St John the Evangelist CE Primary School - Child and Family Support

Child and Family Support

St John's has a Pastoral Team supporting children and families. Mrs Stainer, Assistant Headteacher, leads this team. Mrs Stainer is the Designated Safeguarding Lead and SENCo as well as working closely with Alaina, the Child and Family Support Worker, to support children and families. Mrs Stainer is also involved in monitoring attendance and other areas within school related the wellbeing of children.

Introducing Alaina Tabern - Child and Family Support Worker

Alaina’s primary focus is working with parents/carers and whole families across the school.

As Child and Family Support Worker, Alaina helps families through the Early Help/TAF process and can signpost parents/carers to other services in the area if they need help.

Alaina can support parents and children if there are things happening at home that could be impacting on them (i.e. bereavement, family separation, family changes, behaviour issues).

Parents and Carers are welcome to contact Alaina directly via email or mobile.

She can help…

Children who are experiencing difficult times or who are withdrawn or anxious

Parents/carers experiencing difficulties with their child’s behaviour

Families who are reacting to change, such as parental separation or bereavement

Parents/carers whose children are reluctant to attend school or who have been exclude

Parents/carers who may need support on a wide range of issues or difficulties impacting on their family life e.g. illness, domestic violence, disability, financial difficulties

Provide information on Young Carers and run a group for Young Carers in school

Run the Family Links Parent Group.

She can also…

Support you at school meetings

Help you find your way through the education system

Guide you towards other sources of help, advice and support

Provide information on support groups for parents/carers.

Parents/carers, teachers and children can ask for Alaina’s involvement at school. With your consent she will explore the difficulties your child or family is experiencing and together, try to find the best way forward. Alaina works closely with Michelle McGarry (Emotional Literacy Support Assistant) and may refer children to have group or 1:1 sessions with her.

Contact Alaina

Work Mobile: 07715 144381

Email: atabern@st-john.oxon.sch.uk

Support for Service Children and their Families

The Service Families lead at St John's are Alaina Tabern and Michelle McGarry. Both are from a service background and are aware of the support needed for families particularly in times of transition, deployment or at difficult times. Their role is to be advocates for the children from service families across the school and provide guidance to parents on where to find external support.

They run the Eagles club once a week in which they provide children with the opportunity to talk to each other whilst doing activities such as writing to deployed parents, creating artwork and learning about the different roles within the forces. Pupils who attend the Eagles club also contribute to organising whole school events or topic days such as Armed Forces Day. Members of the club are Forces and Well-being champions who talk to the other children across the school about the services and also look out for the well-being of other pupils. These champions meet regularly throughout the year to contribute their ideas for how the school can better support pupils from service families. If you are a service family and you feel that you or your child would benefit from additional support please speak to Alaina (via the school office) who will contact you to arrange a time to talk.

Leading Parent Partnership Award

Here at St John’s, we are proud of the relationships we have with the parents and carers within our school community. It is a priority for us to ensure that parents and carers feel that school is a warm and inviting place for they and their children to come to each day. We firmly believe that a parents/carers involvement in their child’s learning really does make a difference and here at St John’s we are committed to giving our parents the tools and support that they need to help their child to achieve their full potential.

With these priorities in mind, we have been working since the beginning of 2021 to gather the evidence to be accredited for the ‘Leading Parent Partnership Award’ (LPPA), offered by Optimus Education. You can find out more about the Leading Parent Partnership Award via the LPPA website: www.lppa.co.uk.

Several key stakeholders are involved in helping us to fulfil the criteria set by the award, including the Headteacher, School Governors, Parents, Teachers and other Staff.

What is the LPPA?

The LPPA is a recognised award that provides a challenging framework within which schools can strengthen their partnerships with parents and carers.

What Criteria Needs to be met in order for St John’s to achieve the award?

The LPPA consists of evidence-based Objectives for schools to work towards:

The school demonstrates a commitment to work towards achieving the LPPA.
The school makes and implements effective plans to achieve and maintain the LPPA.
The school is a welcoming, communicative and friendly place for parents.
The school promotes the awareness and participation of all groups of parents in supporting their children’s learning and developing their own learning. In addition, the school holds and actively promotes a programme of opportunities and events for joint parent and child participation.
The school provides a good induction for all new parents.
The school provides parents with relevant and user-friendly guidance and information to help them to support their children’s learning.
The school produces and implements parent-friendly policies to establish effective home - school links and to improve children’s attendance, punctuality, progress and positive participation in school.
The school provides good support for all parents as their children move through or leave the school.
The school summarises its achievements against the LPPA Objectives and outlines its future plans.

Why is St John’s working towards the Leading Parent Partnership Award?

Our hope is that, through the LPPA, both our strengths and areas for improvement will be highlighted. We know that the long term benefits of having parents involved in their child’s school careers can range from improved attendance at school, better outcomes for behaviour, and increased attainment within core subjects at school. Our hope is that through the pursuit of this award, we will improve upon the communication between home and school and, in turn, foster the relationships between parents and children.

Examples of progress to date:

Improved transition arrangements for children joining or leaving the school, as well as children moving through the year groups, including personalised letters and pupil passports.
Questionnaires completed with new pupils and parents following a period of induction.
Parent and carers support materials enhanced through the use of school YouTube channel.
Guidance and additional support provided for pupil accessing remote learning, responding to parent feedback.
Changes to homework policy following parent feedback.
EYFS stay and play sessions for parents and children and videos to support parents virtually.
Procedures for SEND pupil profile reviews include greater opportunity for parent and pupil views.
Additional staffing available in the main office at the start and end of the day. The SENCo is now available through designated email.

Click here for the results of the most recent LPPA parent survey

LPPA leaflet for parents