peoples-health-centre/
01204 462444 (Mon – Fri 9am-6pm)
Emotional, physical and sexual  health service for young people.

Winston’s Wish:www.winstonswish.org.uk
Freephone helpline: 08088 020 021 Provides specialist child bereavement support services across the UK, including in-depth therapeutic help in individual, group and residential settings.

Whysup: https://www.whysup.co.uk/
Whysup promotes positive mental health and can help with barriers to this, including concerns about body image, gaming, gambling, substance misuse and resilience. The team frequently come into school to support with personal development.

Online Safety Information

Social Media Safety Information

Wellbeing Support Documentation

Click the links below to access the wellbeing support documents:

Social anxiety – Kooth’s factsheet for young people.
Dealing with suicidal thoughts – Kooth’s support guide for young people.
Understanding Eating Difficulties – Kooth’s support guide for young people.
Self Injury – Kooth’s support guide for young people.
Lily’s s story – How Kooth helped me with my anxiety.
Navigating depression and low mood – Kooth’s practical guide for young people.
Exam Tips – Kooth’s Digital Brochure.
Loneliness Support – Kooth’s Brochure for Children and Young People.
Creating Your Personal Safety Plan – Kooth’s Guide.

Asking For Help Booklet – stem4education’s guide.

What parents and carers need to know about the effects of energy drinks
What parents and carers need to know about school avoidance
What parents and carers need to know about the dangers of vaping
What parents and carers need to know about setting gaming boundaries