A lot of our young people are more vulnerable as they miss out on incidental learning opportunities.
What is pastoral care?
Pastoral care is an integral part of any learning environment, and refers to specific elements of support and attention that are given to each student. It exists to ensure that each student thrives in their learning journey and feels supported throughout.
Our pastoral team aims to make care inclusive, friendly and supportive, so each student can focus on achieving academic successes without feeling alone or unsupported.
At InFocus College, pastoral care is not only about providing emotional and mental support to students but also helping them to develop their social skills. We focus on a range of aspects from mental health and emotional wellbeing, to building meaningful relationships and personal development.
Some of the things we teach in PSHE or pastoral 1:1 sessions which are relevant to visual impairment are:
Familiar and unfamiliar people
Asking for assistance is a big part of increasing confidence and self esteem for a person with a visual impairment. A lot of people who we do not know can assist us throughout our lives, including police, paramedics, doctors, nurses and shop assistants. This means that instead of teaching about “stranger danger” we support our young people to understand how familiar and unfamiliar people fit into their world.
Personal safety in the community
We encourage our young people to think about their personal safety whilst out in the community by teaching them techniques such as emergency contacts, safe money handling, safe places to use bathroom facilities and apps to support them on their phone. These all help to increase confidence whilst they are out in the community and to be able to demonstrate safe decision making when faced with unexpected circumstances.
Safe and unsafe touch
A lot of our young people learn by touch, but not all touch is a positive experience. People’s acceptance of touch differs and some can become desensitised and may allow touch without the knowledge of being allowed to say no. We teach different types of touch and encourage our young people to state what is or isn’t acceptable to them.
Contextual Safeguarding
As we are a residential college and adult care provider, a lot of our young people rely on social media to keep in touch with one another. They can feel isolated when they return home for a weekend or holiday so although we encourage contact between the students we must also be aware and teach them of the dangers associated with this.
Relationships
Growing up, getting to know your own identity and increasing your confidence and self-esteem is highly promoted. Through PSHE and 1:1 sessions everyone is encouraged to challenge their thoughts and feelings and understand that at times it is ok to not be ok.
We work very closely with our young people to build trust, creating an environment in which they feel safe to open up and speak freely. Through our help, students can feel supported as they grow into mature adults, able to make informed decisions about their own lives.
Social Skills
We understand how important social skills and relationships are in developing a sense of self and our young people often struggle to develop these.
We use activities such as role play and group discussion to help each young person build upon their understanding of different emotions, scenarios and social interactions. This helps them to identify facial expressions, body language and conversational cues which in turn enable them to build confidence and self-esteem.
Other visits and opportunities
We also have outside visits including police and independent advocates. There is also a keyworker system in place, and the support of a Clinical Psychologist is available as appropriate.