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Supporting learnersto succeedGuidance for pastoral provision – key messages

Teaching and Learning Programme

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Supporting learners to succeed (SLTS)Guidance for pastoral provision – key messages

The SLTS guidance, created in partnership with practitioners, isdesigned to help with the review and development of pastoralprovision in all parts of the learning and skills sector.

What do we mean by ‘pastoral provision’?

The guidance defines pastoral provision as:

Provision offered to all learners in a personalised way to meet their individual needs so that theyhave a successful learning experience, achieve and progress.

Pastoral provision aims to:

encourage and motivate learners

make learners feel safe, secure and promote their health and well-being

support learners to become more independent, confident and self-aware

and to take responsibility for their own learning

stimulate ambition and broaden horizons for progression, and support learners

to achieve those next steps encourage learners to develop their potential as responsible citizens within

the workplace, their communities and society.

Pastoral provision comprises two interconnected components: (1) support for learners and (2)

personal, social, health and economic learning.

Why is pastoral provision important?

“The key to successful retention and achievement for many FE students is the level of

pastoral provision they receive that underpins their learning support.”Dr Patricia M Woolford

Vice Principal - Quality and Student Support

Worcester College of Technology

Effective pastoral provision is important to the success of all learners. It is especially important in

the learnings and skills sector, where a relatively high proportion of learners have socially and

economically disadvantaged backgrounds. These learners are statistically more likely to

experience poor health and well-being and for these and other reasons to encounter more

complex barriers to learning than learners in other sectors. FE should build on personal, social,

health and economic education (PSHE) from school. This is well established and is shortly to

become a statutory part of the curriculum for all 5 to 16 year olds.

 © The Learning and Skills Improvement Service (LSIS) 2009

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Effective pastoral provision will impact on retention, achievement and, through reputational

gains, recruitment. It will help organisations to achieve a wide range of prominent outcomes

expected of providers, including those related to Every Child Matters/Every Citizen Matters,

learner involvement strategies, the new inspection framework and Healthy FE.

What does good practice in pastoral provision look like?

“The College’s ambition is that learner support will not be something which is ‘done to’ or

‘provided for’ learners by the College, but instead will be developed, delivered and evaluated

in partnership with learners, so that they are able to develop the self-awareness, assessmentskills, confidence and resourcefulness to forge their future.”

Lewisham College

An underlying principle of effective pastoral provision is a

learner-centred approach. It follows that good practice will, in

some measure, vary from context to context. Nonetheless, the

following characteristics are likely to apply very widely:

the senior leadership team understands and is committedto the central importance of pastoral provision

the whole organisation is committed to continually

evaluating and reviewing its pastoral provision, and learners

are involved in this process

CPD for staff to deliver pastoral provision is planned and

adequately resourced

links with external partners and agencies are valued and

kept up to date

communication between, for instance, staff and learners,

and staff and staff, including staff from external agencies,

is systematic

pastoral provision is a structured and resourced element of

all stages of the learner journey

pastoral provision fosters self-confidence and independence

pastoral provision recognises and values the diversity of

learners and encourages learners to choose development

and support services appropriate to their needs

Supporting learners to succeed - an introduction

"I’m at the senior

management meetings and

it’s my role to ensure that

pastoral provision is animportant item... I think this

has increased thinking

about pastoral support and

improved the provision

available."

City of Westminster

College

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pastoral provision is dynamic, recognising that individuals’

support needs and barriers to learning may vary over the

course of a learning journey

pastoral provision ensures access to information, advice and

guidance services enabling learners to make the right learning

and progression choices

pastoral provision recognises and enables learners to take

steps to address relevant personal, social, faith, moral, health

and financial issues which arise for them.

What does the SLTS guidance provide to help me reviewand develop my organisation’s pastoral provision?

The guidance provides:

a definition of pastoral provision to aid clarity and understanding

a set of Success Factors for pastoral provision organised to help you check, audit and

action plan your pastoral provision. These success factors have been arranged according to:1) whole-organisation issues

2) the learner journey

suggestions about what these Success Factors could mean in practice

examples of good practice from a broad range of FE provider types to help you to reflect

and benchmark

examples of pastoral provision materials developed and used by these FE providers,

which you can adapt

contact information for key staff involved in the examples of good practice and the

development of related pastoral provision materials information about national policies relevant to pastoral provision to help

promote an integrated and whole-organisation approach

links to resources and agencies relevant to pastoral provision to provide you with

potential materials and to signpost possible partnerships.

Supporting learners to succeed - an introduction

“A ‘learner support

apprentice’ who is a former

E2E learner is employed to

act as a role model.

Current and ex-learners

have run sessions on the

well-being programme, e.g.

living independently and

being a young parent.’Fareport Training

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The review and development process – using thekey success factors

“The (learner) questionnaire and focus groups embed the process of capturinglearner views on pastoral support into the college’s quality assurance systems.”

Richard Huish College (Sixth Form College)

Key to any effective provision is the appetite and capability for review and improvement.

Because of this, a central element of the SLTS guidance is the Check, audit and action review 

tool. This is designed to help you reflect on all aspects of your pastoral provision in the light of

key success factors identified in studies of best practice. You can use this as:

a check list to quickly assess whether your provision in particular areas is in place,

partly in place or not yet in place

an audit tool to briefly record evidence of present provision and identify gaps

an action planning tool to specify actions against success factors.

The key success factors are arranged in relation to whole-organisation and learner-journey

issues. The main headings for both categories are listed below and on the following page.

Examples of what each key success factor could mean in practice are accessible from the

 Amplification of Success Factors section in the on-line SLTS resource.

Key success factors – whole-organisation issues

Developing your capacity for effective pastoral provision

A.1 Developing organisational commitment to improving the quality of pastoral provision

A.2 Structures, systems and resources to improve pastoral provision

A.3 Recruiting, training and supporting staff to provide effective pastoral provisionA.4 Establishing links with external partners to target and improve pastoral provision

Measuring effectiveness and improving provision

B.1 Engaging with learners to measure the effectiveness of pastoral provision

B.2 Using existing quality assurance and improvement processes to measure the

effectiveness of pastoral provision

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Key Success Factors – the learner journey

On admissionC.1 Gathering relevant information to identify the support provision needed by learners

C.2 Systems and strategies to identify ‘at-risk’ learners

C.3 Raising awareness of pastoral provision.

On induction

D.1 Developing learner awareness of pastoral provision available

D.2 Identifying support needs and creating support packages.

On programme/on courseE.1 Encouraging learners to access optional support provided

E.2 Identifying, monitoring and tracking ‘at-risk’ learners

E.3 Being responsive to learners’ needs

E.4 Offering structured pastoral provision

E.5 Encouraging and motivating learners to take responsibility for identifying

their support needs to improve retention, achievement and progression

E.6 Supporting staff to support learners

E.7 Maintaining strong communication networks with staff, parents/carers

and external organisations to improve pastoral provision

E.8 Encouraging learners to assess the effectiveness of their pastoral provision.

On exit, progression and transition

F.1 Preparing learners for progression

F.2 Supporting transition/progression.

“The high level of sustained senior management commitment certainly contributed to the

Ofsted report of (2006) which recognised that support services at the college are coordinatedeffectively and widely promoted.”

Ealing, Hammersmith and West London College

To access the full on-line resource outlined in this brief document, please visit:

http://teachingandlearning.qia.org.uk/tlp/psp/resource/index.php

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