Being a Pathfinder school
One of our keystone values is ‘nurture’ and we apply this to the schools we work with as well as to families.
We work in a very relational way, supporting schools to develop their own capability in holistic family support.
How it works
Each Pathfinder school is assigned an expert Coordinator who gets to know the school and provides bespoke support around pastoral care for children and families.
The Coordinator will train, mentor and supervise a School-Based Pathfinder Worker (from the school staff, often a TA or pastoral worker), spending time with them each week to co-work cases, sometimes over many years. The Coordinator will connect the school with a wealth of resources including our in-house CAB service for families, an emergency fund, donations of goods via the Multibank and Hygiene Bank, counselling services, Psychologically Informed Environments/Non Violent Resistance training and opportunities for family fun days and occasionally trips and holidays.
School Based Pathfinder Workers from across all our schools meet at regular team meetings and reflective practice sessions.
The service is free to schools (though schools do need to nominate a member of their staff to become their School-Based Pathfinder Worker). We do have a catalyst fund for schools and sometimes we can help with resourcing to get Pathfinder work up and running in a school (though we cannot resource it on an ongoing basis).
What schools value about our support
Schools report increased confidence and capability in family support work, and a feeling of being supported with complex pastoral/SEND/safeguarding issues.
“Pathfinder has been an invaluable part of our pastoral support package in school for a number of years. Pathfinder has a huge array of ways in which they help our families and they provide a trusted link between home and school. Pathfinder has also helped many more families beyond those that are on caseload, through working with school staff they have equipped school leaders with the knowledge to support families.” Headteacher
How to join the Pathfinder
If your school or MAT is in Birmingham or surrounding areas and is interested in joining the Pathfinder, contact us at info@birminghampathfinder.org.uk
