Pastoral Care

It is essential for every student to feel that they are an important part of the community who can contribute to the life of the school. Each student's happiness is important to members of staff and to other students.

Building a community involves learning to respect others and to live alongside people holding different opinions. For some students it may be important to learn how to be more assertive while others benefit from developing listening skills. The tutors and the house staff put great emphasis on helping students to grow in these areas.

The House system provides every student, whether a boarder or a day student, with a social base within the school. The houses are smaller groups within the larger community where strong bonds can develop. The Housemistresses and Masters oversee a team of resident and day staff who provide continuous care for the students in their charge.

There are four boarding houses within the school, based on students' age groups: Hawley House (Years 3-11 Girls), Earle House (Years 3-11 Boys), Dennett House (Years 12-13 Girls) and Campion House (Years 12-13 Boys).

Every student is part of a small tutor group with others of the same age. Tutors specialise in the requirements of that particular age group. A careful eye is kept on the development of every member of the tutor group. Academic progress and extra-curricular programmes are closely monitored and regular, individual meetings with the tutor take place, which offer a chance to discuss any personal issues and to sort out problems quickly. Talking together the tutor and students can also look at their work as a whole and set targets to improve standards of achievement.

We seek to integrate day students into the life of the school. We encourage them to stay for tea and to join in the wide range of activities on offer after lessons. The school provides a supervised study room where they can complete their homework. Many travel to school on the daily buses. One way in which we integrate students is by ensuring that all Houses are made up of both day students and boarders.