Senior Pastoral Care

Our vertical House system enables us to deliver an integrated approach to pastoral care. This family-style organisation enables crucial continuity of support throughout a pupil’s time at the school.

All pupils join one of five Houses in the 1st Year: Collingwood, Drake, Grenville, Nelson and Rodney. The pupil remains in that House throughout their school career. Such familiarity helps to create a friendly atmosphere which breeds confidence and ambition, enabling our pupils to enjoy challenges and develop their interests. Each House is run by a Head of House who, supported by an Assistant, works closely with a team of Form Tutors to safeguard and promote the welfare of all pupils in the House. Heads of House also play a major part in the disciplinary structure of the school and, in liaison with the Deputy Head (Pastoral), will communicate directly with parents regarding the pupils’ good behaviour and appearance.

The House system also encourages team spirit and camaraderie through healthy, partisan competition in areas such as sport, drama, music and public speaking. There is also a strong charitable dimension to the House system, with each House raising funds for their nominated House charity, as well as raising awareness and cultivating philanthropic values. Pupils can also aspire to a leadership role in their House, with appointments such as House Captains, Vice Captains and Prefects.

Overall, the House system ensures that the pastoral care of each individual pupil is effective and robust, and consistent throughout a pupil’s time with us.

“PSHE (personal, social, health and economic) education is a school curriculum subject through which pupils develop the knowledge, skills and attributes they need to manage their lives, now and in the future.” - PSHE Association

We aim to equip our pupils with the knowledge to make their own decisions, develop an awareness of risks and gain an understanding of their rights and responsibilities.

We endeavour to keep pupils engaged with the subject matter by continually updating the curriculum with relevant and stimulating resources. The lessons are delivered by form tutors who are best-placed to tailor the content to suit the needs and sensitivities of the pupils in their forms. This delivery is enhanced through the input of lots of external expert speakers.

Topics are revisited through a spiral curriculum to progressively build knowledge in key topic areas such as alcohol, drugs, social media and sex & relationship education.

For more details on the PSHE programme, please click here.

Each Head of House is supported by a team of experienced Form Tutors. Each Tutor has pastoral responsibility for a particular year group, and ensures that every tutee is individually monitored and supported in key areas such as academic progress, personal development and planning for the future.

Form Tutors meet with their tutees at the start of each day. Such regularity of contact fosters a comfortable and friendly environment that is crucial to Churcher’s being a happy school, and helps to cultivate key values of mutual tolerance, integrity and trust. Form Tutors, of course, have daily administration to complete – registration, sharing the pupil bulletin and processing communication from home – but much of Form time is spent delivering the PSHE curriculum, teaching study skills and discussing current affairs in the form of a weekly general knowledge quiz. In addition, there is time for informal conversations, both between the pupils themselves, and with the Form Tutor. Most importantly, the Form Tutor will see tutees on a one-to-one basis to monitor academic progress, set targets and discuss any problems that the pupils might have.

Counselling is today recognised as one of the best ways of helping people through difficult periods in their lives, and the school provides an excellent counselling service as part of its commitment to pastoral care. Churcher’s is in the fortunate position to have a fully-trained, registered professional Counsellor who is resident in school throughout the week as a full-time member of staff. Our Counsellor can assist pupils to achieve a greater understanding of themselves, build their resilience and support their ability to address problems and pursue meaningful goals.

Pupils are able to either self-refer for counselling or, in some cases, may be encouraged to make an appointment by a member of the teaching staff, their parents or friends. Counselling is usually delivered on an individual basis. However, sometimes the Counsellor will work with groups if an issue is affecting more than one child; for example, exam anxiety.

The Medical Centre is open every school day between 8.30am and 5.00pm. The School Nurses are there to deal with illness and injuries, but also to listen when pupils need someone to talk to privately and in confidence. As such, the School Nurses are a key element of the school’s pastoral care and provision, and work closely with the teaching staff and parents whilst, where applicable, respecting the pupils’ rights to confidentiality.

Churcher’s has an Honorary Chaplain who is readily available to provide continuity and on-going pastoral care for pupils where this is necessary. Our Chaplain provides invaluable support in cases of bereavement, family breakdown or other crisis and loss situations. Our Chaplain also encourages reflection about the spiritual dimensions of life, through making a regular contribution to the school’s assembly programme and, from time to time, assisting with the teaching of Religion & Philosophy lessons.