Wellbeing & Pastoral Support

Here at Clarendon Infant School we believe it is really important to support children's wellbeing, and ensure that children feel safe and valued. We achieve this through all of our staff and children sharing our caring ethos based upon

Pride • Respect • Success

Our friendly and caring Pastoral Team support us with this. In school we work with children to support their developing understanding of emotions and how to manage ourselves to become effective members of society. 

We also have a Parent support advisor who is on hand to give help and support to parents on a wide range of issues. 

If you feel that your family would benefit from accessing our Pastoral support - please complete the form below. 

Parent Support Form

Our Pastoral Team Includes...

  • Mrs Tyrkot - Parent Support Advisor 
  • Mrs Drury and Mrs Burns (ELSA, Emotional Literacy Support Assistant)

If you feel like you are struggling, please do not feel alone, we are here to help. You can contact our Pastoral Team via phoning the school office (01980 843381) or alternatively email us at wellbeing@clarendon-inf.wilts.sch.uk.

My name is Mrs Tyrkot and I am the Parent support advisor For Clarendon Infants and I work across the Federation as part of our amazing Pastoral support team. 

My role involves supporting children, parents/carers and staff within the school environment. This includes:

  • Supporting the school /home relationships,
  • Signposting to other support networks,
  • Supporting parents to manage difficult behaviours,
  • Working with the children to make the school experience a positive one through 1-1 sessions or small group work
  • Supporting the staff team to ensure that children’s emotional wellbeing is being met.

Mrs Tyrkot 

Hi, I am Mrs Becky Drury and I am Mrs Donna Burns. We are lucky enough to be the Pastoral team at Clarendon Infant School. We work with children across the school, usually on a one to one basis but also in small groups. We have had special training from educational psychologists to support the emotional development of children in school. The ELSA room is based in The Treehouse and this is where individual or groups of children will access help and support. We will also be visiting children in their classroom environment and support with relationships on the playground. Children will see us everywhere. We love to make school a positive and enjoyable place to be where we can help all children to grow and thrive.

Mrs Drury and Mrs Burns 

Local Support

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ELSA Support in Our School

There will always be children in schools facing life challenges, no more so than now, which detract from their ability to engage with learning. Some will require greater support to increase their emotional literacy than others. The Emotional Literacy Support Assistant (ELSA) programme is an evidence-informed intervention delivered by Mrs Drury and supervised by educational psychologists to support our children.

In ELSA we aim to provide support for a wide range of emotional needs:

  • Recognising emotions
  • Self-esteem
  • Social skills
  • Friendship skills
  • Anger management
  • Loss and bereavement

Supporting - Not Fixing

Remember, as ELSAs we are not here to fix your children's problems. What we can do is provide emotional support through establishing warm, respectful relationships with pupils.

We will also provide a reflective space where pupils are able to share their thoughts and feelings.

It needs to be appreciated that change cannot necessarily be achieved quickly and is dependent upon the context and complexity of the issues.

For children with complex or long-term needs it is unrealistic to expect ELSA intervention to resolve all their difficulties, however support will be designed to target specific aspects of a child's need. Our ELSA training and development is an ongoing process and our experience helps us to recognise when issues are beyond our level of expertise. At these times the school will support parents with possible referrals for specialist counselling, play therapy or to CAMHS.

We may also be able to signpost to other agencies for family support.

The Educational Psychologist that works with our school has regular supervision sessions with our ELSAs, and is able to offer advice on suitability or nature of ELSA involvement in complex cases.

Useful Parent Support Information

Here are some home activities that can support emotional wellbeing, If there is something in particular you would like to see, or need additional support then please contact us on wellbeing@clarendon-inf.wilts.sch.uk.

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Additional Support Within the Community

Home-Start North Wiltshire (formerly Kennet) is a voluntary organisation committed to promoting the welfare of families who have at least one child under the age of five.

They provide emotional and practical support to families through their trained home visiting volunteers, family groups and professional Family Support Organisers, helping families through their most challenging times.

Home-start can be reached via: