Pastoral care

Young people in the UK today often have to deal with significant challenges that can lead to poor mental health.

The Protective Behaviours approach aims to give pupils a toolkit to address these issues, starting with the first of the two core themes of Protective Behaviours:

“We all have the right to feel safe all the time”

With this right comes a responsibility not to do anything that would likely leave other people feeling unsafe. Pupils can identify if they are feeling unsafe by tuning into their early warning signs, physical sensations in the body like butterflies in the stomach or wobbly knees, etc, that let them know that they don’t feel ok in this particular situation. If they have those early warning signs, they are encouraged to think clearly about what their options are and work out what action they may want to take to help themselves feel safe again. This action might be to contact somebody on a support network, and that is where the second core theme of Protective Behaviours comes in:

“We can talk to someone about anything, even if it feels awful or small”

Protective Behaviours encourages pupils to develop a clear support network to call upon when they have identified that they are feeling unsafe. On the support network they would ideally have five people who might be able to help them to do some problem-solving. They might be people who ask them questions so that they can come up with their own solutions, they might be friends or family, or people on the end of a helpline or answering Whisper alerts – they are sometimes easier to talk with as pupils remain anonymous. It doesn’t necessarily have to be about something really terrible, it might just be that the pupil needs to mull something over. Having five people is suggested so pupils have different people for different needs and have back-up options if their first choice of contact is not available.

In this way, the Protective Behaviours programme helps to increase pupils’ self-confidence and empower them to develop their own thinking and problem-solving skills. In turn this can help them to take protective action on their own behalf and seek the help of others when they need it in order to help them feel safe again. When they are feeling safe, they are more likely to feel confident, strong and empowered. They can get out there, have some adventures and live life to the full within a framework of safety. If they get those early warning signs and have a support network behind them, they have the opportunities to push boundaries and take a few risks – not restricting themselves and staying indoors all the time. This confidence can enable them to get out there and have a bit of fun!

Protective Behaviours is primarily taught to pupils in Years 7 to 11 by form tutors during form periods. These sessions reinforce the key principles and then use age-appropriate case studies to give pupils the opportunity to see how they would use the principles in real life. This is further reinforced in PSHEE lessons.