The pastoral dimension underpins and permeates all activities in La Salle. Within the first few weeks your son will quickly learn to cope with the strangeness of a large new school, the confusion of the timetable and the excitement created when meeting so many new faces. This is no accident! It is the result of a carefully planned Pastoral Care Programme implemented by our Pastoral Care Team.

This Team consists of the Vice Principal (pastoral), Year Teacher, Form Teacher, Subject Teacher, and you, the Parent. Each member has a role to play.

The Vice Principal, Paddy Ward, organises and co-ordinates the implementation of the programme.

The Year Teacher acts in place of the parent while the child is in school. Your son, on entering La Salle, joins the La Sallian family and the Year Teacher enables him to be a happy and confident member of that family.

The Form Teacher meets the class each morning for registration (8.55 - 9.10). Prayers are said, dinner tickets are distributed and sickness notes are accepted and recorded. Any little worrying points which may be affecting individual pupils are dealt with at this time also.

The Form Teacher devotes one class each week to your son's Personal and Social Education. This programme is carefully planned to ensure that smooth induction of your son into the school and to equip him with the essential knowledge, skills and attitudes to cope with the process of maturation.

The Form Teacher is also your main contact with the school. During the year there will be formal parent teacher meetings when you have the opportunity to meet everyone concerned with your son's development. It is essential that you attend and show your support. However, if at any stage you are anxious about your son's progress in any area of school life, do not hesitate to contact you son's Form Teacher.

The Subject Teacher constantly checks academic standards and ensures that classroom effort is matched by homework response.

The Pastoral Care Programme is supplemented and supported by a planned input from the School Chaplin.

Our Ethos

The advise of our patron St John Baptist de La Salle underpins the ethos of the school. He advised teachers to:

• Know each student individually
• Treat each student differently according to their personal needs
• Form friendly mutually supportive relationships with the students
• Be gentle, kind, sensitive and tender in dealing with students in order to win their hearts.

In La Salle we strive to build a Christian Community to enable the young people in our care to continue the Christian formation and faith development begun and nurtured in the home by their parents.

Pastoral Care Aims

• To affirm, empower, heal, transform, reconcile and liberate the students by raising the self esteem of each student.
• To educate the student and develop each ones potential to the fullest.
• To establish a caring and Christian school environment which promotes the health and safety of each student.
• To promote an orderly learning environment which sustains quality learning and teaching.
• To monitor student progress across the curriculum.
• To provide support and guidance to each students
• To maintain mutually supportive relationships with students and their parents.
• To engage wider networks as appropriate.