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Pastoral Care


How we help your child

We believe it is the right of every child to feel happy and secure. Along with high quality teaching, we are also dedicated to providing excellent pastoral care. Families appreciate the warmth of relationships between teachers, pupils and their parents, which ensures that your son or daughter will be known as an individual.

Form Tutors

Form tutors are primarily responsible for the pastoral care of pupils in their form. Pupils see their form tutors every morning at registration and can ask about any uncertainties, however small they may seem. Form tutors take the time to get to know each child individually and discuss with parents any difficulties that may arise.

Heads of Year and Heads of Section

Form tutors work closely with the Heads of Year and Heads of Section who have overall responsibility for the pastoral care of each child in their year group/section and ensure appropriate support as children progress through the school. Our Heads of Year and Heads of Section are:

Lower School (First to Third Year)

Head of First Year – Mr Ehegartner
Head of Second Year – Dr Zanda
Head of Third Year – Mr Hanson
Head of Lower School – Mrs Lawson

Middle School (Fourth and Fifth Year)

Head of Fourth Year – Mr Clarke
Head of Fifth Year – Mrs Reevell
Head of Middle School – Mrs Fitzgerald

Sixth Form

Head of Lower Sixth – Mrs Britton
Head of Upper Sixth – Mrs Ashton
Head of Sixth Form – Mr Stone

Assemblies and Form Periods

Form periods are extended registration times and are used to cover pastoral curriculum topics in addition to those being covered in Life Studies lessons (please see the links below). Form periods for the first years are particularly aimed at ensuring pupils settle in and become confident in their new environment.

There are weekly Lower School, Middle School and Sixth Form assemblies. Assembly speakers include the Head, Deputy Heads, Heads of Section/Year, other members of staff and visiting speakers. These assemblies can include a Christian hymn and prayer. The Deputy Head (Pastoral) and the School Chaplain work closely with Sixth Form pupils to enable them to lead Muslim, Hindu, Sikh and Jewish faith assemblies.

Each year group also usually has its own assembly on a fortnightly basis, led by the Head of Year or Head of Section. There are also regular House assemblies (see below).

Lower School Friends

Starting at a new school can sometimes be a daunting prospect. The Lower School Friends scheme is run by Lower Sixth pupils who give their time to help First Year pupils settle into their new environment. A small number of Lower Sixth pupils are attached to each First Year form and they visit the forms regularly, helping First Year pupils to find their way around in the first few weeks and reassuring or advising them as they settle into school life.

School Nurses

Pupils benefit from the support of two full-time school nurses, Mrs Ward and Mrs Kenny. The school nurses build good communication links between staff, pupils and parents to make sure all pupils are well cared for as individuals.

The school nurses are responsible for developing protocols and care plans for the administering of medicines in school and the management of existing medical conditions such as asthma, diabetes and epilepsy.

The pastoral care provided by the pastoral team and nurses is additionally supported by counsellors from Beacon Counselling in Stockport who are available in school to support pupils on a one-to-one basis on a range of pastoral matters.

House System

Every pupil is assigned to one of the school’s four Houses: Arden, Nicholson, Warren and Vernon. The Houses have a family atmosphere, with regular House assemblies that often include pupils from different year groups. There are regular inter-House competitions and everyone can take part, either as a player in a team or as a supporter. These competitions give pupils the opportunity to work as a team and to exercise responsibility and organisational skills.

Liaison between Parents and School

Pupils receive regular Approach To Learning grades and reports and there are parents’ evenings for each year group. In addition, there are information evenings at the start of the academic year for parents of particular year groups. The First Year Information Evening allows parents to meet their son’s or daughter’s Form Tutor, the Head of First Year and the Head of Lower School. The Fourth Year Information Evening provides parents with vital information as their son or daughter embarks on their GCSE courses and the Sixth Form Information Evening covers A-level and university application information. The pastoral team also organise parent information evenings with speakers from external agencies covering subjects such as drugs and alcohol.

If at any time there are concerns about your son’s or daughter’s progress you can expect members of the pastoral team or teaching staff to contact you. We also encourage parents to contact us should they have any concerns about their son’s or daughter’s progress. The Form Tutor or Subject Teacher would usually be the initial point of contact for parents but Heads of Year/Section and Heads of Department can be contacted as necessary. Members of staff can easily be contacted by phone or by email.

Mrs Jo White (Deputy Head – Pastoral)

Download our pastoral curriculum

Lower School Pastoral Curriculum 2023-2024 (pdf)

Middle School Pastoral Curriculum 2023-2024 (pdf)

Sixth Form Pastoral Curriculum 2023-2024 (pdf)

Life Studies – First to Fifth Year 2023-2024 (pdf)

The School believes that effective relationships education and relationships and sex education is essential for young people to make responsible and well-informed decisions about their lives.

View the Relationships Education and Relationships and Sex Education Policy (pdf)

Appendix 1 – Parents’ Consultation (pdf)

Appendix 3 – Senior School – Life Studies (pdf)

Appendix 4 – Senior School – Computer Science (pdf)

Appendix 5 – Senior School – Biology (pdf)

Appendix 6 – Senior School – Lower School Pastoral Curriculum (pdf)

Appendix 7 – Senior School – Middle School Pastoral Curriculum (pdf)

Appendix 8 – Senior School Sixth Form Pastoral Curriculum (pdf)

Safeguarding

The School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

View the Safeguarding Policy (pdf)

Appendix 1 – Advice to Staff (pdf)

Appendix 2 – Staff Code of Conduct (pdf)

Appendix 3 – Safeguarding Response to Children Missing Education (pdf)

Appendix 4 – Visiting Speaker Protocol (pdf)

Appendix 5 – Radicalisation Risk Assessment (pdf)

Keeping Children Safe In Education (pdf)

Our school is part of the Operation Encompass project that runs in partnership with Stockport Safeguarding Board and Greater Manchester Police. Operation Encompass provides early reporting to schools of any domestic abuse incidents that occur outside of school which might have an impact on a child attending school the following day.

Download the Operation Encompass Parental Letter (pdf)