Welcome to the Pastoral Care page. My name is Miss Bravery and I am the school’s Family Support Worker. I provide support to the children, parents and staff within our school. Below I have outlined the service I provide for each group.

Children

My role is to offer support to any child with concerns or worries. This can be just a chat, or a regular drop-in session. There
is also a worry jar in the playground, should children feel like they need to talk. They can write their name and class and I
arrange to meet with them to discuss their worry.

I also offer Drawing and Talking Therapy targeting children that have been through difficulties or experienced trauma. This
is arranged following signed permission by parents. Informally, children will often see me around school and say “I have a worry; can I talk?” to me, this is the most rewarding part of my role and I enjoy the fact that they feel comfortable to
approach me.

Miss Jenny Bravery, Family Support Worker
Miss Jenny Bravery, Family Support Worker

Parents

I engage with and support parents with their concerns over a range of issues. I work with them to find solutions; if feel I am unable to help directly, I will signpost them to professionals who can offer specific help. I work alongside parents so they know that they are not alone. I am mindful that some lone parents might want an informal chat, especially if they do not have family around them. It is a pleasure to engage on all levels.

On a practical level, I distribute food parcels to families that are experiencing difficulties, all parents are welcome to contact me at any time as I am usually on the school gate or in the school office. I work alongside multidisciplinary teams, assisting with organising a variety of workshops for parents. Additionally I also organised the newly formed P.A.G (Parent Action Group) where parents come into school and support us in planning events. We are delighted to encourage parent voice, empowering them to explain what they would like for the children at Winterbourne. With the support of P.A.G we have arranged our uniform swap shops, raffles and fairs. The P.A.G support our vision of keeping the children’s needs at the centre of what we do and so far we have helped raise money for our food bank and for activities for the children. Any parent or carer of a child who attends our school can become a P.A.G. If you are interested- please ask me for details.

Staff

Although my role is mainly targeted towards supporting parents and children, I also offer an open door policy to staff. All members of school staff can come and talk about any concerns they have, whether work or personal. Staff also have access to the food bank as and when necessary. We support staff with wellbeing and we offer wellbeing vouchers that grant an afternoon or morning off site to enable people to take time out for themselves. We also have a wellbeing room at school where staff can take time out should they need too and this is also used for prayers during the day and pay for a well being app that all staff have access to. We work hard to encourage positivity within our school and often have regular events for team building.

Support Links:

Below are links of support that might be of an interest to you:

Churches that donate to our school food bank.

A letter of thanks

Please read below a letter of thanks sent to Miss Bravery.

Dear Miss J Bravery,

I grew up in Thornton Heath and live in Norbury, till 2002 then managed to get a job in Norfolk. God has been and still is very generous to me.  I’ve never had a good job and have often not had the money in the bank to pay my bills. But miraculously I have received gifts of money from friends who did not know I was in need. Thank you for all the work you do in the area. The work you do within the school has touched many people in the communities lives.