Upper Castle Park, Belfast, County Antrim BT15 5FG

028 9077 7703

info@cavehill.belfast.ni.sch.uk

A A A

Cavehill Primary School

Working Together Towards Excellence

Pastoral Care

Policy on Pastoral Care

At Cavehill we aim to provide a friendly and caring environment where children are happy in their learning, highly
stimulated and encouraged and praised at every opportunity. We aim to raise the self-esteem of all our pupils and to
help them feel secure in the knowledge that they are valued members of our school community. This is fostered in
several ways, including:

P1 Induction – Buddy Scheme
To ease transition from nursery to Cavehill, each pre-school child is paired with a ‘buddy’ from P.6. They meet on two occasions in the child’s pre-school year and again on the first day in September. This has proved to be a great success for all the children involved.

Acknowledging Achievements

Each month a newsletter, updating parents regarding events in the life of the school is sent home with each child. At the back of this a list of individual children and their
achievements, in or out of school, is published. Moreover children are encouraged to bring medals, shields and certificates to school in order that attention can be drawn to these achievements in Assembly.

Behaviour

The school adopts a positive approach to discipline,frequently praising and ‘rewarding’ children for good behaviour. This is firmly based on the philosophy that children will live up to our expectations – good or bad.Pupils are encouraged to behave responsibly by showing consideration, courtesy and respect for other people at all times. Our ultimate aim for each child is the development
of self-discipline.

House Point System

Each child from P4 –P7 becomes a member of one of our four school houses: Stirling, Donegal, Wallace and Chichester. House points are regularly awarded for good behaviour and work and a trophy is presented, each month,to the winning house. This is not only very motivational for the pupils but also serves as a vehicle for the promotion of self-esteem and self-discipline.