The pastoral care in the school is very good indeed. There is a house based system, so that every child has a Housemaster or Housemistress who is the key point of contact both for them and for their parents, and each child also has a personal tutor who is responsible for helping to oversee their academic and general development. Besides meeting with their tutee every week, the tutor will show an interest in their various activities and contributions around the school and support them at school events.
Being both a boarding and a day school is a great strength in terms of the opportunities this gives for integration between pupils from different backgrounds and different parts of the world. Boarders and day pupils are easily able to forge friendships which allow for cultural exchange. For local day pupils, being able to meet and mix with pupils from all over the world is a great opportunity to broaden horizons, and this international mix is really good for boarders as well.
We place a strong emphasis on mental wellbeing and how this links to academic success and indeed to success in all areas of school life. Assemblies, displays around the school, and visits from outside speakers help to promote awareness of these important matters. We also use a pastoral tool called Affective Social Tracking – or AS Tracking – in which pupils complete twice yearly assessments which reveal how they are self-regulating and how they are thinking and seeing the world around them. This helps to guide the staff in their pastoral interactions with pupils. Our pupils have a range of people to whom they can turn to discuss any problems or worries they may have: senior pupils and prefects; tutors; housemasters or housemistresses; medical staff; careers adviser; universities adviser; the Chaplain; school counsellors.
All of these things are underpinned by a strong Christian ethos which is at the heart of the school. This isn’t just about regular Chapel services, although these do form a really important part of each week, but about how pupils live their lives, how they treat each other, how they interact with one another and all those around them. This is a school where pupils can be themselves and are respected and celebrated for who they are, and this is the key to why it is such a happy and supportive community.
Tom Moulton
Deputy Head (Pastoral)
