Student wellbeing and pastoral care

Our Quaker values of honesty, integrity and equality underpin the relationships between students and teachers, with an emphasis on mutual respect. Our starting point is to support students to develop a strong sense of self and then do everything we can to help them succeed.

Our Quaker values influence our strong pastoral care in the following ways:

• Silent reflection built into School day, helping our students to be purposeful and kind to each other
• Calling teachers by their first names breaks down some of the traditional barriers to communication and helps students to feel they will be listened to
• An emphasis on students understanding and appreciating difference ensures students are supportive of each other – helping individuals to try new things and develop a strong sense of self
• Sport and music for all approach is inclusive and brings the community together.

All independent schools have a tutor system but ours has some important differences to strengthen this key relationship and provide students with exceptional academic and pastoral support. Close and frequent contact helps tutors to develop very close relationships with their tutees and pick up on small details that might be missed in other schools:

• 11 students per tutor group, much smaller than most schools
• Tutor sees tutees for allocated time every day, enabling very close support
• Regular contact between parents and tutors
• MyConcern system to enable staff to note small issues, which can be triangulated to identify any concerns
• Tutor system complimented by our Houses structure to give students a valuable sense of belonging in the School.

The small size of our community means our staff get to know each student as an individual and meaningful connections are made.

We have high expectations of our students. We recognise that young people will get things wrong from time to time and will support them to learn from mistakes. We believe that pupils are entitled to explanation and discussion, helping them to grow and encouraging self-discipline.

We are absolutely committed to our School being a supportive, inclusive learning environment where young people can explore their talents and interests. We will therefore not tolerate repeated poor behaviour, any examples of bullying or discrimination, or other conduct that impacts negatively on the learning, wellbeing or personal growth of other students.