Pastoral Care
How we help your child
Every child has the right to feel happy and safe. Along with high quality teaching, we are committed to offering excellent pastoral care. Families value the warmth of relationships between teachers, pupils, and parents, ensuring your child is known as an individual.
Form Tutors
Form tutors are responsible for the pastoral care of pupils in their form. Pupils see their form tutors every morning during registration and can ask about any concerns, big or small. Form tutors get to know each child individually and discuss any issues with parents.
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 pupils in their year or section. They ensure each child gets the right support as they move 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 longer registration times used to cover pastoral topics in addition to those in Life Studies lessons (see links below). For First Year pupils, these periods help them settle in and feel confident in their new environment.
Every week, there are assemblies for the Lower School, Middle School, and Sixth Form.Assembly speakers include the Head, Deputy Heads, Heads of Section/Year, other members of staff and visiting speakers. They may include a Christian hymn and prayer. The Deputy Head (Pastoral) and the School Chaplain work with Sixth Form students to enable them to lead assemblies for Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, and Jewish faiths.
Each year group also has its own assembly every two weeks, led by the Head of Year or Head of Section. Additionally, there are regular House assemblies.
Lower School Friends
Starting at a new school can sometimes be daunting. The Lower School Friends scheme is run by Lower Sixth students. Each First Year form is paired with a few Lower Sixth students who visit regularly. They help the First Year pupils find their way around and offer support and advice as they settle in.
School Nurses
Pupils receive support from two full-time school nurses, Mrs. Ward and Mrs. Kenny, who work closely with staff, pupils, and parents. The school nurses handle medicine protocols and care plans for conditions like asthma, diabetes, and epilepsy.
In addition to the pastoral team, counsellors from Beacon Counselling in Stockport are available at school to provide one-on-one support for various issues.
House System
There are four Houses: Arden, Nicholson, Warren, and Vernon. The Houses create a family-like atmosphere with regular assemblies including pupils from different year groups. There are also frequent inter-House competitions where everyone can play on a team or support their House. The competitions help pupils work together and develop responsibility and organisational skills.
Liaison between Parents and School
Pupils get regular Approach To Learning grades and reports, and there are parents’ evenings for each year group. At the start of the school year, specific year groups have parents’ information evenings.
At the First Year Information Evening, parents meet their child’s Form Tutor, the Head of First Year, and the Head of Lower School. The Fourth Year Information Evening focuses on starting GCSE courses, and the Sixth Form Information Evening covers A-level and university application information. There are also parent information evenings with external speakers on topics like drugs and alcohol.
If there are concerns about your child’s progress, you can expect the pastoral team or teachers to contact you. We also encourage parents to contact us with any concerns. The Form Tutor or Subject Teacher is usually the first person to contact, but you can also contact the Heads of Year/Section or Heads of Department if needed. Staff can be easily contacted by phone or 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.