Barrow Hills School > School Life > Pastoral

Pastoral

Barrow Hills aspires to educate the whole child. We provide the highest levels of pastoral care, encouraging children to fulfil their aspirations and potential within an atmosphere of mutual respect and compassion.

Smaller class sizes mean that our staff know the children, their strengths as well as their weaknesses, what makes them ‘tick’ and what makes them happy. Staff give children the time they need to get to know them, they care about their happiness and aim to develop the thoughtful, caring side of their characters as well as their intellect and ambition.

We believe that education should not centre just upon academic excellence but on the development of emotional intelligence – the ability to express and manage feelings appropriately while respecting the feelings of others. It is a skillset that our children learn from their earliest days in Pre-Prep.

Barrow Hills Five Ways to Wellbeing

The positive mental health of our children is of the utmost importance. To ensure that good mental health is promoted everyday, we have integrated our Pupil Profile into the New Economics Foundation’s ‘Five Ways to Wellbeing’.

Connect: Be inclusive and responsible for strengthening relationships and feel joyful being close to and valued by others.

Be Active: Be physically active and brave when meeting new challenges.

Give: Be compassionate and generous of spirit. Do something nice for a friend, or a stranger. Thank someone. Volunteer your time.

Take Notice: Pay more attention to the present moment, to thoughts and feelings. Be true to yourself.

Learn: Be scholarly and curious. Seek out new experiences at school, home and in your everyday life.

These principles are talked about openly and embedded into school life. As the children move through the school, they use them as a tool to support their own wellbeing.

The Happy Hangout – A Place for You

The Happy Hangout is our wellbeing room, named by one of our children after a school wide competition. Thanks to donations from our parents it is a homely and welcoming space, easily accessible within the School for every child in the school needing advice, support and a sympathetic ear.

It is manned by Youth Mental Health First Aid trained staff at break and lunch times and our school dog, Toby, is often there too. There is a letter box for children to leave notes at other times should they wish. There are specialist books on relevant topics such as coping with worry, feelings and friendship issues that the children may read and/or borrow and mindfulness colouring sessions have become popular.

Peer Mentoring

All children in Years 7 and 8 are invited to apply to be Peer Mentors to help support children lower down the School. Successful applicants are expected to attend training sessions on:

The importance of mental health and wellbeing;
The different issues children may struggle with;
Understanding how and where to meet with mentees;
Recording key, confidential information and not sharing with others;
The importance of keeping information with the designated adult;
The need to use adult support when necessary.