At St Francis’ School we are committed to creating and maintaining an environment which ensures all students are supported appropriately relevant to their academic in addition to their social and emotional needs. It is recognised that in order for a young person to best perform academically their social and emotional needs must be met in a timely manner and in a way appropriate to the individual.  

In order for pastoral support of students to be effective, individual student supports need to be reviewed regularly to assess if needs are being met (or continue to meet) the needs of the specific student.  

To maximise the facilitation of appropriate support for individual student needs, all teachers will be actively involved in information gathering, goal setting and exploration of relevant steps to achieve the goals of students allocated to them.  This will be done in collaboration with the student in addition to discussions with other relevant St Francis’ School staff. 

An Advocate Teacher (AT) will be allocated when students have completed their three-week Trial Enrolment. The AT will sit in on the Final Enrolment Interview which is held after the completion of the three-week Trial Enrolment. 

The Advocate Teacher: 

• Is a point of contact between the student, the Pastoral Care Team, and the student’s guardians.  
• Tracks patterns of behaviour, school attendance and class participation by gathering general feedback from other staff.  
• Gathers and considers information available (enrolment interview, YVAPP data, student enrolment reflection, academic needs, identified goals, any social/emotional information).  
• Assesses information gathered from the relevant sources and determines any unmet need which can be incorporated into the student’s overall experience whilst enrolled at St Francis’.  
•  Liaises with the student, Youth Worker and Social Worker in the creation of a student support plan. 
• Checks in with the allocated student on a weekly basis to ascertain changes
• In class readiness/peer relationships/physical health etc and initiate modified goals and/or plans to suit the students’ current and ongoing needs.  
• Contacts guardians/carers as required to provide feedback on the students’ patterns of engagement at St Francis’ School.