Pastoral Support

Our pastoral support within school ensures the physical and emotional welfare of our children and their families.

When we use the term ‘family’ we are referring to the basic social unit of parents and their child, whether dwelling together or not. Inclusive of step parents, carers, grandparents and extended family.

Our early help offer has developed in line with demand and in conjunction with Esteem.

The pastoral team at Holbrook School for Autism consists of Kelly Thorne as the Pastoral and Safeguarding Lead, working Monday – Wednesday and Gemma Farrell who is the Family Support Worker and works Monday – Friday. This offer is primarily ‘earliest’ help and ensures that family and student issues that arise on a daily basis can be resolved quickly and efficiently by a member of staff that has an in-depth knowledge of their needs and condition. Working closely with Esteem it also gives school the ability to now refer any tier two issues through the Multi Academy Trust – Esteem who allocate cases accordingly.

All tier three and immediate safeguarding concerns are advanced as before through social care.

Annie – The Dog Mentor

Please click here to visit Annie’s page to read more about the many benfits of having a Dog Mentor in school.

Cuppa and Chat Sessions

We are also holding a number of parent/carer ‘cuppa and chat’ sessions on our Residential unit. These are open to those who have a child attending our school on the following dates:

Thursday 8 January 2026 – 9.30am-11.00am

Wednesday 15 April 2026 – 9.30am – 11.00am

Information about these sessions will be sent via Arbor and shared on our Facebook page closer to each date.

Please do not hesitate to get in touch with me if I can be of any assistance.

Family Forum

Join us at our Family Forum!

Our vision for the family forum is to embed partnership working between our families and our school. We want your views to be heard and valued and in turn become instrumental towards the continuing success of the school.

Support the school, it’s totally flexible, you can attend in person or virtually, network with like minded people, be better connected, change school for the better, learn new skills, improve your child’s learning and create lasting memories!

Everyone is welcome!

Please email gfarrell@holbrookschoolforautism.co.uk to confirm your attendance.

Wednesday 11 February 2026. 9.30am – 11.00am

Friday 15 May 2026. 9.30am – 11.00am

The Families First Quality Award

The Families First Quality Award is an established national quality assurance and improvement framework designed to help organisations demonstrate excellence in helping families.

The school is delighted to announce that they have achieved reaccreditation for ‘The Families First Quality Award’ we would like to thank all parent/cares for their collaborative working with the school and hope to continue to provide an inclusive family support package. Highlighted strengths of the report were:-

“The Family Support Worker’s role and achievements in building very positive relationships with parents/carers, along with robust reporting arrangements, means that parents/carers do not need to re-tell their stories numerous times, and needs are identified and met.”

“The case studies, provided a clear history of the identification of children’s needs, support put in place, and the benefits of this, all planned in consultation with the children’s parents/carers.”

Family Team Teach

Unfortunately we are not holding any Family Team Teach sessions in the academic year 2025-2026.

You may find the following links useful:

https://www.myfamilycoach.com/

https://www.myfamilycoach.com/journal/

https://www.myfamilycoach.com/quick-reads/

https://www.myfamilycoach.com/podcasts/

https://www.myfamilycoach.com/support-talks/

Family and Student Support Team (FASST)

Welcome to the Esteem Family and Student Support Team (FASST) service.

We are a team of dedicated and skilled Family and Student Support Workers based at Esteem academies across Derbyshire, Derby City and Staffordshire. We are part of Esteem Multi-Academy Trust; and while safeguarding is at the core of our provision, we are not a specialist safeguarding and child protection service.

We are trained and skilled at delivering a range of group and 1:1 support sessions designed to support families and young people who recognise that change is required.

We only work with families and young people currently on role at an Esteem academy who have consented to the referral. This ensures that positive changes are made with people and not to, or for them.

We offer young people and their families solution focused support to overcome challenges and hurdles. This support can be family or community based or 1:1 sessions. We understand the challenging role of being a parent or carer and trying to balance supporting young people with managing the everyday demands of being an adult!

We use a holistic and flexible approach to empower families and young people to be increasingly self-sufficient. We will work collaboratively with our education colleagues and those from specialist services to ensure the right service at the right time.

We are trained to deliver HOPE, a project that delivers positive outcomes for young people that have an emotional need for support. This service is well established across schools in Staffordshire and we are really pleased to be introducing it to all of our Esteem academies.

We are able to accept referrals from our Esteem colleagues, parents and carers, young people and other professionals. We hold panel meetings to determine that we are the correct service and allocate to the most appropriate member of the team. The panel is made up of our team and representatives from education and health services; this ensures consistency and multi agency decision making. If we are not the right service to help, we will endeavour to find the one who is.

For further information about our service, signposting to various support groups and activities available in your area, visit the FASST website.

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FASST Website

Early Help & Intervention

As well as the Esteem Family and Student Support Team (FASST) service above, Derbyshire County Council also provide Early Help & Intervention support. The link below provides more information on their website.

Please also get in touch with our Family Support Worker, Gemma, who can assist with signposting you to the right area of support.

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Derbyshire County Council - Support for families and early help

Advice & Support

Derbyshire Information, Advice & Support Service (DIASS) for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (formerly Parent Partnership) provide free, impartial and confidential information to parents and children and young people on issues around education, health and social care, relating to special educational provision. Please see the attached leaflet or visit their website:

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Derbyshire Information, Advice and Support Service for SEND (DIASS)

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DIASS Leaflet

Derbyshire Local Offer

Helping and supporting children & young people with special educational needs and disabilities to be more confident in their communities and live independently.

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