The pastoral care, guidance and support at Lliswerry is the responsibility of every member of staff and Lliswerry High School places great emphasis on the care, well-being and safe guarding of all the children with us. We are committed to creating an environment in which every child has the opportunity to achieve their full potential.
The learners are well cared for by a dedicated team of pastoral staff who endeavour to encourage our learners to manage their own learning and behaviour as well as taking responsibility for developing their social skills to prepare them for when they leave school and embark on their next stage of learning.
The learners’ primary needs are met on a daily basis by their Form Tutor who is their first point of contact. Form Tutors are supported by a Head of Year as well as a Head of Key Stage and there are also additional pastoral support staff who work in each of the Key Stage offices. All of these members of staff work closely together to ensure the needs of all learners are met.
Year 7-9 Team
Head of Year 7 – Miss L Howells Pastoral Support Officer Miss D Goma
Head of Year 8 – Mrs K Morgan Pastoral Support Officer Miss N Moon
Head of Year 9 – Miss L Williams Pastoral Support Officer Miss L Reed
Transition
There is an extensive Transition programme at Lliswerry High School with the main objective being a seamless and smooth movement of learners.. The pastoral team and supporting classroom teachers work extremely hard to ensure that this takes place.
We work very closely with our Primary Feeder Schools and gather as much information as possible on any learner who will be joining us in Year 7. Below is a list of the activities that we have in place to make the transition process from Primary to Secondary school as positive as possible.
Curriculum Days
These are held in the autumn and summer term for Year 6 and Year 5 learners who participate in Core subjects, as well as Art, Technology, ICT and MFL.
Open Evening and New Parents Evening
The school has an Open Evening in September and a New Parents Evening in July. These are opportunities for Parents and carers to visit the school; meet with members of staff; take a look at our extensive facilities, and ask any questions that they have.
Primary Concerts, School Production and Summer Showcase
Lliswerry High School hosts the Primary School Christmas Concert every year and it proves to be an excellent evening which is well attended by all.
All of our Cluster Primary schools are invited every year to come and watch our school production.
The Summer Showcase is what it says. An opportunity for learners to ‘showcase’ their, singing, dancing or acting talents on stage in front of their peers, parents, teachers and friends.
Sports Events
Throughout the Year, the High school hosts Netball and Football tournaments for the Primary schools as well as our BTEC students helping out Primary schools with their Sports Days.
In addition to all of this, there are numerous meetings between staff from the High School and Primary Schools throughout the year to ensure that Schemes of learning and moderation of work is taking place, as well as Bridging Units for English and Maths are completed. This communication is an essential and integral part of transition.
The Head of Year 7 along with ALN staff also visit regularly and meet with staff and learners. The formal visits begin around May time, with the purpose of gathering both academic and pastoral information on all of the learners who will be joining us in Year 7.
Moving Up Day
This takes place in July and it is an opportunity for all of our new intake to come and experience a full day with us. It has proven to be very successful and has further helped with the transition process.
Year 7 Progress Evening
There are 2 of these held throughout the year. The first gives parents/carers an opportunity to meet with their children’s Form Tutor and a member of the Pastoral/Senior Leadership team, to discuss any issues they have since the start of September.
The evening held later in the year in June is where parents/carers can still meet with their child’s FT but also subject staff to discuss further progress that will have been made.
All of the above is done in consultation with parents and carers who appreciate the efforts and time that the staff from both the Primary and Secondary schools put in to ensure that their children have the best possible start on the next journey of their education.
Year 9-10
The process of transition from year 9 to year 10 is a vital one whereby we ensure that all of our learners in Year 9 make the correct decision regarding the options that they take in Year 10 based on informed judgements.
In the spring term the process starts with Leaders of Learning giving presentations about their subjects whether or not they are taken at Level 2 GCSE or BTEC . This is supplementary to the work done by their subject teachers.
There is also a ‘Roadshow’ held in the main school hall, where Year 9 learners can go along and have further information about Options from our staff as well as external agencies like Careers Wales. All learners and parents/carers are given an Options Booklet with detailed descriptions about the courses on offer and perspective future Pathways after leaving school
The Year 9 Options Evening takes place in February, where there is another opportunity for the learners and parents/carers to discuss any issues that they still may have regarding their options.
All pastoral information is shared between the offices and between the Heads of Year to ensure that this area is covered before the move from year 9 to year 10.
As with everything we do with Pastoral Care at Lliswerry, the partnership we continually reinforce is that between the learner, teacher and parent/carer.