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Pastoral Support - The Cove

WELCOME!

The Cove at St Patrick’s is a dedicated pastoral support area designed to provide a calm, nurturing space for pupils who need extra emotional, social, or behavioural support throughout the school day. Run by three caring and experienced members of staff, The Cove offers a safe environment where children can take time to reset, reflect and receive guidance to help them succeed both personally and academically.

The staff in The Cove work closely with teachers and the SENDCo to ensure that every pupil’s individual needs are recognised and supported. Whether a student is struggling with anxiety, friendship issues, or challenges in the classroom, The Cove provides tailored interventions, one-to-one mentoring, and practical coping strategies to help them build confidence and resilience.

More than just a support space, The Cove embodies St Patrick’s commitment to inclusion and wellbeing. It helps pupils feel valued and understood, encouraging them to develop positive relationships and a stronger sense of belonging within the school community.

By promoting emotional wellbeing and self-regulation, The Cove plays a vital role in helping students reach their full potential both in and beyond the classroom.

How do we support learning?

There will always be children and young people in schools facing life challenges that detract from their ability to engage with learning. Some will require greater support to increase their emotional literacy than others. 

The majority learning support work is delivered on an individual basis, but sometimes small group work is more appropriate, especially in the areas of social and friendship skills. Sessions are fun, we use a range of activities such as: games, role-play with puppets or therapeutic activities such as mindfulness or arts and craft.  Sessions take place in 'The Cove' which provides a calm, safe space for the child to feel supported and nurtured.

 

In this emotional learning support we aim to provide support for a wide range of emotional needs:

Recognising emotions
Self-esteem
Social skills
Friendship skills

Anger management
Loss and bereavement

How does it work?

Children are usually referred for support by their class teacher, Senior Leaders or the SENDCo. Every week, the SLT, SENDCO and staff meet to discuss referral and to identify and prioritise which children need support. 

 

Supporting - not fixing

We aim to establish a warm, respectful relationship with a pupil and to provide a reflective space where they are able to share honestly their thoughts and feelings.

It needs to be appreciated that change cannot necessarily be achieved rapidly and is dependent upon the context and complexity of the presenting issues. For children with complex or long-term needs it is unrealistic to expect this intervention to resolve all their difficulties, however support will be designed to target specific aspects of a child's need.

When issues are beyond the level of expertise that could reasonably be expected by our dedicated member of staff, school can direct and supports parents with referrals for specialist counselling, play therapy or to CAMHS. The work we do in 'The Cove' supports our commitment to pupils with EHCPs or EHCPs in process but it is also open to any pupil that needs it.  

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