Pastoral Care

Relationships are key to our pastoral care provision. To encourage positive relationships pupils are organised into houses, from Year 3 to Year 8, enabling pupils of all ages to interact.  The older pupils act as an inspiration for the younger, setting a positive example as to how to behave and what can be achieved. House competitions encourage support and bonding across all age groups and help develop empathy as well as an element of healthy competition.

Pupils are also organised by forms.

In Years 3 to 5 each child has two people who are there to look out for them; a class teacher and a Houseparent. Together this team of two staff members work together to support, encourage and champion the individual.

In Years 6 to 8 each child has a Form Tutor who is responsible for each child’s needs, both pastorally and academically. The Form Tutor groups meet at least three times a week and consist of a minimum of four and a maximum of ten children from the same house. This enables children to create a very close bond with their tutor who will write a pastoral comment each half term on each of their tutees’ reports. These comments are also shared with the Houseparents so that each child is known and treated as a unique individual.

Moving to a new school can be a difficult time for children. At Dean Close Preparatory School we do our best to support new children so they settle quickly into their new environment.

Year 3 (Age 7+)
Pupils arrive from our Pre-Prep School at age seven. A member of DCPS staff coordinates this move, meeting with staff at DCPPS regularly. A move up morning takes place in June when any pupils coming into Dean Close spend the morning with their teacher, getting used to the School and starting to build that vital relationship ready for the new term.

Any new child arriving at the School has a buddy, a pupil already at the School who is there to help and show them the new routines and way around school. All staff are very aware of all our new children and make contact with parents by the end of the first week to check how their child has settled in.

Year 7 (Age 11+)
At 11 pupils arrive from many local schools. Any new child arriving at the School has a buddy, a pupil already at the School who is there to help and show them the new routines and way around school. All staff are very aware of all our new children and make contact with parents by the end of the first week to check how their child has settled in. 

Year 8 (Age 13)
At 13, when our pupils leave, we have a very close relationship with Dean Close Senior School and all our Houseparents meet the children’s new Houseparent to pass on vital information. All pastoral records are kept on the school iSAMS database, so that information can be passed on to any school that a child may be moving to.

EAL pupils may arrive with very little English. Our EAL department is there to support and at the start of the year run their own induction with the children, showing them key things that will help to make their transition as smooth as possible.

Daily, we encourage children to take care of themselves and others, to be polite and appreciative. We ask them to try new things and take managed risks and push themselves, to explore ‘failure’ and instil our values of love, courage, contribution and flourishing. All this means that when they move onto the Senior School, they do so as well-rounded individuals, equipped to make positive choices and informed decisions.

Every term the school dedicates a week in support of the three child-centred national campaigns: Anti-bullying, E safety and Mental Health and Well-being. During these weeks pupils explore topics to a deeper level, normally around a theme in their PSHCE (Personal, Social, Health and Citizenship Education) lessons, at break times and in assemblies.

In addition, pupils in Year 7 and Year 8 have two Well-being Days each year, where they cover a range of topics related to a healthy body and mind. They might try new activities such as yoga, bicycle maintenance, First Aid, setting up camp, cooking on an outdoor stove or team building exercises. They might also explore a range of topics, such as the changes that take place during adolescence and body image.

We all like to feel praised and at Dean Close Preparatory School we want the children to know that we value their positive interactions with each other, acts of kindness and thoughtfulness to all members of the community. Staff award E praise points when children are seen exhibiting thoughtful and positive behaviour. This helps to foster an understanding in the children of the positive behaviour that we are looking for them to demonstrate.

As a school we want to know each individual and use our professional knowledge, parental input, child input and also STEER Tracking to help us best support each child in our care. STEER Tracking helps us to identify those pupils who are struggling to make wise, emotionally healthy, pro-social choices before they lead to mental health or social difficulties. It tracks pupils’ thinking patterns over time, enabling our staff to respond sensitively to fluctuations which may indicate concern. STEER Tracking data helps to tell us where a pupil is, rather than who a pupil is.

Staff regularly undergo safeguarding training and are trained in First Aid. There is also a school counsellor for pupils who may require additional support other than that of their Houseparent, Class Teacher or Form Tutor and a Deputy Head of Wellbeing who oversees the well-being of pupils throughout their time at the Prep School. There is a weekly meeting of Senior Management where concerns about pupils is a priority. The Deputy Head of Wellbeing also has weekly meetings with Houseparents, where once again pupils are the standing item on the agenda.