KEY STAGE 3
Years 7, 8 and 9
Mr Dickson leads our KS3 Team. Our form coaches include:
Miss Birtwistle, Mr Jones, Mr Snow, Miss O'Raw, Mr Wood, Miss Gill, Mr Werner, Mr Ali, Miss Iqbal, Miss Nightingale, Mr Muncaster, Mrs New
KEY STAGE 4
Years 10 and 11
Mrs Gilroy leads our Key Stage 4 team. Our form coaches include: Mrs Manchester, Mr Locke, Mr Arkwright and Mr Barnes
Sixth Form
Years 12 and 13
Mrs Fox leads our Key Stage 5 team. Our form coaches include: Mrs Rowson, Miss Howard, Mr Toole and Mrs Moss
Welcome...
Here at UCS Bolton, the whole of the Pastoral Team are here to support you throughout your time with us. We will be the first point of contact between home and school, and will help you develop new friendships, and encourage you to get involved with the wide range of extra-curricular activities we offer. If you have any problems, you should speak to your Coach or Head of Key Stage in the first instance (Mr Dickson, Head of Key Stage 3; Mrs Gilroy, Head of Key Stage 4; Mrs Fox, Head of Key Stage 5). and we will do everything we can to help you.
Our pastoral programme is designed to develop student agency and to support students become self-regulated learners. It supports students to be focussed, to improve their decision making, communication skills, to know where to seek support, to know their strengths/areas for improvement and to develop self-motivation.
What is Pastoral Support like in KS3?
We have a three-year Key Stage 3 that includes Year 7, 8 and 9 students. We have five Coaching Groups in Y7 and three in Y8. Everyone follows the Coaching Plan to support their pastoral curriculum and to promote student agency. All students have two coaching sessions each day (morning and afternoon) with their Tutor Coach.
A comprehensive careers provision ensures that our students are focused on aspirational careers from their very first days with us.
What is Pastoral Support like in KS4?
At UCS we have a two-year Key Stage 4 that consists of our Years, 10 and 11 student cohorts. As in Key Stage 3, all students follow the Coaching programme to support their pastoral curriculum and to promote student agency. Every student has a morning and afternoon coaching session daily with a Tutor Coach.
Our prefects, head students and student leaders contribute significantly to the life of the school and play a critical part in representing the entire student body to support in driving the school forward.
What is Pastoral Support like in KS5?
We are proud that our Sixth Form delivers excellence academic results and an experience that ensures students are fully prepared for the destinations of their choice. Our state-of-the-art building with excellent facilities geared to health sciences and engineering offers students the opportunity to enhance their personal statements and stand out from the crowd in such a competitive environment.
Our Sixth Form coaches support one-to-one development sessions with every student that covers three pillars of excellence. Targets are set and support is offered to achieve success academically; ensure education destinations are understood; and opportunities in work experience, skill certification or linked research is secured to develop personal CV.
Our Sixth Form has smaller class sizes with mature young adults all driven to succeed. Our experience offers extra support across A-Level and BTEC Level 3 subjects in a hard-working yet informal atmosphere, all leading top success.
The Coaching Programme
Target Setting
All students with their coaches set themselves three SMART targets every Monday and identity who can support them with achieving these targets over the course of a week. The targets can be linked to subjects, skills for subjects or the 5 Life Skills that we focus on at UCS. Each student works on achieving these targets on a weekly basis and reviews their performance every Friday. Coaches are trained using coaching strategies to craft academic conversations with each of their students in their coaching groups. Every student is equipped with an iPad and they complete their target setting and reviews online through a Microsoft form.
Century Tech
https://www.century.tech/our-impact/
Century is the award-winning AI teaching and learning platform for schools, colleges and universities. The platform uses artificial intelligence, neuroscience and learning science to create constantly adapting pathways for students and powerful assessment data for teachers. Every student in the school has their own individual pathway for Maths, English, Science which is monitored by class teachers and Heads of Department to track student progress. We allocate time for students to complete independent learning using Century Tech as part of their morning and afternoon Coaching Timetable each week.
Theme of the Week
Students have a weekly Assembly based on the Theme of the Week, and also a weekly afternoon coaching session dedicated to the same theme, when they discuss current affairs and investigate what is happening in the world at that time. Some examples of recent themes are- World Book Day, European Day of Languages, Jeans for Genes, Mental Health Awareness Week and Black History Month. All teachers at UCS are involved in the planning and preparation of these assemblies and Theme Activities, and full timetable of which can be found on our the British Values page of our website.
Lifeskills
We are dedicated to developing students holistically and believe that there are 5 Life Skills that will support students at school and for the future.
External Pastoral Agencies
Our teams make have excellent relationships with, and use of the following external agencies:
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CAMHs
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University of Bolton Psychology Department
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Counselling support
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Ladywood Outreach Team
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Connexions
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Kooth
Pastoral Care Plans
Students can be supported further through 1-1 support by our Head of Safeguarding and Head of Year. Pastoral support plans will be completed collaboratively with parents to set strategic targets and to seek external support through organisations such as CAMHs and counselling sessions.
Healthcare Plans
Healthcare plans are created for any student with medical and/or health concerns. We as a school work with the student and family directly with support from General Practitioners (GPs) to create the plan and any supporting risk assessments. We share this information with the appropriate staff in the building to ensure all students are cared for and safeguarded. Healthcare plans are reviewed on a yearly basis.
Rewards
Students are issued Achievement Points in lessons for Effort, Progress in their work, and Resilience. Staff also give out weekly Postcards for Growth Mindset. Students who show the most Growth Mindset are invited to attend a Rewards Trip at the end of each term, such as Bowling, Ice Skating, Cinema Visits or Breakfast at one of our local cafés. We are currently also investigating a similar trip for students with the best Attendance.
Enrichment
Our Enrichment programme takes place at the end of the day on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and covers a wide range of activities such as Subject Intervention, Bee Keeping, First Aid, Sports, Archeology, DJ Skills, Chess Club and English as an Additional Language. New activities are offered each half Term, and students may choose to attend these sessions, but are asked to commit for the full half term.
PHSE
Below is a copy of our PHSE Curriculum Road Map:
