Pastoral Care
At Greenisland Primary School, we are committed to nurturing and supporting the wellbeing of our pupils, staff and parents – our whole school community. We place great importance on building positive, trusting relationships where every child feels safe, valued and encouraged to achieve their best. We also recognise the vital role of parents and work in partnership with families to ensure the right support is in place.
Through our preventative curriculum, as well as our Child Protection and Safeguarding procedures, we actively promote the safety and protection of all children in our care.
Our staff are dedicated to putting pupils at the heart of everything we do. We strive to remove barriers to learning and to create a caring, inclusive school environment that looks after every aspect of a child’s wellbeing. Some of the ways we provide support include:
Dedicated Preventative Curriculum Lessons and Experiences.
We offer dedicated preventative curriculum lessons in each and every class. Children have opportunities to share feelings, understand emotions and beliefs, develop safe decision-making skills and share individual experiences with their teachers and peers.
Special Events
As a school we hold a range of special programmes or events to intentionally teach children how to recognise danger and stay safe in a variety of circumstances. These include Anti-Bullying Week, Mental Health Day, NSPCC Assemblies and e-Safety Week.
Counselling
Parents are currently able to refer their child for Counselling if required.
Buddies
Our P7 children enjoy the chance to be P1 and Playground buddies in their final year in school. They step up to the responsibility and build lovely relationships with the younger children.
Worry Monsters
Friendly Worry Monsters are displayed in each classroom for children to use. Each child has a personal each child can write or draw their worries and concerns onto a small card to put in the monster’s mouth if they feel they need to speak to an adult.
Centralised Worry Box
A worry box remains in the main school foyer to allow children to share worries or concerns with staff members.
Pupil of the Week
We celebrate our children’s successes in many ways. One of the children’s favourite ways is through our Pupil of the week celebration in assembly. We celebrate achievements from inside and outside of school, celebrating achievement, good manners, friendship, effort amongst other things.
External Agencies
We have links with many external agencies which offer professional and specialised support to families, and which enhance the preventative curriculum we teach. These include Women’s Aid, NSPCC, Family Support Hub, Newtownabbey Foodbank, Barnardos, EWO, CAP Charity, local churches, and the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service.
