Learning to lead: tips for being a good pastoral leader

Around this time 4 years ago I completed a course on Pastoral Leadership run by Jill Berry (@jillberry) and decided a pastoral role was the right choice for me. Originally I entered teaching purely as I loved my subject (Theology) and had no intention of a pastoral role, but seeing good people in the roles at my school (Woldingham) and the opportunity you have to make a difference in a young person’s life swayed me. I have since been Head of Year 9, 10 and now Year 11 and I love the job. I’m not writing this as if I have all the answers, but as an attempt to think about what good looks like, help me be better and to help people who are thinking of becoming Heads of Year. 

So why be a Pastoral Leader?


Two main reasons. First, is there another role where you have such an opportunity to make an impact on a young person’s life? You get to help people be the best they can be, empower them to achieve their potential or make a positive difference when they are struggling. No other role has such scope and if you are a people person you are constantly dealing with people – from the pupil to the parent, to the tutor or the teacher – to ensure their wellbeing. Second, you get to lead a team and set the tone for your year group (or house). This freedom is daunting but also good fun! It allows you to grow as a person as you learn to lead, to deal with different situations, different individuals and work with lots of different people to get the best result.

Top Ten Tips for Pastoral Leadership:

  1. Care – this is the core of a good pastoral leader. If you care then it shines through in all you do. Two key parts of showing you care are:
    1. Acknowledge issues – somethings are small to us, as adults, but big for teenagers and acknowledging their issues/ concerns shows that you care. No matter how small they may seem, it’s an issue if they care and if you care you will acknowledge their issues
    2. Think long term – sometimes caring might mean doing something unpopular. Thinking long term is key to ensure you do the best thing for that individual 
    3. Respond – show you care by letting people know what you are doing to help them and keep them updated
  2. Can-do attitude – dealing in the art of the possible is key and you need to be flexible to adapt to whatever comes your way, from a global pandemic to having no room for your assembly 2 minutes before it is due to start! There are always fun things to deal with
  3. Role model – it is so important to model the behaviour you want to see. It’s hard to create a calm environment if you always appear manic for example…
  4. Time – this is one of the hardest things in a Head of Year role as the breadth of the role is part of what makes it so great, but finding time to do everything is impossible! But I think it is important to always have time for people, no matter how busy you are. You don’t have to give people hours of your time but acknowledging their issue and listening to them is essential to show you care. So you’ve got to always find time. If you don’t find time, pupils won’t find time to tell you their problems or will worry that you are too busy to listen
  5. Energy – this is difficult when there is lots going on but you have to appear like you have lots of energy and can deal with any issue that will come your way, to ensure that problems are shared with you. So you must try to keep yourself fresh by switching off from pastoral problems and taking the advice you would give out to others. I always have at least one day with no e-mails to keep my mind fresh. 
  6. Communication – this is a key part of the role and the one with the least amount of guidance. My rule is to always try to call/ chat rather than e-mail as it is easier to gauge what an issue is. Think also about when to use different communication. E-mail / Phone / Letter / Teams. What is the right medium for the audience? I’ve put some specific tips for audiences below:
    1. Pupils – be open and as transparent as you can about issues affecting them publicly. I use Teams for most of my individual pupil messaging as I find it less formal than e-mail which allows for a richer discussion. I also post group messages there which helps to spread what I need them to know. They are using this for school work so I am meeting them where they spend most of their school day for my school communication
    2. Parents – I normally use letters and try to put as much information in each letter as I can. I think this keeps a formal relationship and can also be printed so they can keep the key information to hand. 
      • Just to note that there are great benefits to keeping in touch with your Parent Association Reps. They can let you know any issues quickly and you can use them to help stamp an issue out before it grows! I’m lucky that I’ve always had very supportive reps since I’ve been in post
      • Dealing with complaints... this could go on forever but in general:
        • Be honest
        • Provide evidence vs expectations…
        • Keep parents up to date with what you are doing to fix their complaint
    3. Staff – It’s important to share information and keep everyone on same page. I try to share as much as I can so that we can support and care for the pupil. 
    4. SLT – one thing I have struggled with is passing things up the chain. Learn from me the importance of keeping SLT in the loop. As a rule, if you think they should know, let them know! 
  7. Be organised – keeping on top of such a varied job is hard. Here are my 7 tips for staying organised:
    1. Prioritising – don’t miss lessons if you can possibly avoid it. You are still a teacher at heart. Ask yourself – can this be dealt with later? If so, leave it! No matter what you have on as teaching is still our primary job 
    2. Be on time – I write this knowing that my colleagues will be coughing at me. But timing is important. That’s why I’m always rushing everywhere!
    3. Log everything – keep minutes or tutor/parent/pupil meetings and record pastoral actions on a Pastoral management system like CPOMS (or on an old school excel spreadsheet!)
    4. Delegate – use your time wisely and trust your team
    5. Have a weekly plan – what needs to be done each day to keep on track
    6. Have a long term plan - what to achieve in 1st term, year etc to ensure it happens. What is your vision?
    7. Write everything down in one place/notebook (I like a nice moleskin notebook). When things get stressful you find yourself writing on post it notes / the back of an envelope/ someone’s half marked essay and then you can’t find the notes you need! One book to rule them all. 
  8. Lead. Set the tone. What type of leader do you want to be? Calm? Firm? Be the leader you want to be and be yourself
  9. Be reflective and adapt. Did interventions work for X student? What did another HOY do? Another school? How can you learn and get better? Listen about what works / doesn’t from pupil, tutor and even parent. Try to build up a bank of case studies…
  10. Enjoy it – this is the key! It’s a great job. Try to remember this when things get tough. You are making a difference.

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