Pastoral
Pastoral Care at Sevenoaks
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Every student is unique, and pastoral care at Sevenoaks is focused on the individual. We give our students the tools to become the best versions of themselves, both in and out of the classroom, and provide a support structure for our holistic provision founded on the positive relationships forged between students, staff and parents.
Students are encouraged to thrive in all areas of school life and the wider community, and thereby to flourish; they do so in an atmosphere that will nurture their talents, develop their interests and support them though the highs and lows of school life.
Being part of something big starts with something small
Sevenoaks is a large institution and it has sizeable ambitions to match, but the focus is on every individual student, who will find and develop their talents, areas of enthusiasm and interests as part of small, familiar units. A student’s pastoral care is driven by their tutor; at Sevenoaks every day begins with tutor time and the familiar and friendly faces of a small tutor group.
Tutors maintain the overview of a student’s school experience; they will come to know their tutees incredibly well and will always be on hand to provide support and guidance. Divisional Heads oversee year groups and ensure via assemblies and a range of other activities that students have a sense of identity as a year group.
Of course, every student is also part of the big picture; they will learn to thrive as independent, dynamic and socially conscious members of the whole school community. They will come to find that this is a community which values diversity, operates on kindness, and which constantly strives for improvement. They will also find a community which cares for them and treats them as individuals, while always seeking to make them feel like a valuable part of the whole.
A sense of belonging and a sense of self
Sevenoaks students quickly find a sense of belonging as part of a tutor group, a year group, a section and a school, but it is through their own journey and the connections, challenges and achievements they will experience along the way that they find their sense of self. This journey will see them contribute to the school community as much as they benefit from it, not least in having their say in one of our many avenues for student voice, such as our sectional committees or EDI groups, or in taking part in our Peer Mentoring programme. Here at Sevenoaks, student wellbeing and flourishing is at the centre of everything we do, and we seek to listen to and learn from them in considering how best to deliver our pastoral care.
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Working in partnership
A close working relationship with parents is an essential component of outstanding pastoral care. At Sevenoaks we seek to support and listen to parents in equal measure. A close and regular dialogue between tutors and parents ensures that care for students is fully informed and joined up, while our parent group focusing on student wellbeing meets on a termly basis to ensure that we are hearing the ideas and concerns of students from the parent point of view.
Regular webinars and interactive sessions for parents provide the opportunity for the sharing of ideas and good practice. Our lead counsellor runs a webinar series for parents and carers on supporting their children’s mental health, while a series of interactive sessions ‘by parents, for parents’ focuses specifically on how parents can support and complement the work of the school in providing their own care and guidance for their children outside school.
