Pastoral care and guidance

At the very heart of Tuxford Academy is a pastoral care system which considers each and every student as an individual. We seek to support students’ personal development and allow them to thrive during their time here and consequently give them the best possible chance of reaching their academic potential.

From the moment students join in year 7, they are welcomed by a form tutor and supported with their transition into the academy within a ‘close-knit’ tutor group. The form tutor acts as a central person who will become both the student’s and their parent’s first port of call from both an academic and personal perspective. The tutor, together with the head of year, will help guide students along their character development journey throughout key stage 3 and towards a personal development curriculum which focuses more upon study skills and preparation for working life within key Stage 4 and 5.

Our colleges

We place great emphasis on helping all individuals feel at home and settled as quickly as possible. Based on their tutor group, students will belong to one of four colleges – Ash, Beech, Oak and Willow. These colleges celebrate the achievements of their students and compete at events such as our annual sports day.

Key stage 3 – CORE character development

The key stage 3 team includes Mr Mosley, Mr Holmes and Mr Macpherson, whom, together with the tutor team, endeavour to provide the highest quality pastoral support which focuses on the individual with a strong emphasis upon developing their ‘character’ in line with our core values.

At key stage 3, the pastoral system focuses heavily upon developing character skills with a key focus upon four traits which we refer to as the ‘CORE character’ –  conscientiousness, open mindedness, resilience and engagement with others.

At the end of each school day, students attend Core College Time (CCT) where our curriculum is split up into what we refer to as our ‘rhythm of the week’ which constitutes My Time, Wider World Time, Life Skills and Team Time. Our students also come together as a year group once each week for an assembly where topical themes are presented.

Key stage 4 – preparation for adult life

The key stage 4 pastoral curriculum intends to ready year 10 and year 11 students for their GCSEs and future pathways. The key stage 4 ethos centres on the ‘be ready, be excellent’ motto which encourages students to prepare for their future and model positive behaviours to support them in the wider world. This is achieved by providing academic and pastoral support which promotes personal development and independence.

The curriculum maintains a focus on key elements of the CORE character skills developed in key stage 3 and builds upon these by promoting leadership opportunities to allow students to achieve their full potential. Core College Time activities focus on real life experiences, CEIAG (careers education information and guidance) and exam preparation in order to support students through their GCSEs and into life after Tuxford Academy.

Key stage 5 – preparation for higher education and adult life

At Tuxford Post 16 our intention is to create a ‘well rounded’ student with all the attributes needed for continued success in life, whatever the student’s destination after leaving. We believe these attributes to be:

  • Qualifications: students should leave with a broad range of qualifications that enable them to access higher education or apprenticeship opportunities. As well as their ‘main’ subjects, these can include booster courses such as EPQ and core maths.
  • Vision: students should have a clear direction of where they are heading and know the steps they need to take to get there. If students lack this direction, opportunities and support will be given for them to develop over time.
  • Independence: students should be able to use their time ‘out’ of lessons as productively as their time ‘in’ lessons. Students should develop a wide range of study/revision skills during their study periods to increase their knowledge and/or skills.
  • Character: students are more than just the qualifications they gain. Students should leave Post 16 as young adults ready to contribute positively to wider society as a whole. They should develop their leadership, teamwork and communication skills to enable them to do this.
  • X-Factor: students should have a ‘unique selling point’. What sets them apart from other students with similar qualifications and grades to them?
  • Wellbeing: good physical and mental wellbeing is the piece that holds all of the above together. We will work with students to increase awareness of the key factors which can affect both physical and mental health in a negative way. We will help them to take positive steps to improving and maintaining both physical and mental health and offer support where needed.