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Pastoral Care

Pastoral Care is at the centre of our school's ethos and reflects our Christian values. We seek to provide a welcoming, safe, caring and supportive environment where each pupil is valued, included and respected as an individual and is encouraged to reach their full ambitions both inside and outside the classroom. 

 

We recognise that positive emotional health and well-being are vital to learning. To this end, we have many people in our school community who willingly help and support our young people during their time with us.

 

These include:

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  • School Prefects / Peer Mentors

  • Members of The Pupils' Voice

  • Form Teacher

  • Year Head

  • Vice-Principals

  • Principal

  • School Counsellor

  • Reach Mentoring Team

  • Classroom Assistants & Technicians

  • Receptionist

  • Administrative Staff

  • Building Supervisors

  • Lunchtime Supervisors

  • Canteen Staff

Your Pastoral Care

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One of the key people in school is the Form Teacher. In most cases, pupils will have the same Form Teacher for all three years at Lurgan JHS. This means the Form Teachers will get to know pupils well and will look out for them in school in order to make sure that they are settled, happy and giving of their best. If any child has a concern, they can talk to their Form Teacher. Another key adult is the Year Head. There are two Year Heads for each year group - one for girls and one for boys. They support pupils and, along with the form teachers, help ensure pupils are achieving academically, socially and emotionally. 

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Sometimes, pupils may feel they need extra support and our School Counsellor is available one day each week. Parents can request this for their child or pupils can speak to their Form Teacher/ Year Head/ Vice-Principal and request counselling themselves.

'Reach' & 'Aspire'

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We enjoy an excellent partnership with the Reach Team working with school in a mentoring capacity. Currently, they mentor a number of pupils each week. A local charity, Reach is largely made up of youth workers. Its motto is ‘Unleashing potential’ and we are very thankful for their compassion and vision to draw alongside our young people. They are an integral and invaluable part of our Pastoral Care programme. As well as mentoring, they are also involved in delivering part of our Personal Development curriculum across all three year groups. This has proved to be of immense benefit to pupils and staff in the transition between Key Stages. We are also grateful for our partnership with Aspire, a local initiative which exists to help pupils by providing support, resources and free tuition. This has moved into its second year and the Aspire team works with a group of our pupils three afternoons per week after school.

Celebrating Success

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At LJHS we love to celebrate the efforts, successes and achievements of pupils and staff. We have our own Facebook page as well as regular Celebration Assemblies where we learn about recent achievements and enjoy watching and listening to some of our amazing musical, sporting and creative talent. These successes can translate into points which go

towards a pupil’s house. Each pupil and staff member is placed into one of our four houses - Carrick, Dunluce, Gosford and Shane - and this encourages healthy competition throughout the year both in the classroom and through other events organised by departments and our School Council. In class, pupils can win achievement points for themselves and their House for excellent effort, progress and engagement in lessons as well as for a positive attitude, being helpful and kind. These achievement points then translate into rewards for positive contributions to school life and academic success.

Opportunities for Responsibility

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As a Key Stage 3 school, our students have to assume roles of responsibility which would not be available to them at this age in an 11-18 school – School Prefect, Head Girl/Boy and Deputy Head Girl/ Boy, Chairperson and Secretary of the Student Council, School Librarian, Form Prefect, Music Ambassador, House Prefect, Digital Ambassador. This helps develop important leadership skills as well as building self-esteem and confidence. It has regularly been commented on by visitors to our school at events such as Open Evenings, that our pupils come across as confident and mature beyond their years. Within each Form Class, there are Form Prefects, elected by pupils and staff, and from each of the three year groups, pupils are elected to represent his or her peers on the School Council.

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