secondary school pastoral management qualifications

[mummymooch]

Hello , my children go to a secondary school where the pastoral management follows the year all through their school life . The problem is the woman in charge of one of them causes the students a lot of problems instead of solving as well as lying which maybe because she is out of her depth . I am interested in the qualifications needed for this role would anyone know ?

I’m in Scotland and our guidance teachers (so same idea) are all qualified and registered teachers

no qualifications needed

It may be a member of the teaching staff, or a member of support staff.

Pastoral support managers are normally required to be pretty harsh, but this is not really at their discretion, it depends on their job description and the culture of the school

She may well be out of her depth, the most experienced and qualified individuals could find themselves out of their depth in some pastoral roles! It can be a Herculean task. Why would she lie though? sounds unlikely

Most of ours have degrees and QTS but not all.

Depends if it’s a teaching or non teaching role. But no official qualifications. It’s a bloody difficult job though.

I’ve done this job, and then later managed the team.

In our school the pastoral leads most were not qualified teachers, but did have qualifications relating to children and young people, development, behaviour management, supporting emotional needs, mental health, additional needs etc. Some had previously been TAs, youth workers etc.

There isn’t a single standard compulsory qualification for such a position, but the team I had did all have a broad range of qualifications, years of experience, and were constantly adding to their training.

and of course, pastoral managers are often the ones responsible for discipline, and as such, it is certainly not in their job description to be popular, and are in a position where various miscreants are likely to accuse them of lying quite regularly.

She assured me my childs assessment had been shared to the teachers and I emailed one to put my child’s mind at rest but the teacher had no idea , was thankful I had contacted him and CC the PM assuming she didn’t know . She was very off with me after though I hadn’t taken it further than that .

She doesn’t punish the main bully so the kids being bullied end up having issues , a girl is being kept home by her mother atm over the same boy .

An autistic child was put on report for not doing well at school but he didn’t know why he was on report so his mum called to find out . The mother asked how the school would support her DS as she agreed his work is bad explaining one to one help was given in primary and the school have funds to support him because of the assessment but she was rude and said they don’t offer any at the school . She did get some support after contacting SEN direct that lady was kind but had to ask PM which got her 20 mins a week with a one to one support lady .

There are lots of examples of lies , a mother asked for a meeting with the PM and a senior member of staff over her behaviour but she was told it wasn’t possible as the PM was too upset , which is very odd .

personally I think she’s out of her depth as other pastoral managers are amazing and they love supporting the children / parents / teachers qualified or not they do a great job .

A different years pastoral M put a stop to bullies who used to wait after school for her DS who was at primary at the time ( had a meeting with the parents and kept her updated ). We thought this was great .

However our years PM told two different childrens parents if they are bullied outside the school gate the school doesn’t deal with it
which would be her obviously . Thats not down to qualifications though so I’ve gone on a different tangent .

thank you for replies .

Thats a very long list, largely irrelevant to you, but to start at the top.

YOu clearly have no idea how many assessment are emailed out between pastoral and teaching staff - literally dozens, it is constant. maybe this teacher slipped through the net, maybe not, but they forgot or didn't notice the email

She doesn't punish the "main bully" - well, she has has probably got a better idea of the whole picture than you do, and is in a better position to judge who is the main bully, and what the appropriate response is.

YOu are not really in a position to know what the autistic child is entitled to, or what they got- not your child? This is just tittle tattle.

A mother wanting a meeting to "discuss her behaviour and lies"? Someone approaching any of our staff with that attitude would likely be banned from the premises.

If your child is bullied outside the school gates, then this is a police matter, not a school matter.

This sounds like a pile on of parents, to be honest, and I expect it is being manipulated and fuelled by children who have been reprimanded

I feel very sorry for her - in her shoes I would look for a different, better paid job, where she is less open to abuse - and anyone with the experience to be a PM has the experience to get a better paid job too - her hourly rate is very probably below the minimum wage

To address your assumption people have been rude to her , nobody I know has .The lady is very rude and behaves unprofessionally which is why I put it partly down to lack of knowledge .

I wish she would get another job where she is appreciated too :)

I am not making any assumption of rudeness, I am saying she is being subjected to abuse purely based on what you say yourself is happening. If your accounts are accurate, then this lady is being subject to abuse, for doing her job.

It sounds like a witch hunt to me. You don't like this woman, obviously, and have spoken to other parents I'm assuming, as you appear to know what other parents' interactions with her have been. You are whipping up a witch hunt and that never ends well. Focus on your child only.