Taking on any pastoral leadership position can be a daunting and yet incredibly rewarding proposition.
Not only are you responsible for the wellbeing and conduct of a significant group of students – perhaps as many as 200 young people depending on your role – but you are expected to know each student and their family intimately and be the embodiment of in loco parentis.
Whereas academic middle leadership positions have long been supported with evidence-informed strategies and procedures, the role of pastoral leader is often dependent on relationships and rules, positivity and perseverance, and a whole lot of luck.
Whereas previously pastoral leaders were simply responsible for the behaviour of their cohort and were essentially reactionary “guards”, dealing with incidents, the role has now developed into one that is much more preventative and data-driven and based on extensive planning and preparation.
Whether it is as a head of year, head of house – whatever the job title is – it is vital to get off to a good start as those first few weeks can make or break your experience.
Based on my experience of helping to lead three different cohorts across two incredibly different settings, here are five strategies to help you to hit the ground running as a pastoral leader.
1, Observe, be present and connect
From the moment you are announced as the leader of a cohort, it is vital that you take the chance to simply observe each class and individual students as much as possible.
It is important that you do not let previous perceptions of students cloud your judgement and that you create your own opinion of each student.
Visit each form class, observe groups during their lessons, and take the time to see how students conduct themselves during unstructured times such as break and lunch.
During this period of observation, you should already start to create profiles of key students who will need more support, whether this is from a behaviour, SEN, safeguarding, or even academic perspective.
Using these early periods to observe will mean you are as present as possible and can begin to build relationships.
Students will pick up on the fact that you are everywhere and hopefully acknowledge you as someone they can rely on, but also someone who will hold them accountable.
Finally, use the first few days/weeks as an opportunity to get to know each student as well as possible. Whether that is through conversations at break time, reading the transition/hand-over notes in detail, or even facilitating a tutor time activity where students complete a factsheet about themselves.
Ultimately, connecting with students during these early stages is vital.
2, Craft your vision and build a community
Once you begin to understand the strengths and weaknesses of your cohort, the next step is to create a collective vision that will be unique for your group of students.
Most students constantly seek out validation and acceptance; they love to be a part of something bigger than just themselves and it is vital that they understand what it means to not just be a student in your school, but a student under your stewardship.
Whether it is a set of “non-negotiables” or a more character-building set of expectations, it is vital that your year or house knows exactly what you expect from them as their pastoral leader.
Creating this vision is the first step. Communicating this explicitly and making it part of your norms is even more important.
Use any time that you have with your cohort to communicate your vision and offer concrete examples. Whether during tutor time, assemblies or possibly even during line-ups, constantly and positively reinforce your vision by celebrating success stories, using nudge norms as a reminder, and constantly repeating your message to ensure that it becomes second nature.
Creating a community feeling throughout your cohort will go a long way towards transforming any potential major issues into minor ones that can be dealt with using reminders rather than sanctions.
3, Identify, intervene, and implement
There will always be times when we need intervene and support certain students slightly more than others.
By this point you will hopefully have already identified students who may need extra support, guidance, and reminders. These students will become your “10%” – those who will take up a lot of your time but who really need you the most.
Identifying them in advance will mean you understand their strengths and what they struggle with. It is vital that you use this information and your burgeoning connections with these students to intervene quickly.
These initial stages are perfect for early parental calls/meetings and circulating profiles among teachers explaining what works well and what to avoid when teaching these students.
At the same time, you can put in place early intervention procedures such as daily check-ins, rewards and, if necessary, behaviour interventions.
And of course, identifying these students as early as possible means you can implement the support they need – or identify where there might be holes in the existing support.
Interventions might include referral to the SEND team, extra academic support, or tutoring, or accessing any external agencies that may be required.
4, Dominating the data
Although it can be easy to assume that being a pastoral leader is non-stop action, the best leaders are able to recognise the importance of preparation and pre-emptive implementation.
Hence, rather than waiting for the incidents to pile up, pastoral leaders who prepare in advance and use data effectively will be able to predict patterns and identity trends.
From recognising crucial issues within certain subjects or even using information and data such as literacy levels, reading ages, attendance statistics, the best pastoral leaders realise that the job isn't all presence and power but actually more about analysing data and using this to become a more proactive practitioner.
Of course, it is vital that the data you collect offers genuine insight into how students are doing and what strategies work well.
5, A warm-strict balance
Regardless of how hard you work, it is likely that you'll always be considered too strict by some students, too soft by some teachers, and too busy by some parents.
The best pastoral leaders realise that the most important thing they can do is to create their own pastoral persona of someone who is true and honest and guided by their educational beliefs.
Students do not need you to be a raging maniac who patrols the corridors every second of the day, nor do they need you to be the stereotypical “biscuits and tea” head of year.
Students need to know your expectations from the start, they need you to communicate these explicitly, and ensure that you are consistent in applying these at all times and to all students. They need to know that you have their back and that they can rely on you – but that you will also hold them accountable.
Likewise, teachers need to know that your word matters and that you will follow through.
Ultimately, being authoritative is not the same as being an authoritarian and if you do let students off you risk letting them down in the long run.
- Mohamed Ibrahim began his career as a teacher of English specialising in supporting EAL learners and students with complex behavioural needs. Since then he has specialised in pastoral roles and was previously a director of pastoral interventions in London. He is currently working as a head of year in the Middle East. Find him on X (Twitter) @Edunomics_