Pastoral Support

Pastoral Care at St Michael’s is very important within our community and we hope that you find our Pastoral Manager to be:

Friendly, helpful and welcoming to parents and others visiting making contact with the school.
A good role model for students.
Appropriate and professional in manner with pupils in an informal way

Our Pastoral Manager

My name is Mrs Ann Fredericks. I am the Pastoral Manager/Home School Support Worker and Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead at St Michael Catholic Primary and Nursery School.

The Pastoral Manager / Home–School Support Worker, who also holds the role of Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead (DDSL), plays a central role in promoting the wellbeing, safety, and inclusion of pupils and their families, in accordance with the Catholic ethos of the school. Grounded in Gospel values of compassion, dignity, and service, the role focuses on strengthening partnerships between home and school to support children’s learning, attendance, behaviour, and emotional wellbeing.

The role involves working closely with pupils, parents/carers, school staff, and external agencies to identify emerging concerns and provide timely pastoral and safeguarding support. This includes coordinating Early Help and Child in Need processes, supporting safeguarding referrals, maintaining accurate child protection records, and ensuring children’s voices are heard and acted upon.

Working under the direction of the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) and Senior Leadership Team, the Pastoral Manager / HSSW contributes to a strong safeguarding culture, supports vulnerable families, and removes barriers to learning. The role reflects the school’s mission to educate the whole child and uphold the belief that every child is made in the image and likeness of God.

If you would like to book an appointment to see me please ask at the school office.

Pastoral and Therapeutic Care

At St. Michael Catholic Primary and Nursery School our pupils have access to a range of Pastoral and Therapeutic services to help develop positive mental health and well-being. Some sessions run within class however some children complete therapeutic 1:1 sessions out of class.

Please see some of the wellbeing services we offer below:

Lego Therapy
Drawing and Talking
ELSA
Play Therapy
Meditation Through Prayer
PSHE sessions
Circle Time
Trusted Adults
Mindfulness Colouring

Medway Schools and Partners Information and Services

Medway Parent Carer Forum Coffee Morning (TBA - updates soon for 2026)

New Parent and Carer Video

Children’s Healthy Weight

A recorded workshop to support parents and carers to understand childhood obesity and how to incorporate healthy eating and healthy choices into family life.

https://youtu.be/ljIm6SaGto8

KOOTH - New Sessions for Key Life Transitions

Alongside our regular sessions for parents and carers, we are now offering tailored webinars for individuals living in Medway only and are over the age of 18 who are either:

Perinatal (expecting a child or recently given birth)
Leaving the care system

These sessions are designed to provide support, practical advice, and information about the services we offer to help navigate some of life’s biggest challenges.

Each session lasts one hour and offers a valuable opportunity to connect, learn, and access guidance in a supportive environment.

Parent and Carers information session. Booking form
Professional information session. Booking form
Medway Perinatal and Care Leavers information session Booking form

School Nursing Team Leaflet 2024.pdf

Things to do during Term Breaks 2026...

MedwayGo

Strive

Free Educational Mobile Escape Room for Young People (Info attached)

Medway Council Youth Service’s free mobile escape rooms – an immersive, educational experience for young people aged 9–17 (or up to 25 for those with additional needs).

At a glance:

What: Fully delivered mobile escape rooms promoting teamwork, problem-solving, confidence, creativity, and communication.
Where: We come to you – your school, setting, youth venue, or one of our youth centres.
When: Mondays, 9am–5pm.
Duration: 1-hour session (+15-minute evaluation).
Group size: 8 young people per session (up to 3 sessions in one day).

Backed by academic research, this programme has demonstrated real impact. A recent survey of 200 participants – conducted as part of my master’s at the University of East London – found that 100% of young people reported improvements in at least one key skill such as confidence, resilience, or communication (summary attached).

The format is flexible and can be tailored to your group’s needs. Whether you’re aiming to build trust, promote social connection, or simply offer a fun and memorable activity, our escape rooms are designed to bring out the best in every participant.

Attached is our Schools & Professionals Escape Room Pack, which includes full details, FAQs and a template letter. Please feel free to share this opportunity widely.

To book or find out more, simply get in touch: david.leece@medway.gov.uk

FREE Food List

Please find attached a copy of a FREE Food List which has other organisations who offer Free Food help in Medway.

If any Parents who may need additional help during next week when School and Medway FoodBank are closed, please see the list.

It would be advisable contact Food Support Centres before turning up - just to check whether their timings remain the same over the Christmas period.

Hopefully this will give those in need another way to get help if you find yourselves in a crisis situation.

Free food sheet for all clients - 2023.pdf

Kids Eat Free

Early Help for Families

There are organisations and services across Medway that can support you and your family and strengthen your relationship Medway provide support early on and as soon as it is needed to help families thrive and resolve any challenges you and your family may be facing before they become too difficult to manage. This newsletter provides the latest usual information direct from Medway Council.

Early Help support

If you want to discuss Early Help, you can contact your local Children and Family Hubs.

You can contact the helplines Monday to Thursday from 8am to 5pm or on Fridays from 8am to 4.30pm. The helplines are closed during weekends.

Chatham All Saints Children and Family Hub: 01634 338 833
Gillingham Children and Family Hub: 01634 338 877
Strood Children and Family Hub: 01634 335 533
Wayfield Children and Family Hub: 01634 337 733.

Early Help support within school

Please speak with our Home School Support Worker: Mrs Ann Fredericks

Early Help - Family Solutions informations leaflet

Medway Child Health Team Parent

Workshops - New Recorded Sessions

A new set of recorded sessions for a parents YouTube Channel.

The Child Health Team conducted an online parent/carer survey to seek views on our current workshop offer and ways in which we can improve the offer.

Parents and Carers requested sessions for dads and supporting men’s mental health.

We are delighted to be working with Laura Burke Training on this new set of videos. The set of three session cover:

Navigating Fatherhood
Men’s Mental Health
Managing Stress and Building Resilience for Men

The sessions can be accessed via our Child Health Parents YouTube Channel.

THE FORGETTEN ILLNESS

YOUNGMINDS - Mental Health charity for Children, Young People and their Parents

TEXT 85258 24/7 / youngminds.org.uk

CALM - Campaign Against Living Miserable

0800 585858 / thecalmzone.net

SHOUT - Support people with their Mental Health

TEXT 85258 / giveusashout.org

PAPYRUS - Prevention of Young Suicides

0800 068 41 41 / papyrus-uk.org

SAMARITANS - Every lost of life is a Tragedy

116 123 / smaritans.org

MIND - MIND is a Mental Health charity in England and Wales.

0300 123 3393 / mind.org.uk

SANE - Mental Health charity improving quality of life for anyone affected by Mental illness

0300 304 7000 / sane.org.uk

DAD SPACE - Free Mental Health Support Group for DADS

07787 535598 / Info@DadSpace.co.uk /

NELFT contact details:

If you are in a Mental Health Crisis or require out of hours support, please call

NHS 111 — Mental health help option 2

Alternatively, if you are looking for emotional support or just want to talk to someone, you can text “Kent” or “Medway” to 85258 for 24 hour mental health crisis support via text (provided by SHOUT)

If your concerns escalate about your child or young person

please call NHS 111 — Mental health help option 2

If it is an emergency, immediate danger to life/safety dial 999

or visit Accident and Emergency (A&E).

If you are deaf and are experiencing a mental health crisis, please call the

SPA NHS 111 Deaf Line on 0300 555 1110

(you will need a BSL translator or third-party service to assist with the call).

Out of hours is the same SPA number, this re-directs to Mental Health Direct. The SPA number is below but shouldn’t be used for crisis MH needs this would be NHS 111 option 2

Kent and Medway CYPMHS: Freephone 0800 011 3474

Child-Friendly Medway

Child Friendly Medway

All Saints Community Hub

The All Saints Community Project Trust was set up in 2001 and became a registered charity in 2012 (Register Charity Number: 1170179)

The Community Project (also known as the Magpie Centre) provides a range of services for the local community to help support them through times of crisis, to offer a warm space and friendly faces and offer them some hope that the future will be brighter. Located in Magpie Hall Rd, Chatham we work with other charities, organisations, and community groups to provide a safe place for support, help and advice. Here’s what we offer:

Advice Appointments – We offer free non-judgemental advice appointments, these are for clients to get guidance on Benefits, Budgeting, Debt, Signposting and form filling.
Practical Support – We have Medway Foodbank operating from our community centre on a Monday & Friday. Our advisors can issue foodbank vouchers and Medway Foodbank can then put together their food parcel this all takes place in the same building. This is a drop-in service no appointment needed.
Community Café – Our café is primarily run by volunteers; we offer low-cost food & drink and a warm welcoming place for people to come to. We have different organisations come to the café to offer support and services to our customers these include Medway Recycling Team, NHS Hep C Testing Team and Southern Water.
Community Groups – We run a number of groups during the week these are: Coffee Morning, Depression & Anxiety, Uniform Swap Shop, Knitters & Stitchers and Have A Go craft group. These are open to all and help to reduce loneliness in the community.
Computer Suite – We have 6 computers that are available for the public to use free of charge Monday – Friday. This helps people who don’t have access to the internet.
Other organisations – We have a variety of other organisations that use the centre, including MVA & Riverside. We also have MEGAN CIC, the mental health charity, who have offices in our building and use our community space to host their coffee afternoon.

https://www.allsaintscommunityproject.org.uk/

ALL SAINTS COMMUNITY HUB

ESBA

EBSA Leaflet.pdf

Mental Health and Wellbeing Provision Map

The following provision map advises all staff on the advised route to signposting support for children. Please note that individual concerns may require a different or unique approach which will be assessed on an individual basis. Ultimately if you are concerned about a child, please seek advice from the DSL/ Pastoral Team/ SENCO/SLT.

St. Michael's RC Primary School and Nursery MHWB Provision map 2223

Operation Encompass

AI (ai) Virtual Friend

AI-based chatbots that stimulate human-like interactions, like Replika, constantly push people (and sometimes manipulate) to share more and more personal, intimate, sensitive data.

Kids, teens, and people with mental health issues will be especially vulnerable, although anyone can be a potential subject of harm.

Q. Is Replika AI safe?

If you are using Replika AI safely, it can be a helpful tool for learning, creativity and companionship. However, it is important to be aware of the risks before using the app.

1. ai-virtual-friends pdf POSTER.pdf