Pastoral Care and Well-being

During a student’s time in our Prep School at St Mary’s, we endeavour to nurture her confidence and well-being and safeguard her mental health – this applies to every student from our youngest to our oldest. We are striving for every student to have positive mental health, and to know how to maintain this. They should feel safe and emotionally secure with resilience and self-belief. We encourage our girls to recognise what they have achieved and learnt, whether it be social, emotional or academic. They can then take those achievements throughout their school career and beyond.

In the Prep School, our girls enjoy a hands on and varied pastoral programme called ‘HeartSmart’. This progressive curriculum has five strands which cover all aspects of personal, social, health and economic education. As part of the programme, girls have:

• A Peer Mentoring Programme where older girls are fully trained in how to support younger girls with a range of topics.
• An Emotional Literacy Support Assistant for girls to have access to an expert in social emotional and mental health so that everyone is supported in all their needs, when they need it.
• An emphasis on student voice so that we are sure the school environment meets the needs and wants of our girls.
• Zones of regulation so girls become used to talking about their feelings.
• Listening Ear which is a chance for girls to talk to a staff member if they have worries, concerns or certain scenarios, in an informal and adhoc manner. This can be for individuals or groups of girls.

Our school counsellor is a proactive member of our Prep School community. Her open door approach gives girls another person to speak to if they need support or advice. Our counselling team also hosts regular assemblies with the girls about broader topics such as friendships and navigating their way through any issues that may arise.

The importance of communication can never be underestimated in well-being. We are proud to operate an open door policy throughout our Prep School to ensure we know what is going on at home, and can support students at school, and vice versa. Parents are encouraged to talk to staff at pick up or,  if they require a longer meeting, to simply email to arrange an appointment. We truly believe that an open dialogue is the best approach to holistic and consistent care both inside and outside of school.

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