Pastoral care embodies the idea that schools should not limit their activities to the transmission of knowledge but should educate the whole child. This paper outlines five "pastoral tasks", casework, preventive work, pastoral curriculum, community building and management, and considers how each might contribute to the five desired outcomes of "Every Child Matters" (ECM). Collaboration between schools and agencies, such as Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, is stressed, and self-harm is considered as an example of the kind of challenge which ECM poses for schools. A review of pastoral care in schools in the light of ECM is advocated.